InboundForCollegesEbook

Content
Marketing for
Colleges and
Universities:
The New Face of
Internet Marketing
Seth Newsome
PGA Professional, MBA

Seth is a PGA Professional
who earned his BBA and
MBA from Sam Houston
State University. He has
immersed himself in the
world of online marketing
with a niche in helping
businesses and online
entities grow, prosper, and
profit through content
marketing. He is a certified
“HubSpotter”, and has a
passion for leveraging the
internet as a means for
businesses to succeed.
Seth Newsome
Follow Seth on Twitter
@sethpga
SETH NEWSOME, PGA
Connect with Seth on
LinkedIn

Introduction to Content Marketing..........
The Inbound Marketing Methodology.....
Attract Strangers………………………......
Convert Visitors to Leads..……………
Close Leads into Sales..………………….
Delight Customers………………………….
Current Application of Online Marketing
In Academia
Case Study: Tarleton State University.....
Recommendations......................................
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
5
10
11
12
13
14
16
22
31

Chapter 1:
Introduction to
Content Marketing

CONTENT MARKETING FOR COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
The world of internet marketing has changed, and colleges and
universities have yet to adapt to the changing ideologies of this
paradigm shift. According to statistics published by HubSpot, one of
the world leaders in content marketing software and services, more
than half of global internet users search for products, services , and
content online. This is a staggering statistic that most institutions of
higher education simply do not understand and largely ignore.
This eBook will explore the inbound marketing process and the
shortcomings of internet marketing efforts for colleges and
universities. How can higher education leverage internet marketing
to improve admissions and increase revenues?
Introduction
Page 5
Source: Lift Division

Content marketing or inbound marketing
is an online marketing platform which
incorporates a multitude of tactics to
increase web traffic, generate sales
leads, and convert leads into customers
organically or through the power of
“search”. As marketers, we can dissect
this broad idea down into four steps
known as the inbound marketing
methodology.
Why is internet marketing important, and
why should these institutions care?
According to a statistic published by
HubSpot, via the Interconnected World,
61% of global internet users research
products online. This means that people
are shopping for colleges and universities
online and gathering more and more
information via the internet.
Let’s dive a little deeper into the aspects
of what content marketing is and the
components that make it tick.
Overview of Content Marketing
Source: HubSpot
of global
internet
users
research
products
online
Page 6

The sales funnel is an ideology that came
into focus as inbound marketing became
mainstream . The sales funnel involves
three steps: the top of the funnel (TOFU),
the middle of the funnel (MOFU), and
the bottom of the funnel (BOFU).
The top of the sales funnel is where the
majority of prospective sales contacts
will enter into a workflow. At this point
in the sales process, a visitor is looking to
gather information; they want to find out
everything they can about a product,
service, or entity and make decisions
based on being well-versed and armed
with knowledge of whatever they desire
to purchase.
The middle of the funnel brings a contact
further into the buying process. At this
point, the sales lead is armed with
knowledge and begins shopping various
suppliers, manufacturers, vendors, or
service providers for who will give him
what he wants for the price he is willing
to pay. Prices become important to the
consumer at this point.
The Sales Funnel
Source: HubSpot
Page 7
A sales
funnel
simplifies
marketing
and helps
track sales
leads.

Finally, a sales lead enters the bottom of
the funnel. The consumer is ready to
buy at this point and is ready to speak to
a customer service representative,
admissions officer, or sales
representative to make a purchase or get
options for doing so. Throughout this
process, prospective customers go
through the inbound marketing
methodology.
Colleges and universities completely
ignore sales-based internet marketing
schemes in favor of an inverted sales
funnel. Instead of nurturing potential
leads (prospective students/parents)
throughout the selection process, most
colleges send these prospects (who are
not ready to buy education as a product)
straight to the bottom of the funnel.
What is the bottom of the funnel for
colleges? Applications, period. By
improving their sales funnels, higher
education will improve the quality of
students and overall number of quality
applications.
The Sales Funnel
Colleges
and
universities
completely
ignore
sales-
based
internet
marketing
schemes...”
Page 8

Chapter 2:
The Inbound
Marketing
Methodology

The inbound marketing methodology was developed by HubSpot and
is currently the leading philosophy for content-driven marketing
across all platforms and all software.
The methodology is simple and can be broken down into four
individual steps:
1. Attract Strangers
2. Convert Visitors into Leads
3. Close Leads into Customers
4. Delight Customers and turn them into Promoters of your product,
service, or organization
Let’s take a look at each one of these pieces of the marketing puzzle
in greater detail.
The Inbound Marketing Methodology
Source: HubSpot
Page 10

Page 11
Attract Strangers
The first step of the inbound marketing
methodology is to attract strangers to a
website. This can be accomplished a
number of ways, but the most popular
ways of doing this is through blogging,
social media promotion, keywords, and
indexing and creating pages.
Blogging: creates a desirable medium for
organizations to display their expertise –
indexes pages for organic search.
Social Media: increases a website’s
chances of being found by their buyer
personas.
Keywords: keyword research is the
backbone of inbound marketing.
Choosing keywords that are adequate
and have low difficulties will improve
organic traffic.
Pages: more indexed pages gives search
engines more information to scroll,
increasing the chances a website will be
found organically
Source: HubSpot

Page 12
Convert Visitors to Leads
Strangers are attracted to a website
through the avenues I described on the
previous page, but converting those
visitors into leads requires marketing
content and downloadable information.
Colleges can generate sales leads by
utilizing the following tools:
Calls-to-Action: these buttons placed
throughout a website and on blog posts
tell the user exactly what to do. i.e. Get
a Free Estimate, Download the eBook.
Landing Pages: give visitors a brief
overview of the content they are about
to see and lists its benefits.
Forms: customizable forms are part of a
landing page and allow a visitor to give
the marketer their information in
exchange for the free content.
Contacts: once a visitor fills out a form,
he or she becomes a contact and is
entered into a database for lead
nurturing.
Source: HubSpot

Page 13
Close Leads into Sales
Closing leads into tangible sales is the
bread and butter of inbound marketing.
Once a visitor has given a website or
organization their information, they are
entered into contact lists and workflows
based on the content they requested.
This can be done by leveraging the
following:
Email: email nurturing is essential to
staying on top of leads and reminding
them of the benefits of purchasing a
product or service.
Workflows: help automate the email
process of lead nurturing and pushes
prospects down the sales funnel.
Lead Scoring: ranks prospects based on a
preconceived system. This ranking is
essential for understanding if a lead is
ready to buy and is the right fit.
CRM Integration: CRM software
integration such as SalesForce helps the
sales team track the progress of a lead
and improve close rates.
Source: HubSpot

Page 14
Delight Customers
Once a sale is completed, the job of an
inbound marketer is just beginning. The
final step of the methodology is to
delight customers and make them
promoters of your products and services.
Making customers into brand-loyal
customers is extremely important for
building business. The following methods
and tools can be utilized for this purpose:
Social Media: announce that your
customer is happy, better yet, have them
do that for you.
Smart CTAs: target specific offers to
specific users or target certain social
media campaigns towards specific offers.
Email: keep your customers apprised of
new offers, new services, and new
content .
Workflows: continue to nurture your
customers . Let them know you care
about them and are interested in
assisting with their business.
Source: HubSpot

Chapter 3:
Current Application of
Online Marketing in
Academia

While internet marketing and content marketing may be relatively
new concepts to not-for-profit education, proprietary educational
institutions figured out the game a long time ago.
For-profit colleges and universities such as the University of Phoenix,
DeVry, Kaplan, the Art Institute, and ITT Technical Institute have
already applied inbound tactics to increase leads, applications, and
enrollments.
Let’s take a better look at how these for-profits have leveraged the
internet to increase enrollment and revenues.
Current Application of Online
Marketing In Academia
Page 16
Source: Champlain College

Page 17
According to a 2012 article published by
Kevin Chen for the Motley Fool, the
University of Phoenix, DeVry, Kaplan, and
ITT Technical Institute combined spent
approximately $620,000 per day on
online advertising. According to the
article the University of Phoenix, which
boasts an enrollment of almost 357,000
students, spent 60% of that total at
$380,000 per day.
This spending by these, mostly publicly
held universities, is contrary but not
necessarily against the inbound
marketing methodology. In fact, the
University of Phoenix actually leverages
inbound marketing after an interested
visitor clicks from a paid Google
advertisement. Although these are
efforts worthy of applause from the likes
of Google, Yahoo, Bing, and other search
engines due to the major revenues these
for-profits generate, it is a completely
impractical approach for public not-for-
profit colleges and universities.
The
University
of Phoenix
spends an
average of
$380,000
per day on
pay-per-
click
advertising”

Page 18
Chen argues, however, that just because these proprietary universities
are winning in marketing, they are fledgling at best in the actual realm
of the product they are selling: education.
Unfortunately, many of these proprietaries pass on their marketing
costs to their students and hemorrhage them with exorbitant tuition
and fees. While for-profits are doing just that, making profits, the
quality of education and their default rates suffer due to the
uncertainty of the job market (see Chen’s graphic below).
Source: Kevin Chen
Students of for-profit universities have extremely high default rates due
to the high tuition and economic uncertainty after graduation.

Page 19
Chen’s argument is simple: internet
marketing for education is madly
successful for attracting students but
certainly does not improve the quality of
the education these students receive nor
increase their chances of being gainfully
employed after graduation.
Interestingly enough, Chen found, the
two institutions with the lowest default
rates find themselves far from the top of
SpyFu’s advertising list. Bridgepoint and
Corinthian, which command Ashford
University and Everest Colleges,
respectively. These two companies have
found a way to counter the default
dilemma by providing attractive financing
options to their students while
maintaining a decent education product.
Simply put, Bridgepoint and Corinthian
treat their alumni as human beings
instead of mindless drones to the world
of proprietary education.
Unfortunately for
students, Devry,
ITT Technical
Institute, and the
University of
Phoenix's new
focus on
marketing may be
distracting those
institutions from
revamping their
own financial
programs.”
-Kevin Chen

Page 20
In a day where budgets are continuously becoming more and more
constrained, especially at the regional university level, administrators
must be cognizant of and willing to take risks on the new face of
marketing.
An interesting blog post by Jaime Cartwright of the Weidert Group,
cites three major issues that traditional universities are facing in
today’s marketing climate: inaccessible content, no calls-to-action, and
an unusable sales funnel. The public sector of education should
certainly not shy away from an opportunity to increase admissions
through any avenues possible, and admissions and administrative
personnel should make a shift to view admissions and acceptance as a
sales process. I would like to examine these shortcomings in greater
detail by dissecting an average regional university in Texas. For this
section of my research, I chose to examine Tarleton State University.
...admissions and
administrative
personnel should make
a shift to view
admissions as a sales
process.”

Chapter 4:
Case Study:
Tarleton State
University

Case Study: Tarleton State University
Source: Tarleton State University
Page 22
The Tarleton State University website is exactly what we would expect
to see from any regional, public university. Inherently, it has a plethora
of information but lacks any clear paths to its content, has no calls-to-
action, and offers users no downloadable marketing collateral.
In the following pages, I will outline the shortcomings of this website
as a marketing platform and offer solutions to rectify these problems.

Page 23
The Tarleton website, although
functional, lacks some major
optimization for improving sales lead
generation as well as offering expertise.
Here are some of the major issues with
TSU’s website:
No CTAs: the website lacks calls-to-action
to instruct users to take action and
download free content.
BOFU Offer is Hidden: the BOFU offer for
Tarleton (application) is not visible from
the home page without perusing the
scrolling images/stories under the
“Future Students” tab.
Page Titles: although the University’s
page titles are accurate - Tarleton State
University – Stephenville, Fort Worth,
Midlothian, Waco, Online, Texas –
Tarleton State University – they do not
contain any long-tail-keywords to
enhance search engine optimization.
The Tarleton
website,
although
functional,
lacks some
major
optimization
for improving
sales lead
generation...”
Website Evaluation

Page 24
As Cartwright alluded to, most colleges
and universities use an inverted sales
funnel; most university websites only
have a bottom of the funnel offer. From
an inbound marketing standpoint, this is
a rather backwards way of lead nurturing
and can often deter prospective
students from giving an entity their
information.
Most students are only likely to apply
when they have gathered all of the
information or content they feel is
necessary to make their decision;
however, most colleges (Tarleton
included) fail to provide any content for
the burning questions students are
asking. Cartwright points out that many
times colleges, “provide students with
great information and then follow up by
offering an application” (2012). He
elaborates his point by simply stating
that, “it’s a two-step process with no
sales funnel.”
Tarleton fails
to provide
any content
for the
burning
questions
students are
asking.”
Sales Funnel

Page 25
Addressing this lack in marketing could spell great success for colleges
and universities moving forward. Kyle James, a former HubSpot
employee, Co-Founder at nuCloud, and operator of .eduGuru.com,
suggests that higher education admissions offices should focus on a
sales approach to increase admissions by thinking strategically, relating
students to revenues, increasing inquiries, and converting those
inquiries or leads into applications (2011).
By solving this marketing dilemma, universities will also be able to
generate much more qualified students and improve the overall
quality of the student applicants. What Cartwright and James are
alluding to in their deductions of content marketing is that more
applications aren’t necessarily the answer. Volume combined with
quality should decide the effectiveness of an institution’s marketing
efforts.
Volume combined with
quality should decide
the effectiveness of an
institution’s marketing
efforts.”
Sales Funnel

Page 26
Content is the proverbial meat and
potatoes of inbound marketing. Content
is a broad category that often
encompasses, but is not limited to social
media publishing, blogs, and offers. The
latter includes downloadable material
that a prospective sales lead can
download by freely giving their
information, therefore generating a sales
lead to the inbound firm. When we take
Tarleton as a case study, we see that
some content is available, but the
majority of it deals with the application
and acceptance processes as well as the
first year student experience.
The steps listed on the Tarleton
Undergraduate Admissions site are as
follows: 1. Visit, 2. Admissions, 3.
Scholarships, 4. Housing, 5. Financial Aid,
6. First Year. While these tabs provide
great content for students who have
already decided to apply, nowhere on
this page is the question, “Why should I
go to Tarleton?” ever addressed.
The Tarleton
website,
although
functional,
lacks some
major
optimization
for improving
sales lead
generation...”
Content

Page 27
There are no downloadable offers where prospective students can
enter into a workflow and download content, and there is no way to
capture their information so that an admissions officer can follow up
with a prospective lead. These are all burning and unfortunate
downfalls to the public university sales process (or lack thereof) across
the academic board. The “if you build it, they will come” mentality is
dead, and it is time to proceed into the 21st century with marketing for
these institutions.
Prospective students have questions that need to be addressed, and
Tarleton is simply ignoring those questions. Instead of providing
content in the form of blog posts, downloadable collateral, and
marketing offers, the University is hoping (blindly) that students will
apply without having answers and choose Tarleton as their school
without further discussion.
The ‘if you build it, they
will come’ mentality is
dead, and it’s time to
proceed into the 21st
century with marketing
for these institutions.”
Content

Page 28
Blogging is possibly the most essential element to attracting organic
search traffic to a website. Not only does blogging benefit a website’s
traffic, but it increases content, indexes pages, and gives prospective
students and parents information to peruse while they make decisions
on where to attend college.
Tarleton (as with most institutions) does not maintain a blog. A blog,
or weblog, should help to attract visitors who are interested in (and
currently researching) products and services. Additionally, a blog
should hit specific long-tail-keywords and answer questions for
prospects. A blog is the driving force behind content marketing and is
an exceptional way to produce marketable, valuable content to
consumers.
HubSpot offers an 11-step guide to blogging which explains how to
optimize blog posts to improve traffic and generate great leads.
A blog should help
attract visitors who are
interested in (and
currently researching)
products and services.”
Blogging

Page 29
Hubspot’s 11 Step Blogging Guide
1. Complete the HubSpot Blogging Worksheet
This worksheet, created by HubSpot, helps bloggers and
marketers create blog posts based around their buyer
personas, target audience, and keywords.
2. Write a Blog Article
Once the worksheet is completed, one blog title should be
selected. Blog posts should be between 600-800 words and
should be based around content, not keywords.
3. Add Images
Add images from the Creative Commons or from other
reputable sources. Images should be alt-texted based on the
keywords chosen in step 1.
4. Create Keyword-Rich Anchor Text Links
Once a blog is finished, it should be linked to relevant pages
(landing pages) about and based around the targeted
keywords.
5. Add a Call to Action
Always allow visitors to become leads. Add a CTA to each
blog post to give them an opportunity to request more
information and learn more about the institution.

Page 30
Hubspot’s 11 Step Blogging Guide
6. Create Key Takeaways for Each Article
Add 1-5 key takeaways for a reader to understand the overall
concept of a blog post.
7. Create Whitespace
Whitespace is a positive in blogging. Readers typically scan
blogs to find the information they want. Break up paragraphs
and add white space to appeal to their palette.
8. Bold Important and Compelling Text
Highlight important facts, statistics, and information that
answers the question, “what’s in it for me.”
9. Write a Strong Meta Description
This is what appears in search results for users to preview a
page. Consider a meta description as a 150 word CTA.
10. Tag the Article
Make it easier for readers to find your content. Tag each
article with no more than 3 broad tags.
11. The Two Golden Rules of Frequency
Blog at least twice a week and never publish more than two
blogs a day. Blog regularly for search engine optimization.

Recommendations
Source: Her Campus
Page 31
We’ve taken an in depth look at the basics of content marketing,
picked apart the Tarleton website, and explored some of the more
abstract concepts of content marketing.
I will now offer my recommendations for how Tarleton (and
universities in the abstract) can improve their internet marketing.

Recommendations
Page 33
1. Create a Blog
Maintaining an effective, content-rich, and thought provoking blog
will enhance how effectively Tarleton can leverage its website to
increase inquiries for applications and admissions. Tarleton should
strive to become a regional expert on how to choose the right
college or university and why pursuing higher education is not only
relevant but necessary for prospective students.
The University at-large can and should be the authority on all
things college selection. The expertise among the faculty and staff
at Tarleton should be expounded upon in blog articles and
marketing offers.
2. Produce Downloadable Marketing Offers
Creating content that is downloadable will increase a prospective
student’s trust in the content provider. In order for a prospect to
view this downloadable collateral, he or she will be required to fill
out a form. By giving the institution their information, a student
will be registered as a lead.
This content does not have to be extravagant or gaudy, but it
should answer the questions that prospective students may have
about choosing a college or university. Tip sheets, whitepapers,
eBooks, and other simple collateral is all that is necessary to
generate some great downloadable content.

Recommendations
Page 34
3. Promote Through Social Media
The biggest outlet an entity can leverage for inbound marketing
purposes is social media. Every blog post, every new marketing
offer, and every bit of activity throughout the Tarleton community
should be chronicled through social media.
Consumers prefer to connect and interact with businesses through
social media and lead generation and conversion rates from social
media are significantly higher than organic or direct traffic leads.
4. Use an All-In-One Marketing Software
Utilizing the tools provided by all-in-one marketing software such
as HubSpot will prove invaluable to universities looking to optimize
the data they collect and the efforts they put out.
Simply put, there are myriad variables with inbound marketing that
must be accounted for, A/B tested, and tracked in order to produce
repeatable, optimized results. The only way to bring all of these
data under one roof is to use a software program designed to
handle the rigors of inbound marketing.

Conclusion
Page 35
Colleges and universities were never designed to be marketing
magnates, but with the evolution of technology and with the adoption
of the internet as the consumers’ primary way of researching products
and services the marketing game has changed.
Institutions of higher education must embrace this change and
leverage the internet as a resource rather than a diversion for
prospective students. There is no longer a sure-fire way to succeed
with education; however, higher education marketers can generate
demand for their product by leveraging content marketing, blogging,
and simple lead generation tactics. These concepts alone will vastly
improve internet marketing for colleges and universities. Additionally,
organizations that use content marketing will become the absolute
leaders among their competitors. Regional universities can become
Meccas instead of second choices for local students.
All together, by using content marketing, colleges and universities will
become the definitive authorities on how to choose education, why to
choose education, and answer the difficult questions that no one else
seems to be answering.
The window of opportunity to be a first adopter of this technology is
closing rapidly, and the time to act on this trend is now.

Resources
Page 36
Cartwright, Jaime Back to College: Inbound Marketing for Higher Ed
Admissions
Chen, Kevin How For-Profit Colleges Ace Marketing and Flunk
Education
Hubspot.com:
Marketing Statistics and Data
11 Step Blogging Guide
What is Inbound Marketing?
James, Kyle Why Higher Ed Admissions Must Think Like a Sales Team

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