The competition in higher education marketing has never been fiercer. Budgets are rising, the student journey is more digital than ever, and institutions must navigate complex recruitment processes. Without a clear, strategic plan, even the largest campaigns risk falling flat. That’s where a reliable CRM for higher education like Meritto comes in.
Meritto’s higher education CRM software unifies your recruitment efforts, simplifies workflows, and helps you focus on attracting the right students. Let’s break down the actionable steps to refine your marketing strategy and how Meritto supports each one.
1. Build a Marketing Plan
A solid marketing plan forms the backbone of any recruitment campaign. It aligns your marketing and admissions teams with shared goals, ensuring every action drives results.
How Meritto Helps:
- Unifies all your admissions efforts on one platform.
- Offers customizable dashboards for tracking key campaign metrics in real-time.
- Enables cross-department collaboration to keep marketing, admissions, and counseling aligned.
With Meritto’s CRM for universities, you can document your goals, budget, and channels—all in one place.
2. Craft Audience Personas
Understanding your target audience is critical. A data-driven persona helps personalize your approach to reach the right students.
How Meritto Helps:
- Offers real-time insights into student demographics and behaviors.
- Enables segmentation based on interests, academic preferences, and engagement history.
- Tracks how students interact across channels, helping refine your messaging.
Using Meritto’s insights, you can create detailed personas like “Riya,” a first-gen student seeking scholarships, or “Aditya,” a tech enthusiast comparing engineering programs.
3. Define Your Goals and Budget
Effective campaigns are built on clear goals—whether boosting enrollments, promoting new programs, or increasing retention. Pairing these goals with a realistic budget ensures resources are used effectively.
How Meritto Helps:
- Tracks ROI for every campaign, from lead generation to final enrollment.
- Offers advanced analytics to help decision-makers allocate resources wisely.
- Provides real-time comparisons of campaign spend versus performance.
This data-driven approach ensures your marketing dollars are invested where they count.
4. Build Your Media Channel Mix
The best campaigns combine owned, paid, and earned media. Whether it’s your website, email campaigns, or PR coverage, each channel plays a role.
How Meritto Helps:
- Centralizes all marketing efforts, from social media ads to email campaigns, in one platform.
- Tracks performance across channels, helping optimize the mix.
- Automates remarketing campaigns to engage students who show interest.
With Meritto, you can tailor your message to each channel while maintaining a consistent brand voice.
5. Put the Right Tools in Place
Every successful campaign needs reliable tools to execute and manage workflows. From tracking leads to automating follow-ups, the right tech stack saves time and eliminates manual errors.
How Meritto Helps:
- Automates repetitive tasks like follow-ups, appointment scheduling, and application updates.
- Offers AI-powered chatbots to engage students 24/7.
- Features an intuitive lead management system to keep inquiries organized.
Meritto’s higher education CRM software streamlines daily operations, ensuring your team stays focused on strategic goals.
6. Create a Launch and Review Timeline
A well-planned timeline keeps your campaign on track. It ensures tasks like content creation, approvals, and promotions happen on time.
How Meritto Helps:
- Offers drag-and-drop workflow builders to plan and execute campaigns seamlessly.
- Tracks progress in real-time, sending reminders to ensure no deadlines are missed.
- Integrates with your calendar for automated task scheduling.
By mapping out your enrollment cycle, Meritto helps your team stay proactive rather than reactive.
7. Launch Your Marketing Campaign
The final step: putting your plan into action. But launching doesn’t mean your work is done. Continuous monitoring and optimization are key to success.
How Meritto Helps:
- Provides real-time campaign analytics to track performance.
- Enables A/B testing for email and ad campaigns.
- Offers detailed reporting to measure success against your goals.
With Meritto’s CRM for higher education, you can adjust your strategy on the go, ensuring maximum impact.
Why Choose Meritto?
Meritto’s higher education CRM is trusted by over 1,000 institutions worldwide, including premier universities and colleges. It has:
- Powered 1 Billion Student Engagements annually.
- Processed 100 Million Inquiries yearly.
- Managed 5 Million Applications annually.
- Supported 50,000 Business Users across departments.
These numbers reflect Meritto’s commitment to transforming admissions and enrollment for higher education institutions.
Final Thoughts
Creating a marketing plan for higher education is no small task, but with the right tools and strategy, it becomes manageable—and effective. Meritto’s CRM for universities offers the features and insights you need to optimize every step of the enrollment journey.
Ready to level up your institution’s marketing efforts? Schedule a demo with Meritto today and experience how the right CRM can simplify workflows, boost engagement, and increase enrollments.
