Higher ed marketing: How to boss the five essential stages in your student recruitment strategy

Want to add some oomph to your student marketing campaigns and take your applicant recruitment numbers to the next level? While recruiting students for your university is not a linear process, these key ingredients are vital to your success – research, brand awareness, nurture/engagement, lead generation and applicant conversion.

While we know you’re already aware of these stages, we have some performance-boosting ideas for you. We’ll also show you how our new offering, UPP Unlimited, weaves seamlessly into your existing strategy, enhancing the impact of activities at every stage of the student journey.

Postgraduate research: what’s impacting applications now?

In March we launched the Big Spring Term Survey to gather young people’s views on a range of topics relating to student life and education. The responses from current undergraduates showed that there are huge opportunities for universities to increase postgraduate numbers by helping applicants to understand their options.

Official Rep Insider: advice from an ex-Rep who joined The Student Room

Steven (Ste) Walsh was an Official Rep for Liverpool Hope before joining The Student Room as an Account Manager. His dual experiences give him a unique perspective on how to make the most of the Official Rep tool. We asked Ste to share what he has learned from working firstly as an Official Rep in a university setting, and then from gaining an insider’s perspective as part of The Student Room (TSR) team.

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Will applicants attend your university open days?

As the colder months draw in and seasonal bugs rear their ugly heads, we wondered – do students feel safe attending student recruitment events? Covid-19 levels across the country are high, prompting worries that those harmless coughs or sniffles could be something more sinister. So is this putting students off from attending open days?

We included additional questions in our October TSR Asks survey to get a snapshot of student sentiment and find out what universities can do to adapt open day events.

What teaching experience do university students want?

A new academic year has started, pandemic restrictions have lifted and university rankings have been released. After years of education disruption, 2022 applicants will be paying close attention to the experiences of the 2021 cohort and how well universities are adapting to student needs. So what should you be shouting about to stand out from your competitors?

In this blog, we share findings from our monthly student research survey (TSR Asks) and our online student polls to shed light on what 2022 applicants expect from their university teaching experience.