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Using marketing channels, templates and images

A variety of resources are available to help with your marketing campaign.

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Use a mix of marketing channels

Here are some channels (both UCL and external) you can use to promote your short course or CPD.

1. The Week @UCL

What: UCL's weekly e-newsletter to staff
Audience: UCL staff
Cost to use: Free

Pros: Great for targeting UCL staff and for getting staff to support what you're doing

Cons: Articles need to have a very broad appeal to most staff to get included

Useful info:

  • runs weekly during term time
  • deadline for submissions is 12 noon Wednesday
  • you'll need to complete a form to get included
  • there are editorial guidelines you need to meet

2. my UCL

What: UCL's weekly e-newsletter to all students
Audience: UCL current students
Cost to use: Free

Pros: Great for targeting current students

Cons: None

Useful info:

  • runs weekly during term time
  • deadline for submissions is 12 noon Wednesday
  • to get included, email studentcommunications@ucl.ac.uk with a brief outline of the feature
  • there are editorial guidelines you need to meet

3. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn paid advertising

What: Social media paid-for campaigns
Audience: Whoever you target based on locations, interests, pages that people like and keywords
Cost to use: You'll need to spend at least £200 to £300 per platform to see any results

Pros:

  • ideal if you're trying to tap into an audience you don't know much about
  • Facebook is great for hobbies and interests, for example languages and culture
  • Twitter allows you to target people with particular interests, for example people that follow specific handles
  • LinkedIn is a platform for professionals, so it's good for promoting CPD
  • you can gather metrics on how your campaigns are performing

Cons: You need access to a credit card to run any paid-for campaigns

Useful info:

  • you can set up a campaign which can give you some really interesting audience information, without committing – this might help your market research
  • you can set a daily or campaign budget
  • each platform's built-in analytics can help you monitor your campaign, so you can change it if it's not working.
  • you should plan the content of your campaign in advance before you do anything: content is king

4. Google Ads

What: Google's online advertising service
Audience: Whoever you target based on locations, interests, users behaviour, and keywords
Cost to use: Depends how much you want to spend

Pros: Puts your message directly in front of your target audience; easy to measure ads' effectiveness

Cons: You need access to a credit card to run any paid-for campaigns

5. Website banner adverts

What: Adverts that run on other websites with a link to your page
Audience: The users of the websites you target
Cost to use: Depends on the website – can vary from a few hundred pounds to a few thousand

Pros: You can target specific groups/audiences in your sector

Cons: Varied results: people have become somewhat immune to banner ads and often have software that blocks them

6. Print adverts

What: Adverts placed in academic journals and magazines
Audience: Sector-specific readership groups
Cost to use: Typically £500 to £1,000 per ad

Pros:

  • you get access to a specific group of engaged, interested people
  • you are seen in the right places for your industry

Cons:

  • can be very expensive
  • hard to measure success

Useful info:

  • consider offering a unique discount code in your advert so you can see how many people use it

Other channels

You could also use:

  • podcasts
  • webinars
  • the UCL Student Union
  • trade shows

Use UCL templates and images

Marketing templates

UCL Communications and Marketing has templates you can use to create letterheads, posters, emails or presentations.

Any marketing materials you create must meet UCL's brand standards.

Using images

Avoid using stock photos. Research shows that learners easily spot these and don't trust them. They will make your course seem less credible.

Instead, you can use professional images of UCL short courses taken on campus. You can access these in the Teaching and short courses section of the UCL Image Store.

These images are free to use, as long as you:

  • use them to promote UCL courses
  • publish them on UCL channels, such as UCL social media accounts, brochures or websites

If you want to let someone else use them (such as an external website or a newspaper) then:

  • you must credit the photographer (listed in the image details on the UCL Imagestore)
  • you may need to pay a small fee

Email UCL Imagestore (imagestore@ucl.ac.uk) if you need advice.

Find out more about working with copyright.

Use Canva to create your own marketing templates

You can use a tool called Canva to create your own templates for things like:

  • website advert banners
  • images for social media

Make sure:

  • you use the appropriate template for the channel you're using
  • you have permission to use the images

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