Using applicant community data to guide your conversion strategy
The greatest benefit of cutting edge technology is that fact that it’s now easier than ever to grow your network, make new connections and communicate quickly and easily in a way that suits your lifestyle.
This is pertinent in student recruitment; it allows prospects to connect with peers, current students, alumni and staff at their future place of study, prior to their potential enrolment.
The phrase ‘peer-to-peer recruitment’ is now ubiquitous in the sector, it’s become a catch-all phrase bandied around to cover any kind of interaction between current students and prospects.
What we don’t mean by ‘peer recruitment network’ is a series of diluted, scripted 1-1 interactions with micromanaged student ambassadors; our definition refers instead to a buzzing network of authentic interactions within a genuinely engaged community.
The benefits to students of a community like this are self-evident, but how can university recruitment teams best use what happens in the network to inform day to day operations that result in better conversion?
Learning from your peer recruitment network
While one-to-one interaction between prospect and ambassador might give you headline figures about how many questions have been asked and answered, it only tells half the story.A peer recruitment network can highlight certain trends in behaviour and engagement, and we believe should even be used to prompt you and your student ambassadors to take a particular course of action.
Trends at a practical level may simply be related to engagement, or similar questions on a particular topic being asked by several prospects.
Developing CampusConnect Insights
The challenge for us in developing the Insights feature has been working out how the data is interpreted, and what type of action it prompts for recruitment teams and ambassadors who use the service.
It needs to be simple, quick to interpret, and easy to follow up with a course of action (e.g direct message student x as they haven’t engaged in 18 days).
At a top level the four areas below provide immediate value to those overseeing the peer recruitment network
Prospect last message sent - indicates prospect recent engagement.
Message count by role - indicates those members most active in the community (ambassador, student, staff).
Message count in themed groups - indicates which topics are trending at a given time (e.g accommodation, subject specific themes etc.).
Individual ambassador performance - indicates which ambassadors are contributing most (and least) to the community.
The next step in the process is to decide what is the most appropriate course of action in response to each of these insights, and how the CampusConnect system can best facilitate this.
We’re working iteratively with our university clients to ensure the CampusConnect platform remains intuitive, responsive and effective in nurturing students toward successful conversion and enrolment.
What is CampusConnect?
CampusConnect is a mobile app service connecting universities and colleges with their incoming prospective students.
Students connect with fellow applicants, student ambassadors and staff, as well as accessing critical, personalised pre-enrolment information. The service provides institutions with higher rates of offer - enrolment conversion and better prepared, happier students.
For more information, get in touch with me on dan@campusconnect.ie