Interactive schools webcast: Q&A

On Tuesday March 16, zu hosted a webcast on how schools can better engage their students, staff and alumni. Speakers Stephanie Hughes, zu Account Executive, and David Francis, Academic Advisor for the SIAST Virtual Campus, highlighted some best practice examples of schools engaging their stakeholders.

What made the webcast unique was the first-hand experience of both speakers in dealing with universities. Both Stephanie and David recalled their own university encounters as a student while also highlighting their experience in dealing with university bodies and colleges during their careers.

Throughout the webcast the message for educational institutions was clear: If your students are online, explore the various ways to easily engage them through a dynamic interactive strategy.

Is it good enough to have our content stored in PDF’s on our school website?

It’s important to have PDF’s but it isn’t enough to engage your students or potential students. Audiences want to experience as close to the real thing as possible. A PDF, which is a traditional print piece, will not foster that emotional connection that students look for in a school. With that being said, you shouldn’t disregard PDFs because you want to give your audience file format options: video, photos, interactive maps, and even PDFs.

How do you prioritize all of the projects and initiatives you would like to undertake? Where do you start? It seems very overwhelming.

Well, if you are feeling overwhelmed with all of these online initiatives it would be best to consult with a web agency to help you prioritize your needs. It is important to also look at other initiatives going on throughout the school and use that as your driving force behind the online outlet. We see a lot of online projects fail because schools jump into social media with no meaning behind it. It generates a small buzz, but then fades quickly. There always needs to be strategy for the initial and maintenance stages.

How important is it to have professional photography instead of stock photography?

It is vital. Potential students will want to be apart of something real. Viewing and experiencing what life will be like on campus will come across more authentically with professional photos than with templated photos. You can’t fool students as they are online and live the fast paced visual experience every day.

Everyone talks about social media, what if someone says something bad to us?

The truth is that people are going to say it anyways. Don’t be scared. It is better to be there and be involved.  Not all comments deserve an answer, but most students will want to provide valuable feedback and be heard. The worst scenario would be if no one was saying anything at all.

How do you get buy-in from Senior Admin to move forward with these online best strategies if they don’t understand how valuable they are?

David mentioned that he had been lucky to have Senior Admin who bought in immediately and worked to develop their online strategy. However, if your admin do not understand the value of a web strategy, it is important to educate them. There are so many statistics highlighting the web as a powerful medium for engaging any audience and it will take some time to showcase this to your staff. The important thing is to move slowly having them buy in a small amount at a time.