What do School Closures and International Travel Disruptions Mean for School Marketers and International Admissions?

With all the travel disruptions and school closures around the world (119 countries have closed schools, according to UNESCO), schools now need to think differently about their ongoing operations. While continuing current students’ education journey is paramount, shoring up the pipeline for September 2020 and beyond is also of high importance in securing the school’s future revenue and reputation. Marketers and Admissions team can play a huge role in this - potentially even greater than usual. So, what do the current closures and restrictions mean for marketers and admissions teams recruiting September’s 2020 student cohort?

Many schools rely heavily on students from China and wider Asia to bolster their international student numbers. If your school is one of them, it may be an unnerving time as we wait to see what unfolds. School marketers and admissions teams might want to consider alternative methods and tools to conduct their usual marketing and admissions processes, to help mitigate a severe drop in international student enrolments come September. We’ve put together a few ideas:

Diversify.

If you rely heavily on recruiting from China and a couple of other markets, it’s a great time to think about diversifying. Certain regions of Europe, Africa and America are also strong recruitment markets for the UK that you may want to consider. Of course, as with the case of Northern Italy, there may also be disruptions to travel to and from these regions, however recruiting from a slightly larger pool of countries will leave you less vulnerable to drops in recruitment from a given country.

Make your in-country marketing work harder.

With temporary travel restrictions and health concerns limiting the number of staff you might physically have on the ground in your target markets and in school, make your digital marketing channels work for you instead. Generating direct enquiries with targeted digital lead generation campaigns can be an effective alternative to sending staff overseas to visit scores of recruitment fairs. Plus, you’ll save on costs for travel, commission, and fair participation - WIN!

Get familiar with WeChat.

There are over 1 billion active WeChat users in China (Statista 2019). It is an incredibly powerful tool for attracting and engaging Chinese parents and students. Keeping your WeChat account active with up-to-date information about the school, engaging with parents and even collecting direct enquiries will pay dividends towards your brand awareness and brand image in the market when normal travel and work operations are resumed. Keep your school front of mind while you can’t be there in person. It’s an opportunity to fine-tune your WeChat activities and get ahead on next year’s recruitment.

Utilise free digital communications admissions methods.

Skype, FaceTime and some webinar platforms can be powerful (and free) tools for your international application process. These digital platforms will enable you to conduct online entrance interviews, English language assessments and parent Q&As. If you can move some stages of your application process online, it will reduce the need for travel overseas while still encouraging your parents and students closer to enrolment. What’s more, you may even find more of your parents/students prefer the online approach and choose to keep it as part of the furniture in future!

Digital Event alternatives.

With May only 7 weeks away, many schools are organising their Spring Open Days. There are also many overseas recruitment Expos planned, so considering digital alternatives may be a productive answer to the ‘social distancing’ advised by WHO. For home recruitment especially, Open Days are huge events, just as overseas fairs are for international recruitment. Anticipate that there may still be concerns around attending places with large volumes of people, by preparing an alternative approach using video to showcase your school. Facebook Live and webinar platforms can offer wonderful means to broadcast the very best of your school’s facilities, teaching staff and students in video and presentation format, rather than families needing to attend in person. Needless to say, this is also a fantastic engagement tool for international families too who may not be able to fly to the UK to attend in person (travel restrictions or no). For support with your online event, please take a look at our blog How to Create a Virtual Tour in 3 simple steps.

Use social media to keep your stakeholders and families engaged

In the absence of in-person contact at school during closures, social media can be a really powerful tool for maintaining a spirit of school community and keeping in touch with your current and prospective families as well as your agents. It can be difficult to work out what to post about however while the school is deserted, with none of the usual sports, classes and excursions going on. Think about posts that encourage engagement from your school community such as opinion polls and competitions, and sharing useful or interesting information to keep stakeholders involved in the school.

Share best practice and positive vibes!

It can be tough to keep the motivation and love of the job during enforced remote working, particularly if you don’t enjoy working away from an office environment. To help us all feel less isolated and more inspired, we’ve set-up a new group on Linkedin: ‘School Leaders in International Marketing & Student Recruitment’. It is intended to be a community and forum to share best practice for school marketing, ideas on how to get the best out of working remotely, and to spread positive news stories. If you work in Marketing or Admissions for a School, please join us!