Marketing activities in Academic Institutions of Nepal

2022-01-18

In this ever-changing digital era, along with other industries, academic institutions worldwide are shifting from traditional media to digital means for the marketing of products and services. Most universities these days have a very informative portal, a strong social media presence, and email leads. They predominantly use emails for information sharing and brand visibility and implement SEO/SEM strategies and tactics across various search engine platforms. Further, almost all renowned universities are highly active in social handles like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc.

This phenomenon encouraged Avant Garde Solutions to further study the marketing activities of Academic Institutions in the Nepali context. Thus, this study explored the marketing activities conducted by Nepali academic institutions. We interviewed key informants associated with the academic industry of Nepal and discovered that the marketing activities of academic institutions vary according to the nature of the institution. Thus, we categorized the institution into three broad categories:

Category 1: The university/ constituent campus. The Universities of Nepal mostly focus on the word-of-mouth strategy for student enrollment and don’t have any dedicated marketing department for service sales. They believe that their pass-out students who are now associated with various organizations are the real influencer to bring in new students. They do not invest in glossy advertisements in print media, television, and digital platforms. They conduct the print advertisement usually in a black and white mode in national newspapers during admission, which can be considered a notice rather than an advertisement. These institutions have a website and social media presence but they are rarely used for the visitor’s engagement and conversion.

Category 2: Academic institutions affiliated with Nepali Universities. These institutions also don’t have a distinct marketing department and the task is managed by respective program units. These institutions perform advertisements in newspapers, television, especially during admission time. They also participate in education fairs for their brand presence and student enrollment. These institutions also manage their website and social media page. However, only a few institutions of this category have been using digital platforms for lead generation, engagement, and conversion.

Category 3: The international affiliated academic institutions. Most academic institutions of this category have a dedicated marketing department while some even have an assigned digital marketing team. These institutions conduct glossy advertisement activities in media like newspapers, television, education fairs. These institutions also heavily rely on digital platforms and conduct SEO of their website. They also perform SEM (search and display) advertisements for their websites and paid campaigns on social media. These institutions use leads received from digital platforms for conversion.