Undoubtedly, digital marketing and communication are now ingrained at the core of the international student recruitment and one thing is clear: the digital channel that still remains pivotal to the schools recruitment playbook is search engine marketing.

A top notch search engine presence requires time and marketing budget.

Let’s break down its essential components.

Student mobility is back in full swing while the global mood is still one of uncertainty. Zooming in on the parents of primary and secondary school kids, we find them all fretting over the same weighty subject: choosing a school that will prepare their children for the unexpected.

Digital channels have been at the forefront of the school discovery, research and selection process for a while now. Moreover, the Covid-19 pandemic has further reminded schools, especially those relying heavily on fairs and school visits, that without a well-honed digital strategy their outreach is limited.

A recent K-12 parents study done by niche.com shows that “search engines are the primary source for discovering schools in the awareness stage”, followed by school listing & school reviews platforms and word of mouth.

While a lot of new channels, formats and platforms emerged within the digital marketing landscape, K-12 schools should focus their efforts on those that are proven to be significant enrollment drivers. Looking at the bigger picture of the school research and selection journey, it is clear where parents start and where they often return to collect further info and evidence before choosing a school for their child: the search engine. This is especially true when parents look for a school abroad, with or without the support of an educational agent.

So, K-12 Parents Search. Will they find your International School?

A top notch search engine presence requires time and marketing budget. Let’s break down its essential components: search engine selection, keywords list, languages and geographies to cover.

1. Which search engines should schools bet on?

Google Search should be the first search engine to focus on, in most cases. The only exception applies to schools looking to recruit principally Chinese students - in such case Baidu reigns supreme. Russia and South Korea are the only two countries where a local search engine shares more evenly the market share with Google: Yandex and Naver, respectively.

Expanding across more search engines is a second step and having a solid framework in place for Google allows for relatively easy replication of the advertising campaigns across the other search platforms.

2. Which language should schools develop content in?

Most international schools have an English language curriculum, hence developing content and materials in English is the most obvious choice. An English only communication approach brings a certain level of “simplicity” from an operational point of view.

Some private schools will also argue that it brings yet another implicit benefit: parents fluent in English, who make searches and are comfortable having conversations in English, are generally highly educated people and this positions them inherently on the higher end of the income level.

The “English language only” approach brings simplicity.

Localization unlocks the door to deeper conversations and establishes trust faster.

However, speaking to an anxious parent, who is about to send a child to a different country, in her/his own language brings a high degree of comfort and allows for deeper conversations. Emotions are in the end the currency of the K-12 education system.

With enough resources at hand, schools should go the extra mile and consider taking the intricate journey of translations. Making the school information available in at least a few of the key local languages essential for their recruiting objectives, will go a long way. Relying on a multilingual admissions team, who can engage further with the parents can be a significant differentiator down the enrollment journey. Collaborating with experienced local agents can be a viable alternative but, of course, it comes with a lower degree of control.

3. For which keywords should schools optimize their visibility?

Search volume & behaviour, relevancy and competition: the trio driving the composition and the length of the keywords selection. A balanced list of keywords includes a mix of semantics and keyword types. Adding a few examples below, assuming the case of a K-12 international school in Switzerland.

core keywords, generally with a medium to lower search volume but with a high degree of relevance and sometimes also highly competitive (e.g. boarding school switzerland, international school switzerland)
long tail keywords, with a low to very low search volume but uniquely aligned with the school offering and value proposition (e.g. a-level program Switzerland - in the unique case of a school offering the A-levels curriculum and examination outside the UK)
a few generic keywords that are still relevant, especially during the early stages of researching a school abroad (e.g. study abroad, private schools abroad, high school abroad, study in switzerland)

*The Keywords List.*

The groundwork sitting at the basis of the search engine optimization, paid and organic alike.

Each country targeted brings its own language nuances and the importance of true localization should not be undervalued. A plain translation of the keywords from English to any other language will simply not do. The education system varies widely across geographies and certain terms, that might seem equivalent cross-language, can hold completely different meanings and implications. A very good example of the latter is the boarding school semantic itself. Schools should thread with care - localization is key.

4. Paid or organic search engine marketing?

Both, and working in synergy. The exercise of researching and putting together the list of core keywords is the foundation of both organic and paid ranking. SEO optimization focuses on a relatively short list of keywords (up to 10) and implies a continuous optimization expected to bring results in time, and for the longer run.

More immediate results can be expected from paid search (also known as PPC - pay per click, SEM - search engine optimization) that will enable ranking on the search engine results page as soon as the campaigns are live. The list of SEM keywords is generally more extensive (generally it includes tens of keywords) and the coverage is ensured. for as long and for as much, as the budget allows for.

5. Which countries should international schools target?

In an ever-evolving economic and political context, the demand for study abroad options can fluctuate a lot. The same goes for the affordability concerns, the preference towards a specific study abroad destination and the priorities driving the choice, for both parents and students.

International student mobility is affected by geopolitical trends.

Schools have their own on-campus diversity objectives, which are guiding the targeted locations for recruitment.

At the other end, schools generally have their own objectives in terms of student nationalities, aiming for a high degree of cultural richness and representation on campus. Such objectives will guide the geographies targeted for school promotion campaigns.

The top 12 recruitment hotspots for 2023, beyond China and India, according to the 2022 issue of the ICEF Insights magazine, are: Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Nigeria, Turkey, Pakistan, Iran, Bangladesh, Nepal, Vietnam, Philippines and Indonesia. The list is made based on the outbound students number reported by UNESCO, 2019).

Undoubtedly, digital marketing and digital communication are now ingrained and have become the core component of international student recruitment for schools. A streamlined digital marketing strategy for schools and a smooth enrollment journey, enabled and accelerated by digital technology, have become an imperative in the K-12 segment and beyond.

One thing is clear: the one marketing channel that still remains core to the schools recruitment playbook is the search engine. So, when parents search, from the locations you wish to recruit students, will they find your school? Will your ads stand out and speak to your needs and expectations?

Should your school feel the pressure of the upcoming admissions season and need help to streamline and revamp the international search engine ranking strategy, get in touch with our team.

Bibliography

OECD (2022), Trends Shaping Education 2022, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/6ae8771a-en.

OECD (2022), Education at a Glance 2022: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/3197152b-en.

niche.com, K-12 Enrollment Insights Blog

ICEF, ICEF Insights Magazine, 2022 issue

Image Credits

In order: Random Person 66, Sven Brandsma, Glenn Carstens-Peters and Random Person via Unsplash.