How can education marketers get ahead in the digital age? A new wave of technology is changing the rules of education. Marketers need to get on board and start exploiting new technology to connect with learners.

1. Innovation in
higher education
marketing
Tips and tricks on how marketing
professionals can be more innovative

2. Source: Buyersphere report, BaseOne

3. Change the way
teachers interact
with students
It has the power to:

4. Offer innovative
ways to reach
new learners
It has the power to:

5. It has the power to:
Enhance
relationships and
ultimately make
education more engaging,
with personalised,
self-directed
experiences

6. So, the opportunity for using
new technology to attract
students is huge.
And higher education
is catching on.

7. Take these
emerging technologies which
are beginning to shape the
world of education:
4

8. Photo Credit: Sergey Galyonkin
Source: Flickr
Virtual Reality
1

9. Oculus Rift has transformed
the gaming industry and
it’s beginning to influence
education.
With Oculus Rift’s
open platform:
Photo Credit: Global Panorama
Source: Flickr

10. Virtual field trips solve the problem of limited time and resource,
allowing all students to visit a multitude of places
in a fraction of the time. Students in Ireland, for example, were able
to re-create and then explore a historical site at Clonmacnoise.

11. Learners can be introduced to practical knowledge
by completing tasks within VR, such as undertaking
an archaeological build.

12. Learning becomes an engaging, immersive experience
which is motivational and fun. Combining Oculus Rift
with a gaming controller allows for further virtual
movement which becomes second nature to students,
with 80% of 12-17 year olds owning a console*.
*IPSOS tech tracker Q1 2015

13. Gaming
2

14. Minecraft has over
players with around 8,000 new
gamers joining every day.
It’s been used as an incredible tool to inspire
creative learning through world building.
19m

15. ‘MinecraftEdu’ has been set up as a school-ready remix, with
discounted Minecraft licenses available to educational institutions,
custom features especially for the classroom, and a hosting service
which lets students craft and solve mathematical concepts together.
minecraftedu.com

16. Students (and teachers) are empowered as creators, rather than passive
consumers, resulting in a deeper, more personalised and exciting learning
experience. With Generation Y having been born into a technologically-centric
environment, gamification feels intuitive and familiar.

17. 3D Printing
3

18. 3D printing within education
is on the rise. Not only does
it give students the ability to
hold and feel their designs,
it also helps to ignite their
imagination, while aiding
in problem solving and
product iteration
Photo Credit: Shapeways
Source: Flickr

19. Photo Credit: Mark Wilson
Source: Flickr
• It can showcase modern production and
architectural techniques, allowing learners
to make physical copies of their designs
• Engineers can create prototypes for
product designs with moving parts
• Medical students can study a cross section
of a heart in intricate detail from a variety
of angles
• Historians can print and hold replica
artifacts within their hands
3D printed objects can help to bridge the
gap between visual perception and spatial
reasoning. And these days they’re more
affordable, with a high performance printer
costing under a grand.

20. Online Lessons
4

21. Existing tools, such as YouTube
and Google Hangouts, create
virtual conversations beyond
the classroom and more efficient
access to education.

22. Not only is e-Learning more
cost efficient, it can increase
retention rates by up to
Pre-recorded seminars and online courses
(MOOCs) are becoming increasingly popular, with
over 1/3 of higher education students taking at
least one online course.
60%

23. In the US, new technology has allowed Stanford’s Ignite innovation
programme to beam high definition lectures live from California
to India - with a version planned for London later this year.

24. The Digital Business Academy already has 12,000 sign-ups, having
only launched last year. And the University of Cambridge now offers
Postgraduate Diplomas with part-time virtual learning at their heart.
12,000

25. It’s clear – modern education needs to revolve
around technology.
Teaching and learning is increasingly
becoming global and social, and digital
is the facilitator of this.

26. For education providers,
e-learning offers efficiencies
in education both in and out
of the classroom, and can help
to save time and money
(as well as doing some
good for the environment).

27. Crucially, it allows new and
exciting ways to engage students,
making learning come alive
through interactive experiences
which feel relevant to them.

28. It’s clear that educational marketing
departments need to keep up. But
what are they doing about it?
And who’s ahead of the curve?

29. Virtual Reality Tours
• Many universities are creating immersive virtual
tours of their sites, which can be accessed both
online and through virtual reality on open days.
• Both the University of Bolton and also Stony Brook
University in New York have begun implementing
VR technology into their marketing efforts, with
others such as Yale now exploring the possibilities.
• And with a variety of DIY cardboard kits out there,
everyone has access to a virtual experience.
• Youvisit.com also displays a list of colleges and
universities where VR tours have been made
available for anyone to view.

30. Experiential
The University of Engineering and
Technology in Lima attracted prospective
students by producing a billboard that extracted
water vapour from the air and turned it into
drinking water.
Erecting it in a desert region with hardly
any rainfall, the billboard helped to increase
UTEC applications by almost 40% from the
previous year (as well as generating
$500,000 in media coverage) .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35yeVwigQcc
Click here to see a case study of UTEC’s
Portable Water Generator.

31. Personalised Immediate Service
These days, everyone expects a personalised service.
Stanford’s D. School allows learners to download
‘Playbooks’ to try out their style of teaching.
And Full Sail University created a fantastic
personalised online tool called ‘Pathfinder’,
which creates a bespoke course finder site
specific to your academic interests.

32. Social Media
Campaigns don’t need to focus solely on
student enrolment. Harvard’s Senior Gift
‘Leave your mark’ programme, designed
to encourage alumni to donate money back
into the university, utilises Instagram and
YouTube to help drive contributions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RBTHNPrfTY
https://instagram.com/p/13pBcEwOR0/
Click here to have a look at Harvard’s
Senior Gift 2015 video

33. There is clearly a wealth
of opportunity within technology
for higher education marketers
to embrace.
So what new innovative techniques
could education providers use
to build awareness?

34. Soundcloud
With
plays in Dec 2014*, this low bandwidth, mobile
friendly streaming service is the perfect channel
for thought leadership pieces, lecture samples
and sharing student experiences.
2.4bn
*nextbigsound.com

35. Remote controlled students
Responding in real time to social media
requests, prospective students can ask them
to see specific areas of the university or meet
certain people.

36. Programmatic advertising
of online advertising is now bought
programmatically. Universities will soon
be able to use optimised digital campaigns
for more efficient student targeting.
80%

37. Meerkat and Periscope (Twitter)
Up and coming live streaming applications
built real-time into social feeds. Higher education
institutions could exploit this tech as an opportunity
to share lessons and broadcast open day events in
a media where most of their audience reside.

38. Mobile
iBeacons are low-powered, low-cost transmitters
which allow IOS devices to perform certain actions
when in close proximity. With 90% of students
(aged 15-24) carrying a smartphone in their pocket,
the opportunity exists to ping them information
as they walk around campus, record footfall and
to create a more personalised experience.
*Cisco: The Internet of Everything 2013

39. Are you ready?
Download our guide to
Innovation in higher education marketing
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