When developing a marketing plan for an educational institution, it is necessary to consider its characteristics. The Federation University’s main product is educational programs, and students usually react sensitively to changes in monetary policy. Therefore, there is a need for a more flexible pricing approach. It is proposed to increase the number of scholarship programs to encourage the best students. For many young people, the availability and size of a scholarship are decisive factors for admission. While these changes will come with increased costs, they will better motivate students and improve the university’s image as a whole. Another sensitive issue is tuition fees, which often present a severe problem for students and their families. It is proposed to create additional gentle payment terms that allow installment payments for 12, 24, or 36 months. This will remove some of the students’ financial burdens and enable the university to receive increased income for a longer time, considering interest.
In addition, there is a need to directly change the university’s product – educational courses. Their number should be increased to cover all the most promising and demanded areas. In this context, it is worth highlighting programs on “Nursing and health service”, which are extremely relevant. However, most of these programs also require additional organizational efforts, so Federation University should pave the way for students by providing internship programs. Thus, students will have the confidence that after receiving their education, they will be guaranteed to be able to find a job, which will significantly increase the attractiveness of the product offered by the university. Finally, improving the quality of service and interaction with educational courses is necessary. As part of this proposal, organizing services that allow students to learn more about the university and its opportunities is crucial. This will enable them to interact consciously with the products offered, resulting in more satisfaction and trust in the organization.
Additionally, the level of trust and involvement must be ensured by organizing effective promotion measures. Since the organization’s target audience is young people, it is necessary to use those advertising tools that will be close to them. Therefore, it is crucial to place promotional materials on social networks. It is essential to actively use digital and social marketing concepts by placing ads on the most visited sites – search services, Facebook, and YouTube. However, this kind of advertising should be formed carefully to ensure it matches the environment and modern trends. If the university tries to simply create its digital branch without additional preparation, the result of the promotion may turn out to be the opposite, as applicants will be repelled by insincere advertising. One can use current students and graduates to correct such shortcomings, inviting them to talk about the university from their experience. Finally, to attract parents’ attention and reach a larger audience, it is also necessary to use more traditional methods of advertising: flyers, banners, billboards, and television advertisements.
As part of the last element of the marketing strategy, it is necessary to determine the place factor that defines the access of potential buyers. It is essential to consider the university’s international nature and modern technologies that blur the boundaries for applicants. At the moment, there is some inequality in the context of the number of students from China. Since such a situation may lead to misunderstanding and isolation, increasing their number through the more active development of the Chinese market is necessary. As part of this initiative, working more closely with Chinese colleagues is suggested. Secondly, it is proposed to introduce an online admission system for applicants to improve and complement the traditional channels. It will enable people from remote places to participate in the competition for a student place. This will increase the popularity and visibility of the university, as well as draw applicants from areas that would be difficult to contact traditionally – for example, from other countries or remote regions.