Engaging The Next Generation Of Students
The sharp decline in college enrollment and growing skepticism about the value of a college degree have left higher education institutions wondering how to appeal to a new generation of students. Although solutions aren’t straightforward, one thing is certain: colleges and universities must adopt unique approaches to attract prospects, and student-led creator marketing represents such an approach. In this article, we’ll discuss creator marketing in higher education and how institutions can leverage student creators to appeal to today’s young adults.
What Is Creator Marketing?
Creator marketing is a marketing strategy in which brands collaborate with content creators to boost engagement and awareness for an initiative or campaign. It represents one part of a brand’s overall strategy, working with other methods to support the brand’s larger marketing goals.
By leveraging creator marketing, brands can reach a wider audience, increase their engagement, and form deeper connections with their audience. Higher education institutions, in particular, can use this form of marketing to highlight their academic programs, build a sense of belonging among prospective students, and promote their overall brand.
How Does Creator Marketing Fit Into An Institution’s Digital Strategy?
Higher education marketing is about how colleges, universities, and other post-secondary institutions attract prospective students and raise awareness about their academic programs, campus life, and other aspects of their brand. However, with Gen Z showing lower net trust for brands than all other adults, institutions must adopt unique methods to gain this demographic’s confidence. That’s where student creators giving prospective students insight into their real-life experiences on campus come in handy.
Creators can spark prospective students’ interest in an institution and build credibility by showing them what it’s like to study, work, and learn at a particular college. This will help universities attract prospects and guide them further down the enrollment funnel, increasing the chances of yield.
How Does Creator Marketing Benefit Higher Education Institutions?
Student creators benefit institutions and their marketing efforts in the following ways:
Building Trust Through Peer Perspectives
The classic marketing adage tells us that individuals buy from people they know, like, and trust. So, it makes sense for higher education institutions to use students to appeal to other students. In fact, a Convince and Convert report found that 70% of students prefer to hear from other students in marketing materials from an institution.
Think about it this way. What would a prospective student trust and appreciate more: a mass email from a faceless institution promoting the institution’s esteemed journalism program, or a video from a student creator talking about how the same program helped them land a coveted internship?
Strengthening Messaging With Student Storytelling
The real-life stories of fellow students, especially if they’re told in a creative and compelling way, will resonate more with prospects than traditional marketing materials. After all, students want to see themselves reflected in others—whether that be a foreign-born high school senior relating to a creator’s experience navigating college as an international student or an aspiring writer appreciating an undergraduate’s relatable video about being an English major.
Driving Engagement With Social Media Interaction
Creator marketing presents endless opportunities for direct engagement with prospects. Creators can use the institution’s social media to ask followers if they have questions about the admissions process, campus life, work-study programs, and more. Prospects can then respond with their inquiries, and creators can answer through written replies, videos, images, GIFs, or a combination of these options. Such interaction strengthens relationships with followers, encouraging them to continue engaging with the institution across other platforms and even beyond social media.
Maximizing Budgets Through Cost-Effective Strategies
Instead of outsourcing content creation to an expensive marketing agency or paying a macro-influencer’s high fees, institutions can save money by working with student ambassadors or interns. These options are often more affordable because students either freely volunteer their services, are offered academic credit instead of an hourly wage, or are paid standard intern rates.
Institutions also avoid the ancillary costs of working with agencies or influencers. For instance, these entities may charge an additional fee for video equipment and editing software. However, colleges and universities can require student creators to use the equipment and software provided to them. Students can also use their own devices if they achieve the same quality.
Examples Of Effective Creator Marketing In Higher Education
Higher education institutions can leverage student content creators in a variety of ways to capture the attention of prospects and lead them through other stages of the enrollment funnel. Take a look at the following examples for creator-led marketing ideas.
Videos That Entertain Prospects
According to The Center for Generational Kinetics, 65% of Gen Zers go to the internet for entertainment. That means higher education institutions could benefit from injecting personality and humor into their content. And what better way to do this than to tap student creators to produce engaging on-brand content that shows who students are outside of the classroom?
The Ohio State University, which ranks ninth in higher education social media engagement, has taken this approach. The university’s student creators have produced videos poking fun at their obsession with Ohio State’s merch and their humorous attempts to locate classes on the university’s sprawling campus. Prospective students will find the content relatable and entertaining. Additionally, the video strengthens brand loyalty among current Ohio State students who understand the inside jokes and alumni who get a dose of nostalgia.
Reels That Offer Helpful College Advice
Although Gen Zers want to be entertained, they also want practical advice on how to navigate college life successfully. Whether that’s time management tips or advice on choosing a major, prospective students are seeking helpful content rooted in real-life experience.
Florida International University, which has a student ambassador program, is providing just that on its social media accounts. Student content creators have made reels about the top study spots on FIU’s campus and tips on surviving a hackathon, the latter video featuring on-site interviews with hackathon attendees. Through these student-created videos, FIU can educate and deliver value to prospects while also promoting its vibrant campus life.
Student Blogs That Foster a Sense of Belonging
Sometimes, students want a more intimate and in-depth look at what it’s like to be a student at a specific institution. However, the rapid-fire nature of videos and reels aren’t the best formats to deliver this kind of content. What higher education institutions can do instead is have students write blog posts about their college experiences.
Princeton University’s student blog is an excellent example. The institution’s students have written short, essayistic pieces about everything from studying abroad as a low-income Latina student to finding balance during a chaotic semester. Since Gen Z is the most diverse generation in history and its members place enormous value on authenticity, prospective students will appreciate these personal narratives. They may even see themselves and their experiences reflected in the writers’ posts, influencing their college decisions.
7 Ways Institutions Can Effectively Leverage Student Creators
Successful creator marketing in higher education requires institutions to think strategically about how they can use student content creators to achieve their overall marketing goals. With that in mind, here are seven tips on how institutions can leverage creators for marketing success.
1. Ensure Meaningful Collaboration
The only way institutions will thrive with creator marketing is if they truly collaborate with student creators instead of simply telling them what and when to create. Asking for creators’ input can boost engagement, as Siena College’s associate director of marketing Andrew Murphy has found by allowing marketing interns to review the university’s marketing materials for Gen Z alignment.
However, institutions must also avoid giving full decision-making authority to creators just because they belong to the target demographic. Instead, marketing professionals should use their knowledge and experience to determine how to best incorporate creators’ ideas.
2. Create Content With The Student Journey In Mind
Though most content created by students will fall under the discovery stage, institutions should also think about what they want prospects to do and what questions those individuals will have after that initial point of contact. For example, the creators behind Boston University’s social media accounts made a video ranking spots on the university’s campus, which is ideal for a prospective student in the discovery stage.
However, Boston University also has “why I chose BU” videos, where creators explain why they selected the university over other institutions. This kind of content would fit those who are evaluating different institutions to determine which ones to apply to.
3. Leverage Multiple Channels And Content Formats
Using multiple marketing channels will ensure institutions reach the widest possible audience. Instead of focusing solely on their website or email marketing, institutions should explore these options as well as student-led social media and web content. Additionally, they should employ a variety of formats—short-form video, long-form written content, graphics, and more—to make sure prospective students have multiple interactions with their brand.
4. Prioritize Authentic Storytelling
92% of Gen Zers say that being true to oneself is very or extremely important. Colleges and universities can tap into this generation’s need for authenticity by having creators share stories about their selection process and overall college experience. Students can choose to do this through engaging day-in-the-life videos, personal essays, or even vlogs.
For instance, each semester, Temple University’s Global Programs selects student bloggers and vloggers to document their college experiences. The intimate nature of this content appeals to potential students who want to see how it is living and learning at Temple.
5. Highlight Diversity And Inclusion
Diverse communities shape 81% of Gen Zers’ brand preferences. This means institutions would be wise to highlight the diverse experiences of their student body. Although colleges and universities can have creators talk about navigating college as a first-generation or international student if those are their experiences, they can also ask non-creators to share their stories. The University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill has done this with their fascinating student takeovers.
6. Answer Prospective Students’ Questions
Content shouldn’t just be entertaining. It should help and educate prospects and as well as create a seamless student journey. To do that, higher education institutions must ensure they answer students’ questions about the admissions process, financial aid, student life, and more. For general inquiries and especially questions creators are uniquely positioned to answer, have content creators respond. Creators can also write first-person blog posts centered on specific topics like campus jobs and student housing.
7. Infuse Personality And Humor Into Marketing Content
With 76% of Gen Zers using TikTok and 78% of them using the app specifically to find funny or entertaining content, it comes as no surprise that today’s students crave highly engaging and personality-driven marketing experiences from all brands, including higher education institutions. Fortunately, creators—many fellow Gen Zers themselves—are in a great position to enliven their college or universities’ marketing efforts through relatable content. Just consider Colorado State University’s accounts, which incorporate amusing trends and humor.
Harness The Power Of Student Creators To Drive Enrollment
If higher education is to survive and thrive, institutions must tailor their marketing efforts to Gen Z—a generation that values diversity, individuality, and, above all, authenticity. They can do this by recruiting student content creators, who already understand this demographic’s values and humor as fellow Gen Zers themselves. These creators can use institutions’ social media, blogs, newsletters, and more to deliver credible, relatable, and engaging content.
However, institutions must ensure they leverage student creators effectively. By ensuring genuine collaboration, aligning content with the student journey, highlighting diversity and inclusion, and injecting personality into marketing initiatives, colleges and universities can educate and entertain prospective students. At the same time, they’ll seamlessly lead prospects through the enrollment funnel, bringing them that much closer to conversion.
