Push or Pull? How the Future of Higher Ed Recruitment is a Bit of Both

Coordinating your higher ed recruitment marketing efforts can have a significant impact on your prospective students. A blend of push and pull methods offers students a chance to be informed passively or actively. 

What are Push and Pull Marketing Methods?

Push marketing methods involve paid ads, campaigns, emails, invitations and any other promotional messaging that “pushes” your brand or company in front of an audience. These methods tend to be more upfront and are often used to get a lot of interest in a short amount of time. It can place your higher education institute at the forefront of students’ minds.

Pull methods refer to marketing tactics that prompt students to seek out your marketing material, like visiting an institution’s website. For this to work, there needs to be sufficient interest in your higher education institution. Knowing that there are students who are already aware of your institution means that you can create content that is aimed specifically at them, make it easy to find, and address the questions that they’re looking to have answered.

When and What to Use for Push and Pull Marketing Methods

For push marketing methods, use platforms that students are on, like TikTok and Instagram, and get parents involved by marketing on Facebook. Parents are also helpful to students in deciding where to pursue higher education, and giving them information about your institution can ease the decision for a student. Texting and email can also be used, but shouldn’t be overwhelming, and should offer useful and targeted information.

Related: Digitizing higher ed decision-making for prospective students

Pull methods can be implemented and adjusted at any time and should be continually refreshed so that information is current and presented in a way that doesn’t feel stale. This method is great for establishing and maintaining your institution’s reputation. Having ongoing and consistent, quality content will go a long way in helping students feel confident in picking your institution for their academic journey.

Using Both Methods Together

Each method has its drawbacks and advantages, but both methods together have more success. For example, in the time that it takes pull methods to get set up and running well, push marketing can fill the gap with ads that generate awareness. Social media can have pull marketing focusing on interesting content that explains the benefits of your institution so that students who are already curious have a place to go, while push marketing in the form of paid ads also lets other students know what options they have in this important decision. 

Related: Student Retention Tools for Higher Ed Recruitment

One way that blends both marketing tactics is through Unibuddy. Once you’ve “pulled” in a student to visit your institution’s website, you can then start “pushing” Unibuddy as an option to learn more. Prospective students get a chance to learn honest, current and relevant information from a student already attending your institution. Current students have a lot of useful information that can be difficult to access. However, Unibuddy Chat or Unibuddy Community tools let prospective students get direct answers to their questions while also making an authentic social connection to your institution to foster feelings of being prioritized. 

Related: How digital learning communities help prepare students for higher ed success

You can use Unibuddy specifically to double up on your marketing approaches. For example, your push marketing tactic of sending out emails and other campaigns to prospective students can then suggest the pull tactic of joining a Unibuddy Community that is interesting and relevant to them. Another push tactic is letting students know through text or email that they can request a student ambassador to assist in their orientation or answer any questions that they have about their academic journey.

It’s this particular blend of push and pull marketing methods that are likely to gain the most success in higher ed recruitment. One method might work for only a particular set of people for a short amount of time, but in using both methods, you ensure that your institution becomes relevant to their interests with push marketing, and stays relevant with pull marketing. Push marketing tactics can generate awareness of the benefits of your institution, letting students know that you are a contender for their academic journey, while pull marketing tactics can help show them how the support services and program will expand and foster success in their academic experience.

For example, a student might succeed best at your institution with its dynamic program delivery and academic supports, but if they’re not even aware of its existence, pull marketing techniques may never reach them. In using push marketing like ads targeted toward them, they may learn about your program, and be compelled to explore and find out if it’s a good fit. Here is where your pull marketing tactics come in, like a strong web presence with excellent and informative content or an easy way to ask questions and get specific answers like with Unibuddy Chat. 

In this scenario, using both marketing methods together enabled you to capture a student’s interest by “pushing” your marketing material in front of them, and then following up with more material that could encourage the student to make a decision about their higher education journey with your institution.