Lana Oconnell
The digital age has transformed how universities engage with prospective students. With competition for student enrollment intensifying, institutions are embracing digital technologies to stand out in a crowded market. This shift has been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced universities to rapidly adopt digital solutions for teaching and learning. While digital engagement offers an effective way to connect with students, it also presents challenges, including the potential for disengagement due to the absence of face-to-face interaction. Universities are now tasked with developing comprehensive digital strategies that foster meaningful connections and provide a personalized experience for prospective students. This includes leveraging various digital channels such as social media, text messages, and email, as well as creating marketing personas that cater to diverse student backgrounds, priorities, and motivations.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Digital outreach | Social media (70%), text/SMS (67%), and email marketing (63%) |
| Marketing personas | Individual characters with names, backgrounds, and stories that represent the psychographic profiles of a larger group |
| Target audience | Traditional undergraduates, graduate students, transfer students, international students, and their parents |
| Communication tools | Virtual tours, interactive campus maps, and dynamic campus event calendars |
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What You'll Learn
Using social media, text messages and email
Using social media, text messages, and email to engage prospective students
The pandemic has shifted the entire higher education community online, with 83% of students now relying on social media channels to help them choose a college. This highlights the importance of universities meeting prospective students where they are and creating content that resonates.
Reddit and Twitter are key social media channels that students turn to for guidance, with 44% and 28% of students using these platforms respectively. However, universities should be mindful of the different dynamics on each platform. For example, Reddit is entirely based on student sentiment and conversation, leaving no room for intervention, while Twitter gives universities more control over their narrative.
Universities can use social media to address the key areas that students want to be educated on, including class structure, program insights, the experience of international students, campus life, and finances. They can also use these platforms to provide firsthand experiences and insights, which prospective students are seeking to gain an understanding of what life at a specific school is like.
Email is another critical tool for engaging prospective students. A welcome email is essential for setting the tone for future communication and should include a warm introduction to the university and an overview of the academic program and campus life. Emails can also keep students informed about programs, events, and the admissions process, and encourage them to take action, such as attending an open house or scheduling a campus visit. To stand out, emails should be visually appealing and provide valuable information.
Text messaging is also an effective way to engage prospective students and can be used to promote student engagement and improve time management. For example, text messages can be used to connect students with advisors, increasing the likelihood of persistence through to the end of the semester.
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Creating marketing personas
When creating marketing personas, it is important to understand the challenges that prospective students face to make an engaging communication strategy. Personas are individual characters with names, backgrounds, and stories that represent the psychographic profiles of a larger group. They offer more depth than general demographic information. For example, a university might create a persona for "John, a 17-year-old student from Scranton, PA, who competed in his high school’s robotics competition and wants to major in STEM."
To create effective personas, research is crucial. Universities can use behavioural analysis tools like Hotjar and Google Analytics to understand what people care about when visiting their website. They can also conduct market research by reading through university blogs, browsing social media using relevant hashtags, and searching for relevant topics on search engines. For instance, a university might search for "What do grammar school students look for in a university?" to better understand their target audience.
Universities should also keep in mind that there might be several different personas for their institution and specific programs. For example, a university might create a persona for an international student who wants to transfer from a community college to pursue a different course of study. By understanding the different types of students they want to attract, universities can fine-tune their marketing strategy to appeal to their ideal prospective students.
Overall, creating targeted marketing personas can help universities deliver the right message to the right person at the right time, increasing the effectiveness of their marketing efforts and ultimately boosting applications.
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Building virtual tours and interactive campus maps
The use of digital tools has become essential for universities to effectively engage with prospective students and stand out from the competition. Building virtual tours and interactive campus maps is a key part of this strategy.
Benefits of Virtual Tours and Interactive Campus Maps
Virtual tours and interactive campus maps offer several advantages to universities and prospective students. Firstly, they increase accessibility and visibility, allowing students from all over the world to explore the campus facilities and gain valuable information before enrolling. This is especially beneficial for those who may be unable to travel to the campus in person, saving time and resources for both the university and the students.
Additionally, these digital tools provide an immersive and engaging experience, helping prospective students visualize themselves on campus and in the university's programs. This can be a significant factor in attracting new students and enhancing their enrollment decisions.
Features of Virtual Tours and Interactive Campus Maps
Virtual tours and interactive campus maps can include a range of features to enhance the user experience:
- 360-degree panoramic views, photos, and videos to provide a comprehensive and immersive virtual experience.
- Drone imagery and custom illustrations to showcase the true character and unique features of the campus.
- Built-in walking directions and seamless integration with navigation apps like Google Maps to make campus navigation effortless for students and visitors.
- Interactive elements such as trivia and fun facts to make the tour more engaging and informative.
- Customization options to match the university's branding, logo, and color scheme, creating a consistent user experience.
- Suggested tour routes to guide prospective students through key locations, popular campus spaces, and special features like athletic facilities.
Examples of Virtual Tour and Interactive Campus Map Software
Several software providers offer tools to create virtual tours and interactive campus maps, such as:
- CampusTours: They build video tours, interactive campus maps, mobile walking tours, and custom multimedia applications. Their products can pinpoint visitors' locations and serve relevant tour content.
- Mapme: This software allows users to embed advanced media, such as 3D tours, 360-degree images and videos, and create customizable maps that can be shared on social media and incorporated into newsletters or email campaigns.
- Modern Campus: Their software includes interactive maps with location markers, panoramic views, photos, videos, and additional information about the institution's facilities, programs, and services. It offers an immersive and user-friendly virtual experience.
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Using dynamic campus event calendars
A dynamic campus events calendar is a powerful tool for engaging prospective students. It is a central communication channel during the enrolment journey, providing a clear landing page inviting current students, alumni, and prospective students to explore the opportunities available.
A campus events calendar should be robust, easily navigable, and welcoming. It should include a range of events across various categories, such as academic, social, cultural, and recreational activities. Academic events can include lectures from high-profile speakers and conferences showcasing the institution's strengths. Social activities, a cornerstone of any university calendar, can range from small online events for prospective students to meet each other to campus-wide mixers. Cultural events, such as cooking classes, crafting workshops, and cultural festivals, can engage students in various interests while promoting campus life enjoyment. Recreational activities, like video game tournaments, add a dynamic element to the calendar, merging competitive gaming with community-building.
The calendar can also include special events designed to bring together the whole community and events geared towards specific segments of the student population to ensure an inclusive environment. By having a centralized calendar, event planners can avoid poor attendance, and students are less likely to feel disconnected from campus life, which improves retention and engagement.
Additionally, virtual events listed on the calendar can increase accessibility for prospective students who may not be able to visit the campus in person. These events can include online career fairs, virtual tours, and interactive campus maps, allowing prospective students to assess the "vibe" of the campus and engage with current students and staff.
Universities can further enhance their digital engagement strategies by utilizing social media, text messages, and email marketing to connect with prospective students and provide instant assistance during the admissions process.
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Offering flexible scheduling
The pandemic has accelerated the adoption of digital technologies in higher education, with universities embracing digital tools to engage prospective students. One way universities are using digital tools to engage prospective students is by offering flexible scheduling.
The traditional class schedule, with classes meeting two to three times a week, may no longer meet the needs and goals of students, especially with the rise of distance education and changing student demographics. Universities are now offering online, hybrid, and accelerated courses to provide greater flexibility and improve learning and retention.
For example, Northern Essex Community College in Massachusetts offers a variety of course formats, including classes that meet three times a week for fifty minutes, once a week for four hours, or in an accelerated format of three to four days a week. This allows students to choose the format that best suits their learning style and schedule.
Another example is the Right Start program, which offers a group of classes starting in the fourth week of the semester for students who enroll after the first day of regular classes. This program helps late starters succeed by providing counseling and a student success course or tutorial.
Universities can also offer evening classes and online courses to accommodate employed students or those with other commitments. For instance, Connections Academy provides flexible schedules for students like Kaia, a competitive figure skater who struggled to balance her training with a full-time academic schedule.
Additionally, virtual learning can be beneficial for students with health issues, such as Hannah, who fell ill during her freshman year and fell behind in her studies. A flexible schedule allowed her to go to school full-time and receive the care she needed.
By offering flexible scheduling, universities can meet the diverse needs of their students and improve their overall success and satisfaction.
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Frequently asked questions
Social media, text messages, and email marketing are the most popular digital channels used by universities to engage prospective students.
Universities must create a comprehensive engagement ecosystem that involves current students, alumni, and all aspects of university life. Additionally, they must ensure that their strategies are technically supported and provide opportunities for interaction.
Universities create marketing personas that represent the psychographic profiles of their target audiences. These personas include details such as academic interests, intended careers, previous educational experiences, and hobbies. This allows universities to craft messages that resonate with specific groups of prospective students.
Universities can address the challenges of digital engagement by focusing on enhancing student-teacher communication and cooperation among students. They can also prioritize social connections and utilize educational theories such as social learning and cognitive load to create a successful digital learning environment.
