As a consumer browsing through social media or searching on YouTube, don't you love watching a video? It catches your eye, most times you don't even need to put the sound on (if there are captions), and you don't need to click over to another page to watch/read it. Yet videos are most often one of the last forms of content produced as part of a marketing strategy. Yes, they can take time to produce and a small team is less likely to have this talent in-house. But if done correctly they can be valuable to an enrollment marketing strategy.
I was recently part of a project to create short videos to run as Facebook ads for a few universities. They're meant to build awareness for the universities when people are at the consideration stage looking around at degrees. These were the only videos a potential student would interact with from these universities. There is a huge opportunity to leverage video all along a potential student's journey to enrollment.
At the end of 2019, 81% of U.S. internet users between the ages of 15 and 25 used YouTube. 71% for people 26-35 years old. YouTube's popularity shouldn't be ignored. Universities and professional development course providers can get into people's searches by creating lightly branded ads when they are in the exciting exploratory stage. For example, an institution offering nursing degrees can create a "should I become a nurse" video optimized for YouTube search.
Further down the journey, after a potential student inquires about a program, video can be used to tell your story in a 2-3 minute brand video. The, get them excited when you accept them with a video that congratulates them and highlights why they should choose to attend. Along the inquire stage, the admissions team or an automated email series can send videos to prospective students to get them excited about the program highlighting successful students and alumni. Finally, when they enroll, a personalized welcome video can assure them they made the right decision.
Video is a powerful medium for connecting with a buyer. By sharing videos with potential students along the enrollment marketing journey, you're providing more opportunities to showcase your brand personality and benefits. And if you plan ahead of time and get a video production team involved early you can find an efficient way to create videos for less cost than creating them one by one.
