How can I recruit new students virtually?

It’s time to start recruiting students for the year. In many countries across the globe covid-19 case figures are still rising. With the dangers of the pandemic, virtual event trends show online events will be even more popular this year.

Virtual events might be new for a lot of higher education institutes but they bring new opportunities as well as challenges. For example, your online student recruitment strategy attracts students from across the world. There’s no need to travel long distances to find out information about the university. This means that the world is your oyster in terms of recruitment.

This might all seem a little confusing but don’t worry. We’ve come up with 5 online student recruitment strategies you can use to bring new students to your campus.

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1. Interactive virtual events platform

Engagement in your virtual event is one of the key online student recruitment strategies. If your event is just people speaking for a long with no interaction, students will drop off like flies! There are some key features your virtual event platform will need to increase interaction:

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• Customizable floor plans: Bring your event to a whole new location at the touch of a button. You can create different floors to mimic your campus layout.
• Virtual buildings: Allow your student to click on what building they want to see in your virtual tour. For example, bring your students to your gym or library.
• Breakout rooms: With physical events, students like to get to know each other at campus open days. Make sure you give time to people to chat in a more intimate setting of a breakout room.
• Polling: This is a good way of grabbing people’s attention during the longer talks.
• Networking: Students can talk to each other, to campus employees or facilitators and ask around like they would in an in-person event.

These features will make the event more engaging and make sure that students have fun. And you're in luck, they are all available on Remo's virtual platform.

2. Virtual Brochures

Just like at a physical event you can leave virtual brochures at each table at your virtual event. Make sure your brochure has key information about the university such as:

• The application process
• Reasons to choose your educational institution
• The fees associated with each course
• Key dates to remember

This online student recruitment strategy will make sure your students have the information they need when the event is over. Be sure to make the brochures downloadable so students can save them to their desktops. Not only are virtual brochures cheaper, but they’re also better for the environment!

If you do a recruiting event on Remo, your sponsor banners are a very good way to showcase your brochures and different information about your institution.

3. Use social media

Most young people receive their information from social media these days. You should post regularly to let the students know what your campus has to offer. The beauty of this online student recruitment strategy is that it’s cost-effective. Most social media is free, but if you want to receive data on your posts there is a fee.

Try using apps like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to recruit potential students. Make sure you know your audience and share information that’s relevant for them. For example, if you’re a music school share songs or videos from past alumni. Don’t forget to add a trendy hashtag to get more hits on your post.

4. Partner with high schools

A smart online student recruitment strategy is to partner with the high schools of your potential students. You can approach high schools that match your university ideals and target their students. Try running virtual events with the high school to reach out to the students. You can also try fun ideas like a competition for a scholarship to a group of schools. Again, be sure to use your social media here to reach a larger audience.

5. Branding of the school

Your educational institution can contact businesses and associations to sponsor your event. In return, you can brand the virtual buildings with posters of the sponsors. This online student recruitment strategy will help fund your virtual event. As well as that, it will help you to create alliances with businesses for your alumni when they enter the workforce.

At Remo, we can add building branding as part of your virtual event experience. We can add branding depending on the plan that your higher institution selects. Take a look at our higher education solutions for more information on our features.

What’s next on my online student recruitment strategy list?

Now that you’ve read our student recruitment strategies for higher education, you’re ready. Start making a plan of how you’ll implement these exciting ideas. Of course, the first thing you’ll need is a virtual events platform. 

At Remo, we have some interactive features that will be perfect for your university’s virtual events. We’ve already partnered with some great schools like Berkely and Harvard. Take a look at our virtual event platform features that will make your university event special. Or you can always try out our plans, some of which start completely free.

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