Study Abroad Advisor

Marketing on the Internet

Using the Web to Sell Your Programs and Support Study Abroad

By Heather O’Connor

Today’s college student spends an average of 4.9 hours per week on the Internet, more than any other age group, according to Jupiter Communications, a New York-based research firm. Webmaster Andrew Gerard from Transitions Abroad Publishing said he has seen an increase in traffic to their web site from approximately 1,000 visitors per month in May 1997 to 25,000 in January 1999 (Webmaster Note: 400,000+ unique visitors per month in January, 2007).

Many study abroad program sponsors are establishing an Internet presence in hopes of attracting a few of these online hours to their programs. They understand that through a web site they can reach a large and growing audience of students, parents, and international educators without spending a fortune on brochures, envelopes, and postage.

Web sites can promote study abroad programs any time of day or night, whether the office is open or not, by showing photographs, audio clips, and virtual tours. Program information can be updated as the changes occur so that students, parents, and collegues have the most up-to-date information available. At the same time, program sponsors can fulfill their role as educators by providing students a means to learn about any number of areas related to study abroad (legal issues, currency exchange, health and safety, tourism) through links to other web sites on the Internet.

Most study abroad program sponsors already have some form of a paper-based marketing plan that includes flyers, catalogs, mailings, recruiting visits, or study abroad fairs--all the "traditional" ways of getting the word out to potential participants. The challenge is to combine traditional and Internet marketing in a way that will make the sponsor’s job of being both an educator and a marketer easier.

Internet-Based Marketing

Bentley College, a private business school outside Boston, sponsors Bentley College Business Programs Abroad (BCBPA), full-immersion study abroad programs open to non-Bentley College students. In 1997, the college began to call itself "The Business School for the Information Age." Institution funds were reallocated to departments utilizing technology in their programs and the study abroad budget for printing and mailing our annual full-color catalog of programs was eliminated. BCBPA responded to the challenge by designing a web site and an Internet-based marketing plan to promote our programs to students both on and off campus. Along the way we learned a few lessons:

1. Create a game plan. The first step in any marketing plan is to decide who your audience is and the best medium to reach it. Since students already spend several hours per week on the Internet, they will probably respond well to online marketing. However, their parents may not have Internet access from their homes and may respond better to letters and informational flyers.

Ideally, you should develop your Internet and print marketing plan together and tailor each to the audience you wish to reach. One should complement the other. If you have a paper catalog, have a place on your web site for visitors to request a copy. Make sure you reference your web site on everything that leaves your office.

2. Design a good web site. Once you have developed a plan, take a critical look at your web site. This is the first, and often only, impression visitors have of your organization and programs, so make it a good one.

• Verify that the information on your web site is correct and corresponds with print publications.

• Make sure your web site is easy to navigate; if students have to spend too much time searching for the information they want, they will move on to the next site.

• Photos, videos, and other graphics will catch the eye of casual web surfers. But these can be a problem for those with slow Internet connections or those who use older browsers that cannot display graphics.

• Indicate at the bottom of each page when it was last updated.

• Include a clear call to action on your web site. What do you want your visitors to do after visiting your site? Request a paper catalog? Complete an online application? Speak to their home institution’s study abroad adviser? Tell visitors to your site what they should do next if they are interested in your programs.

• Include a brief registration form somewhere on your web site so that visitors can complete it and send it to you via e-mail. This is useful for visitors who want to ask questions or request a catalog or application. It is also useful to you, the program sponsor, as a way to collect e-mail and mailing addresses for future marketing.

• Finally, you should solicit visitor feedback on your web site and make changes in your site and marketing plan when necessary.

3. Allot the necessary resources. Equally important to having a good web site is having a plan to respond to the increase in traffic as a result of your Internet presence. Decide who is going to be responsible for managing and updating your web site and if additional staff training or technical resources are needed. Decide how you will respond to student inquiries, both the serious ones and the junk e-mails that you will most certainly receive. You will also have to think about a budget--both in terms of staff time and the money to market your web site. Do not attempt an Internet marketing plan if you do not have the resources to support it. You will soon find yourself drowning in unreturned e-mails!

4. Submit your URL to search engines and directories. Once your web site is up and running and your policies are in place, you can start marketing. There are several free ways to get the word out about your programs on the Internet. The first is to register your URL (web site address) with search engines and directories. Web surfers can then search the catalogs by keywords to find lists of web sites on specific topics.

Once you submit your URL to a search engine it is important to check on it. Hundreds of new web sites are added to the Internet each day, so it can take several weeks for your web site to be listed. Once it is listed, it can be bumped off by newer sites. Check up every month or so to see where you stand on the search engines and resubmit your URL(s), if necessary. You should also resubmit your URL(s) if you make any major changes to your site. See the MarketPosition Newsletter, www.webposition.com/newsletter.htm, for advice on search engine submissions.

5. Exchange links with other programs and directories. You can also request that your web site be listed in commercial online directories. These topic-specific directories often will provide a link to your web site for free, or free with the purchase of an advertisement in their paper publication. Transitions Abroad is one such organization which offers a free listing in their online directory with the purchase of a classified ad or directory listing in their print publications. Program sponsors can also purchase banner advertisements (see below) on the Transitions Abroad web site without purchasing a print advertisement.

It is also worth asking other study abroad offices or program sponsors to trade links with you: You provide a link to their web site if they do the same. This can increase traffic to both sites and benefit your students by providing them with additional study abroad options to choose from.

6. Consider banner advertising. If you have the budget for it, you may want to look into banner advertising. Banner ads run on related web sites or search engines and provide a link to your site. They can cost from several hundred to thousands of dollars, depending on where and how often you advertise, but they can mean a huge increase in traffic to your site.

Placing banner ads, checking on search engine listings, and maintaining links with study abroad directories can easily become a full-time job. If you can afford it, you may want to consider getting an intern or hiring a consultant or an online marketing organization to assist you.

7. Create a "virtual community." After all this, you should see an increase in traffic to your web site. But your job is not over yet. As study abroad program sponsors, we all have a responsibility to prepare students for the experience of study abroad, not just to sell a product. The Internet gives program sponsors the opportunity to make their web site an extension of their office and an educational tool for students, parents, and the general public.

You can do this by creating a "virtual community." Pack your web site full of useful information on not only your own programs but on all aspects of international education. Provide links to the host institution or country, the U.S. State Department, student travel agencies, etc. Create chat rooms or listservs where students can exchange information on programs, travel plans, and cross-cultural issues. Send out an e-mail newsletter to prospective students (whose names and e-mail addresses you have collected from your registration form) to let them know about additions to your web site or to draw their attention to information they may have missed. This way students, parents, and others will return to your site again and again.

The extra effort put into creating a virtual community can have exponential benefits. You empower students and parents to do their own research and learn more about study abroad opportunities and international issues. You create a support and informational network for potential, current, and former program participants. And you identify yourself as a resource for students, parents, and your fellow international educators. This in turn can increase the visibility and reputation of your programs.

Internet Resources

Search Engines/Directories

The following search engines and directories are free and have a link from their home page to a form you can use to register your URL: www.altavista.com, www.excite.com, www.hotbot.com, www.infoseek.com, www.webcrawler.com, www.looksmart.com, www.lycos.com, www.yahoo.com.

Study Abroad Directories

These directories are specifically geared towards international education. Many will provide a link or listing on their web site for free, or free with the purchase of an advertisement in their print publication. Contact the organization directly for details and rates: www.AllAbroad.com,  www.edunet.com, www.petersons.com,  www.studyabroad.com, www.transitionsabroad.com.

Check How You Rank

Once your web site is listed with the search engines and directories above, it is important to monitor your listings and update them, if necessary. The following web site will evaluate and report your standing in the more popular search engines/directories: www.submitexpress.com.

Recommended Reading

Getting Hits: The Definitive Guide to Promoting Your Web Site by Don Sellers (Peachpit Press, 1997, $19.95). Recommended for beginners only. Guerrilla Marketing On-line by Jay Conrad Levinson and Charles Rubin (Houghton Mifflin, 1997, $14). Marketing on the Internet by Jill and Matthew Ellsworth (John Wiley & Sons, 1996, $24.95). World Wide Web Marketing by Jim Sterne (John Wiley & Sons, 1999, $29.99).

For more information on search engines, directories, banner advertisements, and other methods of marketing on the Internet, you may wish to visit these web sites: www.rankhigh.com,  www.smartbiz.com, searchenginewatch.com, www.submit-it.com, www.promoteone.com.

HEATHER O'CONNOR is the Study Abroad Adviser at Bentley College in Waltham, MA.