Engage Prospective Students Beyond TikTok

By: Gary Thorup - May 23, 2023

Dear MDT: How can we get prospective students to put down Tik Tok long enough to engage with admissions?

First, congratulations. You’ve taken the first step by recognizing there’s room for a bit more… pizzazz in your content. Well done. Feel free to do a couple of fist pumps. (We’ll wait.)

Now, let’s take stock of the task before you.

Other schools aren’t the only brands competing for your prospective students’ attention. They are bombarded by multi-million dollar campaigns for clothes, apps, food, shoes, Beyonce, and more every waking hour.

Unless you can figure out how to go all Inception on them and show up in their dreams, you’ll need to get creative.

So those generic messages crafted from the same template used by every other school? Won’t cut it.
If you want to cut through the noise and command a prospective student’s attention, you’ll have to “Wow!” them.

How to ‘Wow!’ when you’re not Beyonce

What can “Wow!” prospective students? Beyonce-level surprise and delight would do the trick.

Yet while we’re sure you’d look fabulous on a horse and in a sparkle-tastic dress, there are more practical options. (Send us pictures, though.)

Thanks to AI and automation, universities and colleges are more able to wow prospective students with their content than they have ever been.

And the best part? They can do it cost-effectively and at scale. (Really.)

Check out these examples of “Wow!” content some schools are sending out now:

  • Personalized Videos: Imagine sending a prospective student a video that greets them by name, provides information on their program of interest, and can confirm their appointment time. With personalized video, you can. And it’s a totally unique way to make your prospects say ‘Wow’.
  • Wear & Share Technology: You’ve probably seen the technology on Snapchat and other platforms. Augmented reality selfie filters infused with your school’s branding are a fun and unique way to encourage engagement with your institution and leverage organic social shares.
  • “Handwritten” Post Cards: When you think of engaging the Gen Z audience, you’re probably not thinking about snail mail. And that’s what makes it great. It’s one of the few uncluttered messaging environments. And instead of delivering some generic pamphlet, sending a sincere, handwritten note is going to make the recipient say, ‘Wow.

Increase your engagement rates with personalized video.
But first, you need to see it! Test it out today!

try now

Remember to ‘Wow!’ responsibly

However, “Wow!” content like the above won’t perform well on its own. It must be part of a larger marketing plan in order to achieve maximum impact.

(Lucky for you, you can download this free, comprehensive white paper to creating an effective student nurturing campaign. Just sayin’.). Visit : https://knowledge.mdtmarketing.com/reverse-prioritization-marketing-resources-white-paper to download.

So how do you make your student nurturing content less boring?

Make it “Wow!” its recipients. Delight prospective students with fun, unexpected content that not only communicates, it also creates moments they can share with others. That will be less boring and make your school stand way out.

And if you could use some help “Wow!”ing your list, let us know. We’d be happy to share our more than 15 years of experience running these campaigns. We know a few things about what works, what doesn’t, and how effective these campaigns should be. If that could be useful, let’s chat. Schedule a discovery call here.

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