Marketing tips to recruit nurses to your higher education program

Tip 1: Attract the surge of nurses wanting higher degrees

• Market your program now to the high number of nurses seeking to return to school within the next few years. This decision-making and lifestyle preparation phase may be protracted for many prospective students.
• Highlight the top benefits students will gain with a higher degree from your institution, including advancement in their organization, being better qualified to improve patient care, and the ability to obtain a higher-level job with an increased salary.
• Overcome perceived barriers of high tuition costs by promoting financial aid resources provided by your school and stating the long-term career benefits of the increased ability to get a higher-paying job.

Tip 2: Address perceived cost barriers

• Promote an education degree’s long-term value to overcome the perception that it is too expensive. Compare tuition costs to other familiar costs (such as owning a car), noting the more far-reaching benefits of an education. Messaging might focus on how a BSN improves marketability and may increase the likelihood of landing a better-paying job.
• Educate prospective students about the financial aid options available through your school.
• Maintain a list of hospitals and other facilities that offer tuition reimbursement benefits. Potential students may not think to ask about this benefit or may be willing to change employers to obtain it.

Tip 3: Position your online program

• Develop marketing materials to increase nurses’ comfort level with online courses. Develop a tip sheet describing your school’s resources, such as computer skill-building.
• Focus on differentiation that highlights the unique features of your online program(s). For example, you may offer a 24-hour live help line for technical issues students may encounter.
• Promote the full spectrum of customized and flexible online, blended, and traditional learning options offered by your institution.
• Provide evaluation tools such as checklists or counseling to help nurses decide which type of learning works best for them.

Tip 4: Drive more visits to your marketing materials

• Contextually target your advertising to the nursing degree levels and specialties your programs will most benefit. Align yourself with relevant content to make the most impact.
• More than a third of nurses will click on your ad* or follow a link online, so integrate both print and online ads. The synergy of print and online advertising offers the best opportunity for successful recruitment.
• Include the school’s website URL on all marketing materials.
• Implement paid search campaigns and SEO to engage potential students while they are actively seeking educational opportunities in an online environment.
• Evaluate ad results. Many nurses note that many nurses will not directly fill out an online form, but, instead, remember the message and take other actions such as calling or emailing for information, or talking about the school with their colleagues, all of which may eventually result in registration.

Tip 5: Find the right marketing mix

• Adapt and rethink your marketing strategies. Colleagues, university websites, and advertising in journals are nurses' top three information sources for learning about new educational opportunities.*
• Build and sustain relationships. Consider where nurses spend time online, what they read, and what they interact with every day.
• Cast a wider net. Don’t rely on just your internal databases and email lists. Find a trusted partner to deliver information about your programs.
• Implement paid search campaigns and SEO to engage potential students while they are actively seeking educational opportunities in an online environment.
• Deliver your message across multiple channels. Nurses are on the go and read and access information in print, online and email.

The Wolters Kluwer Nursing Network includes nationally recognized nursing journals and media brands in over 20 specialties, making it the leading provider of nursing content and an ideal partner for marketing your education programs. Reach actively engaged and loyal nurse subscribers who access peer-reviewed, evidence-based content from the world’s leading societies, editors, authors, and opinion leaders. Nurses searching for clinical content can visit Lippincott’s NursingCenter.com, leading journals American Journal of Nursing, Nursing2022, Nursing Made Incredibly Easy!, as well as over 60 specialty-specific journals. Let us assist you with creating lead generating, brand building and direct marketing campaigns to increase awareness, help build a robust pipeline of nurses, and drive interest in your program, however large or small.

*Nursing Education Market Assessment, Wolters Kluwer Market Research, 2020