Industry Focus: Schools and educational institutes
Digital marketing is a mish-mash of a lot of things that have been lumped together for the sake of convenience. Most conventional organisations where tech used to mean the computers, networks, server, email etc had no clue about Websites, Blogs, Landing Pages, Apps, CRM etc and even though most of the managers therein would have Facebook or LinkedIn accounts of their own, but would not know how to manage a FB or LI page or community. Therefore anything that remotely sounded like tech, got dished out to digital marketing and most discussions there started and ended with creating a website and social media pages. I am amazed how many businesses are still in this Mesozoic era who still believe that a website and SM pages are just a hygiene factor and don't really matter.
Well in several cases, they are right. It actually doesn't
Take schools for instance. In India schools have historically been in short supply. Government schools have been abysmal in standards, although this is rapidly improving now. Therefore any half decent, private, English medium school anywhere was bound to get in students in thousands without having to make any significant effort in quality, infrastructure or academic standards. This, along with several other factors, led to schools operating in a narrow closed domain in India. Why would a school strive for better branding, marketing or customer connect? There wasn't any motivation to do so!
However over the past few years, a lot has changed...
Quality of government schools has improved
School chains have sprung up everywhere, making basic standards available
More and more money has been invested in infrastructure, making many schools today look almost like 5 star hotels.
Therefore many schools are now finding it difficult to fill their seats and to make ends meet financially. That is the trigger in every industry - less demand, more competition and financial survival, when marketing wizards have to step in and save the day.
Therefore a big and resounding yes to Digital Marketing!
If you are a school with enough business then you need a good digital presence and a community of students, teachers and parents who are engaged with the school, freely share ideas, information and learning throughout the network to inspire creativity and growth.
If however, you are a school that doesn't have enough business, then it is critical that you look at your product, quality, location, teachers, academic standards etc but get a digital marketing expert and get one fast because every day lost is a day that will not come back again.
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