Approximately 75 percent of the world's population now has access to a mobile phone -- though smartphones and wireless data packages are still out reach for most people. This trend presents yet another opportunity to intelligently promote U.S. academic programs to prospective students from outside of the USA.

Marketing via Handheld Devices: Sure, USjournal displays fine on smartphone platforms. But we've gone a step further in tweaking one of our many sister sites, USAcademics.com. It's not an app, so there's nothing to download. It's a simple website, promoted in targeted countries like Brazil, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Turkey and the U.K. -- designed to draw more attention to USjournal advertisers.

USjournal has an impressive track record of honing in on just a few data-driven trends in the industry -- careful not to jump on every tech bandwagon. For example:

Dismissing print media back in 1998: We stopped printing our original glossy magazine, the U.S. Education Journal, 15 years ago to focus solely on online international student recruitment. That decision has saved our U.S. campus-based clients a lot of money over the years. Here's some data on just how much marketers are shifting their focus toward digital channels: MarketingCharts.com

Launching multi-lingual domains more than ten years ago: In the early 2000s, when native English speakers accounted for about 50 percent of all internet users, we registered about a dozen multi-lingual domain names related to the translation of study in the USA: estudiosUSA.com in Spanish, academicas.us in Portuguese and so on. Turns out, that was a pretty good bet: Today, the online English-speaking population has shrunk to about 18 percent, while those other languages have blossomed: ByteLevel.com

International Student Funds Verification: We're paying more attention to how marketing and operations blend in international student recruitment, and improving one critical admissibility indicator to advance global student mobility: proof of funding. Here's how FundsV works:

For details about how to promote your academic programs on USjournal's 17 independent, multi-lingual domains, complete our Space Reservation Form or contact cheryl@USjournal.com. Be sure to also follow USjournal on LinkedIn.

17-19 April, ICEF Brisbane: Cheryl will lead a Market Intelligence Seminar about improving the efficiency and integrity of the funds verification process -- as a competitive advantage for the host country in recruiting international students.

29 May, FundsV Working Group Meeting: Cheryl will preside over our third annual in-person meeting of host-country government officials and campus-based colleagues intent on improving the efficiency and integrity of international student funds verification. As usual, the meeting is held in conjunction with NAFSA's Annual Conference.

30 May, NAFSA Session: Cheryl will co-present Great Expectations: Managing International Students' Decisionmaking (chaired by Pamela Barrett) in St. Louis. We look forward to seeing you there!

21 April through 6 May 2013: Register for these fairs in Mexico, Brazil and Chile to recruit highly capable and motivated STEM students interested in U.S. undergraduate and graduate programs. The circuit also includes attending the FAUBAI conference in Brazil, which offers great opportunities to meet with local universities and other key players in the Brazilian Higher Education Sector. To register today, or for more information, please visit iie.org/fairs or contact ufairs@iie.org