Businesses everywhere are beginning to understand the full potential of influencer marketing. For those of you who are not quite sure of what influencer marketing is, it is a form of marketing that targets influencers, or industry experts who have the power to influence potential customers.
This is a very powerful marketing strategy because influencer marketing can make or break your brand. Influencers are credible and trustworthy experts in their specific fields and their opinions matter to customers.
Influencer marketing has a lot of scope in different industries. Surprisingly, it has an important role to play in the educational sector as well.
Colleges and universities are forever trying to compete against each other to win over students. Some universities are more successful than others.
What we are going to look at is how universities can attract students with the help of influencers.
The buyer persona
Like for any marketing, the buyer persona is the most important aspect in marketing your product. Even if it is a university.
You need appeal to the right emotions when you are using influencer marketing. There is no place for broad and generic campaigns. Instead, you should be able to connect with influencers and connect with them.
For instance, if you are promoting a MBA program, simply saying that your university offers some of the best business programs is very generic. A number of other business schools probably use the same tag line. Instead, if you say that your program is the best for students who are working, you are likely to better target your influencer market.
Tell a story
Influencer marketing is mainly dependent on the experiences you offer a student as a university. Instead of going with the usual method of listing down the available facilities, tell a story that catches the attention of your target influencer market. Talk about the rich experience that your university offers and how, moving forward, it will benefit potential students.
Throw in some well-worded testimonials. It should be natural and creative and should come from the heart. It should identify with a student mindset and should not look like a marketing tactic.
Connect with the right influencers through the right platform
You need to find the right influencers for the programs that are offered at your universities. Is it a younger market or an older market? Are you looking for students with certain skill sets? There are so many more questions, the answer to which will help you narrow down the right influencers.
Once you have your desired influencer profile, you need to connect with them through the right platforms. For instance, a younger target market will pay more attention when you reach out through Instagram, Snapchat, Tumblr, and so on. Influencer marketing platforms like iFluenz can help you spot the perfect influencers for your campaign.
Listen in to conversations that revolve around your university and the graduate programs you offer. This way, you can get a better sense of who is the right fit for your plans.
Connect with industry influencers
The best way to progress with influencer marketing is to take the help of industry influencers. Students who are aspiring to work in a specific industry look up to certain role models. Connecting with these role models and having them speak on your behalf is a powerful marketing tool that can attract a large number of potential students. Any positive note from these industry experts can go a long way in establishing your credibility.
You can also organize seminars by these industry experts during the tour of the university for prospective students. A large number of students are likely to attend these seminars which can prove to be helpful for your university.