Education marketing rarely ends with one click.
A prospective student might find a course months before applications close, come back during an open day, compare several providers and only decide when an intake deadline gets close. Parents, employers and others often have a say as well.
That changes how campaigns need to be measured. An enquiry in March may turn into an enrolment months later, and the channel that first created interest may not be the one that finally led to the application.
Pulse has worked with universities, continuing education and adult learning providers, using paid media, SEO, websites, content and reporting to connect marketing activity with applications and enrolments.
Education organisations with different courses, audiences and enrolment cycles.
Our education work has included university faculties, short-course programs, adult education and academic research projects.
Some are recruiting students into a fixed intake. Others need to build demand for short courses throughout the year. Some need a better website or content structure before spending more on acquisition.
The plan depends on how long the decision takes, what an enrolment is worth and how much information someone needs before applying.
A course can be discovered weeks or months before someone is ready to enrol.
People compare subject matter, course structure, delivery format, price, dates, reputation and the outcomes they expect. For bigger commitments they may come back to the website several times before getting in touch.
So campaigns can’t be judged only on this week’s form submissions. The real question is whether the marketing is bringing the right students into the pipeline early enough to fill the next intake.
Three things usually shape the strategy.
The intake date changes everything
Education campaigns have a real deadline. Demand has to build early enough for people to research, compare and enrol before the intake closes.
Not every course has the same buyer
A professional short course, an undergraduate degree and an adult-learning class can sit inside the same institution and attract completely different people.
An enquiry is not an enrolment
Reporting needs to follow people further than the first lead. Applications, enrolments and course revenue matter more than form submissions.
The channels are familiar. How they work together changes with the course, the audience and the intake.
Search ads reach people already looking for a specific qualification, course or skill.
We structure campaigns around the actual course portfolio, with each course or group of courses treated on its own terms, and shift budget as enrolment deadlines approach.
Search-term data also shows how prospective students describe what they want, which helps improve landing pages and organic content.
Education websites can run to hundreds or thousands of pages, so structure matters.
Course pages need to answer the questions people search before applying. Supporting content can cover career outcomes, prerequisites, delivery options and how programs differ.
SEO also helps earlier in the decision, before someone is ready to search for a specific provider.
Meta and other paid social channels can create demand before someone starts searching.
They work best when there’s a strong story to tell about the course, the people teaching it or what students go on to do.
For longer decisions, remarketing keeps the institution visible between the first visit and the enrolment deadline.
A prospective student may download a guide, attend an event or ask a question long before applying.
CRM and marketing automation keep those people connected to the institution without relying on staff to remember every follow-up.
The aim is to send useful information at the right point in the enrolment journey.
Examples from our education case studies.
Strategy, SEO, Google Ads, Facebook campaigns and reporting dashboards to promote a suite of continuing-education short courses.
A website redesign, SEO, Google Ads and paid social for a not-for-profit adult education provider. The case study reports student enrolments up 18.7% and revenue up 32% year on year.
A branding refresh, a new website with a content hub and podcast integration, and scrollytelling for Impact Studios at UTS.
A video for the Darlinghurst Public History Initiative, produced with Studio Little Frames for UTS Advancement.
Pulse is an independent marketing agency based in Surry Hills, Sydney. We work with businesses and organisations across a range of industries, combining strategy, creative and digital marketing to help them grow.
Every business is different. If you’d like to talk about what could work for yours, get in touch.