What we have learned from over 300 higher education blog posts

Hooray, we've shared our 300th blog post about the world of digital marketing for Higher Education!

But wait, this post is not about patting ourselves on the back. Rather, it is a chance to take a step back and recognize just how much the world of Higher Education marketing has evolved over the last five years.

When we started this blog in 2014 responsive web design was still not the default for HE institutions, Instagram was almost exclusively used by those under 34 and student influencers didn't have anywhere near the power they do today.

Our posts have documented the key concerns, focuses, and topics of interest for marketers and other professionals in higher education for years. Here, we dig into our archive with a quick retrospective to share some key insights.

The most popular blog post of all time: A look back at student life in the 90s

It seems that HE professionals are not averse to a bit of nostalgia. In 2017 we shared a comparison piece on today's students versus 90s students.

The post hit home, perhaps because it showed just how different life is for today's students, particularly in terms of the technology they use and how this affects the way they work and communicate.

Remember, Facebook, Google and Wikipedia weren't even on many people's radar back then and checking a noticeboard was the most common way for institutions to communicate with students!

We all love a good digital marketing round-up

Consistently, we've found that our most popular posts are round-ups of the most cutting edge digital marketing campaigns in the world of Higher Education.

This is completely understandable as we all need a little inspiration to create effective marketing campaigns and engagement strategies. And they have visual appeal.

Over the years we've recognized the work of institutions large and small, mostly from the US and UK, where the standard of digital marketing and social media engagement remains high. For a little inspiration check out our 2019 round-up of the best university Instagram feeds.

Instagram 2019 - REQ

Getting to grips with digital governance is a concern

In 2017 we wrote a piece on aligning the institution on the issue of digital governance. It must have hit home because it is one of our top ten most popular posts of all time.

The article noted that digital governance in institutions could be a little chaotic, with the huge growth in institution's digital footprints creating major challenges for institutions in terms of control of content, strategic decision making, and security.

With the arrival of GDPR last year the spotlight was thrown on this last topic and we know institutions are more clued up on their policy, strategy, and standards in digital than they were a couple of years ago. But, being a complex topic, there will be a lot more to say and we'll no doubt revisit this area in our blog.

300 blog posts and counting

So, that's the lowdown on what you've enjoyed from our posts in the last five years. We've covered content, social media, managing digital projects, online advertising, digital marketing, student trends, campaigns, recruitment, new technology and more. Thanks for reading!

Further down the article are links to the most popular blogs from the past 3 years in case you missed them. But for now, perhaps it's time to catch your breath and celebrate your own institution's achievements and key milestones.

We'd also love to know what your most popular posts have been, social media shares and engagement strategies? And what would you like us to cover in the future?