Having the ability to educate others is a rare quality to be found in a pedagogue and this must be put to proper use. When I say proper use, I just do not mean education reaping financial rewards but the rewards coming in terms of social or economic change that can largely benefit the masses.
And hence it’s mandated that colleges or Universities interested in becoming the change agents must take to advertising on social media channels, one of which is Facebook. Now, how one could put Facebook ads to best use is a question that needs a thoughtful answer.
Come to think of it and targeting the demographic that would be most interested in receiving a particular kind of education is not easy by any means. That too, when there are 1.59 billion people accessing Facebook on a daily basis with a marked increase in the total number of users year after year.
But, there certainly are marketing avenues on Facebook that could help you create a niche for yourself and grow your audience in ways different than what you could think.
Now, before I discuss the top 5 Facebook ad strategies that must be given a good read by the school, college and university educators to connect with prospective students and parents from all over the world,
please be aware that Facebook provides multiple options for advertising so you can stay within your budget and yet reap maximum advantage out of Facebook ad campaigns, and especially now that Facebook has made significant changes to its algorithm, interface, messenger and videos.
Top 5 Must-Use Facebook Advertising Strategies
Know Your Audience
Facebook being as versatile as Google Adwords offers a plethora of information when it’s to do with user interest groups. From a total number of college-going undergrads in a particular college or University to those seeking part-time education after work
— all data can be accessed on Facebook — when you can create Facebook ads based on income level, age group, location, etc. The key here is — understand that if Facebook Ads are targeted poorly, it can cost you somewhere in between $2-3 per click.
Retarget Users Who Are Your Past Visitors
There are several American Universities that have utilized the Facebook Custom Audience feature of retargeting those visitors who have already enquired about their Universities.
This is one good way to generate leads as these are visitors who have visited your business page on facebook or University website and you generally have their contact information.
You can also then create Facebook Ads with ‘lookalike audiences’ that will help you expand your business presence and hence an opportunity to get the right kind of leads.
Customize Facebook Ads To Suit Different End-User Requirements
As an instructor or teacher of a particular discipline, it’s important that you create a Facebook Ad differently to reach the different interest groups. So, what may work for language department students may not work for students who are wanting to enroll in an information technology course as major.
On Facebook, you can make use of either ‘video ads’ when you can show your current students or create a carousel ad featuring images of students who were your alumni. There is also an alternative of using single image ads so rest assured, your voice will get heard in some or the other way.
Certain things that you must remember when creating the Facebook ad is — make less use of texts in images or video, make use of right specs, create closed captions, and make use of Call to Action button.
Create Unique Facebook Ads To Target Future Educationists
Imagine what will happen if you keep targeting your prospects the same way every time. If you keep bombarding the same Facebook ads, will the users not lose interest?
What if your previous ad couldn’t generate much interest in the minds of users. You call a Facebook marketing strategy a sequential retargeting when you are exposing the same target groups different kinds of ads. While you do this, remember that Universities have generated significant leads by using ‘lead magnets’ on Facebook.
A lead magnet can be any kind of marketing incentive that you offer to your prospects, for example, a knowledge resource in the form of free and downloadable PDF content, market reports, ebook, white papers, etc.
This is one of the top Facebook advertising strategies used by some of the American Universities to have higher conversion rates for their leads.
Make Use of Facebook Messenger Chatbot
A survey by the social media marketing experts reveals that people generally expect an answer to a question fast, especially if it’s a business query.
In this competitive world, what less you expect. Hence, when you make use of Facebook Messenger chatbot that is currently being accessed by 1.3 billion users gives you a great opportunity to reach your target audience with instant answers and a personalized appeal.
Remember, all that prospects or your future University students are seeking is individual attention and once their queries are cleared in the best manner possible, they are likely your most profitable prospect.
The Final Word
While those 5 Facebook advertising strategies are the best ways to attract the student prospects, it’s important that after running every Facebook campaign, you pay keen attention to your performance metrics.
The Facebook ads which generated a maximum number of leads must be compared with those that didn’t turn out to be successful to accurately measure what kind of ads are highest converters.
Making use of Facebook dashboard is highly advisable in such a scenario when you can know your cost per click, cost per impression, cost per video view, click-through-rate, etc.
Author bio– Maria is an enthusiast writer that covers the industries like, SEO writing, content writing, online marketing, and business development. Maria is a vice president of marketing and strategic insights for Solvoguru, which offers high-impact and performance-driven marketing and advertising solutions that help achieve optimum results. Visit solvoguru for more information