Online Connections: Successful International Student Recruitment via

Virtual Fairs

Kevin Barta, EducationUSAMarty Bennett, CollegeWeekLive

Jason Hall, Oregon State UniversitySara Rathbun, University of Colorado Denver

Marty BennettManager of International Partnerships, CollegeWeekLive

@CollegeWeekLive

Value Across the Enrollment Cycle

Recruit everywhere you can’t

be physically

195 Countries

Engage prospects through entire

enrollment process

Save cost over traditional recruiting

methods

Improve yield

Amplify your institutional

brand

Reach new high school counselors

Tap into full agency services for your

admissions efforts

Greatly Expand Reach

Harness a Growing Audience • Students from 195 Countries• 660 high school counselors &

EducationUSA advisers • 231% projected growth in new

annual registrants since 2012• 188% growth in number of

college visits since 2012• 2014 Intl Undergrad Registrants

projected to have 93% Growth• 2014 Intl Graduate Registrants

projected to have 99% Growth

Engage prospective students multiple times throughout the enrollment process - and win them over

• Meet new sophomores and juniors starting the search

• Interact with seniors deciding where to apply

• Target specific segments

• Introduce enrolled students to campus resources

• Improve yield - give admitted students a window to your school

• Invite admitted students to meet with representatives & current students

PROSPECTS

INQUIRIES

APPLICANTS

ADMITS

DEPOSITS

Greatly Improve Recruiting Results

Augment recruiting visits & better engage more students

• Start conversations before live meetings & continue them afterward

Go where you can’t be – expand your recruiting reach online

• Meet engaged college-bound students everyday, online

• Overcome a decline of applicants

Overcome budget constraints that hinder recruiting

Hit enrollment goals

UC Davis features CWL events on their main landing page as a one-stop-shop for prospective

& accepted students

Greatly Improve Yield

Example of a CollegeWeekLive yield event for accepted students conducted by

The University of Notre Dame

Engage with accepted students & their parents on:

• Student & campus life• Housing• Financial aid • Enable 1:1 discussions with

students & parents

Turn more accepted students into enrollees

The average student applies to 10-12 schools, vs. 5-6 a few years ago – making yield much more hard-fought

Engage Students on Their Preferred Communication Channels

Live chat example, Western Michigan University• This example shows Western Michigan admissions

engaging with a student about their intended major

Mobile & Tablet Accessible

Expand Access to InternationalHigh School Counselors & Advisers

CollegeWeekLive High School Connect

• Enables 2-way communication between High Schools & Colleges

• Build new relationships with high schools & their counselors

Honduran High School Students & Counselor engaging with colleges

using CollegeWeekLive

US Embassy in Laos hosts viewing party for EducationUSA Virtual Fair through CollegeWeekLive

Full Service to Enhance Your Enrollment Efforts

Client Services • Builds a strategic plan tailored to meet enrollment goals• Helps you optimize recruiting performance throughout

the entire enrollment process

Production• Builds a schedule of engaging programs to your audience• Tech support and heavy-lifting for your marketing efforts

High School Outreach • Grows relationships with high schools & counselors• Manage online meetings with high schools

Alliances & Marketing • Our partner relationships help you reach your goals

Kevin BartaProgram Officer (Technology, Innovation, & Design),

U.S. Department of State, EducationUSA

@Kevin_Barta

Past Virtual Fairs

• November 2012 (Global IEW) – 14,000 international students in attendance

• November 2013 (Global IEW) – 22,000 international students in attendance

• May 2014 (Global) – 22,000 international students in attendance

Digging into the Statistics of the 2013 Global IEW Fair

• Registrants: 31,490 with a 72% Conversion rate to attendee.

• Attendees: 22,821 (does not include group viewings) - 68% increase

• Number of Countries: 206

• Number of participating universities/colleges: 104

• Total Number of Generated interactions: 55,000 (up 25% from 2012)

Participant Breakdown

14%5%

3%

Graduate Student 30%

2%

15%3%

30% TransferAdultCollege FacultyGraduate StudentHigh School FacultyOtherParentUndergraduate Student

Top 10 Countries in 2013

• Nigeria (1,768)• India (1,233)• Bangladesh (1034)• Pakistan (900) • Vietnam (767) • Egypt (764) • Ghana (688) • Algeria (664) • Iraq (450)• Bahamas (423)

New Countries

• Bahamas• Vietnam• Egypt• Algeria• Iraq

Dropped Countries (% down from 2012)

• Liberia (-96%)• Afghanistan (-43%)• China (-42%)• Bosnia (-47%)• Iran (+76%)

Users on the Platform by Time

Marketing Efforts

• Cable Specifically on Virtual Fair - Official request for posts to create programming around the virtual fair.

• Social Media Toolkit - 11 Page document with posts for Twitter and Facebook, as well as design elements such as Facebook Banner.

• Program in a Box - Comprehensive 20 page document outlining how to run programming in-country. Substantial edits and editions this year with new information on running programs in low-bandwidth areas. PDF of event and other design elements included.

• Email Listserves - Multiple email blasts throughout October and November by both EducationUSA and IIP.

• Webinar Info Sessions - 3 online Watchitoo sessions for posts at differing times/days by EducationUSA and CollegeWeekLive.

• Social Media - Toolkits spread to various social media managers around State Dept. and EducationUSA. Campaign began in mid October.

Top Marketing Channels

• Facebook: 10,308: - dominated most of the registrant numbers for the State Department.

• Twitter: 707

• PDF Flyer: 1,631

• Other: 308 FacebookTwitterPDF FlyerOther

#Ustudy (1,295 tweets)• The government shutdown and the halt to social media

effected our numbers

Government Shutdown

Veteran’s Day Weekend

#Ustudy (Potential Impressions)

Government Shutdown

Veteran’s Day Weekend

#Ustudy (Top Tweets)

#Ustudy (Who Tweeted)

#Ustudy (Most influential in getting retweets)

EducationUSA Facebook High people talking about this (PTAT) compared to typical traffic

Thematic Sessions

• 5 Thematic Sessions: • Discover U.S. Higher Education (1,252) - 5:00 AM• Graduate Admissions and Funding (864) - 7:00 AM• International Student’s Share their Experience (483) - 9:00 AM• The U.S. Visa Process (423) - 10:00 AM• Undergraduate Admissions and Funding (266) 8:00 AM

• Lesson Learned: - Overall the numbers reflect the busiest times of the platform, future events should have sessions deemed most important such as visas at 5:00 AM.

EducationUSA Booth• EducationUSA Advisers, REACS, and Program Officers facilitate a virtual

educationUSA Booth.

• The Numbers – May 2014: 1,200 potential international students entered the booth and had conversations with EducationUSA staff.

• Advisers are learning how to better utilize virtual tools for advising to expand outreach in their countries.

• Program Officers expressed that this was a great experience for them to be able to advise first hand and see what questions were hot topics for students which could then be focused on in D.C.

State Department/ CollegeWeekLive Private Public Partnership

• Following several successful virtual fair partnerships

• Private – Public Partnership MOU agreed upon between State Department and CollegeWeekLive and signed in May 2014

• Partnering on 7 Virtual Fairs a year (3 regional + 4 Global)o One of the global fairs is during International Education Week (IEW) which

the State Department is is using as the flagship event with an additional marketing/ social media push + on the ground viewing events

o Also on the ground events planned for the upcoming Latin America Day as part of 100K Strong Americas Initiative.

Upcoming Virtual Fairs

• August 13 (Global Fair: International Students Day)

• October 1 (Regional Fair: Europe, Middle East, and Africa International Student Day)

• October 14 (Regional Fair: Latin America International Student Day)

• November 19 (Flagship Global Fair: International Student Day - IEW)

Jason HallInternational Marketing and Recruitment ManagerOregon State University,

@OregonStateUniv

Jason Hall International Marketing and Recruitment ManagerOregon State University

Oregon State

2011 2012 2013 20140

1000

2000

3000

4000

International Students at OSU

~13% international students

Students from 55 countries

Recruitment activity in 40+ countries

Team of 4 in marketing/recruiting

Events, online, email, social marketing

2,000+ leads generated in 2014

Oregon State

Oregon State

How does Oregon State benefit from CWL?

Reach more students

Reach more countries

Get admissions involved

Tech-savvy audience

Solid students

233+ leads

65 countries present

3 admissions reps.

Our target audience

7 admits for fall

Tips for making an online fair efficient

Time

Go back to the 90’s

Get a team for peak hours

Have a scholarship plan

Always on

Thank you

Jason HallJason.Hall@OregonState.eduLinkedIn: JasonmhallTwitter: ScholarHall

Sara RathbunInternational Recruitment & Admissions Coordinator, University of Colorado Denver

@CUDenver

Virtual Recruitment Activities at CU Denver

• EducationUSA Webinars• Most EducationUSA centers offer monthly presentations • EducationUSA prefers generic topics about US higher education• Conducted 1 webinar with Ho Chi Minh City center, April 2014

• The Result• The EducationUSA center was not able to provide a list of

participants for follow-up after the webinar.• However, EducationUSA is globally rolling out new Watchitoo

platform to allow the collection of participant details for follow up

• An opportunity to build your brand and get your name out there

Virtual Recruitment Activities at CU Denver

• Online Recruitment Fairs – CollegeWeek Live• Vendor hosts online fairs where universities have online booths • Prospective students visit booths and live chat with school reps• Expand into markets you cannot visit through recruitment travel

• The Result• Participated in 6 college fair events for international prospects• Gave 3 video presentations; videos are saved on our booth • 7300+ unique visitors (leads) from 167 countries• 25+ applications directly from CollegeWeek Live leads• Vendor shares detailed lead reports immediately after events • Actively promoted app fee waivers & scholarships

Virtual Recruitment Activities at CU Denver

• Future Endeavors• Host your own webinars with university branding

• International Admissions must advertise/promote the event• Various technology platforms; CU Online uses Adobe Connect • Ask your online campus or IT office what they have to offer

• Social Media • Recently launched a Facebook page and developing a YouTube presence• International Admissions must advertise/promote the event• Ask your Marketing & Communications team what they have to offer

Virtual Recruitment Activities at CU Denver

• In conclusion:

• EducationUSA Center Webinars• No Cost, but reach limited to the center’s country• EducationUSA services are free for both students and schools• Need to do your own prospect management• Good for brand building; attendance can be hit-or-miss

• CollegeWeek Live • Pricey, But a Good Value• Lowest cost per lead among our international recruitment efforts • Produced leads and applications; fall enrollment/yield still TBD• Diverse countries of origin, but will they show up on campus?

• Explore new avenues – CU Branded Webinars & Social Media Presence• Useful as a yield tool; does not produce new leads/prospects• Should offer a low-cost tool to engage with leads & prospects

Let’s Chat!