If everyone in international student recruitment is zigging, it’s time to zag.
International student recruitment has become a commodity market
The typical university International Office has a multitude of responsibilities. From partnerships to study abroad programmes, from summer schools to student recruitment. So it’s no surprise that the typical IO manager is usually more of a diplomat than a marketer. Or that most British universities are using similar international recruitment strategies in 2017 to those they were using in 1977.
Local country marketing is largely sub-contracted to education agents abroad. Paid upwards of 10% commission by universities, and in some countries, paid also by students, these agents are prospering in a hugely valuable market. They represent tens, often hundreds of universities from all the globe, and have no particular commercial interest in promoting one over another. They’ll make their commission no matter.
Universities have lost control. Higher education has become a commodity market, where it is difficult for most individual university brands to stand out. Where the distribution channel exerts more influence than the producer. And where, with finite resources, International Offices focus on ‘agent management’, with newsletters, periodic visits from International Office staff, and attendance at local recruitment fairs.
Precisely the same strategy as hundreds of their competitors, here and abroad.
Growing direct student applications via targeted social media
International student marketing is ripe for disruption. And happily, the growth of social media worldwide has made a disruptive strategy both feasible and cheap to implement. It’s time for universities to use global social media to reach highly qualified prospective students, encouraging them to apply directly to your institution. Disintermediation in action.
Global social media penetration figures are high, from China through SE Asia, from North America to the Indian sub-continent, especially among well-educated middle class students under 25. You can target by age, subject and even previous educational institution.
Universities are ‘content factories’ par excellence, so the generation of shareable stories and news will be a walk in the park. The challenge will be to disseminate this content in such a subtle way that it looks more like reputation-building than overt advertising. Then to target it so precisely that the audience will want to read and share with their networks.
And since global reputation-building and international student recruitment are often the obverse of the same coin, there can be only benefit in reaching thousands of academics abroad at the same time.