How to effectively promote your online programs

Close to 70% of college students take at least one online course – which in this day and age, is hardly a surprise.

In a world where hybrid working models are the status quo, students are expecting the same flexibility when it comes to their education.

Universities have adjusted to adapt their offerings to this new demand, but translating this experience to a new segment of would-be students is a challenge. How do universities translate their brands and experience to a virtual audience, without missing any of the nuance of in-person connections?

Who enrolls in online courses?

Typically, today’s online student is young, working, and in the process of defining their career. A recent report surveyed 3,000 online students to understand their backgrounds and aspirations for online learning. Here’s what we can take away from the findings:

In terms of undergrad online enrollment, students were often from lower socio-economic backgrounds with a median household income of $51,250 USD. Over half were found to be working full-time and 77% of online students were over the age of 21. This means they’re looking for value and flexibility around their other commitments.

Your typical undergrad enrolling in online courses will have a few years of work experience under their belt, and are revisiting the idea of college as they are looking to further their career or start a new one entirely. They understand their industry, and are looking for how a program equals a step up from where they are currently.

From a graduate student perspective, 63% were over the age of 25 years old, with the largest proportion of students between 30 and 35 years of age. Employment among graduate students was slightly higher at 66% and the median household income was $64,600 USD. Your typical online grad student is also likely to be working but in their career of choice and is looking to upskill.

What do they study and why?

Business degrees take the lion’s share of online learners, with 26% of undergraduate and 28% of graduate online programs. This is followed by health and medicine degrees then IT & Computing. Interestingly, undergraduate students are more likely to study STEM subjects online than graduate students.

Most online learners have existing employment, so naturally — the decision of what to study is driven by career motivations. Less than 5% of online students don’t have career objectives aligned with their studies, so focusing on career development or acceleration is key for marketing collateral.

How to differentiate your online degrees

The low-hanging fruit for marketers is to talk about the flexibility and accessibility of online instruction. All you need is a good internet connection and you can access your coursework from anywhere in the world. However, those benefits are ubiquitous. Making your online offerings stand out from the crowd can be a challenge, but not impossible.

On-demand learning

The rise of video conferencing software has blurred the lines between online learning and simply giving lectures over Zoom. Universities often boast about flexibility in that students can take lectures from wherever in the world. And that’s true for 99% of online degrees.

The flexibility that will attract the most students will be time-focused, taking in the content whenever. If your online course has on-demand content, be specific about the flexibility of your asynchronous schedule. As most students studying online will have other work or family commitments, the ability to fit classes around their day-to-day will be the difference in where they choose to enroll.

Engaging content

Love them or leave them, video games have been well and truly ingrained into modern culture. According to recent data, 85% of Gen-Z now play video games, with time spent on immersive media platforms like Roblox and Minecraft also increasing. Demonstrate the interactivity between peers by demoing your course platform via video or a free trial to get your prospects engaging with your online learning community.

The rise of micro-learning apps like Duolingo offers a unique opportunity for universities to follow suit, with short 5-minute lessons, quizzes, and interactions providing snack-sized learning experiences. Producing taster samples of your online content can provide a strong lead magnet for students who are looking to learn on the fly.

Integrating AI

One area in which AI is anticipated to make a big impact is personalized learning. By using data on student learning behaviors, faculty can tailor experiences depending on the engagement and skill level of their student.

Given the stage of the AI hype-cycle we are currently in, make sure you explain in layman’s terms how AI is used in the course. AI can be polarizing, so make sure you explain that lectures will still be given by people, and the course content has been created by experts with critical thought. The only difference is that AI tools help educators increase the quality of education through more personalization.

Tangible graduate outcomes

Given the career-driven motivations of online students, clear graduate outcomes are a must. Analyze the data around the economic impact of your online degrees and how they drive upward mobility and show this in your messaging when promoting your programs. Courses that offer students opportunities to specialize are usually a key to driving more income post-graduation and can be a good place to start in terms of focused messaging.

The rise of online education is a unique opportunity for colleges to grow their reach to new audience pools. However, promoting online programs effectively is not an easy road. Colleges need to protect their offering against an even wider set of online competitors, as well as understand what prospective students want from their program. Linking all of this together can be a challenge, so align yourself with a partner who understands both your audience and your product.

Find out more by getting in touch.