PENGARUH PEMASARAN DIGITAL DAN STRATEGI BRANDING SEKOLAH TERHADAP KEPUTUSAN SISWA MEMILIH SEKOLAH DI SMA NEGERI 3 JOMBANG

Abstract

This study aims to examine the influence of digital marketing and school branding strategy on students' decisions in choosing a school. The background of this research is based on the increasingly competitive environment among senior secondary educational institutions, which requires schools to understand the factors that influence students' school selection decisions. This study employs a quantitative approach with a causal associative research design. The population consisted of 1,052 students of SMA Negeri 3 Jombang, with a sample of 282 respondents selected using the proportionate stratified random sampling technique. Data were collected through a closed-ended questionnaire that was tested for validity and reliability, and subsequently analyzed using multiple linear regression with the assistance of IBM SPSS Version 27. The findings indicate that digital marketing has a positive and significant effect on students' decisions in choosing a school, with an effective contribution of 17.78%. School branding strategy also has a positive and significant effect and serves as the dominant factor, contributing effectively by 43.12%. Simultaneously, both variables contribute 60.6% to students' school selection decisions. These findings confirm that students' decision-making processes are significantly influenced by digital marketing and school branding strategies.