BlogTechnology

Top 3 Technologies That Are Making Marketing More impactful

By Team #ARM Worldwide
November 27, 2017

Over the past few years, technology has hugely impacted how businesses interact with consumers. Ever since the advent of online marketing, there has been a constant endeavour to give it a more humane approach. For instance, by adopting traditional marketing methods like advertising in newspapers, marketers just shout out their message to their users, and it becomes a one-sided communication. Customers today are empowered with knowledge, and marketers should change their strategy of indulging in continuous cold-calling to their customers, to become facilitators in finding the solution to their problems. Here are 3 technologies that customises marketing efforts for each user, and gives it a more humane approach :

The Rise of Voice and Visual Interface

The market for voice recognition technology (like voice search and personal assistants) and visual interface is growing at a rapid pace. And with its increasing accuracy, more and more people are using voice search. Google reported that 20% of its mobile queries were done through voice search in 2016. A remarkable innovation in this aspect has been Amazon’s Alexa, which is an intelligent personal assistant designed by Amazon. It is a voice-activated software, which – apart from having the capability to perform all the regular tasks which other personal assistants can perform – has gone a step further by adding skills which basically function like apps on a smartphone. Google’s also launched a competing product, called Google Home, which has similar function called “actions”.

Advanced Content Creation Tools

In today’s content-driven digital age, delivering excellent content has become the top priority for the marketers. To drive more traffic to their sites, marketers need to create content which the customers find relevant and provides a viable solution to what they are looking for. There are many content creation tools available in the market today such as Google Drive’s “Research” tool, Google’s “site:search” command, etc. But these tools only assist a content writer to do research for his content, and do not perform any other additional functions. With the rapid advancement of technology, we can expect various online and offline advanced content creation tools which would develop several futuristic features such as brainstorming, topic generation, content tweaking, content creation, proofreading and plagiarism checking. Like the various automation tools available today, that perform the function of automating various routine marketing tasks which a marketer does, these advanced content creation tools work in a similar manner to help automate the content creation function to a great extent.

Rise of Visual Medium in Content Strategies

The content of a page can be best communicated to a user through a visual medium such as infographics, data charts, images, videos, etc. Currently, many companies are using the visual medium to communicate their message to their users. The various methods of visual storytelling, especially infographics, will be on the rise in the future as well. Infographics will be the most important medium to disseminate content to the users, and will be used extensively by marketers in their content marketing strategy. These are some of the emerging tech trends which are becoming popular among the marketers, and will become more advanced and used more extensively in the future. These trends give a more humane touch to marketing by focusing on building a level of affinity and trust with potential customers, and developing the relationship between the business and customers. Going by its rising popularity, these trends are here to stay, and will bring a win-win situation for both marketers and customers.

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3 Reasons Education Sector Should Invest in Inbound Marketing

By Rajesh Jhamb
November 23, 2017

The digital landscape is constantly on the rise and is evolving at a pace that’s honestly hard to process. Evolving technology and the ease that these digital platforms are providing to consumers is what’s changing the status-quo of every industry, regardless of their domain. From consumer electronics to education, and from technology giants to food manufacturers – there’s no vertical that’s unaffected by these recent developments. This is pretty much the case with the marketing industry. With the advent of social media platforms and other interactive digital platforms, traditional marketing strategies have taken a backseat, and it’s now more difficult than ever before to get a hold of the market and establish a name for any particular organization. Internet – being an open platform – gives everyone an opportunity to express themselves, which makes this case even worse, because now people can compete with pretty much anyone on a social platform, with millions of people being nothing more than a spectator. So, the question that arises is – how can an educational institute distinguish themselves from others and attract their TG with ease? What are innovative marketing strategies there that an educational institute can opt for? Considering the industry trends and the stats (1) of the marketing world, one solution that has the answer to most of these problems is inbound marketing. Inbound marketing is growing exponentially and is being used by almost every smart marketer in the industry – and for good reason. It is based on a straightforward rule of attracting your consumers, rather than going after them. Unlike outbound marketing, which was done on the terms of the marketer and was quite intrusive in nature, inbound marketing depends on the consumers and their overall preferences. Inbound marketing strategies are known to produce effective results, and are based on a methodology that’s divided into four basic steps:

Attract
Convert
Close
Delight

Let’s understand why inbound is the solution for marketing in the education sector:

1. Students are now more aware than ever

In today’s day-and-age, when people research and read reviews before even buying earphones worth a few hundred bucks, imagine the amount of research they would be doing before investing their money in any particular college. It’s more than just money – students are worried and confused about their future and are on a constant lookout for quality information which can guide them in the right direction. Therefore, it is essential for educational institutes to understand the needs of students and feed them with the information that they want. Inbound marketing ends up doing this work for educational institutes as well. One major aspect of inbound marketing is mapping the buyer’s journey. When done efficiently, the buyer’s journey gives enough insights into the behaviour of students to institutes and ultimately lets them understand exactly what are the things that students want. Utilising this information, an institute can create and publish content that is relevant to students, and help them make well-informed decisions. This helps universities to build authority amongst their TG, and stay in front of them every time. When a student trusts your content, it further improves the chances of them sharing your content with their friends, which adds-on to the credibility of your institute. Also, when a student trusts an institute, there is an additional advantage for an institute to convert them and subsequently increase their enrolment rates.

2. Reliable data sources

With inbound marketing strategies, institutes reach out to consumers with the information they want, which makes students share their information willingly with these educational organizations. Therefore, institutes don’t have to buy any unnecessary email data and student name, thereby wasting their money for a useless purpose. Inbound marketing helps a university build a detailed database of potential consumers, which has a higher chance of conversion and improves the enrolment rate exponentially as well. Also, when an institute uses refined data, they subsequently get updated information about the trends and queries of students that they can use to improve the quality of content that is being published online.

3. Don’t spam

Inbound marketing, unlike outbound marketing, is permission-based. Inbound marketing lets marketers establish a strong connection with their audience, and makes them aware of the importance and quality of your content. But, why is visibility of a university name important to begin with? Ask a student preparing for their higher education about the number of e-mails they receive regarding the admission process every day, and you’ll have your answer. Trust us; you don’t want to get into the spam radar of students. Students are more cautious now than ever before, and to successfully keep them engaged, you need to know the exact amount of quality data you have to send them so that it doesn’t become redundant and they don’t start ignoring you – which is the worst result for an educational institute. Inbound marketing helps universities to understand the underlying psychology of students through various methods, and lets them hit the right chord with students. The higher education market is something that is dependent majorly on digital marketing, and if an institute wants to make the best of their campaigns, then inbound marketing can help them achieve their goals. Inbound marketing is something that is proven to generate results for universities worldwide. Here are a few examples of how universities got sizeable results from their inbound marketing strategies: https://www.hubspot.com/customers#/f=education

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Looking For a Full-Service Digital Marketing Agency? Here’s What You Need to Know.

By Shashank kaushik
November 22, 2017

Every so often, we’ve heard of organizations looking at their digital marketing strategy just like they would react to a sudden pang of hunger – get something from the vending machine till you’re hungry again! This disjointed approach to digital marketing eventually leads to fragmented and inconsistent messaging, the branding looks fractured and the signals confused and mixed. Opportunities are lost on the way and there is an inherent damage to your business because of a scattered marketing plan. So, why don’t you ignore the marketing world’s vending machines and look at a long-term strategy for a change? A full-service digital marketing agency can manage all the digital marketing, website development, content creation, and advertising aspects of your business. This would entail branding, strategic planning, content creation, video production, web development, inbound marketing services, app development, and a whole lot more. Here are some solid reasons why a full-service marketing agency can keep you satiated for a long time.

1. Do you have the expertise to do it all?

Do you consider yourself to be the jack of all trades? If not, then it would make perfect sense for you to go for an effective inbound marketing company. Inbound marketing campaigns are not really child’s play. They require a lot of information about a lot of topics such as SEO, social media, content marketing, paid media and branding, amongst others. So rather than going for piecemeal solutions, it would do you good if you decided to go for specialists who know what is required and do it the way it is supposed to be done.

2. Public relations just look easy; they are actually way more than that

Do you have it in you to build and sustain relationships? You may have been misled to think that public relations are a cakewalk with a few phone calls to make and a few emails to be dropped off and on. Well, let us tell you that it is a little more than that – it is all about taking care of relationships in your community, along with various media channels. You need to realize that public relations do not exist in isolation. It works in tandem with a lot of other channels including social media efforts. These channels help deliver and reinforce the message you want to communicate.

3. Social media is going to be around

It was considered a passing fad once upon a time, but – like it or not – social media is here to stay. What was once not even thought of as a viable tool to boost sales and leads is now taking center stage. Social media now does everything, from building brand awareness to generating new leads and influencing sales. It helps you reach your target group with a focused approach. LinkedIn and Twitter have proven to be highly effective for B2B companies. So if you’re still living under a rock, please remember that your customers are not.

4. The capacity to keep it local or take it across the globe

Working with an agile full-service digital marketing agency allows you to emphasize and focus on your local audience. This also helps with garnering a sizeable following where it actually makes the most difference – at home. Starting at the local level and then slowly building it up, helps you understand the consumer better. The significance of marketing services like listings, citations, SEO, and Google AdWords is huge. These services not only help in reaching a local audience but also gives way to reach a larger base.

5. You can measure exactly how you’re faring

Inbound marketing strategies tackle a lot of things at any given time. But, the best part is that all of it is measurable and progress can be determined in real time. Key performance indicators can be worked out along with the ROI.

6. Are you sure you will be consistent all the time?

When you’re handling a lot of other initiatives for your company and dousing fires as well, maintaining an in-house marketing department might not really be up your alley. But by availing the services of a third-party digital marketing agency, they can dedicatedly and wholly focus on your campaigns day after day.

7. Digital marketing should be integral to your marketing plan

Your pay-per-click ad campaigns, SEO strategies and the content you come up with needs to be an integral part of your marketing plan. Digital tactics should be employed along with other forms such as traditional advertising. It cannot be considered as a strategy in a silo. A full-service marketing agency has the wherewithal to seamlessly integrate the old and new together and does so beautifully.

8. A video strategy will definitely add to your prowess

Some time back, it was predicted that almost 69% of online traffic would be video-based. Consumers are wolfing down huge quantities of videos. So, if your marketing strategy is devoid of an interesting video showcasing your brand in a unique manner, you might lose out to the zillions of videos that are already present out there.

9. It can provide an all-new perspective

Getting someone on board who’s not part of your organization or as close to your brand can help provide you with some invaluable and unbiased feedback. Full-service digital marketing agencies can create novel ideas based on their experiences with the consumer, and not the employee.

10. Systems and software come with the agency

You don’t have to bother with the cost-prohibitive marketing tools for analytics, automation, and other management systems. Digital marketing agencies have all of those in place already and use it optimally to give you the results that are well worth it.

11. Full-service agencies are quite cost-effective

Imagine paying a hefty sum to a freelancer. Now, imagine paying that same sum to get access to an entire team of professionals who give you an amazing ROI. Full-service digital agencies are extremely cost-effective and give the entire gamut of services.

12. Radio and TV are not obsolete yet

TV and radio are still around and provide a viable option to marketers as well. So, you should think about how to use these traditional media outlets in an organized fashion, not a haphazard manner. A strong background and knowledge of radio and TV demographics is required, along with knowing what the viewing and listening patterns are as well. Digital agencies master this art and also interact with media companies who deal with TV and radio.

13. It’s up to speed and also totally scalable

Without having to go through the various bends of the learning curve, you can take advantage of the agency’s personnel to easily increase your content marketing or social media posts. This can be achieved without adding anything substantial to your own team. Not just that – the digital agency’s resources can manage to get a campaign running within minutes, once you finalize your strategy.

14. Put your labor to other aspects of work

When you have someone else doing all the work for you, it becomes easier to keep your in-house personnel focused on other initiatives like customer service, sales, product development, and enhancement. So, basically, we need to address the complex system of marketing with a full-service marketing agency that takes care of everything from A to Z like social media, strategic SEO, interactive web design, email workflows, content marketing, explainer videos, and other inbound marketing services.

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Skyrocket Student Admissions with Inbound Marketing

By Rajesh Jhamb
November 21, 2017

“The education sector doesn’t need marketing!” “A good college doesn’t have to sell themselves!” You might have heard such statements quite a lot. But, the reality is something else. Every educational institute needs a good marketing strategy if they want to survive in this highly competitive industry. After all, with the increase in a number of colleges and e-learning platforms, it is pivotal for education institutes to market themselves appropriately to attract a suitable audience. Everyone who looks for information about universities or good schools for higher education has one thing in common – they do it online. Students and parents now primarily depend on the internet to access any information, which signifies the necessity to upgrade these marketing strategies to establish a presence on these digital platforms. If we consider the current stats of the marketing world, a clear understanding that we get is that using traditional marketing strategies is not going to yield significant results. After all, it has become pretty clear that the future lies in Inbound Marketing. Through the usage of dedicated inbound marketing strategies, an educational institute can efficiently use their marketing plans and increase their enrolment rates substantially. Inbound marketing is the process of creating and distributing relevant content across various digital platforms in such a way that it meets the audience where they are as per their convenience. Inbound marketing is more about educating and attracting your audience rather than selling a product or a service. While our traditional marketing strategies come across as intrusive to consumers, inbound marketing is the complete opposite and is meant to attract customers to your site via non-intrusive means. Inbound marketing can help an educational institute to attract potential customers and convert them to students. It works on the basic methodology which has four steps:

Attract
Convert
Nurture
Close

Let’s understand how this can help an educational institute to increase their enrolment rate.

1. Attract

The majority of the target audience that an educational institute wants to appeal to has an online presence. Students are digitally smart and are on a constant lookout for relevant information. Generally, the target audience for educational institutes are confused and search the web for information which can guide them on a certain path. By understanding the general buyer persona, i.e., the thought process of students, an educational institute can create content accordingly and market themselves better. When an institute understands the pain point of students and creates content that they are looking for, it creates a certain affinity towards the institute. By doing so, an organization can establish authority in their own domain and attract potential leads towards them. Consider an example where a student is confused and not able to come to a conclusion when it comes to whether he should opt for a 2-year MBA or a 3-year project management course. So, to gain information, he’ll look on the internet for relevant information about the courses with keywords like: “Job opportunities after MBA” or “Which one is better MBA or project management”. Now if your institute has written and published such content pieces on the internet, then there’s a good chance that this student will end up landing on your website. If you happen to have quality content that’s helpful to the student, then it will generate an affinity towards your institute and provide you with a potential lead.

2. Convert

Once an institute has attracted a potential lead to their website, the next task is to convert them. There are many institutes that are publishing the same content and thousands of students are reading that information online every day. How can an institute convert these readers into potential leads and get their valuable information? The answer is to optimise your website. While you might have relevant data floating around the internet which is being read by many students, all of it will go to waste if they simply can’t reach you. Therefore, it is essential for educational institutes to optimise their website and include landing pages and CTA’s in their content. Once you include these in your content and direct a reader to reach out and read your quality content, then they can simply click on the link and give their valuable information to you. This information is what helps you to understand the students better and provide them with personalized solutions.

3. Nurture

This is the stage where an institute can create a strong impact and convince the potential lead to take the next step and become a customer. Once students share their relevant information with an institute, it’s up to them when it comes to how they can close and convert them into a customer. For example, let’s consider a situation where a student filled a query form on your website and asked a specific question regarding the placement opportunities of a course. Now, either an institute can send a one-off information to that student, or simply add him to a subscriber list and share relevant content every week/month to establish a goodwill with that student. If the student likes the content, then there are chances that he/she might share it with others, which will create an authority towards the institute. When you send relevant information to that student, there is a high probability that he’ll enroll himself for a course in your college.

4. Close

This is where a lot of institutes make a mistake. Once they have the guaranteed business of students, they simply don’t focus enough on them afterward, which generates a negative impression towards the brand. Emphasising on the students that have already given their business to you is equally as important as giving importance to leads. Making communities for new entrants, forming alumni groups on social media, developing student engagement programs and many such activities can be done to engage the students in activities on these digital platforms. These activities will contribute immensely to the creation of a digital awareness about the institute in a specific age group, which will further amplify the online presence of the brand. Apart from generating awareness and getting admissions, inbound marketing can also help an institute to establish thought leadership, attract potential investors, build a team of esteemed faculty and so much more. All these pointers should ideally be enough to give you an understanding of how inbound marketing is beneficial for any educational institute, and how an institute can increase their enrolment rate.

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BlogPR

What are the best tactics to do Public Relations for startup? – #StartupPR

By Honey Singh
November 21, 2017

A Bootstrapped Startup is a startup where an entrepreneur uses very minimal capital investment and uses the company’s revenues to fund his business. This method can be beneficial as the owner is not compromising on his equity to raise funds. Also, he gets to make all the decisions as he is the sole proprietor. Though it's hard to turn quick profits, there is less liability of the owner (in case he was taking a loan), plus he is answerable only to himself.

For such start-ups, money is a limited resource and has to be used wisely. A bootstrapped startup will not outsource their PR work to an agency, as that can be expensive. However, focusing on PR is essential for any startup, from both customers and investors. To win over investors, you need to show them that your product or service is of consumer interest. For any startup, it is essential to gain popularity quickly. An all round PR coverage is essential, and the following tips can help you get one:

Build connections with Journalists:

Scout down the journalists that write about your industry, find out their contact information, connect with them and pitch your idea to them. Keep track of what they are writing about, what trends you can see in their writing and think about the way you can convey your communication to them. Whenever there is a significant milestone your company reaches, contact such journalists and persuade them to write about you.

Networking:

Any startup needs to form a vast web of networks to succeed. Whenever you attend a conference, a meet-up, talk to fellow founders, influencers and spread awareness about your product. This way you can also understand what people in your industry are doing, and if you can use their products too. The connections you make here can help in getting references and help down the road.

Amplification of Content:

Once you build connection, use your network and communities on social media to share information about your company. Try to analyse the industry trends and also determine how to showcase your product as the star among the competitors. Create high-quality content and educate your audience on your own.

Use innovative media platforms:

Traditional media is helpful only to an extent, in the digital age, you need to focus on innovative online and offline platforms to convey information. Analyse your target audience, ask them which channels they use to gather information, and target those platforms. This can range from generating SEO rich content, to releasing a Video about your company. Above stated tactics are some natural but essential things a bootstrapped startup can do to gain good publicity.

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All You Need to Know About HubSpot Agency Partner and HubSpot Tiers

By Rajesh Jhamb
November 20, 2017

With the rising prominence of inbound marketing, more and more businesses are shifting towards the inbound methodology. HubSpot provides modern software to marketers, which has many tools that can cater to all the marketing needs of modern-day marketers. To propel this effort, HubSpot also runs a Partner Agency Program, wherein it gives an opportunity to growth-driven businesses to partner with them, scales up their business and grows together. It gives its partners access to all its impeccable tools, which can cater to the needs of all teams within a business, such as the marketing team, sales team, tech team, etc.

HubSpot Partner Programs

There are three types of partner programs, out of which businesses can pick the best fit for them:

1. HubSpot Agency Program

This program is fit for all those businesses that want to provide exceptional inbound and sales services to their clients. Apart from giving access to its exceptional software that contains many unbelievable tools, HubSpot also believes in empowering and nurturing their agency partners. It provides them with all the guidance, support and training which the agency partner would need to grow their business, so they can subsequently help their clients grow and succeed. HubSpot can help your agency improve its client engagements in increasing the revenue per client, implement ROI-centric services, and improve your client retention.

2. HubSpot Sales Program

You can join the HubSpot’s Sales Program if you are a CRM implementation company, sales consultant or business advisor. Today’s sales reps spend too much time dealing with sloppy sales tools instead of driving more sales. Here is where a HubSpot Partner Agency can step in. Each category of a particular company can offer up different services to their clients. For instance, if you are a CRM implementation company, then you can be tech implementers that recommend software solutions and/or migrate data from software systems. These agencies can work with SMB’s and can recommend more lightweight CRM’s to their clients. If you identify yourself as sales trainers, coaches and consultants, then you can diversify your business as professionals who can add more value to their clients by giving them insights about current selling methodologies and encouraging them to adopt modern sales software. As business advisors, you can diversify your business as professionals who would work with executives to make organizational changes in a business.

3. HubSpot Integration Program

HubSpot's Connect Program is for companies that want to integrate their technology with HubSpot's software to grow their user base. Some of the best SaaS companies and applications in the world have already integrated with HubSpot. For a company to be connected with HubSpot, it should share its inbound philosophy with it, have a customer overlap and sport a software that should ideally complement inbound sales or marketing.

HubSpot Tier Program

HubSpot has introduced its Partner Tier Program, which aims to acknowledge those agency partners who have not only brought the inbound message to most of their clients but also those who executed inbound marketing services to the highest standards. HubSpot’s tiers are calculated using a combination of metrics, an analysis of the monthly recurring value (MRR), retention, software engagement, and actual inbound marketing success.

There are four tiers, with the following thresholds :

Silver

Thresholds for sold MRR : $625 Thresholds for managed MRR : $3,500.

Gold

Thresholds for sold MRR : $1,125 Thresholds for managed MRR : $6,500

Platinum

Thresholds for sold MRR : $3,750 Thresholds for managed MRR : $20,000

Diamond

Thresholds for sold MRR : $10,000 Thresholds for managed MRR : $50,000 As a policy of these tier programs, all agencies must complete the Agency Partner Certification in order to be classified as a tier in the first place. It is also required to have a medium app usage of at least 5. Upon completing this, a partner can unlock its tier benefits and move up through these tiers by attaining various thresholds of sold and managed MRR’s. Thus, by becoming a HubSpot Partner and joining in any of the following programs which would best suit your business, you can scale your business to new heights by providing your clients with powerful tools and solutions, which can lead you as well as your clients to a growth-driven path.

Get Your FREE 30-day HubSpot Trial Right Now

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Current Digital Marketing Stats and Trends in Education Industry

By Shashank kaushik
November 16, 2017

In recent times, the environment of higher education has been completely revolutionized. Increases in the level of competition, availability of information, and changing trends in the job market among others have contributed to this monumental paradigm shift. The question that arrives in one’s mind is – what brought all these changes in the well-established education industry? The obvious answer would be the advent and availability of technology across the entire world. The education industry has seen constant changes since then. With technology taking center stage and increasing pressure to keep the enrolment rate high, colleges/universities are opting for a more business-centric approach. According to a survey(1), a typical educational institute spends about 11% of their annual revenue on their digital marketing activities. If this pace at which educational institutes are spending to differentiate themselves from competition remains the same, then the number will end up rising exponentially. Effective digital marketing can help an institute to expand their physical reach and increase the enrolment rate. If that wasn’t enough, a good marketing strategy for educational institutes can help strengthen their fundraising capabilities and position in the market. Here’re a few trends that have caught on in the education industry.

1. Hiring external agencies

It has been observed that the educational institutes are now shifting towards the marketing-centric approach and are preferring an external agency with some expertise to market their brand better. This approach lets institutes focus more on other activities and create a better overall experience for students. Also, outsourcing places these marketing tasks into the hands of the people who can execute it better.

2. Web Analytics

Universities are utilising a data-driven approach to analyze and determine their target audience. With their TG present on multiple digital platforms, there is enough analytical software available in the market that educational institutes can use to get a better hold of the who, when and where when it comes to their TG, and helps increase the efficiency of their marketing campaigns.

3. Marketing automation

With digital marketing coming into the picture, there has been an increase in the usage of marketing automation platforms/tools. Through the usage of marketing automation technology, institutes are now able to connect and deliver better results to their students. These tools enable institutes to segregate the database based on the behavior and performance of their students on social media platforms, test results, involvement in co-curricular activities, which enables them to serve them better with more personalized and customized solutions. Along with the benefits of reaching out to students with better solutions, marketing automation solutions also helps to minimise the manual work and make the marketing process simple for educational institutes. Through the provision of an accurate campaign analysis, calculation of ROI, identification of leads, sending out personalized emails to students, developing the ability to manage the multi-channel campaign and many other key benefits, marketing automation has become a critical tool to attain sizeable results in the education marketing sector.

4. Websites

Your website is your digital face; it basically represents who you are. Many educational institutes are now focusing on designing a better website. As per few of the studies, it is observed that there’s a trend where educational institutes are now spending more on personalization and optimizing their website than ever before. An informative website can not only help a brand to provide relevant experience to those who come to gather information. If the website happens to be appealing enough, then visitors tend to share their details, which gives a chance to convert that particular lead into a student.

5. Mobile

If we go by numbers, then approximately 49.74%(2) of internet web page views come from mobile devices. This is perhaps the reason why most educational institutes are now looking to target the mobile audience for their marketing campaigns. It is estimated that mobile subscriptions will hit 9.3 million by the end of 2019, and a the major share of this population will be students between the age of 18-25. Also, more than two-thirds of these students say that they prefer to receive a mobile message for any updates or reminders, which makes mobile marketing crucial for the educational industry. To target this particular audience, educational institutes are now putting an effort to make their content crisp and in an easily accessible format, so that they don’t miss out on any potential business.

6. Social media

This is not something new, but we simply have to mention the changing trends in social media marketing. Social media holds the most significant role in one’s educational institute marketing strategies. With an increase in social media marketing efforts for various educational institutes, offline marketing has taken a serious hit. With a major chunk of the TG present on social platforms, educational institutes are now taking it way more seriously than ever before. With these aforementioned advancements, social platforms like Facebook and Twitter give the freedom of interacting and targeting the appropriate demographic from the giant pool that is present to them. Institutes are coming up with various innovative campaigns to engage students and garner their attention. But, with millions of content pieces floating on the surface every minute (couples with an attention span of less than 6 seconds), it is difficult to maintain this attention towards yourself. Therefore, educational institutes are trying to leave no stone unturned when it comes to attracting these students towards them. With things like VR, AR, IoTs and artificially intelligent bots evolving at a blisteringly fast pace, all we can say is that educational institutes must work in sync with these changing trends to achieve their desired results and not miss out on anything substantial. If you wish to understand more about educational institute marketing tactics and how digital marketing can help an education institute to reach out to a greater audience, then visit here.

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How Voice Search Will Change The Future Of SEO

By Pawan Kumar
November 15, 2017

The advent of the digital age has completely transformed our daily lives, especially the way we search for information. Voice search is no longer viewed as something that’s nothing more than a sci-fi trope. It has arrived and is being used in full flow right now. Consumers have made voice search a vital part of their interactions, including everything from handheld to home devices. So, voice search optimization being one of the top SEO trends in 2018 is also something which needs to be looked at seriously. But like all things new and shiny, search for voice also comes with its list of doubts and queries. And it is addressed to all concerned parties – consumers, technology providers and marketers as well.

The questions that are often asked are

Can voice search be monetized? If yes, how?
What kind of questions is suitable for voice search?
Is voice search performance trackable?
Why is voice search used at all?

Let’s start at the very beginning with a background on what Voice Search really is. Like the name suggests, it’s fairly simple to comprehend. Voice Search lets users talk their heart out – well, not really, but it does allow them to directly ask queries to a search engine through their cell phone, or any other desktop device. Following the voice command, the search engine then looks for data that answers the consumer’s question. When it comes to providers, they use voice search to understand a user’s profile as well as gauge any intentions through the questions asked. They also take into consideration their geography and their browsing history when they attempt to answer the query in a jiffy. Since it’s been around for over 10 years or more, voice search has had its fair share of funny moments, with weird bloopers and gaffs. So, users found it safe to type in the questions, rather than go with voice search in the past. But now, things are transforming at a frankly unbelievable rate. Google’s Hummingbird algorithm has helped users get closer to conversational searches. This indicates that Voice Search seems to be next natural step that will see development alongside movements in the conversational search. Moving ahead, as we witness natural language processes progressing, we’ll realize the importance of digital P.As. like Alexa and Siri. They will second guess our conversations, participate with us in our banter, and even go forward and shoot questions at us and, on the way, comprehend the true meaning of our sentences. Google Assistant is already out there doing all this and more. With the ability to ask questions, this technology understands the user better and performs actions such as the booking of tickets, setting up reminders, and so much more. But Google’s not alone; Amazon, Microsoft, Apple and Baidu are all part of the game and are investing fantastically in what is apparently poised to be the next big thing.

Why is voice search so significant?

Voice recognition, voice search and natural language processing are of utmost importance to the world’s biggest IT companies. They are incessantly striving to make it both all-pervasive and seamless. Digital assistants, driven by the technology that fortifies voice search, can connect everything from your home to your car, and even your workplace. Voice search optimization will also gain significance, not only because of the enhanced technology at the consumer's’ disposal but also because a lot of people have grown up with this feature and are accustomed to using it as a matter of convenience. Voice search also offers the chance to give its users exactly what they need, regardless of the size of the business. For example, if the customer says, “Give me directions to the closest cafe,” he will in all probability reach one of the independent ones.

Some tips on how to tackle the rise of voice search SEO:

1. Use speech the way you speak - naturally

Most of us speak in one manner and type in another form when we are looking for something online. While speaking, it is generally a full sentence like – “where can I find a flea market in the UK?” or something along those lines. However, when one puts this into words, it can become as short as – “Flea market in the UK.” So, it is imperative for voice search to know and understand the user’s natural way to converse. With advancements in voice search, the error rates have come down to almost 8% from 20% in just 5 years. It’s becoming more adept at picking up our speech styles and quirky pronunciations. This will obviously be considered in the strategies devised by marketers, who are interested in voice search. There are tools available online that assist with the development of language as well. These tools present the natural speech patterns of users who prefer voice search over anything else. Your content should also be a reflection of your interest in voice search. Incorporating natural speech into your content will help you improve your ranking considerably. Using a chatty or informal tone will help pick up on the shades of colloquialism or everyday language.

2. Long-tail keywords

Short-tail keywords seemingly come across as irrelevant, especially in the case of voice searches. This is because consumers use natural phrases when using voice search. A recent study shows that around 20% of mobile queries are voice searches, and the trend is growing faster as compared to type search. So, it is gaining more importance by the day to make sure that the right keywords are used so as to capture the essence of voice searches. Conversational, long-tail keywords will also aid in boosting your SEO. Long-tail keywords encompass some extremely detailed keyword phrases that are generally utilised by users who are intent on buying something. Taking this into consideration, the keywords should be able to flesh out product characteristics, features and advantages. For example, if you deal with modern lighting solutions, the succinct keyword “lights” will not help you engage users or even capture their attention if they are using voice search. But keywords like “modernist architecture inspired ceiling light” will better showcase what your prospective customers want or are looking for.

3. Mobile should be a major focus

The fact that mobile is big news is a very old statement. But, with voice search becoming so big, mobile has become even more important than before. More than 50% of search queries come from mobile, so marketers are leaving no stone unturned when it comes to boosting their SEO with regards to voice search. Marketers know that most voice searches are done while on the move. So, they need to ensure that the content is optimized accordingly in context of voice search optimization. Some vital pointers to be taken care of:

Search will take the route of a more natural, conversational approach.
The need and the norm of the day will be long-tail keyword terms, as voice search becomes detailed and longer.
Report on voice search through Structured Query Reporter (SQR) information, and Search Analytics will be made available in the near future, with digital assistants sharing their data.
Content will give users straight and direct answers to the queries that have been asked. The focus will be on precision and accuracy, not succinctness.
The leaders in the game will focus and grow on the basis of providing the best answer for any voice search queries.
Amazon might go ahead and use augmented reality to synergize its offline stores with its e-commerce experience.
There will be a rise in the search results where videos are concerned. This will be so because the medium is apt for voice search results interface.
Google will try and come up with innovative ways to monetize its products.

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Way to Increase College Enrolment Online

By Riya Arora
November 14, 2017

According to a study (1), over 50% of the colleges will go out of business by 2030, which is obviously a scary stat. In past few years, with the advent of online education, the traditional education mediums have taken a severe hit. The sheer degree of change that the education sector has observed in recent times is nothing short of revolutionary. Access to information, change in gender ratio, diversity of students, technological advancements and increasing competition are just a few of the many factors that are affecting the industry. With so many changes going around, institutes feel a dire need to revamp their educational marketing strategies, so that they can improve their enrolment ratio. The primary process of higher education marketing is a two-step process: a.) Create awareness to attract students and parents towards an institute b.) Transform the enquires into successful enrolments While many colleges that are adopting these changes, and leveraging the digital platforms to reach out to their TG right where they are supposed to be. However, the conversion rate of enquires to enrolments is still an issue that simply can’t be ignored. Just promoting the college campus and facilities is not going to work, and colleges must consider other factors like demographics and the financial circumstances of students.

Here’s a list of strategies that can help improve the conversion rate:

1. Fix a number

This is the most crucial step in deciding the marketing strategy, budget and other aspects of any campaign. It is highly recommended to set your expectations and goals beforehand, and failing to do so will lead to institutes spending more resources for virtually no rewards. These goals are not just about numbers, it must also include aspects like the sex ratio of students and geographical reach.

2. Analyse and list down the resources to meet your enrolment expectations

Marketers/college authorities need to make a call and decide the limit when it comes to the resources they want to spend on achieving their enrollment targets. You don’t want to spend all your resources just to reach a target and then end up with nothing for other aspects of your business.

3. Develop both short and long-term plans

Yes, it is important to focus on the present and work on achieving your targets, but it also important to set a bigger goal as well. It is important to develop a realistic strategic plan for a set number of years, and plan out a course of development for your institute. Without a bigger picture in your mind, the smaller ones will fizzle out in the long run.

4. Mark your presence everywhere

Having a presence on digital platforms is more than a requirement now; if you’re not on Facebook, then you’re just outdated. Make sure your institute is present on every platform where your TG is visible. A strong interactive website, an informative Twitter account, an up-to-date Facebook page, and blogs to educate the audience is something that you simply can’t miss out on if you want to win the race.

5. Offer early decision benefits

Confirmations, early bird discounts, and getting a desirable accommodation near a particular college are just a few of the reasons why some students focus on getting enrolled early in colleges. Institutions that don't offer such early bird attraction points or activities are losing a lot of potential business.

6. Influence parents

If there is anyone else that an institute must target other than students, it’s definitely the parents. Colleges must market themselves such in a way that parents can resonate with them and understand the potential of the educational institution in question.

7. Encourage communities

The more the students interact, the greater is the buzz generated for the institute. Creating Facebook groups, communities, and alumni networks for students to communicate with each other is a great way to engage students and improve the bonding between them. Especially now, when students are active on social media platforms more than ever, every conversation on a digital platform about your college can be used to market yourself better.

8. Create surprising experiences

The ultimate hack to keep anyone engaged is to make them feel special. When you make an effort to do something special for someone, then they’re bound to appreciate it. If a college works to give something beneficial to students and parents that they never expected, then it creates an affinity towards your brand in their minds, and they’ll undoubtedly spread the word about something like this. And let’s face it – no publicity is greater than word of mouth.

9. Track your marketing and recruiting activities

One mistake that most of the educational institutes make is that they don’t measure the metrics of their marketing campaigns. However, you’ll soon realize that when you start measuring these metrics, then you’ll get a firm grip on what is working in favor of the institute, and what’s nothing more than a waste of resources. If you’re a college that’s just looking to improve the enrolment rate, then we recommend you to consider the strategies mentioned above for a successful turnaround. Of course, these are just some tricks that pretty much any institute can apply, and if you want to improve the reach and visibility of your brand then you can visit here to properly understand how to make your strategies work.

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Rising Phase of Digital Marketing in Education Sector

By Riya Arora
November 9, 2017

How often do you come across a situation when you see a brand using old-school marketing tactics? We guess that it’s not so frequent as it used to be. Ever since digital platforms have taken center stage, offline marketing/traditional marketing has taken a backseat. Digital marketing not only helps a brand to promote themselves to the right audience but also strengthens the authority of the brand and improves their business procedures. There’s a widespread belief that the education sector doesn’t depend on marketing, but – as odd as it may sound – it’s simply not true. With online education practices making a noticeable impact in the industry, there has been a lot of changes when it comes to how students consume information. If we compare today’s scenario with how the education industry was ten years ago, we can confidently say that it’s a complete revolution. The way in which information is consumed and people interact with each other has completely transformed with the advent of the digital landscape. This has directly influenced how universities and colleges reach out to their TG. Digital marketing is the best possible solution for educational institutes to mark their presence and attract students towards them.

Here are a few reasons why and how digital marketing can help educational institutes to market themselves better:

1. Reach your audience where they are comfortable

The Internet has changed the paradigms of how we look at things. Anything we want and need is now available online. This is especially true for the younger generation, who are completely hooked to the online world and spend most of their time using social media platforms. Therefore, marketing at the platforms where your audience will surely be present will pay off.

2. Digital marketing is more educational and informative and less of sales

Unlike traditional methods, digital marketing isn’t supposed to look like a sales pitch to parents and students. Today, when people have an attention span which lasts less than 7 seconds, it is impossible to keep them engaged with a typical sales pitch or long articles. It has to be engaging and informative to keep the audience hooked on your content.

3. Endless opportunities to engage a wider audience

With digital marketing tips and tricks at hand, an institute can reach out to a greater audience than it can connect with traditional strategies. Colleges can reach out to students at remote locations, and in places that they can’t reach physically. This will help them get more inquiries from a more significant geographic landscape.

4. Trackable results

Often, educational institutes end up spending a fortune on their marketing activities to attract students towards them and are never actually able to measure the return on their investments. With digital marketing, institutes can decide the metrics of their marketing spends and measure the ROI of the same. Once they know what’s working and what’s not, institutes can focus on the strategies that are truly generating dividends to amplify their results exponentially.

5. Marking authority

Using digital platforms, educational institutes can establish themselves as an authority in the domain and increase their awareness amongst their audience. When a brand establishes an authority over a specific domain, they don’t have to shout and declare this achievement to the world to convey a message. Whatever they say is read and considered by many. Similarly, when an institute identifies its TG and establishes their authority, they don’t have to go out and pitch themselves to people. The perfect way to do this is to use the inbound digital marketing tactics. For example: Over an extended period, Indian School of Business has established themselves as the premier school for business management, and didn't have to pitch themselves anymore to students since, at this point, students were mostly coming to them.

6. Mapping customer journey is a master trick of digital marketing

The process of generating leads and converting these leads into a successful business is complex, and mapping the customer journey helps simplify this process. The same model works for educational institutes, where mapping the journey of getting an inquiry from a person seeking admission to convert him/her to a student is essential. If an institute can map this journey, then they can correctly identify and understand the disconnect between the two points, and work to improve this particular aspect. While we have mentioned quite a few ways on how digital marketing can help an educational institute to market themselves better, here are a few case studies about how these institutes opted for digital platforms and increased their admissions with a sizeable number. Further, if you wish to understand better on how digital marketing can help your institute increase its reach to a wider audience, you can visit here.

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