Virtual Higher Education Recruiting Ideas
Video email in virtual recruiting and higher education marketing is becoming increasingly vital in 2021.
Students and parents need people-centered messaging now more than ever. Adjusting your outreach to accommodate social distancing will not only help your admissions’ success but create a more positive experience for your students.
Through Covideo’s software, you can send each student a personalized video message that allows you to establish a genuine connection from the start and has shown to shorten response times while increasing engagement.
Recruiting college students with video
If you’re searching for innovative ideas for admissions and effective ways of recruiting college students virtually, consider personalized video. Rather than sending traditional plain-text emails to students, admissions teams should communicate in students’ preferred medium – video. Personalized video messages are recorded and designed for individual students or small groups and, therefore, highly personalized. As a result, these videos have a high-impact on prospective students, making them feel recognized, valued, and more connected to that school.
Increase yield and fight melt by adding video into your recruitment outreach. 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.
Top 5 college recruitment strategies
Here are the top five use cases for using video as part of your higher education digital marketing strategy.
1. Send invitations/reminder videos to students
Plain-text email campaigns are a dime a dozen in higher ed marketing and enrollment marketing. So, you should use video messages to remind students to apply or invite them to visit your campus.
Through a video, you can explain the necessary details such as the application deadline, the application requirements, location of the campus tour, parking info, schedule for the day, etc.
With a video invitation or reminder, your school will stand out in your recipients’ inboxes and effectively communicate your message.
2. Follow-upon visits, next steps, and questions
Career centers and admission teams use video emails to follow-up with students or respond to companies involved in campus recruitment.
After contacting a prospective student, an admission rep or tour guide will send a follow-up video. The context of these videos will vary depending on the situation, but the options are endless. Record a video letting students know it was nice meeting them, thank them for visiting your booth at a college fair, or respond with a video email to someone’s question. These all add a personal touch to the process and strike an emotional chord with the recipient.
You can also use a video message to introduce yourself to prospective students, share any application updates, or respond to student and parent questions.
3. Share the good news with video
Submitting applications is an exciting process. As students impatiently wait to hear back from the colleges they applied to, your admission team can send thank-you videos to students who applied and let them know when they can expect to hear back on the next steps. You can also send a video congratulating students on their acceptance! Unlike a polished marketing video, a video email shows sincerity and authenticity and makes your candidate feel wanted and excited about your school.
Plus, for schools interested in how to recruit online students during this virtual environment, a video message will help humanize the outreach, making it feel a little bit more similar to a campus visit.
4. Show off campus with virtual tours
Showcase campus life by touring academic buildings, residence halls, and student spaces for individuals who can’t make the trip. Have tour guides or your admissions team send a personalized virtual tour to prospective students based on their interests. If a student is interested in psychology, sports, and campus living – show them around the Science building, your on-campus gym, and first-year residences. While online virtual tours are nice to have for students to view and get a feel for your campus, they do not provide any information or facts that you would normally receive on a campus tour. Sending a personalized virtual tour video shows that prospective student around campus as if they were visiting in person.
5. Introduce faculty & student body
Replace scripted and polished education marketing videos with short video clips that put your team front and center. Show footage of your building, student activities, landmarks, and traditions. Plus, you can introduce yourself to both students and their families.
Including interactive maps, statistics, and other data and current students’ video testimonials will help applicants who are far away from the school and get more familiar with the campus atmosphere.
That way, you’ll get rid of the transportation barrier, and the student will feel more comfortable.
Try video in your virtual recruiting strategy
As students look for the right school, your admissions team can use video content to gain their trust. Communicating with video emails will lead to a more effective admission strategy.
Start adding video emails to your virtual recruiting and higher education marketing with Start a free trial!
