Every month you have thousands of potential students visiting your website, some of whom are probably putting together their college lists. Regardless of how amazing your site content is or how great your school’s reputation is, a good chunk of these visitors are never going to interact with your school again —that is unless you gather some of their information.

[Enter Content Offer]

For those of you who don’t know, content offers are highly valuable pieces of content that hide behind forms on your website, and they are ideal for collecting information from your site visitors.

If this doesn’t sound familiar, visit the landing page of one of our content offers by clicking the button below.

Download our content calendar template

Content offers are all over the internet, so the chances are that you have run into a few of them. But something we have noticed through our partnerships with many different colleges is that in the college market, content offers are rather rare. Despite having a plethora of valuable information and resources to offer their prospective students, many colleges just don’t have content offers up on their websites. Why?

Well, maybe they don’t fully understand the ways in which a content offer is valuable.

So why don’t we run through a little example.

Say a student types “great colleges in Michigan” into a search engine, and your site comes up. She browses your site for a bit, then returns to the search engine and views a few other colleges. She ends her search relatively unimpressed by what she saw. She forgets your school and most of the rest. That’s that.

How does the situation play out with a content offer in the mix?

A student types “great colleges in Michigan” into the search engine, and your site comes up. While browsing your site, she comes across a content offer: Our Degree Program Quiz. Wondering what degree program this quiz might pair her with, she plugs her first name, last name, phone number, and email address into your form. She takes the quiz and is matched with your film program. She visits your film program page, likes what she sees, and makes a mental note of your school.

Now, you’re already better off than you would have been without a content offer, but here is the real kicker. Let’s say even after taking the quiz; this potential student still forgets your college. Well, now you have her information. You know she was paired with film, and you know she viewed your film program page, so it is probably safe to assume she is interested in film. Because of the contact information your content offer collected, you can now follow up with her providing her with relevant and compelling information.

So how do you get started on your content offer?

It all starts with identifying common, complex questions your prospective students might have. Most students have questions about specific degree programs, financial aid opportunities, scholarship opportunities, preparing for college, and transitioning to college. So what type of content might they find valuable?How about a step-by-step guide to applying for financial aid? Or a list of the top 20 scholarship resources? Maybe a college preparation calendar for high school seniors?

Your offer can cover any topic, as long as your content is valuable and relevant enough to warrant your visitors relinquishing their personal information.  

What now?

You can visit this post for a complete guide on creating your content offer. But in the meantime, how about getting to know your buyers a little better? Before you start your offer you will want to know exactly who your buyers are, what motivates them, what problems they are having, and what their goals are. Click below to get our target profile worksheet and start learning more about your ideal buyer!