It’s been five years since higher ed was forced to take virtual experiences seriously, but has their purpose evolved? More importantly, which universities are getting results and how are they boosting engagement?
Joining me today are Charlotte Hopes (University of West England), Nic Vaughan-Bell (Birmingham City University), and Matt Usher (Bournemouth University).
Some have used virtual experiences for years.
Others are new to the game.
All of them bring a unique perspective.
*This episode is delivered in partnership with Vepple.
Fewer prospective students are making themselves known. According to new data from UniQuest, 60% of students who accept a firm place at their chosen institution have done so without engaging in any marketing activity:
*They didn’t click on your ads
*Haven’t been subject to nurture comms
*Didn’t attend your open days or enquire beforehand
To discover how to connect with hard-to-reach students, Kyle was joined by Associate Director of Future Students at Demontfort University, Elliot Newstead, and Victoria Littler, Chief Commercial Officer at Vepple.
This episode is delivered in partnership with Vepple.
In the 2023/2024 cycle, 20% of students started researching the university they were placed at in Clearing BEFORE October 2023. That increases to 36% (a third!) if you extend the window to January.
Year-on-year, 12% more students applied directly to Clearing.
And 15% more students decided to reject an offer from their first choice and pick up a place in Clearing.
The Clearing student is changing.
Kyle joins UCAS's CMO, Dave Penney, and its insights lead, Jo Richards, for a dive into 2024's Clearing data, and what it can tell us about 2025.
There is not an education marketer in existence who hasn’t experimented with AI in the last 2 years.
However, there are relatively few using it in the places where there is the most opportinity.
Joining Kyle today are Jonny Harper, Chief Technology Officer at Revolution Viewing, and Lucy Parrott (Marketing Manager at Kingston University) for the road less travelled on AI-enhanced student marketing.
This episode is delivered in partnership with Revolution Viewing.
It doesn’t matter where you get your data, university websites are the most trusted communication channel for students when making their study choices.
Kyle is joined by Guus Goorts, author of the new book Genuinely Helpful: A practical guide to effective university websites. They talk about why websites endure and what schools need to make sure that their is... genuinely helpful.
Most students don’t attend open days, and even those who do, expect (and use!) some kind of virtual experience to enhance the occasion.
Joining Kyle to discuss the data is Jonny Harper, Chief Technology Officer at Revolution Viewing. Jonny brings over a decade’s know-how in building digital experiences that convert, including:
*When personalisation is most effective
*How to scale your content efforts
*Best practice for UX design
This episode is in partnership with Revolution Viewing.
Being a creator, influencer or content entrepreneur. These are the top careers young people want in 2024. So why is no university going after them?
Further reading and show notes
Offical university LinkedIn accounts are the only ones seeing growth. Read
High-achieving young people (apprentice example) on LinkedIn. Look
It’s shaping up to be a tough Clearing More students are going into confirmation and Clearing holding an offer, up from 89% to 92% this year.
Also, higher tariff institutions have made 4% more offers than they did by this time last year. Come A-level results day, there could be a lot less to play for.
However, knowing what students want, current subject demand and how to rise above the noise won’t hurt your chances.
It’s time for a Clearing special.
Joining Kyle for today's show is the founder and CEO of Uni Compare, Owen O’neil.
Owen brings insights from over 40,000 Clearing students navigating their choices:
Which universities are winning when it comes to community marketing?
Joining Kyle today on the podcast is Amy Parker-Johnson and Joe Woodcock from The Student Room.
Both bring their knowledge of how universities can genuinely connect with students, and what taking a community-first approach can do for your recruitment.
Is your virtual campus tour reaching its full potential? Today, Kyle is joined by Victoria Littler, chief commercial officer at Revolution Viewing, to learn how students actually use virtual experiences.
Not all is as it seems.
Universities are no strangers to branding, but how many institutions are as willing to differentiate their product as much as they are to tweak their creative?
Today, Kyle is joined by Sarah Jones of University Compare and Donna Beardmore of University of Sunderland.
Sarah brings University Compare’s research on how young people perceive university brands.
Donna brings over two decades of higher ed marketing experience, as well as a bit of niche insight into how brand building impacts recruitment.
This episode is in partnership with University Compare
There isn’t a marketing director in existence who thinks peer-to-peer is a bad idea. However, students speaking with other students is now table stakes.
Today's show is taken from a joint webinar with Rebecca Roberts, founder of Thread & Fable, Kyle Campbell, founder of Education Marketer, and Madalina Marinescu of The Ambassador Platform (TAP). Based on TAP’s data, the three discuss:
If you're interested in the pivot from social media to niche communities and the power of belonging, this one is for you.
This episode is sponsored by The Ambassador Platform.
According to Niche’s Spring Junior Survey, three years ago 81% of prospective students said that weekly emails were acceptable - but today, it’s just 39% (!!!)
It’s not much better for social media.
The tolerance for high-frequency content has halved within the last year.
Even higher ed darlings like Instagram have seen a 26% decline in the number of students viewing official university accounts.
Something needs to change.
Joining Kyle for this month’s Education Marketer Live is Marcella Collins.
Marcella has previously grown her own education marketing business, now heads up strategy at Hybrid and isn’t afraid to call out “inauthentic” content when she sees it.
Kyle's also joined by Julia Hurtado, the face of Uni Compare's content marketing and who has the playbook for connecting content with ROI.
Let's hope Kyle can keep up.
In today's episode, Kyle is interviewed by the Keystone Education Group on the Higher Ed Chats Podcast.
If you're looking for a good snapshot of the state of content and community marketing in higher ed, or just some fresh ideas and new perspectives - this one is for you.
What do students need from a virtual tour, and how can you make your experience memorable?
Today I’m joined by Shiro Hatori, Director of Demand Gen at Concept 3D. When it comes to virtual tours, Shiro in an expert in students' expectations and how can design experiences that leave a lasting impact.
Spoilers, a lot has changed since 2020.
The first rule of podcasting is that it takes 12 to 18 months to build anything that could be regarded as an audience - unless the podcast is Tales from the Departure Lounge.
Today, Kyle is joined by the show's hosts, the two higher ed legends, Andrew Plant and Nicholas Cuthbert, sharing their story of how they went from zero to 10,000 downloads in just 10 months.
Listen to Tales from the Departure Lounge, a show about travel for international student recruiters.
We’re used to using ambassadors for recruitment, but what about retention? Is there a role for ambassadors in helping current students build that all-important sense of belonging?
Joining me for today’s show is Ula Polsky, Director of Global Student Engagement at Northeastern University.
Ciara McNally, Head of Customer Success at the Ambassador Platform
And Northeastern student, Tishya Bathija for a new take on how ambassadors can create belonging on campus.
This episode is sponsored by The Ambassador Platform.
Kyle takes a deep dive into the findings of Edified’s Experience Tracker, a benchmark for the state of student enquiry handling around the world.
Joining him are two voices instrumental in the report - Elissa Newall and Jennifer Parsons - for their take on what students expect and how institutions can deliver.
There’s plenty of material on the power of ambassador marketing, but relatively little on how to build a legendary team.
Today, Kyle's joined by Niall Horan, Global Student Admissions Executive at University of Galway, and Matt Pilling, Customer Success Manager at the Ambassador platform to cover:
This episode is sponsored by the Ambassador Platform.