Pay Per Click Advertising for Higher Education

With the sheer volume of content being produced and published online, it’s becoming harder for companies — including colleges and universities — to stand out and make sure their content gets found. By using pay per click (PPC) advertising, you can target your content to potential students who are actively searching for related keywords. Additionally, PPC can help push your content to the top of the page for keywords you’re unable to rank for organically. For colleges and universities, it can be easier to reach specific groups of potential students via online advertising on platforms such as Google AdWords, Facebook and Twitter — and sometimes, even LinkedIn. In order to execute a successful pay per click (PPC) advertising campaign, there are four main points you need to consider.

1. Targeting

Using the targeting features within each ad platform can allow you to reach specific groups of potential sudents that match your target/ideal audience. Google AdWords and social media advertising platforms offer an array of different targeting options – including location, age, gender, interests and behaviors. Here are a few examples of how you might use targeting to maximize your reach:

• For student leads in the top of the funnel who are just beginning to research colleges and universities, you could target your ad that promotes an eBook about how to choose a college to males and females ages 15-17 in the United States.
• For leads in the bottom of the funnel, who are getting ready to choose a college or university to attend, you could target your ad that promotes a financial aid checklist to high school seniors ages 17-18 in the state your institution is located in.

You can also use custom targeting features to target users that have previously downloaded your content. Test different combinations of each platform’s targeting features to see which gives you the best results.

2. Seasonal Campaigns

You can also maximize your online advertising efforts by running special, seasonal campaigns. For example, leading up to the admissions season, it would be a good idea to put a little more of your budget towards an ad that promotes your college application eBook, while waiting until late winter and early spring to amp up your budget for an ad that promotes your financial aid checklist.

However, your seasonal campaigns shouldn’t be limited a couple of ads promoting a select few specific pieces of content. For a truly successful campaign, ads should support the larger efforts of your blogging, email marketing and social posting.

3. Tracking & Reporting

Tracking data and metrics is critical to determining where your money is best spent. For best results, ads should send users to a landing page with a call-to-action (CTA) to get the best click though rate. You should also consider using a tracking URL or code though a marketing automation platform to track the number of conversions on your landing page and the source they came from. Keep track of these results with regular reporting so you can easily see identify your best performing ads.

4. Budgeting Wisely

This is where the importance of tracking and reporting comes in, because you want to spend more where more happens. When determining your best performing ad, consider things like reach, clicks and conversions. When determining your budget, you’ll also want to take into consideration what your competitors are spending and ideally, make sure your budget is competitive.

Learn more about how you can increase your admissions with inbound marketing, and how PPC advertising can play a part in that, in our white paper. You can also email us at highered@pyxl.com for more information!

Updated: Apr 13, 2022