Educational Leads

The Challenges

The United States is now in a state of flux regarding education, making things even more challenging for the current generation of students. Formerly, the path was more straightforward, emphasizing that a college degree was the ultimate goal, as possessing a degree opened the most doors in terms of career path. While a college degree can still be important, other disciplines are now increasingly in demand, often with similar income levels, even if not prestige.
While college is still important for doctors and lawyers, there is now just as much importance placed on trades such as construction, plumbing, media engineering, and computer programming. However, even as traditional paradigms for educational desirability change, there is also the continuing challenge of finances.
The next generation of students is now facing, for the first time, an economic situation where they are likely to be less financially secure than their parents. Part of the reason for this is the continuing skyrocketing costs of post-secondary education. Baby Boomers who now speak sagely about how all that’s needed for a college degree is to “work hard” over the summer don’t realize that tuition is now no longer just a few hundred or thousand dollars per year but often approaching the cost of a home. Student debt is not a way for students to get some disposable income for partying but a necessity for many to get a degree. For people who longer closely pay attention to the educational environment, it has changed—sometimes in unrecognizable ways—from what people grew up with when they were the school age.

The Marketing Opportunities

As challenging as the educational environment is for young Americans right now, one thing remains true: this is often a crossroads of independence for them. Even as early as high school, some students with sizable allowances are now exercising some of that disposable income to purchase their own products or use their own services rather than having their parents take these actions on their behalf.
However, it is at the tertiary or college level that most young Americans finally take their first step into full-fledged independence. For many, this is where they will encounter debt for the first time, in the form of student loans and other financial products, such as getting their first credit card and balancing their finances to manage the debt. While parents may be providing guidance, these young Americans are now considered adults from a legal standpoint. They will be making choices for themselves, putting their own signatures on contracts, and taking their own actions in their own interests.
This creates a whole new incoming demographic for certain products and services. However, those aimed at their most relevant priorities—namely education—will have the most resonance at this point in their lives. Sprint Data Solutions Worldwide Marketing has extensive databases of students categorized according to their needs, such as:

Educational Seekers

The largest demographic is, of course, the general category of those interested in education. This may be divided into more specific categories, such as those interested in degrees from the university or seeking a diploma from a technical or trade school, but in the end, they are looking for a formal education, with a formal certificate at the end of it that recognizes their expertise in a given area.
This is a very broad range and thus encompasses most of the education demographic. There’s a large age range here, from teens just applying to a college, university, technical, or trade school for the first time to graduate students wrapping up a Ph.D. or Masters, and even older Americans finally returning to school.

Student Financial Assistance Seekers

In the past, many students could attend school without needing additional finances. A summer job could cover that year’s tuition or for parents’ savings to cover all the school years required to secure a degree. Today, except for the wealthy, few students can finance years of education without some outside financial aid.
Student loans and other financial products are now part of life for today’s post-secondary students. However, different students will have distinct requirements, so different financial products and services will apply to them. It’s also important to note that related products and services, such as budget products like food and clothing, will be of relevance to students trying to finance loans while still having enough to sustain other living costs during their school years.

Trade School Financial Assistance

It’s not just universities that can have demanding tuition for education. Today, even the so-called “trade schools” or “technical colleges” that don’t teach degree programs can still require a major investment to get a diploma or other type of certification. In some respects, these schools are even more demanding, as the skillset is highly valued, but becoming increasingly rare as more students chase degrees.
Financing can sometimes be extremely challenging for trade schools since it’s not unusual for students to be of more limited financial means, often one of the reasons they are not going to university in the first place. This means that financial assistance, as well as services geared toward helping students manage their time and budgets, can be crucial and welcomed by this demographic.

Student Debt Leads

For college graduates in the 21^st century, student loan debt, often nearly crippling, is just a fact of life. However, if the next generation is going to become productive members of society that continue to do the things past generations take for granted, such as investing in automobiles and first homes, managing student debt must become a priority.
Students in debt are always receptive to financial services, such as loan consolidation or products that can help them manage their finances. Everything from budget travel to cheaper sources of food and clothing can contribute to assisting students in staying afloat while tackling the sizable debt their education has left them with.

Student Continuing Education Seekers

For some, getting an education has always been a dream, but it had to be set aside for other commitments, such as raising a family and holding a steady job. However, once the children have grown up, gone to school themselves, and now have lives and families of their own, some people’s thoughts return to the academic experience they never had.
Seniors returning to school are a very different demographic. These are people usually more interested in learning for its own sake than any professional benefits it may grant them. They are also usually financially established, so education costs aren’t as big an obstacle. Continuing education seekers are receptive to many products and services that can help them make the most of their return to school.

College Location

For many students, acceptance at college often also means moving to a new location. They will be new to an area and thus in need of orientation. For a variety of local businesses, this is always an opportunity to gain new customers or clients each year.
By having access to new students incoming for the year at a specific location, local companies can precisely target this growing market for various products and services, from restaurants gaining new diners to grocers pulling in new buyers for everyday supplies like ingredients and laundry detergent.

College Requirements

For most students, getting into a college, especially a prestigious, “first pick” school is a harrowing, extremely demanding experience. Few students have the luxury of putting in little to no effort and still being accepted by their school of choice. There are also other considerations, such as logistical and financial, to consider when attending a specific university.
Because of this, students are often interested in the many aspects of meeting college requirements. Aside from the given of achieving a certain minimum level of academic achievement, students must also look at what else a school evaluates in applicants, as well as what kind of finances and living arrangements they need to make to attend school feasibly. This can be utilized to market the appropriate products and services to students.

Degree Counselling Or Tuition Assistance

Even after a student has been accepted into a school, this is just the start of the journey. A lot of work must now be put into the studies themselves, as well as passing the exams that will eventually grant a degree, diploma, or certificate. While some students can handle this independently, others can always benefit from extra help.
Some students actively search for products, and counseling can assist in degree counseling to make the right choices for their field of study and tuition assistance to tackle the more challenging aspects of a subject.

Career Placement & Career Counseling

Before tertiary education, and even during, it can be an intimidating prospect to commit to a career. While students at the post-secondary level are considered adults, they may still need more time to seriously consider what they would like to do as an occupation, at least at the beginning of their career.
Career placement and counseling services can help students by providing them with the opportunities they need to consider their talents and interests and how to apply them professionally. Offers for additional training, orientation, or simply providing new alternatives to consider are always welcome by this demographic, as well as the associated products and services.

Military Veterans Seeking Continued Education

Those who have signed on for military service and are returning to civilian life didn’t just risk life and limb in defense of the nation; they also sacrificed time. They gave their youth and the prime years of their lives to protecting the United States, which may give some pause for reentering civilian life. Many of them gave up on post-secondary education to serve and, in some cases, weren’t financially able to attend any post-secondary education.
Now, however, they have the time and the opportunity—and often the government’s backing—to get the education they initially gave up. Veterans continuing education present many options for different types of products and services. Everything from laptops for school to new clothing is appropriate for a veteran returning to civilian life and about to get further education.

A primary element of these databases is geography. Contact details are available at the national level for nationwide campaigns. However, the scope of marketing campaigns can also be narrowed down. Regional campaigns, such as only in New England, are possible. This can also be localized to a single state, like Massachusetts, and down to a specific neighborhood in a single town or city, such as marketing only to students in North Cambridge, in the town of Cambridge, home of Harvard University.
Another crucial aspect of these contact databases is that they are available in demographic breakdowns. Metrics can be categorized by factors like ethnicity if a campaign is better suited to Asian American students, or religious affiliation if a product or service is more appropriate for Jewish students. Economic rankings can also be used if lower-income students would benefit more from a grant, bursary, loan, or other financial product. Even factors like having a specific ailment, such as targeting diabetic students, can result in better results with more precisely targeted marketing.

Contact Formats & More

Requested databases provide contact details in whatever formats a client requires. Direct mail offers physical mailing addresses for general consumers and B2B marketing. The same applies to email addresses, with individual and corporate contacts available. Marketing strategies that prefer a focus on direct interactions receive telephone numbers. These are available as residential numbers, but for B2B needs, include the relevant decision maker, not just a general receptionist number. Cellular phone numbers can also be provided for marketing needs involving text/SMS promotional strategies.
Additional services are available on client request. For example, some businesses may be interested in the direct management of a direct mail marketing campaign but hesitate because they don’t have any previous experience. Sprint Data Solutions Worldwide Marketing has a turnkey direct mail solution. This service guides clients through all the stages of the direct mail process. From conception to print, then distribution, everything happens under one roof, eliminating the usual need to source and vet different vendors at different phases of the process.

So if you have a product or service that you want to sell to students, we can help. Contact Sprint Data Solutions Worldwide Marketing for the education leads that will make a difference.