9 Winning Video Marketing Ideas for Colleges

Video is key to reaching your target audiences in marketing, but even more so for the digital natives colleges want to attract. In 2022, Cisco projects that 82% of all consumer internet traffic will be video, increasing by about 34% each year. That’s a lot of videos. In addition, prospective students are accustomed to video content, and the more ways you can use video, the better for reaching the curious eyes of potential students.

Types of Videos to Include in Your Higher Ed Marketing

There are so many types of video content to add to your marketing. You may already use video in some of these ways, but use this list as inspiration to get motion pictures in your marketing channels:

1. Campus Tours: The pandemic had us all trying some version of campus tours by video. Keeping those available and updated is a terrific idea. Prospects can get a “taste” of your environment on demand, any time of day or night. It is an excellent adjunct to in-person tours and wonderful for far-flung prospects who can’t make the trip before enrolling. If you haven’t upped your game on tour videos, consider ensuring you have interactive content, talking heads, and a range of integrated video assets for tours.
2. Application Tutorials: You can consider “talking heads” videos from admissions staff with encouragement for applicants, animated explainer videos to give step-by-step- instructions for the process, or videos from enrollment events where applicants can see other prospective students asking questions that they may also need answered.
3. Personalized Video Communications: Making one-on-one connections with applicants is essential in this era of marketing personalization. Consider sending short videos instead of texts or emails, directly addressing the student and answering their questions. This extra step could make a massive difference to a student—they see a face to go along with all the institutional information.
4. Sample Course Content: Creating videos to show what a course looks like can help students and families get an inside peek at what it’s like to study at your institution. Good places to start would be required first-year courses, survey courses, and core courses. You could also give samples of specialized, smaller, or seminar classes so students can see what more advanced classes can be at your school.
5. Testimonials: Nothing sells your school better than the positive experiences of students and alumni. Let them tell their stories on video, but they may need some coaching on telling them well. Having them imagine talking to a prospective student like themselves can help them give a personal, engaging, and authentic delivery on video. Try to keep these short.
6. A Day in the Life of a Student: Is there a film or media program at your college? A television channel? See if a student or group of students would be willing to make a short, edited video about a day in one student’s life. They can make it funny, touching, and personal, but it should obviously emphasize your school’s positive aspects.
7. Welcome to Campus: This video could show new students what they will encounter on their first day on campus, what to look for, what they will need to do, and where to go to complete all the needed check-ins. Though this is similar to a tour, its audience is enrolled students. Yet it could double as a marketing video to excite potential applicants with the energy and mood of celebration as students arrive.
8. Acceptance Videos: Personalized videos to accepted students could be just the right touch to get them to accept the offer. You can also ask students to make videos of the moment when they receive their acceptance letter. Both can create excitement and offer options to embed these messages in other communications for the positive emotions they convey about your institution.
9. Research or Departmental: If someone on campus is doing innovative research, see if you can get a short video about it. Some departments may want to create videos to introduce students to the subjects they teach or give some interesting information that could be useful to the general public. Videos with this type of educational content can be a great marketing tool for the admissions department, showing off the expertise of faculty and the dedication of students on your campus.

The Upshot

There are many uses for videos in your higher education marketing. High-quality and short videos are going to serve you the best. Remember to get creative in how you use or reuse your video content. Why not send an email to interested students that include a video compilation of students gasping in excitement as they receive acceptance letters? How about using personalized videos in all your emails with students? You could consist of course sample videos in an admissions event to get students talking about how your classes look and feel. Integrating video into as many channels of your advertising as possible can boost your messaging.

If you would like help with video marketing, we can support the digital transformation of your enrollment efforts. Please contact us for more information.