3 Advanced Targeting Techniques For Student Recruitment

Keeping enrollment numbers up has never been as difficult as it is today with such a high volume of Colleges and Universities to choose from. At VIQTORY, our experts are able to help you find quality applicants using our Military DSP ensuring that you stay ahead of the curve.

We are able to implement a number of advanced targeting techniques that allow us to cut through the clutter and advertise your opportunities directly to thousands of transitioning service members. Our tactics will alleviate the pains that used to come hand-in-hand with student recruitment techniques of the past.

Targeted Display

Say that an individual wants to buy a new guitar. The first thing that they are going to do is hop online and do some research. They may start on the Guitar Center website, which leads them to various other websites/forums where they can learn about different guitars such as Reverb or Musicians Friend. Now they have gone down a rabbit-hole and their internet activity is filled with guitar-related searches. Later, that same person is back on the internet browsing Facebook, and they see an ad for Sweetwater Music. Then maybe they are looking up movie times on the Cinemark website and they see an ad for Gibson Guitars.

We are essentially following the user and showing them ads that are relevant to them based on sites they’ve visited, what they have searched, and what they have read. This ensures that ads are being placed in front of the right people instead of them going to waste. We apply that very concept to Colleges and Universities to help get the right applicants. Here at VIQTORY we use Targeted Display to help increase exposure and awareness for our clients by getting their ads on the screens of transitioning service members.

Geo-Targeting

As an example, say that The Pennsylvania State University is running ads promoting the school while trying to increase their number of applications. They’re not going to want to run ads around their physical location because everyone in Happy Valley already knows about Penn State. They would want to run ads in places that are filled with individuals who are more likely to apply, anywhere you see fit. This way you are increasing the chances that your ads are being delivered to relevant viewers while extending the reach of the ads. We will go more in depth later in this article, but the main point is that we are able to target specific geographical locations based on a school’s needs and where they want their ads to be displayed.

Geo-Fencing

The ways in which people advertise is something that is always evolving, but never before have we been able to target people in such specific locations anywhere in the world. This is done through a targeting technique called Geo-fencing. It works much like Geo-targeting in the way that it targets an individual’s devices to serve them ads. But instead of using the IP addresses from computers and laptops, although it still can, it targets the location services on their mobile devices as well. If you are using a mobile app, there is a strong possibility that your location is being used. Many times, the app doesn’t even need to be opened to gather the person’s location. For instance, those that use weather applications on their smartphones, location is always being used so that you are getting accurate real-time information.

We are able to create custom shapes, or fences, on a map as small as 100 meters. We can then pinpoint any device using location services within that fence and serve ads to those individuals. Even after they leave the location, we can continue to place ads in front of anyone who has been in that shape within the last 30 days. Back to my earlier example.

Say that the Pennsylvania State University is running ads to promote the school while trying to increase their number of applicants. While Geo-targeting is an excellent tool that will help to get results, Geo-fencing takes it a step further. We are able to draw a fence around specific military bases and run ads to every mobile device within the fence that has location services turned on. We could even fence every base in the country if we wanted to. While these service members are still on the base they can be seeing ads for Penn State, and we are able to keep showing them ads for up to 30 days, even after they’ve left the fence, making sure that it is top-of-mind. Here at VIQTORY, we can find the top talent for our clients who are looking to recruit students. This capability blended with the numerous other techniques we include in our campaigns assist in making us the best at what we do.