Category: Social media

The birth of a “higher education influencer”

“In March 2021 Z.J. started livestreaming from Chicago area universities on WeChat and immediately found it was a big hit”

The world of international higher education recruitment has traditionally been a very analogue affair. Typically, a representative from a university will do a tour of a region of the world and dutifully set up a table in the lunchroom or another high traffic area in the hopes of attracting the attention of students who may both be interested in learning about their university and speak English well enough to engage in a discussion.

Information is shared via brochures and websites and students are left to fill in the rest with their imagination or via online searches until they have a chance to visit in person.

However, during the pandemic and with a mission to pivot his already successful tourism and commerce marketing business, Z.J. Tong found a way to bring the schools into the phones, and homes, of China. Witness, the birth of a “higher education influencer”.

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Designing learning experiences for Generation Z

“They understand the need for a practical and marketable skill set”

Gen Z was born between 1997 and the early 2010s and are now in high school, university, or looking for their first job. They grew up during the 2008 recession. Their older friends entered the workforce juggling a few part time roles serving the needs of the on-demand economy.

The last year has seen Gen Z’s time at high school, university or their first job disturbed by the global pandemic. Potentially there is also a post-pandemic recession brewing which will further affect their future career opportunities.

In order to tap into their interest in online education and cater to their needs, learning needs to meet three criteria: be affordable, mobile-first and help them future-proof their careers. Hanna Celina, director of insights at FutureLearn.com, explains.

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The secret behind Tik Tok success every student marketer needs to know

“You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, but you do need to think about how your content will work on Tik Tok”

Do you ever find yourself giving Tik Tok one quick look and being totally overwhelmed by the confusing dance routines and ‘Mr Sandman challenges’? Don’t worry, you’re not alone, writes Eleana Davidson, marketing executive at Akero and Natives.

Frantic, fast-moving and creative, Tik Tok is the natural home of Gen Z. But how to include it in your student marketing is a whole other ball game. So what if we told you that there’s a way to access the estimated 200 million+ UK 16-25 year olds currently on Tik Tok and get your brand in front of them in a place where they’re already hyper-engaged and receptive.

In an efficient, simple, clever way, harnessing the know-how of experts 10 years in the student marketing game. All while being cost-efficient and result-guaranteed. Yes, you’d probably say it sounds too good to be true. But it’s not – and it really works.

Let’s take a look at the challenges all student marketers face at one time or another, and give you the secret to overcoming them.

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Common mistakes when marketing to Chinese students

“Reaching Chinese students is easier said than done in a highly unique digital ecosystem in which many large universities have failed”

China remains the top source of international students globally with over 600,000 Chinese students leaving the country in 2017 to pursue an education overseas.

The US, Australia, the UK and Canada are still the most popular study destination countries, but the competition and interest for countries such as France, Germany and the Netherlands are growing. Add to that political factors impacting international student recruitment such as the Trump effect and Brexit, and it is clear that universities need to work harder to attract Chinese international students to their institutions.

However, reaching and marketing to Chinese international students is easier said than done in a highly unique digital ecosystem in which many large universities have failed.

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Finessing the digital marketing campaign

“International universities are pushing boundaries in a bid to keep students, the public and educators interested”

Digital engagement has become the number one priority in international education. A dynamic, and rapidly expanding sector, #intled has moved from a humble advert in a newspaper to daily hashtags and ed tech galore.

International universities and organisations no longer feel the need to toe the line of conventional marketing; they are pushing the boundaries of the new, in a bid to keep students, the public and educators interested.

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Project-Management Tools To Help International Students

“Great project management tools will help students save time, break language barriers, and communicate in real time”

There’s no question that managing multiple school projects simultaneously, whether personal or with a group, can be challenging. International students may find this more difficult as they face language barriers and time differences if they travel home at any point during an academic term.

Luckily, there are several tools online that can assist students in making productivity a reality. Trello, Slack, and Asana are all 100% online and give students the ability to track progress wherever they go.
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Getting the Most from Educational Marketing

“We’ve seen a significant rise in ad spend for social media and the like, yet direct mail is still proving successful”

First impressions count when it comes to educational marketing. In this week’s PIE Blog Jason Sullock, marketing manager at UK mailing house Washington Direct Mail discusses the potential for direct mail and how you can get the most from your strategy.

Educational marketing is critical to boosting the profile of your school and encouraging those prospects to visit.

In the digital age, we’ve seen a significant rise in ad spend for social media and the like, yet direct mail is still proving successful. We live in a world where 269 billion emails are sent per day, with the number expected to rise to a staggering 333 billion.

The increasing chance of losing consumers due to email marketing getting lost in the sea of junk mail is growing, and the change is occurring.

“In 2018, the likes of Facebook and even Google opted to incorporate direct mail into their marketing”

Multi-Channel Integration

Nevertheless, we certainly cannot undermine the success rate for online advertising. However, place the two communication methods together and you have a force that is, quite literally, unstoppable. The sheer number of people you can target is astonishing, and multi-channel integration has also proven its success rate, lifting response rates by an impressive 118%.
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How the Vietnamese Use the Internet, Including Social Media

“Since most young Vietnamese, including those planning to study overseas, are online, one question to ask yourself is: how big is your digital footprint in Viet Nam?”

With 57 million active social media users, it comes as no surprise that most Vietnamese get their news from the Internet. Mark Ashwill, managing director of educational consulting company Capstone Vietnam delves deeper into the country’s online habits.

In a population of about 96 million, 64 million Vietnamese are online, which adds up to a remarkable Internet penetration rate of 67%, according to the new 2018 Global Digital suite of reports from We Are Social and Hootsuite.

57 million of them are active social media users, a penetration rate of 57%.  To put this in perspective there were 204,125 Vietnamese online in 2000 and nearly 21 million in just eight years.

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Social media in a crisis

“Contacting people via social media in a crisis situation is the quickest way to determine safety and whereabouts, especially when there are thousands of miles between you”

If crisis strikes when students are overseas, how can institutions check they’re ok? Email is just too slow, writes Mandy Reinig, director of study away at Virginia Wesleyan College and founder of the social media consultancy Mandy’s Mashups. She explains how social media can help to reach students who might otherwise fall off the radar.

Most people in the field of international education now understand the importance of social media in communicating with students. However, many have yet to harness its power in crisis situations. The world today has become an increasingly volatile place where the unexpected can occur at any moment. As such it is important to be able to have a means of contacting your students to determine their whereabouts and their safety status. Unfortunately, email, and even phone calls, cannot be relied on as the sole or even a reliable means of communication due to the fact that students often do not check their email regularly and in major events phone lines can be down for hours.
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