The New Year is a time of new beginnings. Whether it's training for career advancement or seeking a course to break into a new industry, countless people take this opportunity to go back to school. We call behavior like this the "Fresh Start" effect and educational institutions that capitalize on it can see measurable gains in their recruitment efforts.   In this month's webinar, the HEM team will walk you through the importance of advertising during the holiday period leading up to the new year and outline key strategies for advertising to this cohort. You'll learn how to craft ideal messaging and plan your advertising push, along with discovering which best practices ensure your institution will be ready to start the new year strong.

1. DIGITAL MARKETING | MAUTIC CRM | STUDENT PORTAL | CONSULTING
HIGHER-EDUCATION-MARKETING.COM
The Fresh Start Effect:
Proven Strategies to Kickstart Your
Enrollment in the New Year

2. ➜ Use the Questions function for questions
➜ Use the chat for comments
➜ The session is being recorded. The slides and
recording will be sent to you within 24 hours.
A Little Housekeeping

3. Your Presenters
Alexander Nachaj, PhD
Director, Paid Ads & Analytics
Higher Education Marketing
Valentin Wimel
Inbound Marketing Manager
Higher Education Marketing

4. Agenda
1. Understanding the Fresh Start Effect
2. Planning Your Campaign
3. Inbound Marketing Initiatives
4. Paid Advertising Planning
5. Takeaways and Conclusion

5. How do the Winter Holidays and New Year
impact your advertising efforts?
Increase Decrease The same
Poll #1
Unsure

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Understanding the
Fresh Start Effect

7. Winter / Holiday Marketing Campaigns
Common misconceptions about the holidays and advertising:
• Winter holidays are “off season” for education
• Prospects are “checked out” and not thinking ahead
• The students will “find us” on their own
• All competitors are closed, so why bother?
• There’s too much competition, so why bother?

8. The Reality of Winter Advertising
The “Fresh Start Effect” is real
• In January, people focus on new goals and
taking action to make them a reality:
– Career changes, upskilling, training
– Back to school, winter semester
– Searches surge (~50-150%)
• The effect is cyclical for future years.

9. Source: Hubspot 2023 Marketing Industry Report
It presents your course or program as the ideal
way for prospects’ to reach their career goals
which are currently top of mind for many.
Goal Focused
It matches human psychology by
capitalizing on the fresh start effect,
encouraging prospects’ innate desire to
dream and set goals
Psychologically Effective
It supports your other campaigns with
timely and relevant messaging.
Supportive
How a Fresh Start Campaign Can Help You Recruit

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Planning Your Fresh Start

11. Source: Hubspot 2023 Marketing Industry Report
Fresh Start Campaign Roadmap
1. Build Audience
• Duration: 2-4 Weeks (Dec)
• Branding / awareness focus
• Inbound assets live
2. Drive Action
• Duration: 2-4 Weeks* (Jan)
• Lead gen / remarketing focus
*Be ready to extend if needed
1. Build and Prep Assets
• Duration: 2-4 Weeks
• Prep inbound and paid assets
• All assets for the campaign
should be in place and ready to
go live at the end of this phase
Prep Phase Live Phase

12. Source: Hubspot 2023 Marketing Industry Report
Effective Messaging for the Fresh Start - a Note
feel stuck
need change
want better
opportunities
something new
need new skills
to advance
➜
➜
➜
➜
➜
Common pain points for prospects
during this time:
Messaging for Fresh Start is often less program specific, more “general”
Ad copy is often benefits specific, offering solutions to pain points
Messaging will likely run adjacent to your evergreen strategies
career
changes
achieve goals
first steps
advancement
opportunities
starts now
➜
➜
➜
➜
➜
Some solutions focus on:

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Prepping + Promoting
Your Fresh Start

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Creating the Perfect Lead
Magnet

15. Ideas for Lead Magnets
Engaging content piece that helps your program offers stand out.
• Program Brochures - career outcomes, success rates, career
services, course and campus overview, faculty credentials
• Checklists - for studying abroad, boarding schools
• Resource Lists - tips for college success, things to do in city
• Open House Bookings - free lunch, campus tour, meeting your
future professors
• Financial Support - bursaries, paid training, government grants

16. Key Attributes of a Successful Lead Magnet
➜ Appeals to audience ➜ Provides value
➜ Solves common problems
or addresses pain points
➜ Specificity
➜ Easy to understand
➜ Immediate delivery
➜ Demonstrates your USP
➜ Sustains your brand

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Blog Post

18. New Year: SEO-Optimized Blog Posts
Types of blog post:
● New Academic Goals for 2024
● A Guide to Success for the New Year
● Introducing The Latest Program Offerings in 2024
● Exploring Program Opportunities: Building Your Future
in 2024
● Unveiling the Path to Success in Our Program
● FAQs and Enrollment Tips for 2024
Blog posts are a great way to reach and motivate your
target audience in an informal way.

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Sponsored Content

20. Media Content Sponsored for the New Year
Sponsored content in various media can be
an effective way to ride the wave of the new
year to encourage potential students to enroll
in a program.
● Wider Audience Reach
● Credibility, Trust and Brand Awareness
● Thought Leadership
● Data and Analytics

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Social Media

22. Boosting New Year Student Enrollment on Social Media
An organic, time-based social media campaign is a
great method to educate, motivate, and inspire
prospective students.
Examples of social media posts:
● Informative Infographics
● Exclusive Offers
● Testimonials
● Polls

23. Short Videos to Boost New Year Student Enrollment

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Newsletter
Email Campaign

25. Promoting a school program with a newsletter or email campaign for the
New Year can be effective for various reasons:
New Year Newsletters and Emails
● Provide a direct line of communication with your leads
● Personalized emails resonate better with recipients
● Tracking and analytics to monitor performance
● Save time (With Automation Campaigns)
● Generating traffic to your website
💡
Visual content can
enhance engagement
and understanding.
Don’t hesitate to
include appealing
graphics, images.

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Webinar

27. Leveraging Webinars for Program Promotion in 2024
Webinars can emphasize starting afresh and embarking
on a learning journey, appealing to students eager for
new opportunities and self-improvement.
● Social Media
● Email Marketing
● Educational Forums and Groups
● Newsletters
● Website and Blog Posts

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Quiz

29. 2023 Career Path: The Impact of the Quiz
Quizzes ignite student interest and
engagement, creating a more interactive
and fun enrollment process.
Quizzes can be effective lead generation
tools, gathering contact information from
participants for follow-up.

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Paid Advertising

31. Approaching Paid Ads for “Push Campaigns”
Be sure to prep and review materials for Fresh Start as well as
your ongoing advertising campaigns prior to launch.
• Targeting: Review keywords, audiences in existing ad
campaigns to minimize overlap
• Tagging: Ensure all relevant pages are tagged with
appropriate pixels for remarketing
• LPs: Test relevant landing page for your paid ads
campaigns before launch
• In App Forms: Set up and connect Instant Forms / lead
forms for social media channels

32. Social Media Advertising
• Display and Video Traffic
• Display and Video Prospecting
• Display and Video Remarketing
Consider: Carousel type ads if your
school offers multiple relevant programs.
Campaign Types for Fresh Start
Google Advertising
• Discovery/Demand Gen Prospecting
• Discovery/Demand Gen Remarketing
• Search Prospecting
Consider: General terms as well as
specifics pertaining to your offerings.

33. Landing Pages and Tracking KPIs
Google: Landing Pages
• Goal-focused
• Mobile Optimized
• Test, test, test
Social: Instant Forms / Lead Forms
• Easy to respond
• Hooked to CRM
• Nurture campaign active and ready
If calls to your
admissions office are
also valuable -
consider adding Call
Ads to the mix.

34. Conclusions and Takeaways
➜ “Fresh Start” campaigns capitalize on human psychology and time of year to drive action.
➜ These marketing initiatives can run parallel to your existing evergreen strategies.
➜ Based on resources, it’s better to go small and focused, than big and unfocused.
➜ It helps to have a robust follow-up process in place due to audience needs / expectations.
➜ Be sure to measure your results and review - data can help plan the next cycle

35. Looking for assistance marketing in the New Year?
Learn More Here!
Reach Your Prospects
When They’re Planning
Their Future with a
“Fresh Start Campaign”

36. Free Inbound Marketing Consultation
Scott Cross
North America Regional Manager
514-312-9048
scross@higher-education-marketing.com
Mackenzie Zak
North America Client Representative
614-705-0513
mzak@higher-education-marketing.com

38. Free Inbound Marketing Consultation
Steve Carter
Sales Representative Europe/UK
+44 7888867469
scarter@higher-education-marketing.com