Unibuddy Discover exceeds expectations for Los Angeles City College
The challenge
As a Study in the USA partner, Los Angeles City College was hesitant to make use of their Unibuddy Discover platform on the Study in the USA site at first.
Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Darren Grosch wasn’t sold on the idea of peer-to-peer marketing, and unsure how to make the best use of the dashboard’s various features. But with a bit of encouragement from Study in the USA, he decided to give it a shot.
The solution
Unibuddy’s Customer Success team quickly and efficiently trained LACC’s student ambassadors, and getting them onto the site was also a breeze.
The ambassadors readily gained confidence in using the platform, both on their phones and computers. Grosch said it empowered them to over-communicate with prospects. He even found that they had much more success with emails when ambassadors followed up with prospects they had already chatted.
These responsibilities didn’t overload the students either. In fact, it was a mutually beneficial exchange for those who were feeling homesick because Unibuddy is an avenue for human connection.
It also relieved some of the pressure on Grosch. “If you’re just a one-person department, which is the case for a lot of us at these smaller schools, and you’re wearing a lot of hats, you can use Unibuddy,” he said, “It’s like having an extra staff member.”
“Often schools will say they don’t have the bandwidth to set it up, but we always tell them that it only takes the initial few hours. It’ll make your life easier and you’ll get more traction. And I haven’t talked to one school for which that hasn’t been true.”
Chelle Struve Study in the USA Account Executive
The results
LACC’s goal was to convert one student within a year, which seemed reasonable given the current climate. Instead, their expectations were exceeded with one summer applicant and two fall applicants, each sourced from Unibuddy.
Since they don’t have the means to make calls to international students, Unibuddy serves as LACC’s direct pipeline to this demographic.
Grosch reported: “I’m finding that my student workers are more engaged and that I’m getting more traffic, more interest, and more applicants than before.”
Use Cases
Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Darren Grosch wasn’t sold on the idea of peer-to-peer marketing to meet their summer and fall recruitment goals.
Results
LACC’s goal was to convert one student within a year, which seemed reasonable given the current climate. Instead, their expectations were exceeded with one summer applicant and two fall applicants, each sourced from Unibuddy Discover.
