Newsletter #99: The state of student email; Social media managers aren’t alright; TikTok’s going social
✏️ From the Education Marketer desk
Social media managers, you okay? Read
Most students now make study decisions within six months. Read
Middle-of-the-road copy is killing your course pages. Look
Social media surpasses word-of-mouth for youth audiences. Read
📰 HE news
The sector will be buoyed to learn that it contributed £116 billion to the UK economy last year, but this comes amid news that many students may struggle to unlock that economic potential for themselves. According to a recent report by Blackbullion, students are now having to go as far as pwning study equipment like laptops and headphones to cover food and bills. It’s not hard to see why. Inflation for students now stands at 17% with £1,078 a month being allocated to living expenses, but Maintenance Loans in England have failed to keep pace with an increase of just 2.8%. To be clear, this isn’t “global economic conditions” keeping these loans low, it’s a choice. Northern Ireland’s maximum loans increased by 9.4%, as did Scotland’s by 17.6% and Wales by 40%. According to Save the Student, a third of students have had their grades and sleep suffer as a result of their finances, and even more say the same about their social life and mental health. That’s bound to have an economic impact further down the line… So yes, there are 101 things a university can do to address the cost of living, but increasing the maintenance loan in England wouldn’t hurt either. HE economic benefit | Save the student report
📊 Marketing and media news
TikTok isn’t known for messaging but that could soon change. The company just published a slew of engineering roles for its “TikTok Social” team. Duties include “delivering a distinctive TikTok social solution such as messaging,” and focusing on “user profile, story, inbox, messaging, follow, like, comment, tag, etc.” So yeah, it’s building a competitor to WhatsApp and Discord. Statistically, it makes sense. According to GWI, the world’s “favourite app” is WhatsApp and half the world’s biggest platforms are instant messengers. But really? Do we need another messenger? Personally, I view this as a community play. TikTok is one of the most effective engines for serving niche content to millions of people. The nicher the topic, the more people in the comments feel heard. Now, throw in digital communities or a messaging service where those users can gather around topics/creators in a private space… You get rocket fuel for commerce and belonging. For universities, it might finally mean a prospective student group where members don’t just drop their Snap handle and bounce. Read
Marketing spend on influencers is rising 3.5x faster than on traditional ads. According to Insider Intelligence, TikTok is the most popular investment by a wide margin, accounting for 27.8% of influencer spend with its closest competitor being Instagram at just 12.7%. TikTok is riding a wave and despite the threats of bans and the EU forcing an opt-out on its algorithm, it STILL has a higher engagement rate (5.2%) than Instagram (0.23%) and YouTube (1.6%) among mega-influencers with at least 1M followers. But there’s more to the boom. While it is true that younger generations increasingly favour creator-made media (it’s the primary way they consume content) there is also the Hollywood writers and actors strike. With less content coming out of studios like Netflix, both youth audiences and producers are turning to social media to fill the programming gap. Put differently, influencers are in demand. HubSpot’s State of Marketing Report even has influencer marketing ahead of SEO (!!!) as the channel most likely to deliver ROI. Student influencers are worth the investment. Influencer spend | TikTok advantage | Influencer ROI
🏫 What unis are doing
Siena College is investing in community marketing. Rather than focusing on mass comms, its admissions team is encouraged to get to know prospective students over email. To me, this sounds intense, but for a small school, it can be pretty effective. It’s not uncommon for Siena prospects to actually recognise their admissions contact at an open day. Great for belonging. Listen
Arts University Bournemouth appears to have extended its Clearing creative into its latest open day ad. It’s a simple design, moving away from traditional sweeping shots of campus into something more programme-centric. The soundtrack is pretty catchy too. Nothing remarkable, but sometimes you just need a quick open day ad! Look
Digital Marketing Institute shared its playbook for international expansion (and no, it didn’t just use Google ads.) Now the biggest provider of certificated digital marketing education, it used partnerships with national marketing bodies to carry its certificates and promote learning. Oh, and it also has short courses by known digital marketers like Neil Patel. Are you listening, CIM? Look
🧑🎓 What students are saying
“I saved £6000 over lockdown as a 17-year-old and spent it in a year at uni and on expenses.” Student budgeting and finance experts Blackbullion share an up-close look at the cost of living’s impact on student lives. “I had to sell my PlayStation for £50 just to get some money for food and electric 🙈.” Emojis aside, it’s a pretty grim picture. Look
👾 Culture shock
YouTuber sentenced to two years in prison for posting spoilers. Read
The craziest thing about being creative is… Look
