INTERNATIONAL STUDENT MARKETING Global Digital Advertising Agency for Universities and Colleges
Net Natives work with over 200 global universities to recruit students from 150 countries. Our outcome focused campaigns and unrivalled knowledge of the student recruitment market make us the advertising agency of choice for universities, colleges and business schools; in the US, Australia and Europe. We re the only student marketing agency globally, that is a RAR Recommended Agency, Trusted Google Partner and Facebook Marketing Partner. As a result we have access to (and are experienced in analysing) a huge amount of data, which helps us understand the online behaviours and motivations of students around the world. This whitepaper makes use of that data to understand some key international student markets. Namely India, Brazil, China and the MINT countries. Enjoy!
What you will find in this report? Student Digital Behaviours Brazil Student Search Behaviours Brazil Student Digital Behaviours India Student Search Behaviours India Student Digital Behaviours China Student Social Media Use Brazil and India International Students from MINT Countries 5 7 9 11 13 16 17 Who is this for? We ve created this report to support marketing teams worldwide in their international student recruitment campaigns. Better understand how to tackle recruiting students from foreign countries at postgraduate and undergraduate level.
Digital behaviour Device preference and online activities can help us understand not only how prospective students are accessing content online, but also how they re consuming it and where we can reach them for maximum engagement.
Device distribution - Brazil 3% 20% 77% Laptops & Desktops Mobile Phones Tablets Mobile grew 109% in 2014 Top 3 Online Activities Email Social Media Browse & Video
Brazilians are still using desktop for their online activity, but it s important to be aware of the rapid growth in mobile device usage, which increased by 109% last year, meanwhile desktop usage dropped by 12% 3G coverage is high, at 56% - which means that video can work well as a part of your online content and ad strategy, across all devices. Email remains strong in Brazil, so a strong focus on data capture will allow you to look at conversion campaigns through email, as well as improving your lookalike targeting on Facebook. Social media & browsing are the next most popular, so again, social ads and SEM are key to a successful digital marketing strategy for this South American market. Video content works on both desktop and mobiles with pre-roll video campaigns on YouTube proving extremely successful for those targeting Brazilian students online.
BRAZIL SEARCH BEHAVIOURS
Top courses in Brazil UG BOTH PG Most popular search type RANKING SEARCH SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, MATHEMATICS (STEM) AGRICULTURE BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT COMPUTING, TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION YOU SHOULD KNOW BIOTECHNOLOGY TOURISM (EXCHANGE PROGRAMMES) MINING PHYSICAL & HEALTH SCIENCES [University] ranking is the most popular type of search in Brazil Business, Engineering, Science, Maths and Humanities are the most popular course searches 24% of searches take place on mobile vs. 72% on desktop 14% of searches are in English vs. 86% in Portuguese By advertising in Portuguese you ll be found more easily and your messages will resonate more If budgets are limited then focus on long tail, course specific campaigns in Portuguese AEROSPACE ENGINEERING LANGUAGE COURSES LEADERSHIP PROGRAMMES
Device distribution - India 1% 27% Mobile grew Laptops & Desktops 9% in 2014 Mobile Phones (desktop declined -19%) 72% Tablets Top 3 Online Activities Social Media Email Music
In India mobile device usage completely dominates the digital landscape, and social media is the top of the agenda for online activities. Music is also in the top 3 most common online activities, which points towards a market that has a strong recreational sway when it comes to digital. The online market is dominated by mobile, so whilst growth last year was just 9%, penetration is over 72%, which is good news for reaching India s most remote regions. However, 3G coverage is at just 11% penetration, so it s important to be selective with the types of content you share in India. Like Brazil, email is strong so focus on data capture and remarketing India is a mobile first (sometimes mobile only) market so content based campaigns on social media are best performing Be aware that India is a click happy nation, so focus on rigorous targeting and qualification by copy in all ad campaigns to improve the quality of response
INDIA SEARCH BEHAVIOURS
Top courses in India UG BOTH PG Most popular search type RANKING SEARCH COMPUTER SCIENCE, POLITICAL SCIENCES & BIOTECHNOLOGY ARCHITECTURE MEDICINE SPECIALISMS ENGINEERING SPECIALISMS YOU SHOULD KNOW MEDICINE LAW ENTREPRENEURSHIP STEM (SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING & MATHS) DIGITAL MARKETING TOURISM & HOSPITALITY BUSINESS, ECONOMICS & FINANCE Hello! ENGLISH LANGUAGE COMMUNICATION BASED STUDIES Most online searches in India are written in English Google has an almost 100% market share Ranking is the most popular type of HE search term (over 500,000 compared with Study Abroad terms 42,000) 70% of searches take place on desktop and 28% on mobile, which is counter intuitive to the way the population accesses the internet. Engineering, Science, Business, Humanities and Hospitality are the most popular courses searched for
Device distribution - China 3% 21% Laptops & Desktops Mobile Phones Mobile grew 121% in 2014 76% Tablets Top 3 Online Activities Search Social Media Video
Back to desktop in China, but again mobile penetration growth last year was huge (+121%), and desktop fell. In line with mobile growth, 3G coverage is also high at 46% for the world s biggest internet user. Unlike Brazil and India, email is not effective in China Search is hugely important but this is Baidu search, as opposed to Google. On Baidu, searches are almost exclusively in Mandarin so your website needs to be too. Social media is another major driver, but due to the unique nature of China s social media platforms and uses a separate international strategy is required. Email Lucy@netnatives.com to get a free copy of our International Student Marketing Report for China
Key Higher Education Related Search Periods 16.00% 14.00% 12.00% 10.00% 8.00% 6.00% 4.00% Worldwide India Brazil China 2.00% 0.00% January February March April May June July August September October November December NATIVES TOP TIP Understand the behaviour and motivators for the international students you re targeting With an estimated 51 million international searches for UK universities in the last applicant cycle, there s a huge appetite for studying abroad. As the chart above shows, specific strategies are needed for each country, as each region has unique times when university is front-of-mind. March and September peaks are particularly telling, as the releases of the THE and QS international rankings spark interest in league table conscious students.
Top Social Media Platforms - Brazil (% of Internet Users) Top Social Media Platforms - India (% of Internet Users) 92% 78% 94% 81% 66% 51% 24% 19% 59% 36% 14% 11% 41% 52% 35% 30% 23% 53% 51% 14% Facebook Google+ Twitter Instagram Linkedin Facebook Google+ Twitter Linkedin Orkut Used in past month Own an account Used in past month Own an account Incredible return on investment the best response from our lowest spend. UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW
International Students from MINT Countries The MINT acronym was coined to identify the emerging (and growing) markets of Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria & Turkey. Due to this growth and opportunity, it s no surprise that the most active International departments have identified these countries as providing new opportunities to recruit international students, for both Undergraduate and Postgraduate courses. The countries have been linked through some shared economic trends; predicted increases in economic growth, a growing middle class and large populations eligible for work, as well as being in advantageous geographic locations for trade with other countries (3 out of the 4 are already members of the G20). Net Natives blog, 2014 [there is] a common appetite for educational improvement and a motivation for MINT populations to gain an education in what is deemed to be the global language; English. Jim O Neill, Economist
UNDERGRADUATE Social platforms like Linkedin and Facebook give instant access to millions of English speaking, potential undergraduate and postgraduate students, across the MINT countries. social media users aged 17-23 Facebook (English Speaking) POSTGRADUATE LinkedIn (English Speaking) Total 15,500,000 2,100,858 Mexico 2,400,000 698,619 Indonesia 6,900,000 646,821 Nigeria 4,500,000 286,170 Turkey 1,700,000 469,248 social media users aged 20-30 Facebook (English Speaking) LinkedIn (English Speaking) Total 18,800,000 4,245,276 Mexico 2,500,000 1,419,798 Indonesia 6,900,000 1,204,098 Nigeria 7,300,000 610,164 Turkey 2,100,000 1,011,216
UNDERSTANDING COUNTRIES The level of targeting and effort from the campaign team has had a major impact on the quality of students responding to our advertising. SWANSEA UNIVERSITY
MEXICO Promote cultural life, location and student experience gained by studying at your university. Mexican students are attracted by the experience of being at a particular university or city. They are also interested in understanding what the university can offer that will give them an advantage in achieving internationally in-demand careers.
INDONESIA Students from Indonesia are concerned that if they study abroad they will lose ground to those studying in their home country. The concern is that overseas qualifications won t be transferable when they come back to Indonesia to work. Messaging should include terms like internationally recognised qualifications and emphasise the following: Quality of teaching Awards Rankings 2014 Net Natives
NIGERIA Nigeria is a popular target for institutions in English Speaking countries as Nigerians have a strong affinity with the language. They have a large and growing, affluent middle class and are willing to travel. Nigerians are motivated by the opportunities for career progression when they return home, as a result of studying at an overseas university. NATIVES TOP TIP Make sure you focus your campaigns on measurable outcomes. Do you want quantity or quality? You can t have both. Or can you? Nigeria is well known for contributing hundreds of thousands of student enquiries every year, but the conversion to application ratio is notoriously low and requests for scholarships are high. In 2013/14, Swansea University made use of smart qualification techniques to increase applications from Nigeria, to undergraduate and postgrad courses, by 74% and 35% respectively. Learn more about Swansea s international student marketing success
TURKEY Like India and Brazil, Turkish students are impressed by rankings as they re looking for a high-quality education, which may not be accessible/available in their home country/local areas. It s important to make it clear that your courses are specifically available to them. Look to capture data on potential students in order to personalise future marketing campaigns.
Contact us for more information on international student recruitment Lucy@netnatives.com +44 (0)1273 734 640
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