A lot has changed in the world of college recruitment in the last 15 years. Gone are the days where prospective students learned about your school through snail mail brochures and in-person campus tours. Now, high school seniors handle as much of their vetting process online as possible. In fact, some will never step foot on campus until the day they move in.
This means that if you don't have a virtual campus tour, you are missing out on potentially thousands of chances to increase enrollment and win over star students. Not convinced? Here are 5 reasons why colleges need virtual tours.
Most students won't apply to your college if they cannot tour it first. However, traveling to multiple universities isn't an option for a very significant portion of high school seniors. Whether they lack the funds or have special needs that aren't easily accommodated during travel, when you don't offer a virtual option, you miss out on a chance to engage with these students.
Freshman year is often the first time students live on their own, leaving the nest and moving onto campus. However, up until move-in day, their family is central to nearly everything in their lives. One reason why virtual campus tours are important is that they allow the entire family to join in on the process. With traditional tours, usually just one family member accompanies the student.
Another reason to use virtual tours? You can ensure the key information gets covered. With in-person tours, your representatives can easily get caught up in the moment and forget to communicate everything they need to. Virtual tours are set – though they can be tweaked and personalized to each student using certain algorithms.
Academics are important, but prospective students are often far more concerned with campus life and your wide range of extracurriculars. Virtual tours allow you to highlight the aspects of life on campus that would be missed on the average tour, and even from browsing the website. Done correctly, giving students a glimpse of campus life helps them picture themselves at your school.
Do you have special events and traditions throughout the year you wish you could highlight for prospective students? With virtual tours, you can. If you hire a team to record these events, the footage can be integrated into the online tour experience.
Are you feeling motivated to bring your tour experience to prospective students across the country and around the world? Let us guide and design your virtual college tours. Contact StudentBridge for your free demo today.