In a recent survey conducted by StoriedU, college-bound high school students shared their feelings about their college admissions journey. They told us how much they use social media during their research process, on which platforms they want universities to engage with them, and what they think about the on-campus admissions presentation. In this webinar, you’ll learn: - What students really think about the admissions process - How to stand out during the on-campus visit - How to create content for students in the admissions funnel

1. College Prospect
Survey 2016
What You Can Do To Better Engage Prospective Students
Presented by: Jay Sharman

2. We share best practices, case studies
and interviews with your peers to help
keep you and your team on top of the
latest trends in the industry.
We provide tips for using that
information to guide the strategies at
your institution.
@StoriedU
Sign up for our newsletter delivered
fresh to your inbox twice per month at
StoriedU.com.
STORIEDU is a new community brought to
you byTeamWorks Media for higher
education professionals in marketing,
admissions, and advancement.
www.storiedu.com
www.teamworksmedia.com

3. • 328 high schoolers surveyed
from 15 Illinois high schools
– 56% juniors, 44%
seniors
– 41% male, 59%
female
• Each student is planning on
attending a four-year non-
profit university
• Students represent an
equally distributed
socioeconomic strata
• 63% know what they want to
major in
Survey Demographics
College Prospect
Survey 2016

4. Prospect Phase
What the survey revealed
• How students find universities:
– Web search (31.2%)
– Family or friend (29.7%)
– College ranking website (12.8%)
• 44% of prospects first discover you through some
type of online search (Combined ranking website with
web search)
• 6.1% of prospects first became aware of a prospective college
through social media
• “I look at a school’s social media accounts before deciding to
apply there.”
– 28% of respondents “strongly agreed” or “agreed” to
the statement
– 47% who disagreed or strongly disagreed

5. Tactics to employ in this stage
Getting your brand to the public
SEO
• Authentic content
• Guide students and parents through their journey
Paid search
• Is your content providing value?
Rankings / PR
• Are you getting in front of the prospects where they are?
• Are you including relevant keywords in pitches?
Personal referrals
• Caveat: you can only control this so much
• Are you giving your audience the stories to “sell” your university
to others?

6. Creating content around the topics that prospective
students and their families are looking forAmerican University
Who’s doing it well

7. Creating content around the topics that prospective
students and their families are looking forAmerican University
Who’s doing it well

8. Inquiry Phase
What the survey revealed
• Influential Factors for Prospective Students:
– #1 - “Feeling like I belong socially” (67.1% = very
important + essential)
– #2 – Safety (64.3% = very important + essential)
– #3 – Academic Reputation (62.8% = very important +
essential)
• 33% of prospective students agree that social media gives
them a sense of the campus culture.
• Prospective students want to engage with a university on:
– Facebook – 43%
– Instagram – 18%
– Twitter – 15%
– Snapchat – 9%
– YouTube – 8%

9. Tactics to employ in this stage
Public coming to your owned channels
Website
• Prospects used to having customized content in daily lives
Virtual Tour
• Entice people step foot on campus
– Prospects and families are actually 30% more likely to
visit your campus in person after seeing a virtual tour¹
Social Media
• Digital natives expect more media now
• Use YouTube to get around the challenges of presenting dorms
and cafeterias on campus tour
¹ Source: YouVisit

10. Prospective students and parents can customize the
homepage to focus on the topics that matter to themBucknell University
Who’s doing it well

11. “Instagram is the new college
viewbook.”
• Thom Atkinson,
Indiana University Social Strategist

12. Courtship Phase
What the survey revealed
• 78.2% of prospects cite a campus visit as increasing
their likelihood of attending that college
• 21% of prospects strongly agree or agree that college
admissions presentations are unique
• 41% strongly agree or agree that campus tours give a true
representation of campus culture
• 39% think universities aren’t paying enough attention
to snapchat and 24% think you aren’t paying enough
attention to YouTube
• 38% of prospects report feeling more engaged with a school
when they interact with the student on social media

13. Courtship phase, continued

14. “YouTube has become the
forgotten platform for colleges.
You have to remember for most
of these teens, YouTube isn’t
their second screen, it is their
first.”
• Yasin Id-Deen,
University of Michigan
Social Media Manager

15. Tactics to employ in this stage
Converting them one-by-one
Campus visit
• We know the campus visit converts. Use owned channels to get
students to campus.
Admissions presentation
• Take advantage of opportunities like wait times
• Drop the stats and facts
• Help them feel like this could be home
• Warm welcome (Jim and the dairy farms)
Social Media
• Make it personal
• Help prospects connect to each other, and to people at your
university

16. Marketing and Admissions team up to answer questions
from prospective studentsBoston University
Who’s doing it well

17. If you’d like to set up a time to go
more in-depth on how these results
directly relate to your institution,
Jay will happily set up a time to talk.
Just email
lindsay@teamworksmedia.com and
we’ll coordinate a convenient time
for you.
Jay Sharman
CEO / Founder TeamWorks Media
jay@teamworksmedia.com
312.829.8326 x230
312.446.9435 (c)
@StoriedU
Q&A
www.storiedu.com
www.teamworksmedia.com