Clearing was very different this year. There were more students taking part than ever before, which resulted in more competition amongst universities than ever before. As always, we kept our ears to the ground and collected some interesting and surprising developments that we saw throughout the day in Clearing digital marketing. In this blog, we’ve rounded up some of those key trends that we posted live on our social media channels.
1. EU admissions fell
Just as we predicted in 2019, if universities wanted to recruit international students, they would have to look outside the EU. 22,430 students from within the EU were accepted on to UK degree courses this year, down by 15.2% from last year. The impact of COVID-19 was evident early on, but could Brexit have played a part as well?
2. Lower search volumes in the early hours
We witnessed 9% lower search volume for courses in Clearing in the early hours, compared to 2019, however, this then accelerated and by 11am had exceeded the same time last year. One reason for this could be because of exams being cancelled and school’s and colleges closed, prospective students had more time to do their searching earlier on in the year, and therefore weren’t scrambling around in the early hours.
3. Higher CPCs on desktop
We witnessed CPCs on desktop be 18% more expensive than on mobile. We also saw a decrease in conversion rates on desktops, with many prospective students opting to use clearing hotlines rather than enquiring / applying online, which boosted mobile conversion rates across accounts (students searching on their phones and then calling from their phones rather than going down the desktop route). How will this impact your Clearing digital marketing activity moving forward?
4. Higher CPMs on mobile
As a result, we saw CPMs on mobile be 8% more expensive than on desktop.
5. Finance and economics courses were in demand
Finance and economics courses accounted for 34% of all business course searches. Medical related degrees proved to be very popular on the day – we saw a huge increase in searches being made for these subjects.
6. Parents doing the leg work?
At least 31% of Clearing searches were carried out by parents, with nearly 66% of searches being conducted by females. Sitelinks that alluded to ‘Parent clearing information’ performed incredibly well on the day, with an average CTR of 2.27%, some of the strongest engagement stats out of all extensions. One to watch when devising your Clearing marketing strategies for 2021.
7. Tailored messaging
We saw a 42% increase in CTRs for ads that included messaging around being “COVID-19 Secure”, and a 15.86% increase in CTRs for ads with an “urgent” call to action (apply now, apply today, etc), plus an 11% increase in CTRs for ads mentioning a start in September. Once again, personalised messaging was a big winner, and will continue to be in the future for all things Clearing digital marketing.
If you’re interested in finding out more about the key themes that emerged and what happened this year to help you plan for a successful Clearing 2021, click here to register for our digital masterclass, taking place on Thursday 5th November 2020, or simply speak to one of our experts.
