Education Marketing in Red Rail

Marketing for schools, colleges and universities (and the education sector in general) is a huge part of the promotions and advertising world and an area we have particular experience in at PromoMedia.

The education establishments we work with are mainly looking to attract new students or improve the image of their establishment with the general public. They are often looking to carry out marketing across a wide range of media platforms to attract the attention of potential students and their parents.

At PromoMedia we know that advert placement is very important, as is conveying your ethos and learning aims, and to achieve this there are a number of options you can choose from depending on the demographics of your potential students as well as where you are based.  

Every nursery, school, college or university has their own unique selling point (USP) and this is always at the forefront of any educational campaign we do. Whether your educational strength comes from your Ofsted ratings, exam results, your geographical location, the diversity of your courses, a strong ethos or heritage, we look to build these positive messages into the campaigns we deliver. We love to show you off.

Marketing in the education sector is not “one-size fits all”, so we treat each client individually, listening to the learning goals, the history and ambitions of your organisation, your target demographic and locations so that we can achieve the best returns. 

If you would like to learn more about promoting your local nursery, school, college, sixth form or university as well as their surrounding area, with us then get in touch today via the form on this page and we can discuss your aims and ambitions.

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What is Education Advertising?

Put simply it is the marketing of educational establishments, these typically include: 

• Schools

• Colleges

• Pre-schools

• Nurseries

• Universities

• Sixth forms

If you are looking to advertise in this sector contact us today for more information and free quotes on a variety of suitable options. 

Which Media Platforms Work Best for Schools?

As a specialist full-service media agency and with an extensive history of working on education sector campaigns PromoMedia can help you to put together a comprehensive and bespoke marketing plan which incorporates a variety of different media platforms.

Options are wide for education marketing in Red Rail but we find visual mediums with mass impact are very effective when targeting this audience. In light of this, we often look to outdoor - buses, trains stations and shopping centres – all of these allow you to target specific geographical places with a high footfall of students, young people and parents.

Also in a society heavily influenced by social interactions and apps (which encourage selfies and image sharing), campaigns that hit on these pulse points, feel modern and relevant, and help to generate greater engagement and response; this is achieved through online options.

The best starting point for marketing your educational organisation is to get in contact and once we have discussed your vision and budget we can use our expertise to put together a campaign to target your audience at the Right Time, Right Place and Right Price.

How Do I Promote My School, Sixth Form, College or University?

We frequently get asked by people in education “How do I promote my school, college or university?”

Well, in simplistic terms we always say a balance of media platforms can produce better results. However, as campaigns for educational organisations are often centred around attracting new young students, thinking about their behaviours (what they read, where they socialise, how they travel etc. is key), such as the below: 

Outdoor Advertising for Education

As mentioned we often find that outdoor advertising on buses, trains, bus stops and in town centres works well. locations for billboards are also worth thinking about, with those next to key retailers and near the education centres performing well e.g. sixth form colleges who promote closest to secondary schools have good results (particularly those schools who don’t have sixth form college of their own).

Outdoor advertising allows you to target your audience based on the places they are most likely to frequent so designing a campaign that places your advert around busy retail areas, shopping centres, fast food outlets, leisure and community spaces will attract the best possible sightings over the longest time-frame. For more information specifically on outdoor advertising visit - here - to see how this form of marketing could help your organisation.

Advertising for Education on Public Transport

Students are very mobile and use all means of public transport as well as travelling on foot, therefore advertising on public transport yields high levels of success. Advertising inside buses, trains and tubes is very effective as it appeals to a very captive audience but you should also consider the wider areas surrounding these locations such as station platforms and concourses, retail areas within stations and underground stations.

Escalator advertising on the tube reaches a very captive audience over a slightly more prolonged period, so by having repetitive posters alongside a moving escalator you can be confident that your advert will be seen at some point through everyone’s journey.

Schools, sixth forms, colleges and universities need to appeal to young people from any background or demographic, so this form of broad marketing is a great way to reach passengers, people on the street and other users of public transport. Designing a campaign that hits several of these media platforms will guarantee a high rate of visibility and in turn generate the best impact and return.

Marketing for the Education Sector on Billboards

Here at PromoMedia, we are experts in billboard advertising which provides an excellent platform for educational establishments. This is because the imagery used in outdoor ads can “tell a story” about who you are and create engagement and positive impressions on your target market. The artwork used can effectively portray the values and ethos of your educational establishment, communicated visually through images of happy students, teachers, great facilities, facts and figures etc. With various sized posters and billboards, you can decide how much information you want to show.

The most successful billboards are found at busy junctions or on busy routes where traffic is often stopped. This means it can be seen from the top deck of a bus, drivers waiting at traffic lights, people walking by, a passenger on the school run etc. The locations used are really key and we can offer a wide variety of options and advice, hand-picking locations and routes where you can target the widest cross-section of your community. 

Our expert PromoMedia planners are based across the country so can secure brilliant locations and costs in any area. To discuss the advantages of the different outdoor advertising options available get in contact with us today.

Education Marketing with Radio Advertising

We work with the major UK commercial radio stations as well as the smaller regional ones so if you’re planning to do a radio campaign for your nursery, school, college or further education establishment, we can advise you on the best stations to target the right area and audience. Identifying the key audience demographics and geography to suit your marketing campaign will enable you to select the best radio station. At PromoMedia we find radio to be hugely successful in education and it’s surprisingly cost-effective due to its mass reach.  

The one key thing about radio is that listeners are listening because they choose to, therefore in using this medium it will provide you with instant audience engagement. You can also select times of day, perhaps targeting the morning “school run” or evening and weekends when potential students are likely to be listening in their leisure time.

Press Advertising

Advertising in newspapers and magazines (known as press marketing) is one of the most effective mediums of advertising in the UK and is very popular with the education sector because of its wide appeal and reach. 

Press advertising is a popular strategy in the education sector because of its continued success. Newspaper advertisements are perfect for recruiting new students and you’ll see a wide cross-section of education establishments already advertising in newspapers, as well as magazines targeted at particular age groups. By selecting the right publication you can specifically target your core market of students, or you may even want to attract people back into education (who may be looking for a change in their work or career) either way there are options for all these, whether local, national or regional. 

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Frequently Asked Questions 

1. “We are a higher education establishment looking to reach out and attract prospective students, at the moment we do a lot of social media and some digital marketing (mainly email marketing), are you able to help us to put together a broader marketing campaign?” Yes, digital marketing and social media is an important part of most marketing campaigns but to really reach out to new students in a crowded higher education field we would suggest some other options. Cost-effective options tend to include outdoor and radio, also email marketing to a wider demographic and fresh e-lists, for more information contact us today.

2. “We are High School with a higher education arm (sixth form) attached we are looking for a joint higher education marketing strategy to appeal to parents, is that something you can do?” Yes, we can, higher education marketing is one of the most popular niches we deal with at the moment. With some campaigns, we do joint schools and 6th form marketing – often targeting both parents and prospective students. Contact us for free quotes and more info.

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If you are looking to promote your higher education establishment to either recruit new students or just to raise your profile get in touch with us today. We can chat about what you are looking for and put together a cost-effective higher education marketing plan - which will take into consideration a full range of options from social media to TV ads - for you to achieve your desired results. 

We look forward to hearing from you.