Digital marketing is significant with everyone being online so much. Any business has a prerequisite to have its own website and online presence, but offline marketing strategy is also incredibly important, and can even be tied in with online efforts.

When you think of the visibility of a school or university, what do you think of? Here are 3 essential areas you should be focusing on when you are marketing your university or school.

• Signs
• Printed media. Ads in papers. Pamphlets. Direct mail. Tie in to online with hash tags, qr codes, leaving websites.
• School leaver show

University signage

When we talk about signs, the initial thought is likely the sign on the outside of the university. This is imperative for many reasons – you need to show people where you are and ensure it’s obvious. But not only this, this also includes internal university signage. Campuses tend to be quite large and can be quite complex to navigate – whether that’s for visitors, teachers or students.

Universities are becoming more and more competitive in nature. Their ability to appeal to students helps to create thriving populations of students. Together with excellent academic facilities, students are more aware than you think of the surroundings and learning environment in which they will be spending several years.

Signage is also used to create a unique identity for the university and show that it is as considerate about the learning environment as they are about the material used to learn.

In an offline marketing campaign, the most perfunctory medium in is normally the billboard. Even with a creative marketing strategy of the highest calibre is behind it, a billboard is almost always just a much larger version of a print advertisement – on a billboard.

Printed media

Print media advertising is physically printed media and includes newspapers, magazines, posters and billboards and direct mail. A top tip is to tie in with online with hash tags, QR codes and leaving web addresses on the adverts.

Newspapers

There are many different types of newspapers to choose from, including local, regional or national titles published in daily, evening, weekly or Sunday editions. Newspapers target different readerships with a mix of content, often including sports, entertainment, business, fashion and politics in addition to local, national or world news. You can buy several different sizes of advertising space, from small classified ads with text only, to display ads featuring text, photographs, illustrations and graphics in sizes up to a full page or even a double page spread. Using a photo of students is a tried and tested method for an image ad.

Consumer magazines

Magazines aimed at teenagers are a great way to get your university known. You can also pay to have your university included in an article. You can also look at advertising in consumer magazines which cover a wide range of interests, including sport, hobbies, fashion, health, current affairs and local topics.

Billboards and Posters

Advertising on billboards will give you the opportunity to reach people on the move. Lots of young people tend to get the train places, so this is a great spot for posters and billboards..

Direct Mail

This is probably one of the most popular methods for universities. When someone reqeuests a prospectus via post, you then can target them in direct mail such as letters, brochures or flyers sent.

Both big and small companies use offline media channels to create a buzz about their products and services – universities and schools should be no different. The strategies of offline marketing can be applied to businesses of any size.

Smaller companies that are wanting to establish a their name or foothold within their local community, such as family run restaurants, local salons and boutiques or small independent studios for photography and film can use community newspaper adverts or targeted direct mail campaigns to get themselves known within the limited area they are serving.

Mid-sized and regional businesses with a bit of a larger customer base will need to reach customers in a metropolitan area or geographic region, such as companies in trades like construction, car dealers, and chains of grocery stores are among the businesses that can build familiarity with customers through more traditional advertising means. Billboards, regional television commercials and adverts on radio can spread the word about a company and build its credibility.

More major (be that national or international) companies who are well known with recognisable names and brand characteristics – like fast food chains, popular brands of alcohol and large supermarkets will need to maintain a regular presence involving offline media channels.

School leaver shows

A great place to market your university is at a school leaver show. Make sure you have loads of freebies to give away as this will make people remember you!! Whether it’s in the form of free pens, flash drives, caps or even socks, this is a great way to increase awareness and. Custom promotional products are an extremely powerful tool for your marketing.

How is offline marketing deployed?

Offline marketing strategies can often be more expensive than online ones, and there’s a requirement to develop plans before implementing campaigns.

Market research data can be purchased to give you an awareness of the media consumption habits of who you’d like to reach.

Offline marketing and online marketing strategies are more often now used with one another. With most businesses, websites are central portals for marketing efforts.

Other examples of offline marketing

• Sponsorship – You could try sponsoring a local football team or a local venue, or even a community event
• Speak at events
• Participate in trade shows – if your university is known best for a certain course, attend trade shows
• Hold a competition – you’ll be popular if you are giving stuff away for free
• Community engagement – become as involved as you can with local activities and events

Online marketing

You’ll get noticed most by the people you need to get noticed by if you have a good social media presence. Get yourself on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and be funny!