Higher Education Visual Content Marketing Strategy Fuel: Graduate Programs Photoshoots

The second in a three-part series on how to bring a higher ed institution’s story to life by capturing its people — undergraduate students, graduate students and faculty — in timeless photographs.

As a data-driven computer scientist, I only became a believer in the power of great photos over a lifetime of experiences. I witnessed photoshoots change the destiny of graduate programs. I watched photoshoots liberate enrollment growth for graduate programs that despite being ranked on Google position one, were merely limping along. I witnessed unlocking of millions of dollars in donations from major donors with the strength of case statement we developed wrapped around photos that told untold stories. I saw iconic photos change the reputation of numerous graduate programs. I observed universities becoming known as institutions of consequence on strength of great photos.

Ideas for Photographs Worth Capturing

1. Peer interactions: new friendships, networks and lifelines is what attracts young people to college.
2. Student-faculty encounters: emphasizing access to expertise, guidance and mentorship.
3. Candid hero shots: after all, each student is on their personal hero’s journey.
4. Mastering academic and research skills: practice makes better and from tiny acorns, tall oaks grow.
5. Special events: that highlight community identity. (guest speakers, networking).
6. Research & innovation: showcasing labs, fieldwork, applied research depicting students as discoverers, innovators, and problem-solvers.

Examples and Samples

Here is a select portfolio of some of the photographs we’ve taken for graduate programs. I hope you enjoy them.

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Here are three examples of graduate photoshoots that changed the destinies of graduate programs.

Carnegie Mellon had given birth to the field of Software Engineering. Pioneering professors were teaching there. The program was ranked on Google position one for every conceivable keyword. Yet they were experiencing enrollment challenges. A quick look at their website with poor photos and poor copy left me underwhelmed.

We recommended that they treat their students and alumni as thoroughbred champions and heroes, capturing their photos and featuring them boldly on their website. Knowing that graduate students learn as much from peers as they do from faculty and perceive alumni as lifelines, we believed that prospective students would be motivated by the promise of joining a tribe of winners.

Within months of fortifying the photos and copy, enrollment challenges faded into history and the software engineering programs were over-subscribed.

These were turned into creative header images for many flavors of their programs.

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The Lerner College of Business and Economics at the University of Delaware sits just off Interstate 95, some 40 miles south of UPenn Wharton, the business school that needs no introduction. Lerner, on the other hand, required more than an introduction — it needed a comprehensive brand and marketing strategy to assert its place alongside better known regional competitors (Wharton, Temple Fox, Villanova, Rutgers, St. Joseph). In the past few yeas, the enrollment had become unpredictable at best.

Elliance narrowed in on two words (Opportunity, Inc.) to balance complementary aspects of the school’s changing culture. Even as Lerner and its students embrace creativity and disruption — the Opportunities inherent in an emerging start-up culture — a certain duality remains. Large institutional partnerships and investments, such as the Lerner JPMorgan Chase Innovation Center, reflect Delaware’s long corporate history (Inc.) especially as it relates to banking and financial services.

The brand efforts powered with photoshoots and campaigns turned around the institution’s destiny. By the end of year-one, the campaigns had restored predictable, reliable enrollment — much of it driven by new interest from domestic students.

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Millennials and Generation Z were expected to make up 75% of the global workforce by the year 2025. With this changing of the guard, a seismic shift is underway in expectations for the social, environmental and economic role that businesses of the future must play.

The Boler College of Business at John Carroll recognized this, and in 2016 under the leadership of their Dean, Alan Miciak, began a systemic transformation in how it educates and cultivates the next generation of responsible business leaders. The college leaned on Elliance for its strategic planning and communications acumen to distinguish Boler’s approach to business education and elevate its reputation. Our work together included strategic planning, website design and development, undergraduate and graduate enrollment marketing, a digital publishing initiative, and capital fundraising — all powered by iconic photos as proof points.

The school’s investment paid off handsomely. Boler raised $25M in donations, the largest and broadest set of gifts in the b-school’s history.

Tips & Guidelines for Capturing High-Impact Graduate Photos

1. Understand the faces behind the story.
2. Plan the photoshoot and then some more.
3. Rely on the content to provide the location for the shoot.
4. Know your subject.
5. Visit the site prior to the shoot.
6. Be nimble and have alternate plans.
7. Hire a qualified seasoned photographer.

We recommend faculty photoshoots to every client. We urge them to give photoshoots time, budget and respect. We advise them to cultivate the habit of completing a few iconic photoshoots every year. After all, colleges and universities, like retailers, are in the business of image and perception management.

Learn more about our  higher education marketing services.and consider partnering with us for your next photoshoot.