If your school is a trade school or vocational ed tech school, this is an excellent time to be one. Now more than ever, parents and students are considering alternatives to academic colleges and degrees.
This change in attitude has multiple factors, including:
- the staggering debt burden required to obtain a college degree,
- the decline in higher-paying jobs in some areas of study,
- the decreased confidence in higher education, or
- some concerns about indoctrination vs. education
Simply put, they are concerned about the return on investment in academic higher education. Voc Ed and technical schools provide valuable alternatives to students.
Conversely, some of the advantages of attending trade schools are:
- Lower cost (typically about half that of an academic degree)
- Less time to enter the workforce
- Real-world experience that gives you direct entry into high-demand careers
- Variety of program options
- Flexibility in attendance and study schedules
- Focus on a single area of study or expertise
Let your school website market for you
Focus on your target audience. Use your school website to provide the information parents and students seek. Students interested in or considering attending a trade school or vocational school are doing their research. They don’t want to carry a lot of debt. They want to make a decent wage upon entering the field and find plentiful job prospects upon completing their studies and training. So, draw them in with solid, factual, and informative content.
- Create landing pages to convince parents that your school will provide their students with education and training to give them rewarding and well-paying jobs and careers.
- Share content, including curriculum, training programs, and hands-on courses that will tell prospective parents and their students what career fields you provide expertise and training in.
- Include testimonials from alums who have utilized and applied the education they have received at your vocational school and how this has benefited them.
- Provide fact-based evidence for these areas of education and let students know what to expect from a career in these areas, like information on typical wage ranges, job requirements, working conditions, and any barriers to entry.
- Use student videos where they describe their favorite classes and what they learn in them.
- Offer virtual tours and open houses to engage students and help them envision themselves at your school.
Use inbound marketing to increase enrollment
Because your target audience is conducting research, you have a great opportunity to provide them with answers and information about that research. You want to become the go-to resource and stay top of mind and to do that, you can provide information for which they are searching. You can also set up drip campaigns that will continue to keep you in their sights so when they make that enrollment decision, your school is in the running.
Download our FREE eBook: School Marketing in a Digital Age.
Talk to your admissions staff to determine what content and services to provide those prospective students. Ask them what questions are being asked. Get input from as many staff members as possible and create a long list of the most common questions. This will give you a large repository from which to work in developing valuable content and services.
The answers to these questions can be free content that students download by providing their name and email. So, make the content valuable enough for them to be willing to share such information with you.
You will provide them with useful answers to their questions while establishing your school as an expert resource. You can offer a series of articles, a case study, an infographic of guides for various career fields, or just tips to parents.
To learn the basic steps of inbound marketing, here are a few articles to help get you started:
- Inbound school marketing, part 1
- Inbound school marketing, part 2
- What is the ROI of inbound marketing
Be professional – with your photos, content strategy, and design
One aspect of recruitment is to help students see themselves succeeding and fitting in at your trade school. You can do this by providing visual evidence of campus life. Consider including videos and photos showing students, just like them, working and learning in various trades.
Utilize a modern production studio to create high-quality visual content that showcases the school’s offerings. Or higher a professional photographer to take high-quality photos or videos that will positively reflect your school and your programs.
Be sure your photos and videos are professional. They must also be edited for fast load times on mobile devices for easy viewing. Don’t skimp on the visual aspects of your website, as you want your trade or vocational school well-represented.
Keep your site current and informative
As I am sure you are aware, your school’s website can serve as the hub for your school’s communication efforts, including marketing efforts. It is like having your own media network, where you control the messaging, the topics covered, and the tone with which you present your offerings, your staff, and your successes.
However, someone else will fill that gap if you don’t control the messaging. It might be the local media or a shared opinion in the grocery aisle or the library. So, influencing the message in a positive way is critical.
Your school website is often the first impression of those you hope to enroll. It is also the primary resource to keep your current students as satisfied customers. To do that, you must keep your website current and informative and provide easy access to up-to-date information and resources.
- Include success stories
- Post upcoming events and activities
- Keep calendars current
- Post those key events into news that includes videos and photos
- Removed outdated information
- Fix broken links, check spelling and grammar
- Be professional
Attract the attention of those perfect students
The perfect student is the one who wants what your school has to offer. They are the students you can help succeed. The ones who can enter into a field they love, contribute to society in a rewarding and profitable way, and build a future for themselves and their families.
This includes students interested in pursuing careers in skilled trades, where they can find a variety of programs, high earning potential, and meaningful achievements in these in-demand jobs.
But, to find those perfect students, you need to attract their attention. You can do that by:
- providing content they need
- answering common questions they have
- following up with additional information
- making your website a reliable and informative resource
Trade schools and vocational training schools are ideally situated to utilize effective communication strategies and inbound marketing to increase enrollment and build a strong, positive brand. Don’t put your website on the back burner when it can be working hard for you 24/7.
If you need assistance with your school’s website, we hope you’ll contact School Webmasters. We’ll help you every step of the way with over 20 years of experience doing nothing else! Call Jim at 888.750.4556 or visit our website at www.schoolwebmasters.com/request-a-quote.