Quality content has never been a more valuable currency for business schools.
Competitiveness is at an all-time high – the market has long been overcrowded and many institutions, no longer satisfied solely with local or regional success, are looking to attract the best talent from across the globe as they set their sights firmly on global superstardom. Meanwhile, prospective students are exploring the possibility of pursuing their academic dreams in far-off lands, looking far beyond options available to them domestically.
Vying to attract the best applicants, as well as maintain and, where possible, elevate their reputation broadly, business schools are also under increasing pressure to communicate their research impact, as well as the value of their educational offering.
Against this backdrop, quality content has become vital to a business school’s success.
This, however, puts pressure on in-house communications and marketing teams to craft this content. And it’s a mighty task: they need to create impactful, engaging copy that will separate their institution from the competition and attract the world’s top talent.
So, what can they do?
Content creators
Enter the content guru.
Increasingly, business schools are turning to the services of content creators to meet the demand for high-value content.
It’s understandable – these specialised professionals often have a narrower remit, focusing their time and energy on creating quality content, affording other communications team members time to work on other activities. Some institutions have even invested in in-house content creators, hiring content writers and editors.
But, for those schools, however, that don’t hire – potentially because they simply don’t have the budget for a full-time content creator on staff, is contracting an external content guru worth it?
It’s a valid question. After all, what about broader PR activities? Creating impactful content is important, but there’s a lot more to external engagement than just good copy.
External PR support
External PR support can offer business schools the best of both worlds. Highly skilled in creating compelling narratives and quality content, PR professionals also bring a deep understanding of media relations.
In short, they can create the quality content you’re after, and – importantly – find a home for your stories in high-value, target media.
The value of quality content resides in the knowledge of how to use it to achieve those aforementioned goals of attracting the best global talent, raising your institution’s reputation, and being able to distinguish your brand from the competition.
Specialised PR providers – such as BlueSky Education – can do just that.
But what does that look like? Here are three (of many) ways that PR agencies can support your business school in creating and utilising its content:
- Press releases/alerts around institutional news, accreditations and new research:
External PR support can significantly bolster the quality and quantity of your school’s announcements, whether it be important updates, key achievements – such as industry (re)accreditation and sector partnerships, or the release of new research papers.
PR support can complement your institution’s in-house programme-related marketing efforts by utilising faculty voices, student & alumni success stories, and other course-specific content to engage with target markets via institutional platforms – such as social media accounts – and media titles.
- Copywriting for website/media (opinion pieces):
As mentioned above, alongside having a wide array of connections, as well as an abundance of media savvy awareness, PR professionals are also skilled storytellers. As such, schools that invest in external support can expect to see a significant increase in the frequency and quality of long-form content being produced for their websites. And – importantly – this insight can be utilised for media engagement – namely, securing and crafting opinion pieces in widely-read media titles.
External PR support can deliver the same impact as content creators, and so much more.
How to know if your business school needs external PR support
Some institutions feel that they don’t need external support. A minority of schools might actually have a large enough communications team to operate, albeit on a lower level than they could do with an agency, without external support.
But, for the overwhelming majority of business schools that don’t contract external PR support, this isn’t the case. So, why don’t they use a PR agency?
Quite simply, they don’t know that they need support. These schools should look at their current content output, the traction it gets with external stakeholders, and the impact it has on applications, and appreciate that this does not need to be the total extent of their results of efforts around content.
Whether your school is an M7, FT Ranking-topping global powerhouse or not, external PR support can do wonders for your content – both for use on your own website and other channels and far beyond.
Engaging, impactful and media-enticing – this is what your content can be with PR support.
For external PR support for your content creation needs, contact BlueSky Education today.
Author: Jonny StoneJonny delivers impactful PR results using an evolving network of essential media contacts, from national newspapers like Forbes, The Guardian, the Financial Times and The Telegraph, to specific trade editors such as PIE News, QS Top Universities, We Are The City and University World News. He is committed to helping more ambitious institutions reach international media goals.
