4 Ways Inbound Marketing Works for RTOs

Students who are investigating training and studying options do a great deal of research online before signing up with any organisation. This is the ideal opportunity for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) to use inbound marketing in order to reach out and connect with students and their parents by providing the relevant content that will help with the decision-making process. Here are four reasons why inbound marketing works so well for RTOs.

1. Attract and create connections with students

The inbound marketing journey begins with reaching out and connecting with a student, or even a parent, as they realise the need to sign up with an RTO like yours. In order to attract their attention, you must create the type of educational content that will engage your target audiences. This can include blogs, articles, free online guides, videos and social media posts.

According to Statista, by 2020 there will be 2.95 billion social media users worldwide and a huge proportion of these are students! This is supported by the Content Marketing Institute, who reported that 8 out of 10 people identify themselves as blog readers and 23% of all time spent online is on social media sites.

In order to reach your audience, use keyword optimised and persona specific content to drive quality web traffic to your site. This way of driving traffic has the added benefit of helping to differentiate your brand and will position you as a thought leader in the educational space.

2. Convert your prospective students

At this stage, you want to entice them to provide their contact details for the premium content you are providing them with. Your ultimate goal is to learn as much about these prospective students as possible. Once this exchange has occurred, they will become prime leads and their previous answers will allow you to personalise the experience for each student.

3. Personalise your enrolment marketing

Once students have engaged with you and provided their details, you are in a far better position to provide them with the type of content they really need. Now is your opportunity to create the customised content that aligns with their intended area of study and their stage in the admission cycle.

You should be creating content that attracts them into enrolling by explaining why the training courses you’re offering are the best options for them to consider when furthering their careers. This is where all the information you’ve gathered comes into play. Use it to segment lists according to when students plan to enrol, what they plan to study, and whether they need financial aid. Valuable content you can create right now includes emails to set up calendar invitations, arrange on-site visits, organise interview sign-ups, and arrange meetings with the relevant admissions people.

4. Get the enrolment cycle moving

To speed up the enrolment process, you need to tailor campaigns and shorten the length of time between a prospective student’s first visit and their application submission. The last thing you want is for them to go and investigate another course now that they’re this far down the line. At the end of each message, create strong calls to action to drive them to the next stage of application.

5. Monitor and track campaigns

It’s time to get technical. Use closed-loop analytics that directly link enrol
ments with your marketing campaigns and provides a 360-degree view of a prospective student’s journey. In this way, you can be sure what type of content is working and what’s not. Constantly optimise and tweak your campaigns to make sure you’re always improving your content marketing.

Inbound Marketing – the way forward for RTOs to convert more leads

Lupo Digital is an inbound marketing agency which specialises in helping RTOs to cost-effectively and efficiently increase student enrolment. For more information about how inbound working for RTOS, download our executive guide to inbound marketing for RTOs.