Education Promotion: How Digital Collaboration with Influencers Can Benefit Both Parties

Did you know that the term Soap Opera comes from the fact that this type of show was often sponsored by soap companies? Of course, this was back in the 50s, and the term stuck to the popular vocabulary.

It is interesting how marketing creates free content and thus shapes the culture. That’s the reason why many TV channels are free or why online influencers produce a large amount of free content. 

In general, if there will be products to sell, companies and institutions will have to find ways of raising awareness regarding their offer. 

While admittedly a bit late to the game, the digital marketing for the education industry has started to learn a few crucial lessons. One of the most important of these lessons is either creating their own influencers or partnering with those who already exist. 

Here are just a few points regarding this type of collaboration:

1. It’s a win-win for all three parties

If you are an educational establishment trying to leverage the impact of educational influencers, you must aim to create a situation where you, the influencer, and the customers win. 

If all goes well, you will see an increase in traffic and enrollment into your course plan, online courses, book downloads, or whatever you sell.  

Meanwhile, high school influencers, fashion influencers, or even gaming streamers are getting paid to promote your services. Or, depending on the balance of popularity and reputation, the influencer may get a boost by associating and cross-promoting with a prestigious brand. 

Finally, the customer stands to gain the most. He is directed toward your educational institution, while also getting free entertainment from the influencer. The online personality can only afford to provide free content because you are paying for it. 

1. It shares the existing target demographics

Normally, having a specific niche, like education, will attract part of the people who are interested in that topic. But if someone doesn’t go out of their way to Google you, they will not know that you exist. 

Here’s the dirty little secret of marketing: sure, sometimes you fulfill demand, and give people what they are requesting. Yet, in many more cases, exposure to advertising will put that idea in their heads and create a need out of thin air. 

For example, nobody “needed” Pokémon cards, various clothing brands, or hand-held gaming devices. Those requirements were artificially created via marketing and social pressure. 

On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are needs that everyone has, but nobody is delivering. There is an entire industry blooming focused on college assignment writing.  Every student wants to be spared from doing homework now and then. It’s incredible that this field of activity did not start sooner. 

I’m not saying that people do not need education or could not benefit from your services. But there are people out there who are not even considering such a life path. That’s the untapped market that you need to focus on and bring into the fold. 

And yes, to a certain extent, maybe a portion of your audience that would have never listened to that influencer will start following him for entertainment value.

1. Helps to fight the recent PR downturn of higher education

There is a great public mentality shift underway. Even a decade or so ago, Higher education could do no wrong. Everyone aimed to get into a prestigious college, and even the most practically useless degrees were seen as better than a trade job. 

That situation has now changed. People have realized that indeed, there is a college bubble and that most jobs are learned by doing. Enrolling for 3-4 years is wastefully excessive for certain degrees, while it is essential for others.

Personally, working for some top essay websites has taught me more about writing than my Literature degree ever could. Work on your advertising, to emphasize the jobs that the student can get, the salary ranges accessible, etc. 

As the economy is going downhill, and the public will become much more pragmatic and results-oriented, you need to tailor your ads to focus on tangible benefits. You can quote abstract notions about “open minds” and “finding yourself” all day, but that won’t put food on people’s tables. 

If you are paying for an advertisement, make sure that you don’t create a bland, generic script. It must tell people that it will help them in the real world. 

1. Consider the type of influencer

When I was a child, I distinctly remember learning a topic in history class. The lesson was very dry and uninteresting. However, when I came home, there was a documentary on TV, for the same topic. 

I was shocked to see how interesting the subject was, and that the bland presentation at school put me off the subject. The packaging of information is very important. Teaching, mentoring, and knowledge transfers are different things. 

After a while, TV fell out of fashion, but online content started to pop-up in the educational niche. They were not called influencers back then, but science, history, and book analysis channels on YouTube were getting millions of hits. 

Some of these videos were even played in classrooms. 

In this regard, there are two types of online personalities: those who have no ties to education and will promote content because of your contract. And the second type is represented by people whose own brand is also education. 

There are advantages and drawbacks to collaborating with each of these. 

With education-oriented influencers, their audience is already primed for your field of activity. Most of the time, it’s not a hard sell to get them on board. However, you do risk preaching to the choir, and not expanding your potential customer base.

Meanwhile, let’s say you partner with a fashion online personality. The risk there is that the audience is not interested, and they are just there to see a pretty lady model shoes. But if all goes well, the growth potential is greater, as it can bring people from outside your sphere. 

1. Be specific in everything

Digital marketing for educational institutes should not be ad-hoc and impulsive initiatives. Even before touching your keyboard or phone to call someone, you should have a well-defined plan. 

Of course, any plan starts with objectives. What are you hoping to achieve? Do you want to only increase traffic to your web page, thus improving search engine rankings? Do you want, as previously mentioned, to somehow soften the blow of a downturn in PR? Or do you simply want to increase your enrollment numbers?

Once you have an answer, you can select the specific influencer, set a budget, and reach out to him/her. You must be well informed regarding the typical return on investment in these cases. Is 5% enough? How about 10%, and an increase in website clicks?

Will the influencer be paid by every enrollment via his discount coupon code or just a flat fee?

These are questions that you need to answer.

Conclusion

In conclusion, everyone stands to gain from a fruitful digital partnership. Just make sure, before you start, that you plan everything out and weigh the pros and cons of any situation.