Marketing to prospective students, especially prospective international students can no longer rely on print materials and websites alone. The array of digital engagement tools available for marketing and admission departments is vast. These engagement tools are affordable, entertaining and can help to distinguish your institution from the competition.
Students like to play games, especially on digital devices. We have capitalized on that interest to create a series of fun quizzes that are not only fun for the students, but also provide essential information. Let's face it-- it's much more fun to learn from a quiz than to read page after page of dry text. We've created different versions of quizzes-- some test a student's English knowledge of sports or food expressions in everyday language, others impart information about campus life, the American classroom and visa/arrival basics. In all cases the quizzes feature fun pictures, witty answer options and useful information for the students. Feel free to explore our quizzes here:
We also know that students love videos. Think about the powerful impact of YouTube, or in the case of China YouKu, on young people's lives. Animation is a popular medium in Asia and has been for many years. We wanted to use animated videos in international student recruitment to convey necessary information in a more engaging way. Using the online program GoAnimate we created a series of videos in Chinese to accompany our digital orientation program. The short animated videos addressed the topics of greatest interest to students-- the American classroom, safety and academic integrity. Students are able to learn relevant information in a much more fun way. What would you prefer-- an entertaining video in your native language about safety or multiple paragraphs describing the same topic?
This is the video we created using GoAnimate about Classroom Behavior in America.
This is the video we created using GoAnimate about Safety and Living Conditions in America.
Poll Everywhere is an exciting new tool that can be used to enhance presentations. This will add an engaging new dimension to admission presentations. Poll Everywhere allows you to create poll questions and then have an audience vote via cell phone text messages. Results are posted instantaneously in real time. I envision an admission officer using this tool in a presentation to gauge audience interest in academic areas, extracurricular interests, application questions, etc. The options are endless and will provide admission counselors with a new means of communicating and engaging with an audience of prospective students. Besides, who isn't wowed by new technology in action?
Embracing high impact low cost digital engagement tools is a powerful way to positively enhance marketing and international student recruitment. Want to learn more about our engagement tools, click here.
