How to attract more university students to conferences and seminars?

To attract new students, universities and grandes écoles must today adopt innovative communication strategies, adapted to the expectations and habits of the Z generation. Understanding this target audience is an essential prerequisite to build an effective digital presence, by fully exploiting the potential of social networks, email marketing or even campus events. By combining a personalized approach, engaging content and optimized user experience, establishments can significantly strengthen their attractiveness and boost their inscriptions.

Summary :

1. Understand students' expectations

2. Optimizing communication with students

3. Offer real added value to students

Understand students' expectations

Question students' motivations

1. Develop your network: events offer a unique opportunity to interact with professionals and other students, thus expanding their circle of contacts.

2. Obtain academic credits: many participate in it to validate the credits necessary for their curriculum, actively engaging in learning that are worth additional or compulsory points.

Identify the brakes on participation

Despite the interest of conferences and seminars for their development, many students give up participating. Lack of time is often the first obstacle mentioned. Between lessons, revisions and student jobs, giving time to attend these events is complicated.

The cost can also be a significant brake, especially when the events take place far from the campus. Between registration, transport and accommodation costs, the budget can quickly prove to be prohibitive for a student.

Finally, the themes of conferences are not always in line with the centers of interest of students. Topeds that are too sharp or far from their immediate concerns are struggling to attract them.

To remove these brakes, the organizers can consider reduced prices, even free for students. Offering shorter and interactive formats, at the end of the day or on weekends, would also facilitate their arrival. Finally, the themes would benefit from being more in taking with their expectations, for example in connection with professional integration. So many tracks to strengthen student participation.

Optimizing communication with students

Exploit digital channels

To effectively attract new students, it is essential to fully exploit digital channels. Here are some concrete avenues to explore:

1. Social networks: Create engaging and authentic content on Instagram, Tiktok or YouTube. For example, video testimonies of current students sharing their experience or immersive stories making life discover on campus.

2. Personalized emailing: Segment your contact base to send relevant emails according to the profile and interest centers of each potential student. Remember to include light CTAS referring to dedicated pages on your site.

3. Targeted campaigns: Use advanced Facebook Ads or Google Ads targeting options to reach your audience where it is. For example, target young people aged 17-25 interested in certain subjects related to your curriculum.

4. Online events: organize webinaries, live FAQs or virtual open doors to present your offer interactively. Promote it on your networks and your site.

By combining these different levers in a coherent manner and by offering quality content adapted to the expectations of your target, you can significantly strengthen your visibility and your attractiveness with students.

Customize messages

Contact students to be personalized is essential to capture their attention and arouse their interest. A generic message may go unnoticed among the multitude of solicitations they receive.

Adapt the tone and content according to the student's profile: his age, his level of study, his planned sector. A high school student in full reflection on his orientation will be sensitive to a reassuring and informative discourse. A master's degree in Master will rather seek details on professional outlets and career opportunities.

Put forward testimonies from students or graduates with a similar course. Prove to them that your establishment has enabled others to succeed and flourish. This will strengthen proximity and create a feeling of identification.

By giving each student the feeling of being recognized and valued individually, you maximize the chances of holding their attention and convincing them to join you. This personalized approach makes all the difference in a competitive context where each registration counts.

Mobilize student ambassadors

Calling on students to promote your establishment with their peers is a powerful lever. Their authentic testimony and generational proximity make them credible and inspiring spokespersons for future students. They can share their experience of life on campus, lessons, atmosphere, through various formats: video testimonies, take-over of social networks, participation in open days ...

However, the establishment of a program of student ambassadors requires a certain investment. They must be selected with care, train them to their role, and support them in creating content. Their involvement must also be recognized and valued, through advantages (scholarships, priority for choice of course ...) or a certification of their skills.

By defining a clear and motivating framework, your establishment can make its best students real allies to boost its attractiveness. A win-win strategy, where ambassadors gain in skills and visibility, and the school in impact with its target.

Offer real added value to students

Value the professional aspect

Conferences and university seminars offer students tremendous opportunities to develop their professional network. By participating in these events, they can meet experienced workers from the business world or research. These exchanges allow them to discover new horizons and expand their circle of contacts.

Nevertheless, some students still perceive these events as purely academic, without direct link with their future career. It is therefore essential to highlight all the possibilities of networking they offer.

Promoting the testimonies of former students who have benefited from decisive meetings during these events can be very persuasive. Offering practical workshops led by professionals or speed-meeting sessions are all ways to enhance the "land" dimension of these meetings. By clearly positioning your events as springboard to employment, you will give students new reasons to be interested in it.

Propose

• Offer credits or bonus points cash for the validation of certain modules or EU. This can be very incentive for students.

• Propose valuable participation certificates on a CV. A plus for their career and their future employability.

• Organize a draw with attractive batches (laptop, voucher, concert place ...) among the participants.

• Offer exclusive goodies to participants: t-shirts, mugs, stickers with the image of the event or the university. A nice memory that will be talked about.

• Offer very advantageous prices, even free, for students. This will raise the cost brake which can put off some.

Attracting and recruiting new students is today a major challenge for higher education establishments. By combining an optimized digital presence, a fine knowledge of students' expectations and personalized communication, your school can build an effective attraction strategy. Tools such as marketing automation or dedicated solutions such as emunds make it possible to simplify the management of candidates and admission, for a fluid and engaging candidate experience. Capitalizing on these levers, it is to give ourselves all the likes to make this school year a success!