Primary Research Group has published Survey of Online Marketing to Foreign Students, ISBN 1-57440-195-5.

This 122-page report studies the online marketing efforts for the recruitment of foreign students by more than 60 universities and colleges. Citing budgetary allotments and ranking the importance of targeted geographic markets, comprehensive data is given detailing the roles social networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter play in the pursuit of foreign students. Questions concerning the development of webcasts, podcasts, and viewbooks in foreign languages are raised and answered. How essential are consultants and translators to the development of foreign marketing materials, and how much have institutions spent on their services? Which video sharing sites are used most by these institutions? How effective is online video marketing compared to more traditional forms such as direct mail, newspaper ads, and television?

Just a few of the many findings from this report are:

• 41.18% of private colleges have a specific budget set aside for foreign student marketing, as compared to just 25.93% of public colleges
• Facebook has been used to pursue foreign students by approximately 90.38% of colleges in the sample
• Over the past three years, MA- and PhD-granting colleges have spent a mean of $12,500 on consultants and translators to assist with the development of marketing materials aimed at foreign students
• 38.10% of colleges consider China an important market for student recruitment and target it accordingly, while just 5.36% believe the United Kingdom to be such a target
• 37.50% of colleges that spent more than $10,000 on online marketing directed at foreign students last year have sponsored a website in a foreign country

The study is available in print and PDF format for $119.00. Site licenses are offered at $275.00. To view a table of contents and sample data, or to order a copy of the report, please visit the publication's page here.