Your School's Brand is its Calling Card to the Outside World

Today, an educational institute doesn’t only uphold in a building, surrounded by walls with classrooms, teachers, students and other infrastructure. No matter what, the education industry is still a business and like any other business it needs constant capital and nurturing. If a college/ university miss out on marketing themselves properly to their audience, then there are good chances that in no time some other college can replace their place in the market. 

First and foremost, the thing to do in any business is to mark the presence. When countless schools, colleges, and universities are offering top-notch education, working with the same aim, it is important for an institution to get the attention of the student. 

In order to make something survive, the existence needs to be felt. Grabbing the audience’s attention makes a hell lot of difference in this regard.

What branding really is?

Branding is not about technology and communicating only, but is about so many things like institute facilities and much more put together where social media could play one very important role to deliver this technology to reach a global audience worldwide in a fraction of a second.

Till the 80s and 90s, it was thought that branding was necessary only for consumer durables, FMCG sector or for creating a difference in services. In India, education is considered not for profit creating a big dichotomy. According to the Supreme Court of India, you cannot run an educational institute for profit. So till there are changes in the view of Supreme Court or any amendments are made in the Indian Constitution, education is not for profit.

How is branding done?

Branding your higher education facility requires certain steps to be followed. The brand needs to know its existing and potential target audiences. Understand the demographics, but push beyond to identify what motivates their decision-making process. Reach out to touch their minds and their hearts. Today in order to succeed, you’ll have to understand that this does not limit to four walls or a boundary, it extends to students, parent, and community and large. Social media is nowadays a very important means of engaging with these large and diversified groups. 

Let’s Talk Business

Education in India has a not-for-profit structure but institutes nowadays are opening up to reaching out to people to build their brands to create a positive impression in the minds of people.

Dr. Hari Krishna Maram, Chairman and Founder, Imperial College, Bangalore said, “If you look at the top 10 brands of the world, we’ll come to know that the brand value or the brand capitalisation of the topmost brand Apple is $200 billion equivalent to the entire education industry of South East Asia. It has a market capitalisation of $800 billion and they spend $1.8 billion to promote this brand.”

He further adds,” The topmost education brands like Stanford, Oxford made the brand but they don’t work as a business entity. If once the change of the attitude happens towards business we might see a couple of education brands figuring in the topmost brands in 2018-2020.”

Therefore, it is an imminent decision today, to look at the business aspect of education for institutions to become brands that people know of. The use of an integrated team for building brand and marketing will successfully result in identifying and integrating an institution’s unique “DNA” into tangible Branded Experiences and Environments.

Aid to Social Media

Social engagement and branding in education sector provide various benefits that lead to gaining valuable insights from students, parents, and investors. It also increases brand awareness and loyalty, providing rich industry experiences. One can effortlessly find out what their competitors are doing and share content faster and easier. Build relationships

But to these advantages, many also see a not-so-good side to it. Social media engagements can involve some disadvantages too.

With plenty of social media sites to choose from, it can leave institutes wondering which social media network will yield the best results for their education facility. With no social media strategy in place, it's difficult to set goals and measure whether it's successful for your educational facility. Institutes may have to invest in social media consultants, take training classes or hire an employee specifically dedicated to social media.