At clickTRUE, we know that the world of higher education is changing rapidly, bringing exciting opportunities and some big challenges for institutions. 

Students now have more choices than ever, and with AI influencing their decision-making, the path to enrolment is becoming more complex.

It’s a conversation we need to have—and one that played out vividly at EduConnect SG 2024, held on 20 November 2024 at LinkedIn Singapore.

An event hosted by LinkedIn, this Singapore-based event was all about sharing ideas and strategies to help institutions navigate this evolving landscape. 

We’re proud that our partner at clickTRUE, Richard Tan, was invited as a guest speaker!

Richard kicked things off by offering an insightful look at the challenges from an agency perspective and how we can all tackle them to shape the future of education.

Navigating Challenges in Higher Education Marketing

Richard highlighted that one of the most pressing challenges for institutions is understanding the student journey. As he noted:

“It's no longer straightforward—students interact with social media, visit websites, and ask questions through various channels before making a decision.

This scattered approach makes it tough for institutions to track and optimise their marketing efforts.” 

Another issue? Data silos. Marketing and admissions teams often operate independently, with marketing teams lacking ownership of crucial data and tech stacks.

As a result, they struggle to demonstrate the business value of their efforts, making it harder to justify or secure budgets for future campaigns.

Turning Challenges Into Marketing Wins

Here’s the good news: we’ve got solutions!

Richard was able to spill the beans on his 4 tips to help institutions boost their marketing success, which are:

1. Establishing the Right Tech Stack and Data Infrastructure

Start with the basics—get the right tools in place.

We’re big fans of HubSpot CRM as your go-to system for centralising data and getting accurate insights. Pair that with LinkedIn’s Conversion API (CAPI), and you can track meaningful interactions seamlessly.

2. Creating Stakeholder-Focused Dashboards

Once your data’s sorted, it’s time to visualise it.

Create dashboards that tell a clear, actionable story. These should make it easy for your team to see what’s working, what needs tweaking, and where to adjust budgets. Regular reviews are key!

3. Benchmarking for Clarity and Performance Evaluation

Industry benchmarks, whether through LinkedIn or desktop research, can show you exactly how you stack up against competition!

They help validate your strategies, highlight gaps, and uncover opportunities for growth.

4. Making the Most of LinkedIn

LinkedIn has also become an invaluable tool for reaching the right audiences.

It not only helps measure leads and cost per lead (CPL) but also provides insights into the type of professionals engaging with your campaigns.

Using LinkedIn's Conversions API, institutions can track offline conversions (e.g., a lead becoming a paid enrolment) that occur outside the platform. This allows for attributing impact beyond lead generation, demonstrating real business value for marketing.

Looking ahead, the future of higher education recruitment is all about working smarter and driving efficient strategies to convert leads into applicants—and ultimately, enrolled students.

Need help navigating these changes? Let’s chat! 

At clickTRUE, we’re here to make things happen.