Innovative Lead Generation Strategies for Higher Education Institutions

At Unibuddy, we often talk about “attracting, recruiting, and retaining” students. Each of those stages is equally important in making sure you have a diverse and successful student cohort, but many universities lack the answers to many important questions like:

• How do higher ed institutions attract students?
• How can we keep in touch with prospective students?
• What strategies can universities use to recruit their best-fit students?
• How do universities generate leads?
• What are the most effective strategies to generate leads for universities?

But before we answer those questions, let’s start with the basics.

What does lead generation mean?

Lead generation in higher education refers to the process of gaining interest from a prospective student for your institution. Piquing a student’s interest can be particularly difficult with such fierce competition, which is why having an effective strategy for lead generation is extremely important. 

Is lead generation profitable for higher ed?

Lead generation is extremely profitable in terms of ROI, but more importantly, for recruiting and enrolling students. It goes without saying that universities can’t function without student enrollment, so focusing on well-crafted lead generation strategies will help ensure your higher ed institution continues to attract students while staying profitable.

What are the most effective strategies for higher education lead generation?

There are a lot of tactics that higher education institutions are using. For example, “gated content”—it can only be downloaded by inputting data and uploading to a CRM.

But Gen Z students are savvy and protective of their data. It means lead generation for universities can sometimes be a challenge. But if you provide a resource that genuinely supports and benefits students, and you communicate this effectively, students will sign-up, and you’ll be able to keep in touch with them. 

To help you attract the best candidates, we’ve discovered the three most effective strategies for generating leads for your university.

1. Take advantage of lead generation with virtual events

There are usually many in-person opportunities to generate leads, but adapting is key with the world being remote. Take traditional Open Days or recruitment events, and turn them virtual. Connect your students from around the world and create a sense of belonging that provides reassurance and guidance along their higher education journey. 

Generating leads and driving those students to apply has always been a priority for Jacobs University. Faced with demand from their applicants to chat to a student, the university decided to seek a peer-to-peer solution that allowed them to utilize the power of student ambassadors to drive leads for their institution.

As Recruitment Counselor and Admissions Officer Sharon Min said: “While it’s great to be physically present, it has geographic limitations. Having the digital ambassador program bridges that gap”.

2. Assist the generation of high-quality leads with peer-to-peer chat

Jacobs University recruited a team of 22 volunteer buddies who were embedded onto the platform. They had hoodies made up to create a sense of community for the student ambassadors and also utilized Unibuddy Chat to connect six academic and admissions staff with prospective students.

In recent years, studies have shown that Gen Z is spending 62% longer on messaging services, and Jacobs University wanted to adapt to this new normal. Jacobs University was able to implement Unibuddy with only a single line of code.

“The platform is really easy to use,” said Sharon, “and the team are so responsive to any questions.”

Jacobs University has put Unibuddy across their website, allowing them to connect with their site visitors. They also reached out to applicants and leads, benefiting from the increased clickthrough rate of the ‘Chat to a Student’ call to action.

3. Create an effective call-to-action 

It’s important to think closely about the call to action you will use in marketing emails and ads to ensure you are generating leads as effectively as possible. Erasmus School of Economics found that the “Chat to a Student” call to action was substantially more effective for driving traffic—with a 150% higher clickthrough rate compared to their benchmark.

And with GDPR, it’s also important that you have students’ consent to marketing. Unibuddy uses a transparent and fully GDPR-compliant marketing opt-in. The engaging platform means a significant number of students opt in to marketing. In fact, Kozminski University found that 80% of their student sign-ups opted in to receive further marketing communications from the university. 

4. Address Prospective Student Pain Points

In terms of expanding your ability to generate leads, reaching your audience at the right time with the right content is key. A great technique is developing and maintaining content that addresses the common pain points that students have. Providing useful content like this shows that not only do you understand your audience’s needs, you also care enough to share solutions and this is where trust in your higher education institution can start to develop.

Focusing on what your institution does well in its support of students can be a great place to start. Other ideas for content generation can be around financial aspects of education and living, as paying for education is often a concern for students and their families. You might also want to showcase the mental health support that is offered for students, as that is a top concern with students reporting high rates of anxiety and depression. Sharing how they can get connected with peers can ease the social anxiety that Gen Z is afflicted with.

5. Create a Full Lead Generation Plan

As Unibuddy can assist with generating leads, it’s important to have a full lead generation plan in place, with all aspects clearly defined in their abilities and goals. A plan can outline organization and communication so that you’re using the resources available efficiently. Ensureh minimal overlap in coverage across your marketing so you’re able to easily have targeted campaigns right where you need them.

An outline of your plan might address:

• Understanding the target audience (e.g. developing student personas to better inform your marketing)
• Creating content and distributing (e.g. optimize engaging content for SEO)
• Using social media (e.g. maintain active profiles with a regular content calendar)
• Create effective landing pages (e.g. have pages be user-friendly and GDPR-compliant)
• Organizing virtual and in-person events (e.g. promote events, and have opportunities to engage students with interesting material and activities)
• Using technology analytics (e.g. measure campaign performance and track leads with a CRM)
• Lead nurturing follow-up (e.g. follow up in a personalized way to meet individuals where they’re at in their journey)
• Partnerships and collaboration (e.g. work with partners who elevate your brand and help draw interest)
• Compliance and ethics (e.g. be transparent in how student data is collected and used)
• Evaluating and refining your strategy (e.g. review lead generation performance and adjust, adding along new opportunities as you go)

6. Successful Lead Generation Case Study

As a tool in assisting the generation of leads, Unibuddy has worked remarkably well for NYU Tandon School of Engineering. They’ve increased their prospective students’ likelihood to enrol by 85%.

They initially started with their Global Outreach Ambassadors to encourage international prospective students to engage with current students in-person, as these events were held around the world. However, with the pandemic thwarting these efforts, they aimed to find a remote solution, which came in the form of Unibuddy. Tandon Unibuddy Ambassadors were trained on best practices, common questions and resources to assist questioning students. They were able to respond to messages within 24 hours, sharing their experience and supplementing existing university resources with valuable human interaction.

Integrated into NYU Tandon’s CRM, they were able to record and track interactions in order to efficiently process leads and data. Inbox inquiries were reduced, as prospective students chatted with current students, and there were improvements in application and enrollment rates. 39% of admits who used Unibuddy enrolled, versus the 21% who enrolled but did not use Unibuddy, showing an 85% increase in enrollment with Unibuddy.

How Unibuddy can help lead generation for higher ed institutions 

Lead generation is constantly changing as new technologies and student expectations change. But with the right student recruitment program, your higher ed institution gains access to the tools necessary for successful lead generation year after year — and Unibuddy offers just that. 

Interested in learning more? Book a free demo and explore how Unibuddy can start recruiting your perfect students.