Not too long ago Noel-Levitz released their 2013 E-Expectations Report on The Impact of Mobile Browsing on the College Search Process. We aren’t the first to report on this data, and if you are looking for a good summary of this 20 page report see these other blogs.
As this data shows, Noel-Levitz continues to provide data proving that the campus visit is the most valuable resource in helping prospective students decide on a college to attend. We did feel it was relevant to point out two of these specific data points that build the case on the value of an interactive campus map for recruitment purposes.
What Resources Do Students Want To Use?
Last year we blogged about a Noel-Levitz report that shared that the campus tour is the most influential element in the application and enrollment process. This new study completely supports those findings also ranking the campus tour as the most interested resource.
We believe this directly speaks to the reality that a student or their parents do not feel comfortable spending tens of thousands of dollars on an education without physically visiting the location and exploring it for themselves. This really isn’t all that different than someone buying a home without walking through it or buying a car without test driving it. A college education is one of the most expensive financial decisions in a person’s life, and if we are talking about a high school senior it is highly likely their most expensive decision to date. You want to be able to see it with your own eyes and get the full tour.
Actually scheduling this tour leads us directly to our next data point.
What Resources Are Most Influential?
This same study also far and away rated the college website as the most influential resource.
What this means to us is not to neglect the other recruitment activities that you do but do keep in mind that your college website continues to be your foundation. All other activities like email marketing, social media and more should be pointing back to this critical resource. It also means that this most influential resource should contain incredible content.
We just saw a graph showing a number of resources that you could tie to your website. Now we recognize that it is impossible to physically travel to campus through your website, but you should make it as easy as possible to schedule a visit and offer compelling content like an interactive campus map or virtual tour to show prospective students the value of taking this step. Besides showing the value, you also want to allow them to schedule that tour through your website.
Other Great Data Related To Mobile
Obviously being a company that offers an interactive campus mapping solution to colleges and universities we’re going to pick the data that we feels adds to our case, but the report does have lots of other great data relating to mobile. We were surprised to learn that students still prefer the full website experience on a computer compared to mobile and that Facebook is slipping in relevance to this audience.
Go download the report for yourself. If you are looking for a good way to improve your web presence maybe we can help you with our platform. Don’t be afraid to reach out and connect with us!