The role of social media marketing on the choice of educational consultancy firms by international students

Social media has assumed one of the important roles in the sales and promotion process of brands. Companies appeal to larger audiences through social media. At the same time, it has become much easier to approach the target audience with the data obtained from social media platforms. Compared to traditional marketing approach, it is sufficient to allocate a much lower budget for social media marketing. For this reason, companies prefer to use social media platforms in their marketing planning. With the increasing number of foreign students in recent years, universities use various marketing techniques to reach more students. One of these is to cooperate with education consultancy companies. Education consultancy companies act as a bridge between students and universities. Companies communicate with both current students and potential foreign students using social media platforms. They can reach more students with the social media marketing techniques used in this process. The reason for this can be shown as the increasing use of social media over the years. The current social media user base is very important for these companies. Companies can easily reach foreign students through social media platforms. It is also beneficial for students to have companies on social media platforms. Students can easily access information about the company through existing platforms. In addition to providing information about companies, their operations and service delivery, comments from real people also serve as a guide for students. For this reason, the promotions made by companies on social media should be compatible with the expectations of students. This research aims to reveal how marketing strategies made through social media platforms affect the preferences of students who want to receive education as foreign students when choosing education consultancy companies that will guide and guide them in their university selection. Keywords: Social media, Foreign student, Education, Consultancy.