Guide to Student Enrolment: 7 Higher Ed Strategies

Prospective students today face a lot of anxieties surrounding higher education enrolment. Between worrying over student loan debt, academic pressures, and future career prospects, many students seem hesitant to hit the enrol button.

Enrolment has declined in the past couple of years, with higher education institutions losing around 1.3 million students between the spring of 2020 and the spring of 2022, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Centre.

To recapture the attention of prospective students, institutions need to rethink their enrolment strategies while leveraging recruitment and admissions software. In this article, we'll explain the importance of creating a strong student enrolment strategy and provide seven ideas for boosting enrolment.

Building strong enrolment marketing strategies will help connect institutions with the students who are most likely to be successful and happy there long-term.

An enrolment strategy is all about showcasing what an institution has to offer and how students can grow and thrive there. Prospective students want to know what’s in store for them after they accept an offer to attend an institution. A strong enrolment strategy eases uncertainty by painting a clear picture of campus life.

It’s very important that leaders across the institution are aligned on enrolment strategy. Enrolment is more than just admissions — it’s also about financial aid, academics, housing, and student life. When setting enrolment goals and metrics, make sure all departments are aligned and working towards them together.

An enrolment strategy should be tied to the mission statement of the institution, and how a college or university is marketed should ladder up to its values.

A strong enrolment strategy will not only help boost the number of students choosing to attend an institution, but it will also pave the way for student retention and higher graduation rates.

Before a higher education institution can attract students, it’s important to understand the reasons students choose one school over another.

Salesforce’s Connected Student Report reveals the top five factors prospective students considered when deciding where to enrol:

• The location of a college or university
• Future career prospects
• Academic focus
• Total cost of studies
• Social life/campus activities

With an understanding of the motivations behind student enrolment, institutions can focus their marketing strategy on these factors.

For instance, to highlight the location of a university, create materials featuring the benefits of living in an institution’s city or town. To showcase career prospects, spotlight what alumni have accomplished after achieving their degrees. Featuring alumni in newsletters and other forms of content has the added bonus of making them feel valued and improving alumni engagement.

Many prospective students turn to Google to initially research potential schools, which is why search engine optimisation (SEO) is critical. Developing an SEO strategy that extends through an entire website will help your institution appear in search engine results and get noticed by more prospective students.

Start by performing keyword research to discover which keywords the institution’s site is already ranking for, which ones competitors are ranking for, and which keywords are ideal for targeting. Next, ensure every piece of content created for the site is optimised for search engines by including internal and external links, adding descriptions to photos, and incorporating target keywords throughout.

Improve local SEO by ensuring the institution’s Google My Business profile is completely filled out and up to date. Google My Business will help the institution appear as a local result and in Google Maps when students search for a university or college in a specific area.

Developing a strong and consistent brand for an institution is one of the most important enrolment strategies. Branding helps build familiarity with potential students and gain their trust. It also sets an institution apart from the competition and increases the likelihood of finding students who are a good fit.

To build a consistent brand, a university needs consistent brand guidelines. These brand guidelines should include both the visual and written elements of your brand such as logos, colours, fonts, image choices, and content voice and tone.

Brand guidelines will help everyone on the team who creates content understand how to present the institution. The institution’s visuals and voice should remain the same across its website, emails, and social media platforms.

Affordability is a huge factor for students when deciding whether or not to attend a college or university, and it’s a major factor in how successful students are once they enrol.

According to the third edition of the Connected Student Report, 40% of students said they needed “more financial aid” in order to be successful.

To attract potential students, incorporate financial aid options into the institution’s enrolment marketing. Showcase any scholarships, grants, and need-based financial aid options that are available.

It’s a good idea to personalise this messaging for students by major or industry of interest. For example, email students interested in English available creative writing scholarship opportunities.

Use your marketing materials to demonstrate how the institution can help fund students’ learning experience from the day they enrol all the way through graduation.

According to Statista, 63% of search engine visits come from mobile devices, and that number is growing yearly.

Convert prospects to enrolments by connecting with potential students in the palm of their hand. Send SMS alerts to remind prospects about application deadlines, open house opportunities, or upcoming campus events.

Optimise web content by ensuring all landing pages, forms, emails, and digital ads load quickly and translate well to mobile devices. This will allow students to learn about the university, conduct more research, and fill out their applications on their smartphones.

Adding 24/7 chatbots to an institution’s website is a highly effective strategy for increasing student enrolment. Chatbots help students get the answers they need when they need them with no delays. Chatbots can answer simple questions and keep students moving through the application process without waiting to speak to a representative.

When planning your marketing strategies to increase student enrolment, don’t forget about parents and families of prospective students.

Support from family and friends is a key factor in student success, and parents can play a large role in helping students research and choose a college or university.

Start by tailoring content on the institution’s website to prospective parents’ interests. Create a page for families that outlines important details about family weekends, convocation, financial aid, and chances for families to get involved with the institution. This kind of content will make parents feel included and like they’re a valued part of the university community.

Also, highlight topics that matter to parents such as safety on and around campus, mental and physical health resources available to students, and career prospects.

Salesforce’s recruitment and admissions software helps institutions build stronger relationships with prospective students so they can meet — and exceed — enrolment goals.

With Salesforce's recruitment and admissions software, higher education staff can build brand awareness through targeted marketing campaigns, connect with students on their preferred channels and keep your strategy relevant with real-time marketing data.

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