Over the past few months, there has been a lot of talk about the pros and cons of artificial intelligence (AI) tools. Though it might seem like these tools are new and coming out of nowhere, AI marketing tools have been around for a while, working in the background and helping businesses reach their marketing goals. To keep up with the market, schools looking to develop a strong marketing strategy should start thinking more actively about ways to integrate AI into their lead-generation efforts. If used adequately, AI in education marketing can lead to a turning point for many schools.
Although many institutions are already thinking about the ways in which AI can be used inside the classroom, knowing how to leverage these tools for marketing purposes is becoming a must. From chatbots to language processing and image editing tools, using AI marketing tools can contribute to institutions’ efforts to gain a competitive edge. Here’s an overview of helpful AI tools and how your school can use them to generate new leads!
Understanding the Use of AI in Education Marketing
A study suggests that 73% of marketers are now using AI-powered tools as part of their marketing campaigns. As AI tools get better, it is clear that they are here to stay and transform the way in which marketing is done. Some platforms like Meta and Google have been using artificial intelligence for some time now for target marketing purposes. Other platforms like HubSpot are now offering a variety of AI-powered tools to help users improve their productivity.
In addition, over the past few years, new AI-powered tools like ChatGPT and Grammarly have been developed. Although these are not marketing-specific tools, they can be used by marketers to increase their return on investment. But, how can AI help with education marketing?
Within the education industry, there are many different ways in which artificial intelligence tools can be used. Knowing how to use the right AI tools could help schools increase efficiency through automation, gather essential data about prospective students, create powerful content, and improve student engagement. AI in education marketing can also help schools improve their student experience. For instance, you can use it to provide round-the-clock service to current and prospective students by implementing chatbots and virtual assistants, making prospects’ academic journey smoother and more enjoyable.
Curious to learn about the ways in which HEM’s team leverages AI to support your school’s initiatives? Find out here.
1. Use AI Tools to Improve Target Market Campaigns
AI tools can be leveraged to improve and support target market campaigns in different ways. In fact, schools that are using multi-channel marketing might be already engaging with a series of AI tools. For instance, Google Ads, one of the most popular pay-per-click (PPC) campaign platforms, has been using artificial intelligence over the years to ensure companies maximize their time and return on investment, and that ads are served to the right audience.
In addition, over the past few months, Google has been introducing a series of innovative and powerful AI-powered tools. From automatically created assets for search ads to a chat that helps you jumpstart a campaign, Google Ads is making it easier for schools to start promoting their programs.
Another popular platform that has been using artificial intelligence is Meta. Over the years, the company has been developing its AI infrastructure to enable businesses to reach their target audience through personalization. Meta’s powerful algorithm has been making it easy for institutions to learn more about their followers and refine their existing knowledge about their target audience. Schools can see what kind of content their followers prefer, who their audience is, and where they are from, as well as discover clusters of potential audiences.
Recently, the company introduced the AI Sandbox, a generative tool that could help advertisers and schools build campaigns. According to Meta, this AI-powered tool “will act as [a] testing playground for early versions of new tools and features, including generative AI-powered ad tools.” Meta has been testing this tool with a small group of advertisers over the past few months, but it is expected that this month more companies can access the AI Sandbox.
Example: Meta Business Suite allows schools to reach potential students. Based on the school’s current audience, Meta suggests a group of users who might be interested in the school. Here, education marketers can view the demographics as well as the size of the potential audience.
Your school can also use artificial intelligence tools in education marketing to enhance its email marketing efforts. For instance, Mautic by HEM can help you scale up your email marketing campaigns. Given the success of email marketing, you can use tools like Mautic to design, build, and manage a range of different automated and manual email campaigns to engage prospects.
Mautic by HEM offers a suite of tools that make it easier for schools to follow up with, nurture, and convert leads into students. You can choose from a variety of actions like sending automated SMS and emails, booking meetings, and making calls. You’d also be able to measure the effectiveness of your school’s efforts by assessing email behaviour and performance through periodic reports.
Example: Mautic by HEM provides schools with a wide variety of template emails they could use. This feature makes it easy to create eye-catching and compelling email campaigns:
Schools looking to improve productivity can also use AI tools to develop engaging email marketing campaigns. A very useful tool for this is HubSpot Content Assistant, which uses ChatGPT’s model to create compelling emails in a matter of seconds. Marketing, content, and sales teams that have access to this tool can save valuable time and overcome writer’s block. Powered by OpenAI, HubSpot’s content assistant can draft emails, write copy for social media messages, generate compelling headings, and come up with effective CTAs.
Example: HubSpot Content Assistant can speed up the email, blog, and content writing process. All schools need to do is command the program to generate the type of content they are looking for:
Pro Tip: One thing that schools should keep in mind when using generative AI in education marketing is that although these tools can be extremely useful, there will always be a need for a human to oversee, edit and ensure that the content produced is aligned with the institution’s guidelines. In addition, keep in mind that these tools work with the input we give them, so the clearer the message, the better the result will be.
Finally, other AI-powered tools like Fullstory and Google Analytics (GA4 starting in July 2023) can be useful to track website behaviour and experience. While GA4 is key to understanding what actions students take on a school’s website, where they come from, and what drives them to it, Fullstory tracks website or app navigation and provides insights into potential problems visitors could be running into.
2. Bring Content Creation to the Next Level With AI
In many ways, 2023 has been a year shaped by AI. Although many AI-powered tools have been in the market for many years, this year many revolutionary tools have become available to the public. Such is the case of ChatGPT. This AI chatbot was launched in November 2022, and it has been on the news ever since. Trained to interact in a conversational way, ChatGPT offers an interesting opportunity for schools’ content departments to speed up their writing and content creation process. This innovative chatbot can answer questions, summarize information, and help writers come up with ideas or outlines for a potential blog post.
Example: ChatGPT is a useful tool to speed up the creation of quality content for blog posts, email marketing, and social media. We asked the chatbot to give us ideas for a blog post about the importance of speaking English in the business world. It provided us with a potential outline for a language school:
Source: ChatGPT
Pro Tip: One disadvantage of using ChatGPT is that it does not cite the sources from which it gathers information. To avoid plagiarism and spreading misinformation, schools should use the tool as a source of inspiration but always double-check if the information provided is correct.
The benefits of AI in education marketing are endless. Besides ChatGPT, other AI-powered tools like Grammarly, Hemingway App, and Fotor can be used by schools to edit written and visual content for inbound marketing. Grammarly and Hemingway App are amazing for content editing, helping schools ensure their written content is error-free and uses the right tone. Both are user-friendly, allow users to format text, and offer a readability score to assist editors and writers with their daily tasks. Fotor is an AI-powered photo editor that can be used for graphic design and for creating everyday social media graphic content. This can be a valuable tool for small teams, as the editing process is made easier and faster.
Finally, tools like Surfer SEO can help schools create ready-to-rank content. Unlike other tools like ChatGPT, Surfer SEO will not do the writing but rather assesses the SEO score of content taking into consideration its keyword density, readability, length, and use of headers.
Schools looking to improve their SEO ranking could begin by assessing the kind of content that would provide their prospective students with the most value and then use Surfer SEO during the final stages of their content creation process. Focusing on search intent and creating content that aligns with various search queries and keywords remains a priority for those who have not yet started to work on boosting their search ranking.
Example: Surfer SEO offers a variety of products and services such as content editing, keyword search, keyword surfer extension, and AI outline generation. We asked the free AI outline generator to create the outline for a blog about an international relations program. Although this outline is less specific than the one provided by ChatGPT, it is useful to understand what kind of information should be addressed at the SEO level:
Source: surferseo.com
Looking to boost your school’s digital marketing and lead generation strategy? Reach out to our team of education marketing experts to discuss how you can elevate your school’s content, SEO, analytics, and other marketing efforts!
3. Improve Student Experiences With Chatbots and Virtual Assistants
It is not a secret that chatbots came to change the marketing and customer service game. Although chatbots have been around for a long time, it is only recently that they have gained popularity within the marketing industry. It may come as a surprise to learn that the first chatbot ever was developed in the 1960s by MIT professor Joseph Weizenbaum. Many decades later, artificial intelligence marketing chatbots were developed to automate interactions with prospects. In the higher education industry, chatbots have transformed the way student recruitment is done. Not only do they engage prospective students and provide them with the answers they need, but they also help them connect with student ambassadors.
Example: Imperial College London’s chatbot allows prospective students to connect with student ambassadors to learn more about student life. This type of chatbot provides prospects with an intimate experience, as they will be connecting with fellow students instead of a marketing team:
Source: Imperial College London
Incorporating the use of chatbots as part of your school’s recruitment strategy can help you provide instant response and support to prospective students, enhance user experience and keep prospective students going through the recruitment process. Chatbots are also a useful tool to collect information about prospective students, allowing you to follow up and add their contact details to your recruitment database. In addition, chatbots are great tools for collecting feedback, which you can use to improve user experience and assess the effectiveness of your recruitment campaign.
Example: ASC English uses a chatbot powered by Tidio, which enables the language school to answer questions 24/7 with automation. Visitors are encouraged to ask any questions they could have regarding the enrolment process and the programs offered.
Source: ASC English
Pro Tip: Schools should know that there are different types of chatbots: rule-based chatbots, machine-learning chatbots, contextual chatbots, and hybrid chatbots. Knowing what each of these chatbots does will allow institutions to select the one that best fits their needs.
Once prospects have made their way through the funnel, virtual assistants can be used to optimize student recruitment and support students through their enrolment journey. These tools can assist with tasks such as course registration, campus navigation, and accessing essential resources, bringing AI in education marketing to a whole new level.
They can also be used to offer student support services such as academic and career advising. HEM’s Student Portal, for instance, features a virtual assistant that allows students to explore courses, schools’ campuses, and financial options. Students can also create free quotes to estimate the total cost of their program, accommodation, and any other extras.
Example: HEM’s Student Portal allows schools to create a fully-customized virtual assistant. They can include sections about campuses, programs, and financial aid, among other things.
4. Learn to Navigate the Ethical Challenges Brought by AI
Last but not least, those thinking about using artificial intelligence for education marketing should take some time to consider some important ethical considerations. From understanding privacy concerns to being aware of the biases embedded in AI, schools should develop a strategy to ensure that they are using the technology responsibly.
Understanding Privacy and Transparency When Using AI in Education Marketing
Users are usually concerned about their privacy and transparency in the data collection process of platforms like Facebook and Instagram. What schools can learn from this is the importance of informing prospects when their data is being collected and for what purpose. It’s also equally important to give prospects the option to opt out of data collection. These are essential steps for schools to build trustworthy relationships with prospective students.
Addressing Biases
Artificial intelligence tools are trained with specific data, which means that there will always be biases embedded in their operation. An example of this is when AI is used for hiring, and the algorithm ends up amplifying gender and racial discrimination, as the Algorithmic Justice League has shown. Thus, in order to minimize the potential bias in AI education marketing, schools must take the necessary steps to guarantee that the data that is feeding the AI tools they are using is diverse. Schools could also opt to conduct regular audits on their AI systems to identify and eliminate any biases.
To sum it up, schools looking to effectively leverage AI in education marketing must learn how to navigate these challenges. A good starting point is striving for a balance between AI-powered education marketing and human knowledge. It is important to keep in mind that while these tools are effective and useful in saving time and supporting all marketing efforts, they will not replace human employees.
