How to use video in higher education?
Universities are complex organisations with a range of different prospects and customers. The question of how to use video in higher education is one with multiple answers. And if you’re the marketing manager in a university where do you even begin?
Review current trends
A good place to start is to see what the competition are doing! Whether that’s looking at a local competitor, a university in the Russell Group or even looking at consumer brands targeting prospective students. Reviewing what video content they are producing, and how it is engaging, can help you shape your strategy.
Some of the trends for video in higher education that we’ve noticed as an agency in the sector include:
- Shoppable videos. You might think that these are just for physical products but the right video can direct a prospective student to a course or a business to a programme that you are running. Add them into your video strategy to see how they could work for you.
- Vertical videos. This might seem obvious but it is worth thinking twice about depending on the age of student you are trying to attract. A mature student working in an office looking for a part-time course while they work might view on desktop. But for a recruitment campaign for 18-21 year olds, short vertical videos have to be part of your video strategy.
- OTT advertising. We don’t mean being OTT in content more in where your videos are being advertised. Streaming services such as Hulu, Hayu and others can show targeted advertising. Think SkyAdsmart or YouTube advertising too. Finding places where your competitors aren’t advertising yet can get you ahead!
- Personalised video. In a content-heavy world, any opportunity to create a video for an individual can create cut-through. Think about a video shot from the student’s perspective that can apply to all but with the ability to embed personalised copy with ‘welcome name’. It can be the start of the relationship!
Thinking about your audience
When you’re delivering marketing within a University, it might be that you are focused on just one subject. Or you might have to look at a whole range of subjects and customers. From prospective students to businesses, they will need different messages to take them through their customer journey.
Different messages might also mean a variety of video types and tactics. From case study videos towards the conversion phase of the journey to promotional vertical reels in the awareness stage. These video types need thinking about in conjunction with your audience and buyer personas for maximum success.
The trends we’ve highlighted above aren’t necessarily mass-market options. They can be targeted to your audience segments. This approach might lead universities to overlooking high-concept cinema-style video. We’d recommend that a recruitment drive is led by a brand video piece that builds confidences and establishes exactly what your university is about. For example Staffordshire University we produced a video to appeal to a teen audience and make a convincing argument for higher education. Think about what your prospective students see on UCAS for instance, do these videos sell you enough or will they put you straight in the no pile?
For example, Staffordshire University approached us to create a video tailored to a teenage audience, aiming to make a persuasive case for pursuing higher education. The video played a crucial role in supporting the Student Recruitment Roadshow, which was presented at schools. Given the output, we had the flexibility to make the video longer, allowing for a more in-depth showcase of the what it’s like to go to Univeristy.
On the other hand, for Alliance Manchester Business School, our approach had to adapt to a completely different audience. Here, the goal was to develop clear and concise short course information, primarily for promotion on LinkedIn. Recognising that business leaders often have limited time, we crafted short-form videos delivered in various aspect ratios. This ensured that the content could be easily consumed on multiple platforms and catered to the fast-paced schedules of busy executives.
Maximising your content with an asset day approach
One thing that we’ve found really effective is taking an asset day approach to filming. We understand that universities are under pressure when it comes to their budgets. This is where focusing on filming more than you need for the video production can be an advantage.
This is a useful tactic as it focuses you on planning for video that will maximise time and money. By deliberately planning to shoot for a wider brief you not only end up with a set of videos for use across multiple channels, but also a bank of footage that can be used in future campaigns. Think of these shoots like a big canvas: you develop a broad shot list, include various themes and interview questions, which results in a variety of edits.
How an asset day approach to video production worked for the University of Manchester
We took this approach for the University of Manchester. Their brief was to develop a suite of videos to form part of their recruitment strategy for their PGR (PhD) programmes. By creating a video plan, we were able to identify interviews, back-drops, b-roll and plan in still photography. All of which saved time while delivering high-quality consistent images to support the video campaign.
The approach enabled us to create a video campaign for use across the full student recruitment journey from two days of filming. Not only that but we were able to incorporate vertical and horizontal formats to deliver hero, halo and hub content for the University. Creating an ROI of £1,170,000 for the PGR in terms of successful applicants:
While your potential undergraduates have submitted their UCAS applications for this academic year there is always time to plan ahead. If you’re looking to invest in video for student recruitment and want to know more about how an asset-day approach might make the most of your budget then why not give Chris our Creative Director an email at chris@humanoid.uk to find out more.
