Strategies for Higher Ed student recruitment

Strategies for Higher Ed Student Recruitment

Colleges and universities are always looking to recruit prospective students to their school, and stand out amongst other competitors. As if this job wasn’t already a challenge in itself, the pandemic forced a complete shift in the recruitment process. With the absence of in-person visits, campus tours, college fairs, etc. higher education admission teams had to adapt their higher education recruitment plan to succeed in a virtual environment. Even beyond the pandemic, these virtual efforts will remain prominent in the recruiting field, so that admissions teams can expand their reach and recruit top students across the nation. In this article, we’ll cover some effective virtual recruiting strategies for your admissions team. More specifically, we’ll discuss:

• Marketing strategy for student recruitment
• Higher education recruitment tools
• The value of video in admissions and recruiting
• How to recruit students to your school
• Best practices for higher ed student recruitment

The rise of virtual college recruitment

While 2020 caused many college and universities to abruptly adapt their recruitment plan, it also paved way for a new strategy to utilize in the future. Prior to the pandemic, some schools were gradually starting to shift and incorporate more virtual recruiting efforts into their strategies. One year later, nearly every school across the country has experimented with some form of virtual recruitment. And those efforts won’t disappear any time soon — virtual higher education recruiting will continue to be a major influence in higher education recruitment trends. Now, institutions are on the hunt searching for innovative and effective college recruiting ideas for a virtual environment.

It’s important to preface that there’s no question that in-person recruiting is the most effective way to show off your campus and recruit prospective students. On-campus recruitment will never become obsolete. There’s always value in being there, experiencing it in real time, speaking to students, professors, and counselors. That’s undeniable. However, it’s not always feasible nor convenient. Oftentimes campus recruitment requires time, money, scheduling, and preparation. It’s not only more time-consuming and costly but tends to be inefficient as well. Moving forward, most recruitment strategies will be a hybrid model, blending on-campus efforts with virtual recruiting tactics.

Continue on for more student recruitment ideas and virtual recruiting ideas to incorporate into your strategy. In addition, we’ll explore some virtual recruiting tools that will make your job, much easier.

The best student recruitment strategy

Is your team looking for innovative college recruitment strategies that help recruit more students, increase yield and fight melt? The best student recruitment strategies will be different for each school. There’s a number of factors that come into play such as size, location, specialty, familiarity, etc. However, one of the best student recruitment strategies that applies to all schools is incorporating video into your outreach. You may be thinking, “oh yeah, we’re already throughout our higher ed marketing plan” but that’s not the type of video we’re talking about here. Instead, we encourage all admissions teams to use personalized videos throughout their outreach with prospective students. A personalized video is a video that has been recorded and customized to an individual viewer or small group. These messages are highly personalized, and work as if you are speaking in person, but have the convenience of an email.

But why should you use personalized video in your student recruitment strategy? Personalized videos are a great way to stand out from the competition. A personalized video makes students feel recognized, appreciated, and wanted – all of which are huge factors when it comes to choosing a college or university. In addition, these videos are a powerful tool to communicate virtually. You still get that extra facetime, but no one has to commit to a meeting time and coordinate schedules. You get all the benefits of video, with the convenience of an email. Likewise, personalized videos are a great resource to communicate to students throughout the entire recruitment process. The options are endless – you can send a personalized video to someone who reaches out asking you questions, or you can send a personalized video congratulation someone on their application acceptance. If you’re in admissions, you know that a little extra effort goes a long way, and emotion plays a powerful role in the decision-making process.

Next, let’s check out some real-life examples of how schools are using personalized video throughout their college recruitment strategies.

How to recruit students with video

Creating a highly personalized experience for each student allows you to establish a genuine connection from the start, and has shown to shorten response times, while increasing engagement. We’ll walk you through some use cases and opportunities to use video throughout the recruitment process. These examples are useful regardless of the audience/type of student and are a great solution for:

• how to recruit college students
• how to recruit online students
• how to recruit undergraduate students
• how to recruit high school students

Videos to create for higher ed student recruitments

Incorporating video into your recruiting process sets the stage for what to expect from your university, differentiates yourself from other schools, and leaves a lasting impression. This special recognition increases yield and fights melt by building loyalty. Let’s dive in and check out some ways to use video when recruiting college students.

• Introduction Videos: Send a video introduction to familiarize students with their counselors and explain next steps of the admissions process.

• Provide Answers: Respond to questions about the application process, standardized test requirements, financial aid and more, in a clear and concise manner.

• Virtual Campus Tours: Showcase campus life by touring academic buildings, residence halls, and student spaces for individuals who can’t make the trip.

• Follow Ups: Stay in touch with prospective students by sending application updates, thanking them for visiting campus, or providing next steps.

• Connect Your Community: Introduce faculty members, coaches, and members of the student body to provide more information about a specific major, athletics, or extracurriculars based on the prospect’s interests.

• Say Congratulations: Share your excitement and join in the celebration by notifying students about their acceptance, or welcoming them to your university.

University student recruitment best practices

Using personalized video is one of the best ways to recruit college students in today’s digital age. However, there are a few things to keep in mind when using video for higher ed student recruitment. Let’s take a look at some video tips, insights, and college recruiting best practices that will lead you to the best success.

• Do’swhen creating a personalized video:
  • Keep your video short, under 1 minute if possible
  • Remain Authentic
  • Personalize your message – always say the individuals name and reference something specific to them in your video
  • Think about aesthetics like lighting, angles, background (but not too much)
  • Act casual and conversational

• Don’ts when creating personalized videos:
  • Overthink each video
  • Spend 30 minutes on a 30 second video
  • Try to be “perfect”
  • Waste money on fancy equipment
  • Hire a specialist for video
  • Say anything you wouldn’t in an email or voicemail

Using Covideo for higher ed student recruitment

As you build out your video and marketing strategy for university recruitment, having the proper tools makes recording and sending videos much easier. Covideo is a video messaging platform designed to make recording and sending videos a breeze. Record a personalized video in seconds, and send it via email, text, or on social media. You’ll receive tracking and analytics on your videos so you can see how effective they are with your audience.

The prestige and success of a college heavily depend on its ability to recruit and enroll top students. Admissions videos help you relate to your audience, grab their attention, and tell your schools’ story in a compelling way that overall, will increase enrollment of the incoming class. Grow your next class efficiently and effectively with  a 7 day free trial  Get instant access, record and send videos, and no credit card is required to sign up.

Interested in hearing more about how universities recruit students using video? Contact us, and we’ll set you up with a higher ed video expert who can show you how teams like Michigan State University, Miami of Ohio, and Texas Tech use video throughout their admissions process.

Personalized video isn’t just for admissions teams. See how colleges use video in advancement, student success, career services, and as a major component of their higher education marketing strategies.