Joy as a Differentiator: Marketing, Experience and the Elusive X-Factor

In previous blog posts, we’ve talked a lot about the pressures students face today. The uncertain job market, global political unrest and the soaring cost of living mean that choosing where and what to study can easily seem like a high-stakes challenge.

But like any relationship, it’s never just about the practicalities. Gut feeling, chemistry, the X-factor … call it what you will. With so many great choices out there, the final decision is often about feeling rather than logic. And the most powerful feeling of all is one of the hardest to pin down: joy.

Passion matters

Consider what happens when an applicant combs through your website, reads your marketing collateral, reaches out with an enquiry or schedules a campus visit. They’re not just looking for an institution that will impress future employers or a degree course that will further their career. They’re hoping to fall in love.

Spending three or four years in one place, studying one intensive and demanding course, is a major commitment. And with so much riding on the outcome, passion doesn’t become any less important. Quite the opposite: it’s the truly passionate students who stand the best chance of staying the course. Savvy applicants know this, and that’s why they’ll consume every piece of information your marketing team disseminates.

The challenge they face is that university marketing materials are often remarkably similar. With standard shots of campus, generic student profiles and boilerplate text about “building your future” and “living your potential”, it’s impossible to know if they’ll find the joy they’re looking for. How can your collateral stand out? The answer is remarkably simple, and it’s all about emotion.

Speaking to the heart

Of course, your marketing materials should supply students with all the practical information they need, from university to department, right down to course and module level. But they’ll really grab the attention if they speak to the reader’s heart. Spark that joy, and you’ll really start to engage them.

So how do you do it? Here are a few simple ways.

Go digital. We really can’t say this enough! We designed our digital publishing platform, theRACK, specifically to help educational marketers make their collateral more dynamic. With no annual publication cycle and no printing or postage costs, you can afford to play with new formats, create specialised brochures and snapshots, and integrate compelling multimedia content. Our sophisticated analytics suite will let you measure the impact in real time.

Go immersive. Virtual tours, video interviews, custom pop-ups, targeted snapshots. There are so many ways to give your visitors a taste of real university and city life. It’s especially effective when you showcase student joy, with testimonials from current and former students who just love what they do. By the time your applicants schedule a visit, they’ll already feel as if they might belong – and that’s a very powerful feeling.

Go long. For your potential students, the application process doesn’t end when they press ‘submit’. So why would you dial back your efforts? Keep them engaged all the way through the application cycle, and you won’t just increase the likelihood of a positive decision. You’ll keep that spark going and get them really excited about coming to campus.

Think with head and heart. Reason and emotion aren’t mutually exclusive. A true 360-degree marketing approach combines rational, useful information with emotive appeal. The more channels you have at your disposal, the easier it is to provide applicants with a truly rounded perspective, appealing to each subset of your target audience.

As an educational marketer, your aim isn’t just to attract the greatest number of potential students to your institution. It’s to attract the right ones. By infusing your collateral with passion, you can boost your conversion rate and create a rich pool of highly desirable applicants. Digital brochures, multimedia collateral and strategic thinking are all indispensable in the process. 

It’s no surprise, then, that more and more colleges and universities all over the world are signing up to theRACK. Current partners include Murdoch University, University of California, Irvine, and Deakin University. If you’d like to join their ranks, or you’re curious about what we can do for you, just get in touch, find us at a conference or book a free demo.