Is TikTok worth the risk? Dos and don’ts for enrollment teams

Ad spend on different social media platforms can vary widely depending on several factors such as audience demographics, ad format, ad placement, and bidding strategies. TikTok is typically more expensive to experiment with compared to other platforms, as their minimum budget is $20/day compared to Facebook’s $1-5/day. Though the cost to advertise on TikTok is higher than other social platforms, it is still remarkably more affordable than traditional marketing investments, and you have the best odds of reaching your target audience here.

Be sure to thoroughly explore advertising guides for TikTok and other platforms as you create your strategy to understand which objectives will help you reach your specific recruitment goals.

TikTok continues to expand its targeting options, more recently offering a reach objective (an advertising objective that prioritizes the maximum number of impressions in a targeted audience at the most efficient price) and list-based custom audiences (a targeting option that allows you to upload customer lists including email or phone numbers for matching and targeting within the platform). These innovations help us test new features and objectives to better support our partners in identifying and reaching their target audiences.

Finding the right strategy takes an open mind and continuous testing. Weigh the cost of different objectives with A/B tests for a specified time. For our partners, we currently use cost per click/traffic as our option, which is an objective focused on driving traffic to our landing pages. The reach objective is a newer option available in TikTok, one we will test soon and that we recommend partners explore to build brand awareness and stay in front of students.

No matter the platform, for optimal click-through rates, you’ll need user-generated content that matches what Gen Z is used to—and prefers—consuming. Getting it right takes an understanding of native app usage. Creating ads that don’t generate an automatic “cringe” reaction from their teenage target audience isn’t easy.

Users prefer funny, inspirational, educational, behind-the-scenes, and creative content over commercial imagery. If you’re lucky enough to have a certifiable TikTok influencer working in the admissions office, you have a head start. Even if these videos aren’t intended for ad usage, they can be popular with viewers because they don’t feel like they’re being served ads.

If you have the resources to facilitate user-generated content, we highly recommend trying it. These types of content are frequently successful:

• Student takeovers covering major campus events or day-in-the-life experiences
• Application and student tips from your enrollment staff
• Campus fun facts and traditions
• Micro lessons from engaging faculty members

Get more ideas from other university accounts in our recent blog post.

Try utilizing campus influencers for passive promotional opportunities. Though not officially affiliated with the university, these videos can feature aspects of your campus that you want to promote.

If you don’t have the time or resources to create new user-generated content, using your current creative assets can still go a long way. You can find marketing opportunities in your existing promotional materials. For our partners, we’ve experimented with quick-changing scenes repurposed from other marketing videos and simple messaging about campus life. Combined with upbeat music, these elements showcase a lively campus environment.

Equally engaging are ads promoting a Virtual Tour. This can help you increase awareness for recruiting purposes while also educating users about your owned media platforms. Try showcasing something unexpected, like “easter eggs” or themed tours, into your campus virtual tour.

7 Steps to a Better Content Library

It’s important to use appropriate benchmarking to measure your success. Gauging success among higher ed social ad platforms is an evolving science. Though it may seem helpful to compare yourself to an average, it isn’t helpful to compare higher ed accounts with e-commerce. The enrollment marketing consumer journey is very different from that of retail industries.

You can find TikTok performance industry benchmarks through external sources. Look for segmented reports for the most accurate rates to compare your account to.

Content you create for TikTok may be successful on other platforms, which are also great for reaching Gen Z. Make a practice of backing up your social content. Existing TikTok videos can be resized to a corresponding aspect ratio and uploaded to Instagram and served on Reels. You can also test their success on Snapchat, university YouTube channels, either as YouTube Shorts or compilation videos.

Be aware of copyright law when repurposing videos. TikTok has music attribution features built into their platform to prevent copyright infringement. If you’ve used any copyrighted sounds in your videos, you’ll need to replace the audio.

Save your videos in your university’s content library so that you have access to them for future marketing uses. Note content that has performed well so you can prioritize reuse.