introduction to inbound marketing for independent schools - leigh fitzgerald & scott allenby

INTRODUCTION TO INBOUND MARKETING FOR INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS.

Leigh Fitzgerald and Scott Allenby present

Leigh Fitzgerald

Inbound Marketing Specialist, HubSpot

@LeighFitz

Scott Allenby

Director of Communications and Marketing

@scotteallenby

Agenda

1. What is Inbound Marketing?

2. Step 1: “Attract”

3. Step 2: “Convert”

4. Step 3: “Nurture”

WHAT IS INBOUND?

The way people search for information has changed dramatically.

If schools want to connect with their audience today, they have to update the way

they market.

At its core, inbound is about building

relationships with your audience by providing

them with value

Q: How?

A: By creating authentic content and personalized interactions throughout the admission process to attract and engage both prospective parents and students.

Cold Emails (SPAM)

Interruptive Ads

SEOBlogging

Social Media

INBOUND

Customer - CentricTRADITIONAL

Marketer - Centric

vs.

Inbound Marketing Funnel - Education

WebTraffic

Prospective Students

Inquiry

Application

Blog Keywords/SEOSocial Media

Calls to Action Forms Landing Pages

Segmenting Email Nurturing

Email Nurturing

Attract

Convert

Nurture

Close

1. Attract

Step 1: Define Your Target Audience

Create personas to better understand your target market.

• Fictional People• You can have multiple personas• Negative Personas• What to consider:

– Demographics– Geographic Location– Common Questions– Professional Background– Goals

Developing Your Personas - Proctor Academy

Tell each persona’s story using a five chapter format: • What is their job and demographic information?• What does a day in their life look like? • What are their pain points? • Where do they go for information? • What are their common objections to your school?

High Level Ski Father

Learning Skills Mother

9th Grade Girl Mother

Upper Classman Male Athlete

Off-Campus Program Father

Step 2: Identify Keywords (SEO)

●Know who YOU are in order to effectively target keywords

●Answer Questions ●Keyword Process:

○ Identify opportunities to shift from Paid Search to Organic○ Create list of “topics” ○ Expand on those topics○ Long-Tail Keywords○ Remember variations○ Monitor competitors

Keyword Process - Proctor Academy

• Identify programs that are most marketable for your school.

• Identify ranking opportunities with high search volume and are ‘easy’ to rank for.

• Develop content around those keywords.

Create Content

• Develop content unique to your school’s differentiating programs.

• Use keywords to consistently address your personas’ Pain Points.

• Blogging • Social Media

2. Convert

Start the Conversation

• No family is ready to apply to a school on the first visit to the website

• Start the conversation early • Process to Convert Traffic on Your Website:

– Calls to Action – Forms – Landing Pages

Conversion Points

• What are we asking our website traffic to do? • Develop an “offer” • Examples

– Download sample curriculum – Frequently asked questions– Misconceptions of a (blank) school– Register for an on campus event – Schedule phone consultation with admissions or

financial aid counselor

CTAs on Proctor’s Website & Communications

CTAs on Proctor’s Website & Communications

CTAs on Proctor’s Website & Communications

CTAs on Proctor’s Website & Communications

• Leverage CTA’s to drive customers to the next actionable step in the admission process.

Landing Pages

• Calls to Action link to Landing Pages• Remember:

– Clear Action Oriented Header– Explain off in 1-5 Sentences– Use bullets, numbers and bolding in the copy– Include relevant image– Form fields that are important (relevant to what

you’re giving away) – Above the fold – No menu navigation or links

Redefine Your Forms for Inbound

• What information do you really want to capture?

• How does each form on your site allow you to leverage information for future communications?

• Reduce barriers to entry!

3. Close

Segment

• Create the correct segments based on what you know– Persona– Age of Child – Interests– Town/State

• Determine the next logical step in the process for that parent

Developing Email Nurturing Streams

• Identify how someone would enter a ‘workflow’

• Identify how someone will be removed from a ‘workflow’

• Determine the next logical step in the process for that parent

• Remain personalized• Stay helpful, not salesy

Examples of Nurturing – Proctor Academy

• Segmentation based on: – Status - parent/student – Interests - academics, arts, athletics, snow sports, off-campus

programs– Admission Stage - inquiry, visit, interview, apply, accepted,

enrolled

• Development of complex workflows based on segmentation.

Goal: To provide the right content to the right people at the right time through the right medium.

4. Questions?

Biggest Inbound Challenges for Independent Schools

• Content creation– Do you have a dedicated person/team who can generate

top notch content on a consistent basis?

• Data management– Your communication through segmentation is only as good

as your data - who is managing your data?

• Institutional Agility – Is your school ready to make really tough decisions on

which programs matters and which don’t? You can’t be an expert at everything…

Next Steps

• Inbound Marketing Assessment– Review SEO strategy – Get specific suggestions on how to improve your

website/online marketing

Leigh Fitzgerald

lfitzgerald@hubspot.com

857-829-5702

@leighfitz