Searching for the right university is an important process. With endless opportunities available and stacks of prospectuses to explore, it’s crucial that you stand out from the crowd.
The traditional printed prospectus is a key part of your strategy, however in today’s digital age, it is imperative that your prospectus can be explored across all channels. Not only will you reach more prospective students, but the enhancement features available to you will capture their attention and create a lasting impression.
Here are 5 reasons why a digital prospectus will help you recruit more students:
Provide students with instant access to your prospectus.
Enabling potential students to access your prospectus across all channels is only truly beneficial when you make enrolling just as easy. You can do this by including live links to your website for available courses and applications to enroll.
Example: Take a look at the Petroc prospectus here. There are introduction videos and each course description links directly to their website. Once on the website, students can get further information and apply instantly.
Tempt prospective students with an insight into the campus experience.
Further interact with students and add life to your prospectus by incorporating interviews with past and current students and short video introductions of available courses. You can also showcase campus life in action with 360 views, encouraging potential students to visualise daily life at your university.
Example: The University of Northampton made great use of the interactive features available – you can see how they have successfully enhanced their prospectus with video interviews here.
Use social media channels and LinkedIn YOUniversity.
Social media is a powerful force and should be used to your advantage. By having your prospectus available online, you can be where your audience are and widen your reach to international students. Not only that, as your prospectus is shared amongst friends, you can build an online community surrounding your University. It’s important to note that, as interest will be piqued internationally, the content within your prospectus should also cater for students coming from abroad.
Example: Middlesex University dedicated an entire section of their prospectus for international students, which you can read here.
LinkedIn YOUniversity should be a key part of your marketing strategy.
There are tens of millions of students currently on LinkedIn, and they’re the site’s fastest-growing demographic. As students progress and increasingly see their profiles as their online resumes, education institutions should view the site as a ‘shop window’ – a place to really stand out.
A prospective student will consider many universities whilst searching for the best fit. YOUniversity has been designed to help them with this, by narrowing their choices to those that rank highly for their desired subject. When learners land on your page, what is going to make you memorable? Having a prospectus there and ready for instant reading on any device is key. They can review your courses, watch video testimonials from successful students and gain an insight into campus life. They can even submit an application to join your university, on the spot.
Learn more about the type of students looking at your prospectus.
Use a statistics package to collect data about prospective students as they browse. These include; overall number of page views, detail about specific pages viewed, duration of visit and a breakdown of views per country. The most valuable statistics however, are available for interactive content. This gives you an overview of how many live email and URL links are clicked, how many searches are performed, what pages are shared through social platforms, the amount of videos watched and streamed and how many users place bookmarks and notes on the page. All of this knowledge can be leveraged to shape your future prospectuses and influence your marketing plans by defining your target of potential students.
Climb the rankings with improved searchability.
Prospective students will be looking for the answers to their problems using search engines. YUDU Digital Prospectuses are optimized for search, meaning that by using the right terms, you can increase your visibility and be found ahead of your competitors.
To learn more about the features and benefits of digital prospectuses, click here.
For more information on how to make the most of LinkedIn YOUniversity, click here.
