USING DIGITAL MARKETING TOOLS IN HIGHER EDUCATION. A CASE STUDY: ROMANIA

Digital marketing represents an innovative concept, which aims at coordinating all online marketing activities by using specific tools and strategies. Contemporary society is continuously changing at all its levels (economic, social, psychological, educational etc.), under the influence of the technological development, especially through the easy access to all high-tech products and the global, quasi-universal communication. At the level of educational services, one of the consequences involved has been the need to adapt to the new situation in order to cope with the fierce competition on the market. Thus, adopting innovative strategies, such as the implementation of the concept of digital marketing, with all its elements, has proved to be essential. The two important factors: the competition in higher education and the evolution of this market have shown that it is no longer enough for universities to be just active in the online environment, but that it is essential for them to implement a strategy, so that the message towards the target audience should be accurately conveyed. The main objective of the present article is to identify the extent to which the digital marketing tools are known to students and implemented in the higher education establishments from Romania. In this respect, the authors have conducted an exploratory quantitative empirical research study. Students from several universities have been interviewed, the findings showing the degree to which the respondents value the online communication tools that universities in Romania use at present and the degree to which they succeed in meeting their expectations. Moreover, students' perception regarding the types of online communication tools used by Romanian universities was investigated, as students' opinions have been identified with reference to their efficiency. The quantitative research has used the survey technique, the data being collected by computer assisted web interviewing (CAWI). Considering the empirical and exploratory character of the research, a non-probabilistic sampling method has been used, i.e. the "snowball" one. Starting from the findings, the authors recommend the management of the universities in Romania to draw up efficient and innovative strategies which should facilitate a better communication with students, always identifying the needs of the actual clients, but also of the prospective ones, and adapting the online communication channel used, according to the message they want to deliver to their recipients.