Your feedback keeps us on the right track. You, our blog readers, tell us with your clicks and your comments. We welcome the likes, the corrections, the whole shebang.
As we look ahead to what is shaping up to be a bustling 2023, we’d love to hear what topics you’d like us to tackle. Send us a note and we’ll take it into editorial consideration. Maybe even throw a shoutout your way.
Just coming off a whirlwind December with presentations at the AIRC and ICEF conferences and our full day workshop at San Diego State University, we have so much to share with you in the weeks ahead. Reflections, insights, slides. All in the name of making your student recruitment marketing plan that much tighter. You’ll be glad you are along with the ride.
Right here and now, we’ve compiled our readers’ top 10 posts from 2022. These are the blog posts that you said were most enticing and valuable. You clicked, you shared, and hopefully, you put into practice some of what you learned.
Big Picture: our analytics show in no uncertain terms that everyone wants to know more about China, TikTok, new market development, data analytics, and the student mindset. We'll have more on those topics throughout 2023. Still valuable: Read on for quick hit summaries and links to the content that most drew your attention, and the attention of your colleagues, over the past year.
No. 10 -- Insider Take: Chinese Parent/Student Priorities, Now (Full post here.)
With Chinese student numbers in serious flux in the US, we thought we’d check in with our colleague Sally Zhu who is currently working with international students in Ningbo, China. Our goal: find out what’s working in recruitment for institutions across the Pacific.
No. 9 -- Getting Started with TikTok Marketing for Ed Institutions (Full post here.)
Marketing Rule No. 1: Be where your target demographic is. If your audience skews toward ages 16 to 24, then your audience is on TikTok. Learn how your enrollment marketing team can develop and execute a savvy TikTok strategy that will get you noticed and help boost your enrollment.
No. 8 -- The Rise of Student Retention as Key to Recruitment (Full post here.)
You see quite clearly the symbiotic relationship student tretention has with your recruitment efforts and resulting yield. It has everything to do with your student services, student success, and all the small-batch interactions you do to ensure your students experience both.
No. 7 -- AIEA 2022 Takeaways: Where do we go from here? (Full post here.)
Ben offers his focused reflections on the ideas that struck him most during the AIEA 2022 conference and offers a few ideas on how they might add value to your work. As always, this post is about actionable steps for internationalization and diverse student experiences that take us all forward, together, with vision.
No. 6 -- Spotlight on Your Institution’s Student-First Approach (Full post here.)
Which policies and actions put students first? Truly first? With the help of a few of our colleagues (thank you Brad Farnsworth!), we look at what is undermining your institutional integrity and how you can address it. And trust us, students are well aware of how well your institution delivers on the promise of student-first.
No. 5 -- New Market Entry: Key Benchmarks for Student Recruitment Initiatives (Full post here.)
Relying on only one or two markets for the majority of your international student intake leaves your institution vulnerable to market fluctuations. This obvious statement slapped enrollment leaders in the face the past few years due to Covid. This post provides perspective on evaluating new student recruitment markets. Learn how to know if early recruitment efforts are most likely to create the traction you need over time. Use our benchmarks to create your plan and set your leadership’s expectations.
No. 4 -- Quick Hit Regional Insights for Student Recruitment (Full post here. Downloadable graphic here.)
We updated one of our most popular tools: the Country Comparison Cheat Sheet. Use this cheat sheet to prompt your team’s creative process and set the framework for your next international recruitment push. Our team uses this kind of data, and more, as we create our country-specific marketing plans for our clients
No. 3 -- Five Lead Nurturing Best Practices for Universities and High Schools (Full post here.)
In an ideal world, you would personally guide each lead from application to enrollment, but that’s just not feasible for most academic institutions. Instead, you need a strong and efficient lead nurturing strategy to engage your prospects and boost enrollment. (You do have one, right?) This post offers 5 key tactics that will help your team create a lead nurturing strategy that works.
No. 2 -- When Traditional Markets Weaken, Look to Africa (Part 1, Part 2)
The best markets for international student recruitment have three key things going for them: a growing youth population, rising incomes, and employment opportunities for returning graduates. Africa has a number of under-utilized recruitment hubs that boast all three. This post gives concrete and valuable perspective on diversifying your student source countries.
And the Top Reacher’s Choice Post from 2022!!!! is…
No. 1 -- What’s the Story Behind Your Data (Part 1, Part 2)
We hear your desire to improve marketing efforts, innovate, and influence decisions that will result in real enrollments. Yet, it’s hard to get new ideas to take off due to limited resources and institutions’ slow-moving pace. Our take: there are valuable, free resources you may be underutilizing (or not using at all) that can help you gain insights and, hopefully, lower some barriers to innovation. This 2-part post really took off in 2022. Hats off to our Chief Strategy Officer Patricia Tozzi for this one.
And that’s a wrap on 2022. If you need a strategic partner with amazing tactical execution skills as your team takes on new student recruitment challenges in 2023, be in touch. We’d love to work with you.
