Postgraduate Student Loans

As you may be aware, George Osborne announced plans for postgraduate student loans for 2016 in his Autumn Statement. I have collated the main points of this announcement in a bid to help identify the: Who, what, when and how’s and the potential opportunities to the University and ‘young’ graduates; in addition to what implications this may have on our marketing and recruitment work.

Email Marketing Tips

Email marketing is a key tool and is used throughout the student recruitment cycle. However it’s not as simple as just sending an email, there are lots of things to consider to ensure that people receive targeted emails that are relevant to them, we don’t just want to bombard people otherwise they will only ignore our emails.

To make sure that emails are sent to the correct people at the right time and contain useful content, there’s a useful acronym CRITICAL. I will explain what each of the letters stand for.

Campus Tours: Where, When and Why?

With the 2014 Applicant Day cycle now over (*collective sigh of relief*), I thought it would be a good time to mention our campus tour provision at the Chester and Warrington campuses.

Applicant Days – done!

The Applicant Days have seen upwards of 2,500 applicants - plus associated parents / siblings / friends / partners / babies - pass through our doors over the last few months.  An increase of around 10% on last year’s Applicant Day attendance, this is a great outcome for making our offer more tangible to those applicants who visit us.  We know that conversion rates are significantly higher for people who have attended Applicant Days, and research shows that, however much applicants research into their chosen courses and institutions, the final choice ultimately comes down to whether or not a university ‘feels right’.

Getting a feel for the place 

Providing opportunities to visit the University is therefore a really important part of recruiting students, and booking onto Open Days and Applicant Days is a key call to action in much of our communications with applicants throughout the recruitment cycle.

Despite encouraging attendance at recruitment events, there will always be people who have missed or not been able to attend Open Days and Applicant Days, as well as those who apply late, or are simply slightly disorganised...

Engaging University Brand Advocates

In a service-led industry, such as higher education, customer referrals have a very important role to play in enhancing the reputation and value added aspects of the brand. Therefore, with this in mind, it is important that we do what we can to encourage positive feedback from students and staff alike.

Of course, in order to do this, first and foremost we need to be doing the basics right: provision of a quality service that adds value to the end user, all delivered with a good dose of customer care. Failure to do this will ultimately result in poor customer satisfaction and the rest will be history. However, if you get this right, then you’re likely to achieve high levels of customer satisfaction and be in a prime position to strategize on how to turn this into a means to market your course.

In marketing circles, this is often referred to as referral marketing or word of mouth. It’s a cost effective means to promoting your course(s) to new group of prospects.  And, whilst this can often happen spontaneously, you can influence this by adopting appropriate strategies.

Another Open Day... Another Blog

It’s been while since my last blog, so with the advent of a new application cycle and the passing of another season of Open Days, I thought maybe now was the time for another blog about Open Days, with some reflection on their success and some thoughts on where we go from here.

Seeing Double

Of course, given the inclusion of an extra Open Day in the calendar, since this announcement there has been much debate as to how sensible the addition of an extra date was, especially over two consecutive weekends. One of the main incentives for doing this was to enhance the visitor experience. In recent years, the numbers attending Open Days have been steadily increasing and it was decided that it was in best interests of the visitor to split the main Chester Campus Open Day over two weekends.

I'm sure, to a certain degree, this debate will continue, but with the overall numbers in attendance far higher and more manageable spread over two dates, there’s a strong argument to say that we should continue with this formula next year. In reality, the extra date has now created far more choice for the visitor and, therefore, helped to increase overall attendance. This is important for us in order to maximise our chances of converting enquiries into applications, and it’s also helpful to our prospects at a time of the year when the majority of UK universities are trying to cram in their Open Days. And, given the nature of the application cycle, to move to another weekend later in the cycle would now be far too risky a strategy.

Prospectuses, prospectuses

It's around this time of year that we publish a new Undergraduate Prospectus, and so it seems a timely opportunity to inform you more about the process of creating our printed prospectuses, as well as why we do it. The following post covers:

• The University of Chester's 2014 Undergraduate Prospectus - available now
• An explanation of the Marketing Department's prospectus timelines
• Why our prospectuses are important marketing materials

The 2014 Undergraduate and 2013 Postgraduate Prospectuses

Applicant Days - Successful Subject Sessions

With winter setting in and the Christmas break not far away, it’s time to think ahead to next year’s Applicant Day cycle starting in January.  From now onwards and throughout the spring term, applicants will be receiving offers from their prospective institutions.  Their task is now to hone their five or so application choices and decide where they really see themselves studying and living for the next three or more years. And that’s where Applicant Days are designed to help.

By the time Applicant Days come around, the priority for most applicants is figuring out the distinctions between courses at different universities.  It’s likely that they’ll be visiting elsewhere too, and directly comparing institutions and courses.  Our cycle of Applicant Days running between January and the start of May provides opportunities for applicants to visit us throughout the period that sees their offers come in and decisions having to be made. 

The subject sessions at Applicant Days are the perfect opportunity for departments to engage with their applicants at this stage in the application cycle and really show off the many benefits of our courses.  It’s then our job in MRA to build the rest of the days around these sessions and help reinforce the value of the whole ‘Chester Experience’ – the result hopefully being to convert attendees into budding 2013 entrants. 

I’ve been having a look at some of the survey feedback about what prospective students most enjoyed about last year’s Applicant Days, plus things they thought could be improved upon.  A summary of this data will be forwarded to Faculty Deans over the next couple of months.

In the meantime, here are a few illustrative quotes from last year’s survey and our top tips for planning successful subject sessions.

Friendly information from the experts

Given that applicants are taking the time to visit us to find out more about their course, it’s important that they’re able to meet with relevant subject staff where possible.  Being able to meet and ask questions of the people who will actually be teaching them leaves visitors better informed and able to envisage what their time with the Department will be like.  Previous visitors have also been impressed with the friendliness of staff and an altogether personable approach that really helps Chester stand out from the crowd: 

"I liked the relaxed, friendly atmosphere” 

“Very friendly and welcoming Professor, plenty of opportunity for questions” 

“I was pleased to meet a member of staff I will be working with in the future” 

“A specific course teacher would have been helpful” 

“It would have been nice to have talked to someone who actually ran the course”

Help from current students

Of course, the real experts in student life at Chester are our students!  We know from visitor feedback there’s nothing better than getting information straight from the horse’s mouth.  Involving current students in subject sessions -  perhaps through Q&As or tours of the department -  is a great way of contributing to the day’s personal touch , not to mention a great resource and help to staff.

  “There were students from first and second year speaking which helped to get a feel for the university from a student’s point of view”

Timely and relevant information

A number of those who decide to visit us on an Applicant Day will have already visited us at one of our recent Open Days.  It’s worth being mindful of this when planning what you will be delivering on Applicant Days as it shouldn’t simply be a case of repeating the same old formula.   

“It was disappointing that it was exactly the same information and presentation that I had received on the Open Day I attended”

 Notwithstanding this, remember that our visitors are further along the applicant ‘journey’ than before they applied: they will now be seeking specific information about modules, field trips, assessment methods and so on, and comparing this to their other offers.  They are also likely to be in a better position to absorb positive messages about graduate employability at this stage; another key area for differentiation between institutions.

Keeping it informative, engaging and professional

… Not too much of a tall order, right?!  First and foremost, applicants want to come away equipped with in-depth, relevant information about what their chosen course will entail.  But as the recent parent’s blog post on our campaign site highlights, visits to events like Applicant Days are all about getting a ‘feel’ for the place and people at a university.  We’ve had some great feedback from applicants who have been really inspired by meeting enthusiastic staff and students, seeing departmental facilities and engaging in activities as part of the subject sessions:  

“Great tutor.  Interaction.  Ability to ask questions.  Good to see equipment”  

 “I enjoyed it when we did a small workshop as it was fun and not too pressured”   

“I enjoyed seeing the facilities and previous students’ work”   

“We enjoyed the way [the tutor] sold both the course and the University.  He was informative, interesting and held our attention throughout the session” 

This is all worth thinking about when planning the format and delivery of your sessions.  In terms of timing, do make sure to use the full time allocated for the subject sessions (this is your one chance to really sell the course – seize it!).  Equally, please make every effort not to overrun as delays tend to impact on the rest of an applicants’ day, which was noted by some in last year’s survey feedback.

Of course, there are always going to be latecomers, and occasions where the best planned schedules go awry!  Due to the variety of our programmes and the nature of Applicant Days as being designed around applicant choice, it’s inevitably difficult making ‘one size fit all’.  The best feedback from staff and students has been where sessions have been adaptable and  tailored to fit the occasion – often, this is when we are able to demonstrate Chester’s personal touch at its best:

“It was small and informal ... it made it very easy for me to ask any questions and get the most out of my day” 

Finally, think about the overall impression given by the materials you use on the day and update them as required.  If you’d like any advice on printed materials or would prefer to use a PowerPoint template that integrates with other materials used by MRA, please let us know.

Myself and Mark Hoddell will be in contact with relevant colleagues about the forthcoming Applicant Days – but if you do have any questions or queries in the meantime please get in touch:

a.long@chester.ac.uk (Chester)

M.hoddell@chester.ac.uk (Warrington)

  

Thanks all,

Anna

On the campaign trail with the University of You!

Having just sat down to write a post about MRA’s campaign for 2013 undergraduate recruitment, I started to experience a strange feeling of déjà vu. Then I realised that it was only in April of this year that I wrote a piece about the campaign for 2012 undergraduate recruitment. Rereading this, it struck me that my intention had been to write something very similar regarding the work for 2013 and that, quite frankly, seems a bit pointless. As I'm here now, I'll write a post about how some of our recent work fits into the bigger picture. But first, if you didn't see my post from April have a quick look now…

So, you’ll have seen that I wrote about the ‘University of You’ campaign and described a series of activities and marketing communications that we put together to generate applications for 2012 recruitment. I described how we planned the campaign, how we constructed it and how we executed it. I finished by saying how successful it had been. And it was very successful in a particularly tricky year, with the University of Chester being one of the few universities in the North West to recruit to target.

On target in 2012

And it’s perhaps this success that has led us to do something very similar to kick-start recruitment for 2013. While the materials have changed and the presentation of our marketing communications has evolved, the core messages of the campaign stay broadly the same. And as I wrote then, that’s because the messages are true – Chester’s unique offering creates unique graduates in a crowded and competitive graduate market place. It’s a strong message and one that really seems to resonate with prospective students.

The Open Day aftermath - the difference between success and failure

With the Open Day season complete, we can all collectively breathe a huge sigh of relief and reflect positively on what worked well and what didn’t work so well.  All in all, I think all the University’s Open Days went very well with some record numbers in attendance, and I would like to congratulate Anna Long and Mark Hoddell for doing a sterling job in co-ordinating these events.  Months of blood, sweat and tears go into ensuring these events run without a hiccup.  Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a little, but they work flaming hard at making them a success.

Step in the right direction

In an earlier blog, I talked about the difference an Open Day can make to prospective students, with it often a determining factor on whether or not to apply.  With the encouraging numbers in attendance and the fact that so many departments put so much effort into making the Open Day experience a positive one, it would be an easy mistake to make to think that the task of marketing your course is now done.  Far from it unfortunately, but a successful Open Day is obviously a step in the right direction.

Outreach, simply reaching-out? (Part 1)

How do we define Outreach? Can we define it or is it simply 'reaching out'? 

Now I'm not much of a wordsmith, but I've always looked to the Oxford English Dictionary as first port of call for any of my referencing needs (those of you lucky enough to read my dissertation will certainly agree!).

Definitions

  

They define Outreach (as a verb), as 'To hand out, or over. To present, give' while another definition sees it as 'To exceed or go beyond bounds; to stray'. I really like the term 'stray' as I think it best defines what we do, and why we do it. Whether it is the boundaries of access to University, or the very nature of communicating with organisations outisde of our own, I like to think we're always looking to 'spread the word', or 'stray', across a few barriers.

As I have a tendency of going into great detail (!), I've decided to take the first Outreach blog in two parts. Be sure to look out for Part 2 in the coming days where we'll look at what Outreach actually looks like to a possible student.

Now how do I start to explain the changes in the Outreach Office over the past two years? It’s a tricky task, but one I’m willing to have a go at. Be prepared for a rollercoaster ride through government policy, aspirational plans, and one persons journey through the whole process!

Outreach?

At Chester our Outreach Office comprises of seven of us in all, with schools and college’s liaison activity and our department’s widening participation activity, combining into one unit over two years ago. This meant that all communication from our department with schools and colleges would be co-ordinated through the work of Outreach, as well as working towards being aware of the communication being made between the wider University and these institutions.



Wordle: The Browne Report



Some of these changes were made before the Browne report and before the Coalition Government’s announcements of changes to the funding system for those starting higher education in 2012. This meant we were very well placed to add three members of staff at the beginning of this year, to meet the needs of a quickly changing HE climate in this country.

 

Through all the media coverage of what’s been happening in higher education over the past few months, there have been repeating themes, terms, and questions, being thrown about by the media and the sector.

• How do we ‘widen participation?’
• What ‘outreach’ activity are Universities involved in?
• The students as a 'consumer'
• The overall issue of Social Mobility

Hopefully through our updates you may be able to understand how we’re working to solve some of these. Now put simply, there are two distinct areas which Outreach covers, and explains the different types of activity we're involved in;

"Widening Participation & Recruitment"

There are age groups, and students, who may interact with both areas throughout their school or college experience, and it's important we're aware of their requirements. As pupils become students, and students become consumers, the Outreach process is involved in every step of their journey.

End of Part One...

Although relatively brief, I'm sure you'll agree that the scope of Outreach is rather large across the entire University, and society beyond. We haven't yet got to 'Joe' and his educational journey, but as an introduction to the topic of Outreach, I hope you've found it insightful.

Thank you reading, and be sure to tune in next time.

Sean