The competition is tough, and standing out from other educational institutions means implementing the necessary strategy to attract your target audience. Recruiting the right students to your college requires careful thought and planning. You can boost enrollment by creating compelling and engaging content for your digital marketing.
Below are eight ways to customize your recruitment strategy to attract the students you want to attend your college and drive enrollment.
1. Establish Clear Goals
You must determine what your goals are before thinking about recruiting new students. After determining your overall goal, consider smaller goals you'd like to achieve in a specific timeframe. By keeping these goals in mind, meeting your broader goal is easier. You can improve enrollment and set a precedent for the type of student you want to attract as your school grows.
2. Review Previous Data
You can look at previous enrollment data while incorporating new recruitment strategies. Determine what worked and what didn't. Use digital marketing features proven to get results. For example, if you already generate more inquiries from prospective students by creating more interactive content, continue to use that method as it is proven to raise engagement.
Successful recruiting strategies require convincing students that your college is right for them. Data from the past can help you model your website to focus on the demographics and preferences that are likely to increase enrollment. Look at the geographical location most applicants come from and include that in your plan to market to potential students in those areas. You can also utilize the marketing channels that drive the most traffic to your website.
3. Tell a Story to Promote Your School
You can benefit from using proven business strategies in your recruitment process, even if your institution doesn't consider itself a typical business. To do this, think about what sells your school. Promote a unique feature and tell a story that prospective students can relate to.
Your story should elicit strong emotions in your target audience. When you tell a compelling story, readers get a sense of your brand and feel an instant connection to your college.
4. Offer Virtual Events
On-campus events are still important even though virtual events are gaining traction. Therefore, you should not get rid of them. However, virtual events should remain a priority. Your pool of prospective students expands when you allow those with geographical or financial limitations to attend your events online. People from the other side of the world can attend and participate in seminars, discussions, and other aspects of the event that interest them the most.
Your virtual events should incorporate in-person and online attendees. Allow your online attendees to meet faculty, alums, and current students. Allow them to engage with others on-demand to learn more about your academic programs and develop relationships with other prospective students.
5. Expand Your Reach with Interactive Visuals
A brochure or pamphlet provides helpful information but is not always the best option to engage your students. You can incorporate the information prospective students want to know into an immersive digital experience. Instead of explaining what the academic buildings look like or providing a flat picture of them, show your audience the facilities in action via video clips.
You can customize a video viewbook to highlight the features of your school that set you apart from other campuses. Showcase your academic buildings with embedded videos of faculty talking about their courses. Include testimonials from alum to show prospects the significant impact studying at your school can have on their life. You engage your audience and cast the net out wider to people who might have yet to consider your institution a possible choice.
6. Create an Appealing and Functional Website
Your websites should look good. However, they should also function correctly across multiple platforms. When prospective students look at college websites, quickly finding the information they need is crucial. They will likely look elsewhere in seconds if pages load slowly or if navigation is confusing.
Your main page should appeal to your target audience in record time. Include images that tell stories, from the functionalities of your campus to the quality of your academic programs, the reputation of your athletics, the standards of your recreational facilities, and the atmosphere of dorm life. Every link should take the reader where they want to go without unnecessary delays or navigational issues. You should also provide links to your digital features so prospective students can attend events, tour the campus, and interact with others from their tablet, computer, or phone anytime.
7. Hire an Experienced Digital Engagement Solutions Provider
StudentBridge offers a unique suite of services to help educational institutions deliver better stories, better visits, and better enrollment. You will benefit from a new recruitment strategy supported by an experienced team of professionals.
Request a demo or call us at 678-824-8181 to learn more about our recruitment tools and strategies and how they can attract new students to your school and drive enrollment.
