In the current further education (FE) landscape, the race to secure student registrations is often won by the team with the most accurate map.
For years, marketing teams have relied on ‘interest-based’ targeting from global platforms like Meta; however, as privacy regulations tighten and the ‘cookie-less’ future arrives, these broad interest buckets are becoming increasingly blunt tools. When you are looking to recruit for specific courses, the difference between a user who ‘likes’ technology and a user whose verified behaviour shows they are actively researching a T-Level in Digital Production is the difference between a lead and a ghost.
The Transparency Trap of Social Platforms
While Meta offers vast scale, it often operates with limited transparency about how it builds audiences. Interest-based targeting relies on a combination of likes, shares, and probabilistic inferences that can often be outdated or entirely inaccurate. For an FE college, this might mean your ads for a plumbing apprenticeship are being served to someone who once liked a ‘home DIY fails’ video, rather than someone genuinely seeking a vocational career.
In contrast, Reach’s first-party data is deterministic; it is built on the real-world, consented actions of over 15 million registered users across the UK. We do not guess what our audience is interested in; we know what they are reading, where they are located, and what they are searching for across our network of over 130 trusted newsbrands.
The Trust Advantage: Performance Beyond the Click
Data is only as good as the environment in which it is collected. Our ‘Local Advantage’ research* highlights a significant ‘trust gap’ between local newsbrands and social media. When a prospective student or parent sees your course information in a local news environment, they are engaging with a medium that is perceived as 87% more trustworthy than other media sources.
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Reassurance and Connection: Ads on local news sites evoke 41% higher feelings of reassurance and 26% more connection than those on social platforms.
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The Halo Effect: Because the environment is trusted, the ads within it are 1.7 times more resonant.
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Younger Audiences: Even Gen Z and Millennials, often thought to live exclusively on social media, find local news sites 18% more trustworthy and 10% more connected to their community.
Local Depth vs. Social Surface
Social media is designed for fast scrolling; users often skim content in under two seconds. Local newsbrands, however, command deep attention. For example, readers of a local title within its own region, such as the Liverpool Echo, generate triple the page views and spend three times as long on pages as the average user.
By targeting through Reach’s first-party data, you are reaching students in a ‘logged-in’ environment where they are already primed for local information. You are not just buying an ‘interest’; you are buying a seat at the table in a trusted community conversation.
For a course leader or marketing manager, this means your budget is focused on the 18-year-old in your area who is actually looking for a college place, rather than a broad demographic that ‘might’ be interested in education.
Take the Next Step With Reach
Stop guessing with broad interests and start targeting with local certainty. By leveraging our massive first-party data set and the unique trust of our local newsbrands, you can ensure your FE campaigns reach the right people at the right time. Use Reach to help you target your audience with the precision and authority your recruitment goals demand.
At Reach, we are ready and waiting to launch your campaign. From eye-catching creatives to impactful videos, expertly written branded content, and more, we are here to help you achieve your objectives. Home to well-known, trusted brands such as the Mirror, Liverpool Echo, and the Manchester Evening News, and with over 1 million social media followers, we have the power to share your content with our engaged audience. We support you from the initial idea to the campaign review. In addition to targeting by age and interest, we can target with our first-party data down to the postcode level, ensuring you reach as many people in your locality as possible.
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