How Paid Social Can Support Your Postgraduate Student Recruitment Strategy

Reaching prospective postgraduate students takes more than making your courses available to search. Universities also need to build awareness, communicate what makes their courses distinctive and reach students at different stages of their decision-making journey.

Paid Social can help you do this, putting your institution and courses in front of relevant audiences on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

Whether you're promoting specific courses, driving registrations for an Open Day or building awareness of your postgraduate offering, here's how Paid Social can support your student recruitment strategy.

1. Reach prospective students beyond search

Students researching postgraduate study don't rely on a single channel. They might discover a course through a search engine, explore university content on social media and return to a course later when they're ready to make a decision.

Paid Social gives universities another way to reach prospective students, including those who may not yet be actively searching for a specific course or institution.

Targeted campaigns can help put your postgraduate offering in front of relevant audiences, introducing your courses to potential applicants and keeping your institution visible as they explore their options.

2. Build awareness of your courses and institution

With a wide range of postgraduate courses competing for attention, communicating what makes your institution distinctive is important.

Paid Social offers a way to showcase your courses, campus, student experience and research through engaging creative content. It can also help you highlight the features that matter to prospective students, from specialist facilities and career opportunities to scholarships and flexible study options.

Brand Awareness campaigns are particularly useful when your objective is to introduce your institution or postgraduate offering to prospective students and strengthen recognition over time.

3. Promote key recruitment activities

Paid Social isn't just about building awareness. It can also support specific student recruitment priorities and encourage prospective students to take action.

For example, you could use campaigns to:

• Promote Open Days and virtual events to prospective students who want to find out more about studying at your institution.
• Highlight courses with upcoming start dates to reach students exploring their options.
• Raise awareness of scholarships and funding to help prospective students discover available opportunities.
• Support recruitment deadlines by reminding prospective applicants about key dates and next steps.
• Showcase particular subject areas where you want to increase interest or attract a more targeted audience.

Aligning your campaign with a clear objective helps you decide what to promote, which audience to reach and what action you want prospective students to take.

4. Match your campaign to your recruitment objectives

Not every campaign needs to achieve the same thing. Your approach should reflect what you're trying to accomplish.

FindAUniversity offers two Paid Social campaign types:

Brand Awareness

Designed to increase visibility and introduce your institution, courses or other postgraduate opportunities to relevant audiences.

Lead Generation

Designed to encourage prospective students to take the next step and express interest, helping support your student recruitment activity.

Choosing the right approach starts with identifying your objective. Are you looking to increase awareness of your postgraduate offering, promote a specific recruitment activity or generate interest in particular courses? Being clear about the outcome you want will help shape your campaign.

5. Understand what your campaigns deliver

Paid Social provides measurable campaign activity, helping you understand how prospective audiences interact with your advertising.

Depending on your campaign objectives, relevant measures may include reach, engagement, clicks or leads. Reviewing performance against your original goals can help you assess what is working and inform future marketing activity.

It's also important to consider Paid Social as part of your wider student recruitment strategy. Prospective students may encounter your institution through several channels before enquiring or applying, so individual campaigns are only one part of the overall journey.

Combining Paid Social with other relevant marketing activity can help you maintain visibility as students research their options and move towards a decision.

Want to see how universities are using digital campaigns to support their student recruitment goals? Explore our client testimonials and case studies to discover how institutions have worked with FindAUniversity to reach prospective students.

Get more from your Paid Social campaigns

Looking to increase visibility among prospective Masters and PhD students?

For a limited time, book a 30 day Paid Social campaign with FindAUniversity by 30 November 2026 and receive a Spotlight Email campaign worth up to £1,000 free.

Choose Brand Awareness or Lead Generation to support your student recruitment priorities, from promoting courses and Open Days to raising awareness of scholarships and funding opportunities.

Your complimentary Spotlight Email provides another opportunity to reach a targeted audience of prospective postgraduates directly in their inbox.

To claim the offer:

• Book a 30 day Paid Social campaign by 30 November 2026.
• Schedule your complimentary Spotlight Email to run by 31 January 2027.

Find out more about our Paid Social campaigns

Alternatively, contact your FindAUniversity Account Manager to discuss your campaign objectives or complete the form below.