By Dustin Brock 
Digital marketing is a term used to describe how brand strategy can be used online in order to make the business more successful. It is a process used to market or promote a company or product to the customer including customizing content and overseeing the entire experience. It targets potential customers directly and allows for the customer to interact in more ways than before. This can lead to better quality relationships with customers leading to greater loyalty, sales and profits which makes it a profitable option for companies wanting to increase brand awareness and have a competitive edge over similar businesses.
The ease of digital marketing has made it very popular for schools, colleges and universities to use this medium for promoting their institution and also for attracting prospective students. The education sector is one of the sectors which has been quite late to implement digital marketing principles for their business. With the popularity of digital marketing, most companies are moving to digital marketing as a means of promoting and expanding their business activities.
Ways to Digital Marketing Help Education Sector Grow:
1. Attracting More Prospective Students
One of the main reasons for implementing digital marketing strategies for the education sector is to attract more prospective students and help colleges and universities stay competitive. With the increase in use of mobile phones, especially smartphones, most people prefer to access information using their phone rather than using a laptop. These apps offer information on school fees, admission procedures, examination results, distance between college and place of residence. Students can access this information at any time and anywhere they wish.
2. Increasing Customer Satisfaction
Digital marketing has helped schools and colleges reach out to their prospective students in a very efficient manner. They can send important information about their institution such as the admission information, examination schedules, result notifications to the personal email ids and mobile phones. This facility provides students with prompt communication which increases customer satisfaction. The student is able to know what is happening in their college and also knows the date of examinations and other activities in the college. This can lead to better work experience for the staff leading to greater customer satisfaction and increased profitability for the organization.
3. Helps Colleges Increase Brand Awareness
Digital marketing strategies are used by schools, colleges and universities to promote their institution among prospective students, teachers and parents through customized content like videos, pictures or facts about the institution on social media sites and also through online forums. This content will be customised to cater for the requirement of the user based on the preferences and interests. This can increase customer awareness about the institution which can help them decide on their choice of school and it will be easier for them to communicate with their teachers even if they are unable to visit the premises in person.
4. Improves Financial Performance
As digital marketing strategies help colleges and universities reach out to prospective students and stay competitive in the market, it can help them enhance their financial performance. The use of digital marketing strategies can help attract more prospective students and also make the college or university known in the market. If a student has opted for technical education and then visited your colleges, they will remember the website they visited and this will be advantageous to the organization in future. This strategy can help colleges keep a check on the number of students joining the institution, the reasons why they choose your institution and in return this will help you increase your revenue.
5. Increases Work Experience
Digital marketing strategies are used by schools, colleges and universities to enhance the work experience for their staff. They can research about the institutions using online forums and social media websites, share these details with their peers, interact with prospective students and prepare various forms of knowledge material which can be used by teachers in their classrooms. This will help them improve their level of work experience which will lead to higher sales and better profits leading to greater growth.
6. Improves Relocation Services
A lot of businesses, colleges and universities provide relocation services to their customers. This is because most people prefer to relocate from other states to a new location and this process can be very tedious. Many websites provide free relocation services which are limited in terms of space. These institutions can create a digital marketing strategy to attract their prospective students. They can customize the content for their prospective students like videos, photos and facts about the college, campus and its placement facilities leading to more opportunities for the students who choose your institution.
7. Improves Communication With Prospective Students
Digital marketing strategies are used by schools, colleges and universities to communicate with their prospective students. The use of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter gives them an opportunity to communicate directly with their prospective students. This helps them build a more personal relationship with their customers leading to more opportunities for growth in the long run. This can lead to a higher rate of acceptance among the general public which can benefit the organization greatly in terms of increased brand awareness and customer loyalty.
8. Increases Probability of Acceptance
Digital marketing strategies are used by schools, colleges and universities to increase the probability of acceptance by prospective students. They can customize their content for their prospective students and make it personal. The students will be able to know more about the institution through their website which leads to increased chances of acceptance. This can lead to greater work experience among the staff which also leads to more customer loyalty.
9. Helps Students Improve Level of Knowledge
Digital marketing strategies are used by schools, colleges and universities to improve the level of knowledge among their prospective students leading them to better performance in exams and other competitive examinations leading them towards an improved career with better job opportunities in future. This can also help students prepare for competitive examinations outside India. This will lead to a better level of work experience among the staff leading to better training which will benefit both teacher and student alike.
10. Helps Attract Prospective Students
Digital marketing strategies are used by schools, colleges and universities to attract more prospective students. Most people search for institutions on social media sites and videos posted by other students on YouTube which can help them decide their choice of institution. The use of digital marketing strategies helps the institution reach out to a wider range of audience in a very efficient manner with limited expenditure and this increases their profitability leading to greater growth in the future.
11. Helps Students Prepare for Competitive Exams
Digital marketing strategies help schools, colleges and universities to engage the students in preparing for competitive examinations. They can create customised videos which will help them prepare better for competitive exams by providing a more personal level of interaction between the student and their teacher. This will also help them communicate with their teachers with a better level of work experience and this helps them to evaluate their performance. This results in better preparation and higher expected grades leading to enhanced success.
12. Helps Promote Exam Preparation
Digital marketing strategies are used by schools, colleges and universities to promote exam preparation among their staff members leading to increased attendance rate among employees which ultimately results in improved productivity. This helps students prepare and monitor their performance in their exams and this leads to better grades and enhanced success.
13. Improves Job Opportunities
Digital marketing strategies are used by schools, colleges and universities to improve their job opportunities among their staff. The use of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter helps them share the best of information available online which helps them choose their career path leading to higher chances of work experience. This will lead to better chances of promotions and growth in the future which can help them make money and develop personal relationships with their customers leading to greater business profits.
Conclusions:
Digital marketing helps schools, colleges and universities to stay competitive in the market. It allows them to reach out to prospective students in a better manner as compared to through traditional advertising methods. It provides an opportunity for the institution to build relationships with their prospective students even before they join the college and is a crucial strategy which can ensure that students stay loyal towards the institution. This helps them improve their level of knowledge and prepare for competitive exams. This also helps institutions to increase their chances of acceptance which enriches their brand and encourages prospective students to choose them over other institutions.