Now is the time of year when universities across the UK should be preparing for traditional open days, a chance for hopeful students to visit campuses, meet potential lecturers and in the end choose where they will spend the next chapter of their academic journey.
Like any industry, the Education sector is feeling the brunt of the nationwide lockdown due to Covid-19 and cancelled events, but that doesn’t stop universities getting creative to ensure these open days go ahead digitally.
Virtual campus tours, one to one chats in messengers, live events on social media and meetings on Microsoft Teams are happening in place of physical visits.
Come September 2022, many universities could be left with lower student numbers, meaning the competition to recruit right now is tough. Students are being inundated with marketing emails, invites and adverts from universities across the country every day, making it increasingly important for you stand out while making sure you’re sending the right message to the right students at the right time.
But what if universities could maximise their recruitment marketing efforts with Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Marketing?
Dynamics 365 enables universities to gain insights into student behaviour, improve student services and ultimately build stronger relationships with students. With built in event management tools and 3rd party integration, Dynamics 365 for Marketing provides teams with insights across all marketing activities, all in one place.
Let’s look at how Dynamics 365 for Marketing could transform your universities recruitment drive during Covid-19…
Gain a holistic view
Dynamics 365 for Marketing allows you to integrate with existing systems where student records are kept while collating data from other sources, meaning you gain a 360° view on each student in one profile.
With all the data in one place, you can begin to ‘score’ each student based on their engagement, providing you with insights into which future students are engaging with your content, when and how they like to engage.
Based on their student profile in Dynamics 365, you can automatically send out the right information about your virtual events, to students who you know are interested, when they want it.
Access deeper insights
Within Dynamics 365 for Marketing, you can segment data, these can be broken down by location, age, channel, subject, where they are on the engagement journey etc. This enables universities to carry out targeted, multichannel campaigns in parallel with virtual tours and open days.
And due to 3rd party integration, this data can be visualised in Power BI on interactive reports and dashboards to monitor recruitment KPIs and targets.
Increase agility
The speedy nature of Dynamics 365 for Marketing means you make decisions based on what the data is telling you so you can instantly adapt your strategy.
Dynamics 365 is simple to use, meaning anyone can use it, regardless of technical training. This enables teams across the business to gain insights into what students are looking for in their chosen university.
The tool automatically sends queries to the relevant team using workflows in Dynamics 365, which means less time spent on admin and more time ensuring students receive the best possible service.
Improve personalisation
Every university wants to be top of mind during open day season and Dynamics 365 for Marketing makes delivering up-to-date, personalised content to applicants easy during this time seamless.
Communications are personalised based on student records, previous engagement and where they are in the application process. Research shows that 55% of consumers are more likely to respond to marketing offers and services that are relevant to them. Translate that into student recruitment and with a more meaningful experience, they’re more likely to enrol with your university.
Covid-19 has certainly touched every part of our lives and university open days are no exception. The technology is there to help us, we just have to know what to do with it.
Find out more about our complete Dynamics 365 capabilities.
