The social recruitment strategy we developed for the VCU Brandcenter is in full swing and it has been awesome to see new students being welcomed into the "brandfam."
Students graduating from the VCU Brandcenter go on to work at Google, Facebook, Coca Cola and beyond. We needed to formulate a social strategy that was a reflection of the amazing talent coming out of the school in order to attract the right new students.
Our goal was to use this to create content that feels custom-made for their target, individuals aged 22-30. We worked hand-in-hand with the recruiting and marketing team of the school to create an effective and sustainable social content strategy. Not only did the Brandcenter see a 15.7% increase in requests for an application to the school following the campaign, they were also now equipped with a detailed content strategy built on insights from their audience and a plan for analyzing and optimizing on an ongoing basis.
We began our research by evaluating secondary data, an admissions survey followed by an audit of the school’s social media communications, an industry analysis, and finally, focus groups.
We used the feedback across all channels to develop eleven content categories that covered every aspect of the Brandcenter to appeal to as many different types of students as possible. We looked at common questions as themes and used that to inform the informational content we created. We incorporated a reporting structure that utilized monthly social media reports to identify topics and questions to address in info sessions, tours.
We learned from accepted students that getting their application package in the mail was a huge, life-changing moment…everyone remembered where they were when it arrived. We capitalized on this and captured this shared moment by branding the Brandcenter application envelope with a hashtag welcoming them to the #brandfam.
We found that prospective students had the same questions over and over about the admissions process and financial aid. The Brandcenter’s recruiting coordinator became the star of her own video-series, “Ask Hawley,” focused on answering those frequently asked questions.
Students said they had no idea how awesome Richmond, VA was. We incorporated content about the Richmond area into our social content strategy and even included a custom guide to Richmond in acceptance packets.
Not only did the Brandcenter see a 15.7% increase in requests for an application to the school following the campaign, they were also now equipped with a detailed content strategy built on insights from their audience and a plan for analyzing and optimizing on an ongoing basis.
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