Capture, Connect, Convert: How Videos Help Achieve Enrollment Goals

Looking to stand out from the competition, attract more right-fit students, and drive enrollment? Authentic videos are the secret to getting ahead.

With fewer college-bound students each year and a looming demographic cliff, competition has never been more intense. 

Amplifying the challenge is the reality students are considering multiple institutions, which can make it hard for yours to stand out against the masses — even for students looking locally or regionally. 

Consider the research: There were 1.11 million fewer post-secondary students in spring 2023 than in fall 2019. And those students are considering more education options, with 60 percent of students who graduated in 2023 applying to five or more institutions and 28 percent applying to 10 or more institutions (a significant 8 percent increase from last year and a 56 percent increase from pre-pandemic numbers). 

Plus, 45 percent of students report getting accepted to five or more institutions — meaning students you admit could be directly comparing you to at least four other colleges and universities. 

So how do you attract more right-fit students and achieve your enrollment goals?

While it often takes a multifaceted approach, many successful digital strategies are often grounded in one foundational and vital component: Videos. 

If you’re like many admissions and marketing teams, you’re throwing your hands up right about now. Your team is overwhelmed, and videos have become just another thing on a never-ending to-do list. You don’t have the talent on staff to produce videos that effectively convey your message. You don’t have any more time to dedicate to creating new content. 

We get it, and you’re not alone in any of those feelings. The unfortunate truth is that higher education is faced with more unfilled positions and turnover than ever before. Notably, 84 percent of university administrators say hiring has become more difficult, and 68 percent of schools have a problem hiring enrollment staff right now.

Another part of that reality? Videos are an investment you have to make — whether you’re investing time, money, or both. 

Video can better capture and hold students’ attention than text, audio, or static images alone, mediums that many schools rely on. With videos, you have the power to create compelling narratives, evoke emotion, build connections, and present information in a clear and engaging manner that can move the needle on enrollment.

That’s why it’s no surprise the number of students watching videos from colleges and universities is continuing to increase from 70 percent of students in 2021 to 82 percent of students in 2023. Just as notably, 83 percent of students find videos to be helpful.

This is also why the total time spent watching videos has increased 249 percent in 5 years, which means that people now consume 2.5 hours of video per day with 71 percent of Gen Zers watching more than 3 hours of video per day.

But that's just the beginning of why video is critical to your institution's marketing strategy.

In our Lights, Camera, Enrollment: Attract More With Authentic Videos white paper, discover 7 reasons to leverage video in your campus visits and enrollment marketing. It’s free to download and packed with valuable data, insights, and guidance from industry experts and fellow enrollment marketers — along with tips and examples for getting the most out of videos during the admissions process. Download your free copy here.

Ready to achieve more with authentic videos? 

StudentBridge can help. Schedule a free, no-obligation conversation to learn how.