Did you know visitors who are retargeted via display or social ads are 70% more likely to convert? Retargeting is one of the most viable methods of re-engaging potential students. Here’s how universities can utilize retargeting to increase student enrollment and engagement.
What is retargeting?
Retargeting is a way of advertising to visitors who have already been to your website but did not convert. For universities, these are potential students and parents who visited the university website and browsed a few pages but left without signing up for an open house or requesting a course brochure. With retargeting ads, you can reach these prospects who have shown interest by showing retargeting display ads as they browse other sites online.
How does retargeting work?
Retargeting works by implementing a JavaScript code on your website which stores a list of people who visit. You can segment these visitors by creating lists based on certain criteria such as a list of people who visited the enrollment page but did not finish the process, or a list of people who visited the open house page but did not sign up. Once the lists have been created, you can then show personalized retargeting ads to prospects as they browse the web.
4 Types of Retargeting to Re-engage Lost Prospects
1. Display Retargeting
This is the traditional way of retargeting to visitors. Display retargeting works by showing display ads to visitors as they browse other websites online. While brand related ads are an obvious choice, here are few personalized ad ideas that can boost CTR (click-through-rate) and conversions:
- Degrees & Programs Viewed: Create a list of people who browsed the degrees and programs section and serve them personalized ads about the degree/program of their interest
- Open House: Ads to remind them about the Open House events (include location & date)
- Testimonials: Ads that include testimonials from current students and alumni related to the major they viewed on the website
2. Social Retargeting
There is no better way to re-engage potential students and parents then staying in front of them as they browse their newsfeed on Facebook and Twitter.
Here are few retargeting tactics for Facebook:
- Promote Open House: Show personalized ads to remind prospects of open house events
- Finish enrollment: Remind them to finish the enrollment process
3. Search Retargeting
Search retargeting is about targeting visitors based on searches they perform on Google, Yahoo, or Bing. This is a great way to keep your university in front of your prospects as they search for other schools.
4. Email Retargeting
You have done the hard work of getting prospects to give you their email addresses. But how can you leverage those emails to get the prospects to take the next step? Email retargeting can help your subscribers take the next step by showing personalized ads as they browse the web. Email retargeting allows you to target email subscribers rather than website visitors. Similar to the display retargeting, you place a line of code in the HTML of your emails.
Gone are the days when all was lost when the prospects left your website. With retargeting, you can now re-engage them as they browse the web on social networks, search engines, and via email.
