Student acquisition is not, as some believe, an art but behavioural science. Students buy in certain ways, react to certain triggers and are happy to spend whatever it takes to satisfy certain needs and values they hold dear. But what are those triggers?
Being cognizant of these invisible influencers is a must in today’s education world. So, what does behavioural psychology have to do with the students’ education decisions and experience? Everything!
Combining practical experience, technology, human psychology and leading thinking in education and business, MyCareerMatch Recruit ignites the student’s motivation to continue their higher education studies and makes it easier for students to decide to enrol in studies that will improve their lives and lead to success in their careers.
Education ‘selling’ is the science of personality and behaviour.
It gets below the surface and into the depths of why students – LIKE you, TRUST you, and WANT TO ENROL with you – or why they don’t.
Each student has specific behavioural preferences or ‘buy button’ on how and why they like to ‘buy’. MyCareerMatch Recruit is a psychometric career personality tool that can predict and influence non-conscious, emotional triggers that match students to your courses and switch that buy button on.
Using the statement “students have a buy button in their brain – we’ve proven that the answer is personalisation!”
Research has shown that for students, the “buy button” in their brain refers to the emotional triggers and psychological preferences that make them engage with or enrol in a program, and this can be activated through personalized experiences that show the program recognizes them as individuals with unique needs and interests.
By tailoring marketing and educational content to individual students, institutions can create more resonant and engaging experiences, leveraging the power of personalization to foster trust and enrolment.
How Personalisation Connects to the “Buy Button” for Students
Recognizing Individual Needs:
When an educational institution uses personalization, it’s essentially demonstrating that it recognizes a student’s specific needs, interests, and preferences.
Fostering Trust and Relevance:
This individualized approach helps students feel “seen” and valued, building trust and a stronger emotional connection with the institution.
Driving Engagement:
By making educational experiences more relevant and tailored to the individual student, personalization increases engagement and makes them more receptive to enrolment and participation.
Why Personalisation Works in Education
Behavioral Psychology:
Education marketing and communication can be more effective by understanding the behavioral preferences and emotional triggers of students, similar to how marketers approach any consumer behavior.
Positive Brand Perceptions:
Thoughtful, personalized interactions create positive brand perceptions, showing that the institution is invested in the student’s experience beyond just the transaction of enrolment.
Tailored Experiences:
Personalization can manifest as customized learning paths, relevant course recommendations, personalized feedback, and tailored communication, all of which contribute to a more engaging and effective learning journey.
In short, we have the tools that can supercharge your education marketing.
There’s Still a Need for Human Contact
As part of the MyCareerMatch solution, we have created a new Behavioural Selling Academy for Universities and Education Providers – MySalesSuccess that gives your call centre team the tools to form great relationships with students; make those who are uncertain or stressed feel relaxed and put behavioural psychology to work to improve the student experience (and enrol more students!)
Our goal is to quickly and easily explain these drivers of human behaviour while providing tactics that can help you when selling your courses or degrees.
For more information or to book a training session at our Education Sales Success Academy, contact us.
Google Says ‘Forget Everything You Know About the Student Marketing Funnel
Every student journey is unique, which makes marketing to and recruiting undergraduate and adult learners extremely challenging. Not only are students hard to identify, but the pathways by which students find their way to your undergraduate, online or postgrad programs, vary greatly. Every prospective student has unique motivations, goals, and timelines.
According to Google ‘forget everything you know about the marketing funnel. Today, people are no longer following a linear path from awareness to consideration to purchase. They are narrowing and broadening their consideration set in unique and unpredictable moments. People turn to their devices to get immediate answers. And every time they do, they are reshaping the traditional marketing funnel along the way”.
So, across all our clients, we examined whether marketing according to student motivation using real-time data to be responsive to specific moments and behaviours and free content could impact our client’s results.
What we found was pretty remarkable.
The clients who engaged with future students giving away a free MyCareerMatch personality quiz as part of their marketing mix, generated 10 times the number of qualified leads compared to typical advertising campaigns – and saw an average 58% increase in enrolments.
Education industry PPC challenges
Keywords are expensive! But universities and education providers include them in their marketing budgets to build their brand and drive traffic to their website.
Just don’t forget the personal ‘wow factor’ of a branded career personality quiz that collects so much more personal data than just a click!
Education is a universal desire and often a requirement to survive and thrive in today’s society. With a market so big, as one would expect, education keywords don’t come cheap.
We’ll Make Your Marketing Budget Go Further
According to Google’s Keywords Planner, education PPC ads can cost between $50-$100 per click depending on the program/degree-related keywords advertised. You can also pay between $30-$50 (or more) for student enquiries from online student lead generation companies. They’re a great source of student leads but if there’s no personalised follow up these leads can easily slip through your fingers.
Compare that with MyCareerMatch Recruit campaigns that will cost you less than $8 per qualified lead!
We know it’s not easy to make major changes in a large institution, especially in an area like education marketing, with its complicated budgets and multiple decision-makers.
But hopefully, these ideas will inspire you to try out some new strategies and make the case to your team members that personalised lead generation and student recruitment tools like MyCareerMatch Recruit are the way to go.”
Frequently Asked Questions About Student ‘Buy Buttons’
1.Why is personalisation so powerful in switching on student buy buttons?
Because students don’t enrol for generic reasons – they enrol when they feel understood. Personalisation taps into their unique motivations, values, and emotional “buy button,” making your institution the obvious choice.
2. How does MyCareerMatch Recruit generate more qualified leads than traditional campaigns?
By offering students a free career personality quiz, we gather rich behavioural insights beyond a simple click. This data helps you nurture trust, tailor communications, and drive up to 10x more qualified leads at a fraction of the cost of PPC
3. Can behavioural psychology really influence student enrolments?
Yes. Research shows students respond to non-conscious emotional triggers when deciding where to study. By understanding these behavioural drivers, you can move beyond the marketing funnel and directly influence their decision-making.
4. How does the MyCareerMatch Recruit Behavioural Selling Academy help our student recruitment team?
It equips your call centre and admissions staff with the science of behavioural selling-helping them form instant rapport, reduce student stress, and confidently guide uncertain prospects into enrolments. Contact us to book a Behavioural Selling Academy Training for your team.
5. Can behavioural selling improve student experience as well as increase enrolments?
Absolutely. By recognising personality types and communication preferences, your team connects on a human level. Students feel seen, valued, and supported before they even enrol, which builds lasting trust with your institution.
Want to see how these strategies can transform your recruitment results? Book a demo with MyCareerMatch Recruit today and discover how to activate the student “buy button” while making your marketing budget go further.
