Truth #3: Tell Your Authentic Story
When prospective students visit your institution’s website or set foot on campus, they’re looking for proof. Every school vying for their attention likely makes relatively similar, general claims such as a positive experience, excellent degree programs, and expert faculty.
To stand out in an increasingly competitive higher education landscape, the key to creating an emotional connection with prospective students is telling them an authentic story. Genuine narratives bring to life the real experiences and outcomes associated with attending your institution. By getting specific and painting a clear picture of a student’s potential future, your institution can rise to the challenge to prove it.
Promote Particular Program Outcomes
Big statements about graduation rates and having the best professors aren’t enough to help a prospective student understand what it could feel like to be part of your institution. Instead, consider featuring specific positive outcomes by sharing stories and statistics related to individual majors. Tell educators-to-be about the innovative relationship your institution has with the local school district. Show aspiring accountants the technology infrastructure and top-tier internships they’ll access through your program.
Consider outcomes your institution could feature for various majors, such as:
Licensing exam passing rates
Internship and job placements
Connections to community organizations
Collaborations and networks
Once you’ve landed on an outcome or two to feature for a major, think about how your institution’s brand can reflect the information in a consistent, compelling way.
Feature the Future
While highlighting information on job placement immediately after graduation is important, it’s just the beginning of helping students imagine their futures as alumni of your institution. Sharing stories about alumni who are advancing in their careers and leading in industries is a great way to give prospective students insight into the ways that your institution will prepare them to meet both their short and long-term goals.
Tapping into your alumni network is a great place to start. Consider a blog series of interviews with alums who graduated ten, twenty, or even thirty years ago. Where are they now? What did they do to get there? How did their degrees prepare them for the job positions they’ve had? How did their fellow alumni participate in their career success? Who are they still friends with from college, and how do those friendships look now?
Graduation and the first job that follows are major milestones, but they’re not the end. Showing prospective students how your college or university empowers its students far beyond those achievements can help them envision how your institution will play an ongoing, positive role in their lives and careers.
Find Your Voice
One of the key markers of authentic storytelling is a voice that reflects the institution’s mission. Successful narratives present meaningful information in an engaging way—and this isn’t just the case for higher education. Take the language-learning app Duolingo, for example. The brand’s playful tone encourages users to stick with their aspiration of mastering a new language by combining research-based teaching methods with a whole lot of fun. As a result, the vast majority of Duolingo users say they are more confident speaking a new language and motivated to continue learning.
For universities, a strong brand voice can clarify opportunities to share the institution’s current character as well as its deep histories and traditions. Annie Lombardi, Director of Enrollment Marketing and Campus Communications at St. Thomas Aquinas College, made establishing a brand voice a priority when seeking to reinvigorate the college’s brand.
“We wanted to unify our brand voice so that we could share our authentic institutional narratives about what makes us so unique,” she noted. “It’s about our story. What makes us who we are.
How might your institution share your specific educational outcomes with a tone that prompts prospective students to smile at the thought of joining your community? That intersection is where you’ll find authentic storytelling that helps prospective students imagine themselves at your institution.
Prepare to Prove It
The bad news: Your marketing strategy may over-rely on generic stories and statistics.
The good news: Students and alumni of your institution are experiencing positive outcomes every day. You just have to capture them.
The great news: Successful storytelling is as simple as telling the truth in the voice that showcases your institution as the great place it is.
Let’s make these truths part of your institution’s unique marketing strategies. Contact us to chat about how 5° Branding can partner with your team.
This is the third blog in our Higher Ed Marketing Truths series with 5° Senior Vice President Ryan Morabito, a veteran brand strategist who has worked with over 100 schools. These blogs are based on Ryan’s LinkedIn posts, which regularly inspire high engagement among education leaders and marketers. Click here to receive each blog in the series by email or bookmark our blog to check for updates!
