Getting more students to apply with your college during the enrolment season is not just about convincing them that you are the best choice. You need to market your college to parents as well, given how vested they are in their children’s future. Parents not only care about the kind of courses, faculty and facilities your institution has, but they also want to ensure that their money (if they are funding their kids’ education) is well-spent. So, taking their priorities into account is as important as addressing the needs of students. Here are some ways to do that:
- Give your website the edge it needs – Be it the design, layout, or content, your website needs to be in shipshape to attract and retain parents. It should be easy to navigate and view on mobile devices too, so that busy parents or those who are not too tech-savvy can find out everything easily. Make sure you include top-notch images, videos and Collage virtual tours to give them an exciting experience. A virtual tour is especially realistic, immersive, and can make it easy to promote your college to parents. Include powerful and sensible calls-to-action as well, like “Talk to the Admin”, “Schedule a Visit”, “Parent Testimonials”, “Download Form” and so on. Add social media buttons in such a way that they are clearly visible, so that parents can follow you on other channels if they want to. You can have a dedicated page for parents too, where they can find all the relevant information in one go.
- Make emails work – When it is a matter of marketing to parents, emails work really well since they convey serious intent. Plus, working parents can easily keep track of your mails besides the others that they receive daily. They can forward yours to their children as well, which is bound to get you more interest and engagement. After all, when a student sees that your college seems worthy to the parents, they will be more likely to apply. Just make sure you customize the email to address parents and their usual concerns. So, from tuition fees and financial aid to the locality of the campus, nearby facilities, medical aid, and potential employers who approach your college during the placement season, cover things that parents are keen on. You can also add links to your social media pages, virtual tours or application form at the end of the mail.
Read – 4 Sure-Shot Ways to Attract International Students to Your University - Create parent-centric ads and target smartly – Creating Google and Facebook ads are among the best tips to market your college to parents. Make sure you forge an emotional bond through these by focusing on how getting into your college will help their children get good grades, bag awesome jobs, live a healthy life and become socially smart. Most parents of high-school students head to Google whenever they need some information and are active on Facebook. So, creating the right ads for these platforms will help you get their attention. When it comes to targeting, you can go for those who are 35 years and above or zero in on those whose budget matches your fees. The ads can be shown to those who have visited your college’s website before but not taken an action or read blogs on how to handle teenagers or the empty-nester syndrome. They are most likely to have children who are ready for college.
- Get blogging and social media posting right – Among the college marketing ideas that work for parents, blogging and posting on social media channels rank high. Most parents look forward to detailed how-to guides, checklists and vlogs that showcase campus life, admission procedure, scholarship applications and so on. Many are interested in what extracurricular activities their kids can participate in or what kind of part-time jobs are available in the community. So, crafting informative, original and interesting blog or social media posts can get you parents’ attention. Keep it simple yet engaging and experiment with multiple content formats. For instance, memes, GIFs, graphs and slides can do the trick apart from more text-heavy blog posts or articles. Even if you are focused on text, make sure you include high-quality visuals. Infographics are another great way to hook parents who want to consume information quickly or on the go.
So, are you ready to market your college to parents and win them as well the students over? It’s time to get all your communication and marketing materials sorted. And if you need help with images, videos or virtual tours, shoot us an email at info@massinteract.com.
Read – 5 ways to Assure Students That your College is Perfect for Them
