With the academic year now in full swing, and vaccinations well under way, things are definitely starting to look up — and it’s that busy time of year again when students are looking for inspiration on where to go and what to study.

It’s going to be more important than ever to make sure your marketing materials are up to date, so we thought you might appreciate APL Media’s top tips on how you can increase awareness and consideration for your university and its prestigious courses.

Produce authentic content for the younger generation. Think about what prospective students want to know and deliver it in a way they can relate to, separating yourself from the competition. Be sure to include eye-catching images of the campus, university life and what your city has to offer. Understand how to use various forms of content on different channels to communicate with professionalism, humour and personality.

Showcase your courses in a way that excites prospective students and encourages them to learn more. Make sure your content enables them to envisage doing your degrees, giving them the opportunity to learn about the lecturers, departments and buildings.

Promote your university’s bustling city as a great place to live with a mini print or digital guide to life outside of university. This is an ideal opportunity to show how your area is rich in culture and history, with ample scope for exploration, adventure or nightlife.

Be friendly across all devices and all formats. Make sure all digital content is mobile, which is what Gen Z expects. Your website or microsite should be widely accessible and available to sixth form colleges and international sites, direct mail, emails marketing and social media, among other things.

Remember key influencers. Feature some of the most interesting people around campus in your videos, social media and marketing collateral. Don’t forget to tap into valuable alumni and their experiences.

Use social media to engage often. Understand the needs of each platform to engage students in the most effective way possible: the personality and discovery of Instagram; the traffic-driving strengths of Twitter; the community of Facebook for parents; and the quirkiness of Snapchat and TikTok. Tweet frequently, answer questions and interact with your students and alumni. Find out where your students are and make sure they follow your social media accounts. To do this, try setting up a competition to win a prize (latest Airpods/iPad/MacBook Pro, etc) and make your content easy to share.

Gen Z loves short-form video. Feature some of the interesting people and happenings around campus. This generation love authenticity and will appreciate live content.

Show you care. Understanding your potential students is important. Find out what makes them tick, where they live and their demographics and use audience targeting with relevant and timely posts and email marketing.

Host events to create a sense of belonging and community and share, share, share. This is a great way to get close to your students and show them your university is an experience like nothing else.

Choosing the right university is a big decision, and prospective students research this stage in great depth. We can help you power up every part of your student recruitment strategy, no matter how big or small, putting your university front of mind and top of the consideration list.

We also can help drive international interest and awareness. We recently created a campaign for the Council for Higher Education of Israel, showcasing the country’s academic excellence to prospective overseas students. As part of the project, we built the Study in Israel microsite and produced the Israeli Academia magazine, available in print and digital form. We’re also running a full scale social media and advertising campaign to drive student recruitment for September 2021.

If you’d like to find out more, get in touch with [email protected].