Virtually perfect? What’s the future for university open days?
As the pandemic forced open days to be cancelled, universities had to rapidly rethink and adapt. Virtual open days (VODs) went from being a ‘nice to have’ to the only show in town.
We spoke to leading education marketeers about their experiences of moving their open days online. And we asked how they see open days shaping up in the future and whether there’s still a place for in-person open days.
This article is part of our education marketing content series, we interviewed marketing and communications leaders from across higher and further education. We asked what they’ve learnt in 2020, and what they’re planning for the future. The series is packed with insights, top-tips, and their reflections on an unprecedented time.
Moving open days online
With changes to fundamental working practices and teams under pressure, the challenge to get VODs up and running in very tight timeframes (in some cases a matter of days) seemed monumental.
But despite the less than ideal circumstances, the new way of working has ”speeded up a lot of projects” including moving virtual open days online, says Emma Leech, director of marketing and communications at Nottingham Trent University.
Sally Steadman, director of learner recruitment and marketing for the RNN Group explained that, by working remotely, her team have “recognised that we’re much more capable than we ever thought we could be.”
Institutions across the country rose to the challenge. The level of experience of delivering virtual open days varied so some found the experience more testing than others.
Institutions with significant international audiences fared better as VODs were already part and parcel of the student recruitment process.
For some, the move to virtual open days has been less straightforward.
While the best equipped were already in the swing of running virtual open days, those without the benefit of experience hit a few fundamental snags. Supplier let downs and technical issues have been a problem for a handful of universities.
This caused challenges beyond the immediate concern of letting down attendees. The hard won buy-in from academics was lost, “they didn't feel the confidence in a new virtual system anymore.”
However, those already doing VODs prior to lockdown experienced an even more positive response and were able to quickly get buy-in from across the institution. Academics were more able to “see the value of digital events” so marketeers are better positioned to more broadly “sell the power of content,” Richard Shepherd, marketing manager at Staffordshire University.
As the initial urgency to move events online has passed, many have shifted focus to refine and rethink their approach. Rather than think of a VOD as an in-person event moved online, for many, as Lizzie Burrows, interim director of marketing, student recruitment and admissions at the University of Surrey says, “the next step is making it digital first.”
Benefits and challenges of VODs
For the main, the move to virtual open days has been relatively smooth. As the medium gets more use and marketeers gather data, a number of benefits and challenges have become clear.
Prospective students and their advisors are now able to attend an open day without taking a step outside their front door. This is a positive step to widening participation of people from various social backgrounds and for extending geographical reach.
Pre-lockdown, Priti Patel, assistant director of marketing and communications: UKSR and widening participation at Queen Mary University London, was in the process of planning the implementation of a travel bursary scheme to help widen participation and enable prospective students from further afield to attend open days.
The pandemic has put the kibosh on the need for that, at least temporarily.
The VOD format also lends itself particularly well to the needs of post-graduate students, who are more likely to be constrained by work commitments and parental responsibilities. And, as Priti highlights, “it’s a lot more accessible and less threatening for people as well.”
For institutions that are doing VODs for the first time, there are currently no established metrics or benchmarks to measure success or ROI. This will only come in time and from experience.
The absence of face-to-face interactions is highlighted as one of the most necessary and missed aspects of traditional open days, “seeing the whites of people's eyes is very different to seeing them on a screen”, as Sally says.
This is also felt keenly by prospective students who prefer to visit a university before taking up a place. Angelina Bingley, director of admissions, recruitment and marketing at the University of East Anglia explained that they’ve found this more so the case for females, “for some girls in particular, they're really anxious about not seeing the place face-to-face.”
Will open days always be virtual?
The importance of traditional open days is clear. Nothing virtual can completely replicate the in-person experience of visiting the university.
Universities sell more than courses, degrees and rites of passage. They sell the place, atmosphere and community. As Mark Garratt, interim director of marketing, recruitment and international at the Swansea University explained, “we seduce people by them coming to Swansea on a particularly lovely sunny day (of course it’s always sunny!)”
The consensus is that although VODs will continue once COVID-19 measures are more relaxed, there will alway be a role for in-person open days.
Mark, along with other education marketeers anticipates people will develop “virtual open day fatigue” as they tire of online events. When Swansea began to hold ‘COVID-safe’ open days as restrictions were relaxed after the first lockdown and found demand for in-person visits held strong and he said, “the thirst for coming to see a place was still there.”
Emma believes that VODs will be used as a tool to sift through universities, “but I do think that there will still be desire to come onto campus and to look around and see for yourself.”
A ‘hybrid’ model of VODs and in-person open days are considered the most desirable and likely future for open days.
The in-person element won’t be on the table for the foreseeable future on anything like the pre-lockdown scale. VODs will dominate the landscape at least for now. So, it’s essential to nail them.
What makes a great virtual open day?
We spoke to Springpod, an online student recruitment platform that enables employers and education providers to target, inform and engage students as they start planning their future.
Since the beginning of April 2020, Springpod has delivered over 75 online open events, facilitated more than 1,500 live talks and hosted 60,000 young people in a virtual environment.
They gave us some tips about what makes a great open day:
Get your student ambassadors involved so they can share their personal experience of the institution. This promotes content authenticity and it helps young people to relate with confidence. But, don’t just add a “meet our students live talk”, make sure ambassadors are involved in your subject presentations
Spread your talks out - virtual events differ to in-person open days. It is much more flexible for attendees to engage from any part of the world, so don't worry about a busy schedule
Make sure you add interactivity to every live talk - use polls to enhance audience participation
Use technology with a schedule builder on your open day website so your attendees can book onto live talks they are interested in
Use a range of communication channels - don’t just rely on email. Consider SMS and browser-based push notifications, which will increase attendee conversion rates.
Who does it best?
Monash University in Melbourne, Australia has been highlighted as a stand-out example of a university creating great virtual open day content.
It’s available to access online at any time via the Monash website, removing the concern for time constraints. Access doesn’t require an email address submission nor permission to send marketing materials, removing another point of friction.
Monash Explorer is an interactive map that allows you to explore the campuses virtually. Student, staff and alumni videos give rounded perspectives of university, courses and campus life. Three-dimensional maps of buildings allow you to explore study, leisure and residential areas. Webinars delivered by academic staff about course content and syllabuses. Students give tours of departments and share their experiences of studying at Monash.
The interactive content, range of videos, images and copywriting build a clear picture of the university. Although, as it’s been said, there is no substitute for an in-person event.
It’s clear that Monash has nailed what UK universities are striving for: the digital-first experience with fantastic content.