Connecting with prospective college students today requires the strategic and successful use of social media. There are a couple of things you can’t lose sight of, though, when using these platforms to reach today’s students. To be effective, your plan has to fit the way they actually use social media. To sum it up, the experiences should be 1) interactive and 2) personalized.

Prospective college students are eager to experience your campus as up-close as possible before they visit in person. With today’s technology and widespread use of video, you can deliver remote engagement like never before. 

Yes, they’re reading your direct mail and your email messages. And if that gets their interest, what’s the next step for a prospective student? Far-and-away, your website.

We know that Gen Z students are headed to college in dramatic numbers. And we know that traditional recruiting has to take on new dynamics. So what are the best ways to connect in their hyper-connected world? New in-depth reports from Ruffalo Noel Levitz offer a wealth of data. We’ve summarized some of the high points for you, along with our own insights.

You already know that high school students and their parents are using college and university websites as an opportunity to form one of their earliest opinions about an institution. They’ll even remove a college or university from their list based on a poor website experience.

The 70-million-and-growing Generation Z. They’ve been dubbed “world-changers,” and now they’re transforming the landscape of the college experience.

They’re tech natives. There’s no such thing as “normal.” They want to do something meaningful. And they’re mindful of the value of a dollar. So what does this mean for your university? Is your campus the kind of place they want to be?

As parents of teenagers and college students ourselves, we’re thinking about college with fresh perspective these days. How involved are we when it’s time to start researching, visiting, and decision-making?

Will we subtly press our preferences on our children? Probably. Will we make information-gathering phone calls and website visits? Sure. Will we visit campuses? With pom-poms waving!

Photos hold an incomparable power to tell your story. To show what your students value. To capture one-of-a-kind moments on your campus. To communicate what makes your school something special.

There’s no secret trick, no silver bullet, for a masterful photo shoot. Rather, it’s a fine art that requires careful planning and execution—along with a healthy dose of flexibility.

If you work in admissions and enrollment, you’re moving quickly to connect with students wherever they are. Though a strong digital strategy is essential, print holds a critical place in reaching your audience. There’s certainly no substitute for a tangible take-away piece when meeting with students in person. And while email is the primary preferred means of initial communication for 49% of students, preference for direct mail is still strong, at over 37% (Ruffalo Noel Levitz).

No doubt, though, the Gen Z attention span for print is limited—so it’s more important than ever to make every page count. 

Yield rates—the percentage of admitted students who actually enroll—are important indicators to college enrollment officers as they help schools predict new student enrollment each year. After a long and steady decline in yield rates, the average seems to be stabilizing. But let’s take a look inside the numbers—and what we can do about them.

As college recruiters scramble to keep up enrollment numbers, financial aid has become the chief competitive tool. In fact, an annual study last year by the National Association of College and University Business Officers found the average institutional discount rate for first-time, full-time freshmen in private schools reached 48.6 percent.

It’s a reality. Most college students aren’t venturing far from home.

If you work at a four-year institution, are you overlooking a tremendous under-tapped pool of enrollment prospects? If you’re not intentionally recruiting community college students, you may be missing out.

How would prospective students rate a visit to your campus? —Apart from the attractive landscape and stately buildings, the impressive credentials and classroom content. Beyond the presentation of social activities and athletic events. How well are they welcomed?

With enrollment in gap year programs up 23% since 2015, if your institution is overlooking this trend, then you may be missing a key contingent of prospective students. While the idea of a “year off” between high school and college is not new, what’s different is the breadth of students the idea is attracting. An investigative report with Katie Couric finds that the gap year is “not just for rich kids anymore.”

In last week’s post, “Words Matter,” we considered how excellent writing gives your institution a competitive edge. This week, let’s dig in to some of the how-to’s of producing powerful marketing copy for your school.

Presenting a polished, professional image is essential if you want your institution to stand out—or even stand up—in today’s crowded media. Most college marketing professionals, then, wouldn’t shortcut graphic design for a website or a printed promotional piece. But what about the substance under the visible brand?