Did you know that 89% of Generation Z, 86% of Millenials, 68% of Generation X, and 52% of Baby Boomers use channels like YouTube to watch video content at least once a week? Over the last few years, social media channels such as Snapchat, Tik Tok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube have curved their way in the world of online marketing. The introduction of live video recording, ads in video formats, Instagram or Facebook stories has made videos one of the most excellent marketing tools in which any company can invest. Since students prefer watching videos, higher education institutions should make good use of video marketing.

Read on to know some of the benefits of video marketing and why it should be an important part of your marketing strategy.

What is Video Marketing?

They say that a picture is worth at least a thousand words. Going by this statement, then you may have to multiply that number by another thousand to get how much more worthy videos are. This is the foundation of video marketing.

Video marketing is the art of using clips, motion art, or videos to promote and market your brand; The right video marketing strategy is a powerful marketing tool that will engage your audience effectively and sell your products or services.

You can use videos to educate, promote, advertise, and tell people more about your institution. With proper planning and creativity, higher education institutions can create high-quality marketing videos that will capture the attention of their target audience.

Why Video Content is a Valuable Asset

Video is a very versatile medium of communication. It is richer than images and text content alone, and this makes it king, especially when it comes to social media engagement. Videos are also more accessible than other form of content.

Through videos, an institution can communicate their values and show off their campus using various forms of technology such as VR and give students an almost real feel of the campus.

Videos can also show the values of campus and provide more insight into programs offered and the community.

Since videos account for the most significant percentage of internet traffic, they can offer institutions one of the biggest marketing tools that they can have.

Today, universities and colleges can use them to turn leads into applications, offer support to their students, educate prospective students, and increase website visits.

Benefits of Video Marketing

Videos provide a quick and entertaining way to keep your audience engaged.

They have four distinct powers that make them a great marketing tool: They have the power to deliver information in a way that is easy to consume, speak to a viewer’s emotions, are perceived to be more valuable than text, and are very clear and efficient.

Some of the benefits of this marketing tool include:

1. They Help SEO

Search engines such as Google loves videos. If you create a high-quality and optimized video, search engines can deliver it to your audience fast.

When creating a video for your institution, you should write strong titles and descriptions, engage a thumbnail, place it on a relevant web page, more SEO strategies and choose the right platform to post them.

Doing this will increase organic traffic to your website or social media sites, and this will increase your return on investment.

2. Videos Boost Conversion Rates

A good video can affect a viewer’s behavior and influence their buying rate. If you place your video in an email or a landing page, it can increase the click-through rate to as much as 300%.

This will increase how you rank in SERPs and boost your conversion. You may also want to audit your website to know its SEO report.

3. They Work Well With Smart Phones

53% of children and 84% of teenagers in the United States have smartphones which they use to access the internet. Since videos work well with different devices and screens, your target audience will access the content easily via their smartphones.

Remember, videos are compelling and tend to grab people’s attention. You can be sure that they will not miss your ad or scroll past it as they use their phones.

4. Videos Encourage Social Shares

Videos are very interactive. Their visuals, tone, and information are easy to digest and can be fun too. They stimulate a natural sense of human interaction, and this means that they can be quickly shared across social media platforms.

Product and services video ads are helpful in a consumer’s decision-making process. A good and engaging video can trend fast on social media platforms, and this can encourage more students to visit your site or check out your institution.

5. People Love Videos

A recent study showed that people spend about 100 minutes a day watching videos online. Consumers also prefer video content over text on social media platforms.

While a trending Tik Tok challenge may not showcase your institution as good as you may want, the right video is still a huge ROI because it will get to your target.

6. The Showcase Personality

Though words through texts can convey personality and information, videos get the job done more directly and fashionably.

A video can allow a dean, student body president, principal, director, and any other person in the institution to showcase and establish their personality within a few minutes.

This can quickly build trust with both prospective and existing students. The trick is to have someone speak about the university with a great voice, friendly demeanor, and a magnetic personality that draws the attention of people and puts them at ease.

7. Videos Build Brands

The right video marketing strategy for a higher education institution can help build its brand’s identity. Note that a series of shorter and compelling videos will work best in building your brand and getting you the attention you need.

With proper planning and creativity, your institution can create videos that amaze your prospective students and urge them to be part of your brand. With the help of a good video marketing services provider, your videos can be what you need to sell your brand.

8. It is Part of Getting a Sales and Marketing Degree

One of the benefits of using videos as a marketing tool in a learning institution is that sales and marketing are part of some curriculums. It will give learners a hands-on approach and a chance to experience it.

It will help students learn and understand the connection between product development, innovation, and creativity and how best they can use them to create a powerful marketing tool.

Graduates in such programs will know how to achieve market goals, put video marketing to work, and create effective marketing strategies while still in school.

Video Marketing Strategies for Higher Education

While this is one of the best marketing tools that you can use to market your institution, you will still need to learn the right strategies to use to make them increase your conversion rates and ROI.

Here are some of the strategies that higher education institutions can use:

1. Shoppable Social Media Videos

These are the types of videos that direct a prospective applicant to different pages or websites where they can download a prospectus or submit an inquiry.

Though shoppable videos are more common in the e-commerce industry, they are also applicable in institutions because they can quickly direct students and prospective students on where to find what they need.

For example, you can create a short video for Instagram or Facebook to showcase a particular faculty and include a link to the application form.

You can also publish a video with testimonials from one or two alumnus encouraging students to apply to the university and link to a page that contains more information about the institution.

2. Virtual Reality Campus Tours

Students like to feel part of an institution even before enrolling with them. This is why several students spend a lot of time on the road just to take a college tour.

Thanks to technology and VR, students can tour the campus and have a check out all the physical details about it from the comfort of their homes.

Virtual tours give institutions a chance to show off their campus, values, vibes, and culture and can make the prospective student feel connected to it. This is also one of the best ways to market the school to international students.

To get the best out of VR, you may want to consider getting the VR content in front of your target audience as early as possible. It would be best if you also allowed existing students to navigate the faculty and lead each section of the mini-tour.

When you create personal connections virtually, you will also connect with the prospect on a more emotional level. This is impossible to achieve through brochures and any other text content.

3. Over The Top Video ads (OTT)

OTT refers to creating adverts that are delivered in a particular way. Such as do not need to be literally over the top or dramatic but are directed to viewers through streaming video services across various devices such as smart TVs, tablets, or smartphones on the internet.

These ads are referred to over the top because they go beyond traditional TV advert providers. The ads use data-driven targeting to ensure that they get to the right audience. This eliminates waste and drives up engagement and relevance.

Your institution’s marketing team can streamline your geographical reach to the prospectus in a certain area and focus on specific age groups and several other variables.

Though this strategy is underutilized, it is one of the best strategies that any institution can use to get to the right target.

4. Personalized Video Content

Prospective students expect higher education institutions to offer them a certain level of personalization. Today, casting your net wide or having one recruitment video fits all students may no longer cut it.

Personalized videos will help to nurture relationships with prospective students and can also increase click-through rates. When using videos to win over a prospect, you should leverage all the information you have about them and create and send them a personal video.

Once you have accepted a student in your campus of faculty, you can create videos that include:

• Individual acceptance videos
• An explainer of the application process
• Scholarship or financial aid explainers
• Academic tutor introductions
• Personalized campus tours
• Alumni office
• Admission and enrolment
• Welcome to campus videos
• Commencement

To ensure that such videos are relevant and effective, you should have a foundation to work from and an admissions platform that will help you create and share personalized content at every step of the journey.

Remember, the toughest part of video marketing for student recruitment is the recruitment funnel. This is where you can blend in videos through the whole process.

From the first outreach video to several other trailers to showcase the campus and increase interest, you need to get it right the first time.
Be careful not to saturate your website, and social media account with irrelevant videos.

Always start by creating a strong story and building the rest around it. Keep in mind that the first video about the institution can determine if your target audience will want to view more content from you.

As higher learning institutions’ admissions are becoming more competitive, it is important to leverage powerful marketing tools such as the video market to grasp the attention of prospective students.

Make Videos Part of your Institutions Marketing Tools

Innovate marketing strategies such as VR, engaging explainers, and more are some of the benefits of video marketing for higher education that can help institutions get more applications.

Do you want to create the best videos for your institution that will increase your ranking in SERPs and get to your target audience?

At Local Finder, we create high-quality online marketing campaigns, including video marketing campaigns and digital solutions that will ensure you reach your target.

Get in touch with us today and take your brand to the next level through digital campaigns and video marketing.