7 Ways to Make Higher Education Event Marketing Easier with Social Walls

Does your marketing need some extra credit? For higher education, event marketing has to be a straight-A student

Any high school senior can tell you that higher education event marketing can make or break their interest in a school. Your audience is making a life-changing decision, and it’s your job to help them fully understand what you offer and what they can expect. It’s classic marketing. Lay out the benefits, then listen and respond to the needs of your customer.

Some of the best opportunities to do that are events like college fairs or campus tours. For potential students, there’s nothing like the experience of getting a first-hand look at campus life and getting a chance to meet school representatives and other students.

Successful events mean a lot of work on your part, but when young people walk away with a dream of attending your school, it’s worth it. That doesn’t mean you can’t take steps to make your work easier, though.

Appeal to all of your current and prospective students with Everwall social media displays around your campus. Start building your social wall today.

How to make your higher education event marketing strategy easier – and more successful

With approximately 22 million students attending a little over 4,000 colleges and universities in the United States, there’s no arguing that your event marketing has to make an effort to get noticed.

The good news is that you don’t have to do all the work yourself. “Social proof” is an important marketing phenomenon. In short, it means that when other students share positive experiences about College A, potential students see it as proof that College A is a good choice. In other words, 50 million Elvis fans can’t be wrong. And that is why a social wall can do wonders for your higher education event marketing campaigns.

1. Make your social wall visible

Seems obvious, right? You might be surprised how many screens end up behind a clothing rack at the college bookstore, in a hallway of the university food court, or near the president’s office (and let’s be real, your incoming cohort and transfer students probably won’t be visiting the university president).

Place your screens near the admissions office, in a classroom that’s dedicated to marketing to potential students, on a kiosk that’s along the campus tour route, and anywhere else that’s highly visible to visitors.

2. Work in conjunction with your staff and faculty

Your staff and faculty can be some of your most vocal proponents. Encourage them to post to their social networks and include your school’s hashtag. In this Tweet, an assistant professor and graduate student show just how much fun a research project at #Tulane can be. Your social wall could get plenty of activity just from your current staff.

3. Encourage current students to use your hashtag

Your students are the experts on your school. They’re attending events, studying late at the library, eating in the cafeteria, resting on the quad, sleeping in the dorms, and getting an inside look at all the qualities of life on campus. Why not ask them to use your hashtag when they post on Twitter or Instagram? Your official marketing is one thing, but your unofficial marketing tells a different story, and that’s the story potential students want to know.

4. Student takeover

No one knows your campus better than your students. Let them take over your account for a special event or a regular feature. It’s the perfect time for a question and answer session, the lowdown on the best places to eat on campus, or when to register for classes.

5. Post your own content

Of course, you have content, too—don’t be afraid to use it. Mix your student graduation rates, scholarship programs, attendance numbers, or news about your university in with all that content coming from students, faculty, and alumni.

6. Bring your social wall with you

When you leave campus to represent your school at college fairs or community events, bring that social wall with you. It’s an easy way to grab attention from people who might otherwise walk past. Think about it, the school in the booth next to you has a bunch of glossy pamphlets. Not bad, but you have a digital display of happy students Tweeting and Instagramming about life on campus, cool research projects, and the engaging class they just came from. There’s no match.

7. Don’t forget your alumni

Sure, potential students want to know about life on campus. They also want to know what to expect after they graduate. What kind of alumni support is there? How about alumni groups in their area? Reach out to your alumni and encourage them to use your hashtag. All of their sage advice and hindsight can roll through your social wall, encouraging not only incoming students, but your currently enrolled students, too.

Your higher education event marketing doesn’t need to be slick and tailored. Potential students want to see the reality of life at your school. Your social wall is a simple and effective way for them to do just that.