Your mother always said, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” First appearances can be deceiving. However, the truth remains that appearances really do matter. Job interviews, meetings with clients, broken or dented packages at the grocery store: your initial interactions with these things, and others like them, can be greatly influenced by such first appearances.
For trade schools like yours, your website and other marketing efforts can often be the primary means of introducing your program to potential students long before they step foot in a classroom. So, the question remains, is your trade school’s digital appearance inviting, relevant and enticing, or is it mundane and average at best? Communicating the right message through digital marketing is one of the most effective ways to draw new students to your school. Here are just a few of the messages that your digital appearance sends:
Brand Recognition – If potential students had to describe your school based only off of what they see on the website, what would they say? An outdated website could make visitors believe your school is just as old and irrelevant. A solid and effective graphic design will reflect the values and image that you want to promote. Make sure that your digital appearance gives prospective students an picture of all your school has to offer.
Professionalism – Most universities have some sort of reputation that precedes them. Some schools are party schools. Others are known for their beautiful campus while others are believed to have questionable academics. A well designed website can set the stage for your reputation as a higher learning institution. Your website should be a reputation of student success, technological advancement, and educational quality.
Diverse Communication – A picture is worth a thousand words. Graphic design is more than just color schemes and a fancy logo. Your trade school’s digital appearance is composed of a diverse range of communication efforts. If all online marketing efforts are working cohesively together to communicate a singular message, chances are communication throughout the entire school will be exceptional as well. Your students should be able to communicate with your faculty, staff, and each other with ease, both digitally and in person.
Unified Message – There’s an old saying that says, “The left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing.” This can easily apply to your trade school and all of its communication efforts if they aren’t carefully aligned. Do you have an upcoming college fair? Promote the date on your website, send out an email blast to potential leads, and advertise using inbound marketing efforts on social media. Make sure that the same messages (and all the specific details of each message) are consistently communicated across all appropriate mediums.
Fiscal Responsibility – Did you know that your school’s digital appearance could speak volumes about how you manage your funds as a higher learning institution? Are you flushing money down the drain on an ugly, error-filled website that has no clear message? Maybe you’re going the cheaper route, cutting corners and skimping just to say you have a website? Either way, the message you want to communicate with your students is that you use all funds in the most effective ways possible to maintain an ideal student experience. A well thought out website created by strategic planning and spending will help you communicate this message with site visitors.
Is your trade school looking to expand enrollment but struggling to find the right digital marketing strategy? Neon Goldfish can help with that. Our web and graphic designers, analysts, bloggers and ghost writers can help transform your web marketing strategy into a successful endeavor that prospective students will never forget.
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