Harnessing the Power of Audio and Video Marketing in Education

Colleges, universities, and other educational institutes constantly seek ways to engage with and attract potential students. Audio and video marketing are two of the most effective channels for realizing this goal. When your institution of learning invests in these forms of marketing — within a well-designed, intentional framework — you will put yourself in a prime position to grow your student base and enhance your brand image.

Benefits of Audio and Video Marketing in Education

Audio and video marketing is impactful across all age groups and demographics — meaning your institution can use these channels to target students, parents, extended family members, and friends. You want to connect with the people most likely to enroll with and benefit from your school. 
Some of the critical benefits of audio and video marketing include:

• Increased engagement with key demographics – Student-age consumers are in tune with many audio and video marketing forms, from podcasts to TikTok videos. Diversifying your approach will help broaden your reach among students and their family members, who often have considerable sway in their final decisions about where to go.
• Glimpses into school life – Video ads, in particular, offer a golden opportunity to show prospective students what life at your institution is like “behind the scenes.”
• Authentic insights from existing students – Both audio and video marketing materials can be used as vehicles for testimonials and personal stories from current students and alumni. 
• Improved search rankings – You can use audio and video content to improve your organic search rankings on a regional and national level.

Creating an Education Audio and Video Strategy

While understanding the critical benefits of audio and video education marketing is essential, developing a workable strategy that will lead to those benefits is vital. Creating an effective audio/video strategy relies on consistently generating high-quality content that engages your audience. The following steps can help you to do just that:

1. Determine what you want to accomplish – First of all, it’s essential that you clearly define what you want to achieve through your marketing efforts. Is it higher enrollment, better engagement, or connecting with alumni for donations? Defining your main objective should be your first step in developing your strategy.
2. Learn about the audience you want to reach – Define your target audience. Who exactly do you want to reach with your marketing? Once you’ve answered that question, learn as much as possible about them. Which platforms do they frequent? How can you best connect with them? Create a plan to effectively reach the people you need to reach. 
3. Create a budget and timeline – Define the parameters of your marketing budget and stay within those limits. Map out when you’ll deliver your marketing throughout the next few weeks, months, and even years.
4. Pick the best platforms – Choose the audio and video platforms your audience will most likely use, and match your marketing to fit those. For instance, determine whether your audience likes to listen to radio shows or podcasts and focus your efforts accordingly.
5. Make a content plan – Plan out the audio and video marketing content you want to create, such as podcasts, video ads, sponsorships of existing sources, etc. Keep the unique characteristics and benefits of each form of marketing; for instance, audio ads are often less intrusive than video, while video can be more immersive. 
6. Promote your content via social media and email – Promote what you create on your social media accounts and through email campaigns. Include links in your posts and email messages, and keep your followers and subscribers in the loop when you publish new content on your website.
7. Track your success! – Use analytics and KPIs to determine how your content is performing and adjust your strategy accordingly.

Continue to Leverage Your Audio and Video Marketing

Audio and video marketing can be powerful tools for your educational institution. These channels can help you reach prospective students, family members, or friends and engage with alumni. If you’re intentional with developing an audio and video strategy, you’ll undoubtedly see significant ROI from your efforts.
It may be practical to enlist the aid of an experienced media partner to help you develop and maintain an effective strategy. In any case, you’ll help your learning institution thrive by continuing to harness the power of audio and video marketing.