How To Implement an Organic Brand-Building Marketing Strategy For Student Recruitment

The online learning industry is growing fast in our society today with new technology spurring growth. Online schools provide virtual classes to students with a mix of learning methods. In the case of live sessions, a teacher teaches students entirely online using a Learning Management System to streamline the process. 

In developing countries, online learning can create equity in society as it has the capability to provide all students with access to quality education. For most of these countries, skills-building is a key goal with countries like Kenya recently setting up education reforms that included setting up the National Open University, an online learning institution set to admit its first students in September 2023. 

That said, student recruitment is a big headache for online schools. In these schools, recruitment costs or Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC) are an important factor in their success. CAC is calculated as follows;

Customer Acquisition Cost = Cost of Sales and Marketing divided by the Number of New Customers Acquired. 

The current CAC cost ranges between 20-25% and that is not the only worrying unit of economic in recruitment. Customer Retention Rate is also key. 

That said, I would recommend that online schools focus on organic brand building to facilitate steady growth and repeat clients at low costs. In a world where multiple skill sets are needed in the workplace, up-selling courses can go a long way in retaining satisfied customers. 

Online schools have a big advantage over physical schools due to society's dependence on social media. Millennials and Gen Z use video tools like TikTok, Facebook Live, Instagram Live, WhatsApp Video Call, Snapchat Video, and Youtube Shorts to communicate with their friends and people online. It’s become a necessary tool for them to understand social cues. Case in point, the success of Influencers. Many people have a perception of who the influencers are and even consider them as ‘friends’ even if they have not met.

Online schools need to become personable and as easy to talk to as an influencer to recruit and retain students at a low cost.

Let’s now look at the ways that schools can implement organic brand-building in their marketing strategies. 

Here are 3 Organic Brand Building Strategies to Recruit and Retain Students

1. Social Media Story Telling

In our world today, there is a general perception that students don’t need to acquire time-consuming courses like degrees, MBAs, or the like to succeed. In developing countries, Joblessness is a scrooge that has resulted in up to 70% of graduates in the last few years not getting formal employment. This in itself is an advantage and a disadvantage. The advantage is that most online schools offer flexible learning that can allow the student to get a job or have a side hustle as they are learning. The disadvantage is, there is a pain point that education institutions need to address before successfully recruiting the students.

Brand storytelling allows the schools to address these by pitting their advantages as a flex while showcasing how the course can lead to career success. Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) schools have the advantage of selling their skills-building course capabilities as a solution to joblessness. 

By solving a customer’s pain point, the school can easily convert them into an enrolled student. Social media can be a great place to paint this idea (story telling) using pictures and videos.

2. Relationship Building

Once enrolled in the school, students rarely form a connection with the school while some just form connections with teachers that had an impact on their lives. For online schools, the advances in learning management systems have included gaming, social media apps, and AI reporting allowing them to have a better understanding of their students' needs. If used as a key tool in growing relationships, schools can create memorable experiences with the students. 

In the long run, once the student has completed the course, it is an easy sell to encourage them to take another course (up-selling) or even have them become word-of-mouth ambassadors/influencers to their friends.

3. Setting Up An Aftersales Team

Once the school has a functioning relationship-building environment set up, they can now focus on aftersales customer service. In this instance, marketing items like discount coupons can be offered to the students to use or share with their friends.

Also, setting up an alumni network can help bolster feelings of being valued by the school for the student. In a world where digital connections and friendships are continually considered real, and the same as physical connections, an after-sales team can generate a loyal fan base of word-of-mouth marketers.

The above three ideas are just some of the brand-building strategies that I have found useful while working to grow my online school, Fay Institute. As a bootstrapping entrepreneur, I have found these three strategies to be very important in ensuring a low Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) for my business.

I look forward to your feedback and ideas on any other brand-building strategies that online schools can include in their student recruitment plans.