1. A Content Marketing Matrix for Higher Ed: Entertain,
Inspire, Educate and Convince
Slide 1
A Content Marketing Matrix for
Higher Ed: Entertain, Inspire,
Educate and Convince

2. A Content Marketing Matrix for Higher Ed: Entertain,
Inspire, Educate and Convince
Slide 2
1) Your Content Strategy – A Matrix?
2) Entertain
3) Inspire
4) Educate
5) Convince
6) Conclusions
Overview
Source: Higher Education Marketing – A Content Marketing Matrix for Higher Ed: Entertain, Inspire, Educate and Convince

3. A Content Marketing Matrix for Higher Ed: Entertain,
Inspire, Educate and Convince
Slide 3
 Creating fresh, relevant web content every week, as you
implement your content strategy, is probably one of your
greatest challenges.
 The toughest part of the process is often coming up with a good
content idea and making the decision how to implement it.
 Writing to the different stages in your recruitment funnel, establishing
awareness with you target audience through to their decision to
register is essential. extremely emotional in theirs, and everybody
else in between.
 This “content marketing matrix” infographic asserts how
different types of content format can be best applied across
a two dimensional matrix.
 There are four distinct categories: Entertain, Inspire, Educate and
Convince.
1. Your Content Strategy – A Matrix?
Source: Higher Education Marketing – A Content Marketing Matrix for Higher Ed: Entertain, Inspire, Educate and Convince

4. A Content Marketing Matrix for Higher Ed: Entertain,
Inspire, Educate and Convince
Slide 4
 Content that entertains your prospective student audience
competes with a lot of other forms of very slick content, so
roll up your professional marketing sleeves when you tackle
this category.
 This viral video is a great example of an institution explicitly planning
to entertain their audience, capturing that content and then
promoting it.
 Of course you can’t guarantee virality but if the content is
good, you’ve got a shot at it.
 Since published in late August this video has had close to 1
million views on YouTube. You have to admit it is
entertaining!
2. Entertain
Source: Higher Education Marketing – A Content Marketing Matrix for Higher Ed: Entertain, Inspire, Educate and Convince

5. A Content Marketing Matrix for Higher Ed: Entertain,
Inspire, Educate and Convince
Slide 5
 Inspiring an target audience is a very serious challenge.
 The University of Toronto’s “Boundless” campaign, has
accomplished this reasonably well.
 This ambitious campaign presents a whole range of celebrity
graduates of the university and quite sincerely tugs at your
heartstrings with respect to the potential and hope that these
individuals (and by extension U of T graduates) can bring to the
world by following their chosen passions.
 Inspirational content like this is particularly key to connecting
with emotional decision makers in the later stages of their
buying process.
3. Inspire
Source: Higher Education Marketing – A Content Marketing Matrix for Higher Ed: Entertain, Inspire, Educate and Convince

6. A Content Marketing Matrix for Higher Ed: Entertain,
Inspire, Educate and Convince
Slide 6
 Educating prospective students about their institutions is the
meat and potatoes quadrant for higher ed.
 There is still lots of opportunity for you to produce basic
“educational” information in the expected formats but keep in mind
that emerging technology based tactics offer new ways to provide
the traditional information that prospect students need to make their
application decisions.
 Campus visits and tours will always remain a key component
in a student's decision process.
 LinkedIn University pages are another example of emerging
tech-based “education” tools.
4. Educate
Source: Higher Education Marketing – A Content Marketing Matrix for Higher Ed: Entertain, Inspire, Educate and Convince

7. A Content Marketing Matrix for Higher Ed: Entertain,
Inspire, Educate and Convince
Slide 7
 Content for the Convince part of the spectrum is where a lot
of schools have not spent a lot of energy.
 Part of this lies in the historically prevalent attitude that colleges and
universities were not in the business of selling themselves.
 This is changing, given the pressures of reduced government
funding, competitive recruitment practices, online education, etc.
 Marketers should spend more time here, honing their skills
in communicating their institution's unique value proposition,
distinguishing their institution's brand, and selling the
features and benefits of their school.
5. Convince
Source: Higher Education Marketing – A Content Marketing Matrix for Higher Ed: Entertain, Inspire, Educate and Convince

8. A Content Marketing Matrix for Higher Ed: Entertain,
Inspire, Educate and Convince
Slide 8
 So, as you face that regular challenge of “the blank page”
and creating that next piece of content marketing, cast your
eyes over the content matrix, target a particular persona,
and pick an awareness stage and emotional type to help you
find a new idea and an appropriate format that can help you
meet your current marketing priorities.
 It will help you produce these new ideas while at the same
time diversifying your target funnel stage and emotional
type.
6. Conclusions
Source: Higher Education Marketing – A Content Marketing Matrix for Higher Ed: Entertain, Inspire, Educate and Convince

9. A Content Marketing Matrix for Higher Ed: Entertain,
Inspire, Educate and Convince
Slide 9
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