Last Updated: January 2023
Previously, we shared five reasons why colleges and universities should make employment outcomes data a key part of their recruitment and marketing plan. Understanding the importance of this information for prospective students and parents is a key first step to crafting relevant and engaging content for your campaigns.
But knowledge alone is not enough! In order to move the needle on enrollment, colleges will need to integrate outcomes data into a multi-channel marketing plan that maximizes student engagement.
What does this integration look like? The possibilities are almost endless, but here are five strategic ways to make the most of outcomes data in your campaigns:
1. Program pages
Add employment outcomes data to your academic program pages to strengthen your value messaging. While social media and other forms of online engagement are important (see below), Ruffalo Noel Levitz’s 2019 E-Expectations Trend Report indicates that a university’s website is still the most influential information resource among high school juniors and seniors collectively. By placing outcomes data near the top of the page, you can help students immediately see the connection between your programs and possible career outcomes.
Making this data available on program pages also helps to ensure that stealth applicants will see this important information…and they may be more likely to apply because of it.
2. Email campaigns
Email is one of the most efficient ways to communicate customized information to your prospective students. Inserting relevant career outcomes data helps to personalize email campaigns and show students that you are tuned in to their specific goals and interests. And don’t forget the parents! As the ones most often footing the bill, parents have a unique interest in the ROI offered by your programs. Keeping them in the loop and sharing your alumni’s top companies and job titles can enable them to have informed conversations with their student.
3. Social media
Sample graphics from GoRecruit
Besides being a great way to reach prospective students in their natural habitat, social media also offers the advantage of interactivity. By sharing outcomes data on popular platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, you give students the chance to like and share that information, creating engagement and organically extending your reach.
It’s worth noting that this channel is especially popular among first-generation students, making it an important way to engage these underrepresented populations. As a bonus, social media can also be a great place to share your graduates’ success with other important stakeholders, including current students and alumni.
4. Presentations
When conducting your campus tours, chances are you have the opportunity to give a pre- or post-tour presentation to those in attendance. Families who are physically present on your campus are your most captive audience! Be sure to make the most of it by demonstrating quantitative evidence of student success. You can also circulate program-specific outcomes data to the relevant department chairs and deans so they can share it when meeting with students or giving their own departmental presentations.
5. Phone communication
Even with the massive popularity of online and digital communication, there is still a lot to be said for a personal phone call from a real, live human being. Whether it’s current students, faculty, or admissions staff doing the dialing, equip them with program-specific outcomes data that they can use to answer questions or spark a conversation. You might even consider segmenting outreach campaigns by program of interest and working outcomes-based talking points into your call script.
Using outcomes data throughout the funnel
We hope these five suggestions offer a helpful starter kit for thinking about where employment outcomes data fits into your comprehensive recruitment and marketing plan. Of course, as the year progresses and students move through successive stages of the enrollment funnel, tactics and messaging should adapt accordingly.
What to read next
See how WSU Tri-Cities capitalized on outcomes data to support their enrollment marketing efforts and demonstrate career possibilities for students.
Looking for a better way to demonstrate alumni success, engage prospective students, and drive enrollment? Check out GoRecruit. Have questions about the data? Contact us! We’d love to hear from you!