Enhancing the way you market higher education information sessions

So what is an information session?

Information sessions are provided by most higher education institutions to provide prospective students and their families the opportunity to see the campus, learn about the university and develop a personal connection.  They also provide program specific details and the opportunity to meet faculty, students and counselors. The target audiences are undergraduate, transfer and international students, graduate and adult students. Information sessions are a very important part of a higher education strategy.

Situation:
Put yourself in a prospective student’s shoes. You come across an info session web page that peaked your interest only to find that when you clicked around there wasn’t enough information and detail.  When you have a site that lists a bunch of dates and a few broad sentences, it just won’t do. You conclude that there just wasn’t enough time and effort invested in it, so why should you buy in and take the next step?

Evaluate your website.
Are details about upcoming sessions front and center on your website or buried somewhere near the bottom of a page? Is it presented in an easy to read, attractive manner? Is there space to provide enough details and promote the venue? Are your prospects finding the information and if they do, are they getting the impression that this is a worthwhile, well-planned event? Is signing up quick and easy?

Solving the problem.

Here at Elliance, we have helped clients transform their higher education marketing in part by changing the way they plan and promote their information sessions.

Using an online marketing software tool like Ennect Event, colleges can create a comprehensive and tailored information session website. The best part? It requires very little back end effort and can be copied and updated for each future session or target audience.

Unique event websites make a great impression and show prospects that you put effort into the event, thus it is worthy of their time.  An event registration tool like Ennect incorporated into an inbound marketing strategy allows colleges to target prospective students based on type, location and interest. Additionally, users can gain an advantage with online invitations that drive prospects with the click of a button, something that is impossible with printed flyers and word-of-mouth advertising.