Rethink the Mailed Viewbook

Today’s Zits comic portrays an all-to-familiar attitude toward the college recruitment viewbook by prospects and parents:

This illustrates that even the popular culture recognizes that something is wrong in the marketing of higher education. The assumption that sending the “me too” unsolicited material will increase the chances of response will not always work. Here are some ways to improve your chances of conversion for your direct mailings with our list of college viewbook ideas:

1. Use creativity to set yourself apart from the crowd. Ideas such as dimensional, oversized, and unique items statistically garner more results.
2. Have a clear call-to-action and next step that is intriguing and persuasive. Look for ways to move the interest to the next line.
3. Look to begin your relationship digitally and build permission based marketing prior to the view book mailing. By qualifying your leads and marketing to those who have discovered you and self-qualified, valuable resources can be used to market to them.
4. Turn your attention to your website. More of your qualified leads who find you will engage and request information through your website and be stronger leads.
5. Look for ways to build guerrilla campaigns that use both print and digital together.
6. Have “levels” of material that you send out. Don’t send the expensive view book out first. Start with postcards, posters, and other less expensive items to increase interest. Work your campaign in levels of qualification.
7. Combine your direct mailings with tight digital campaigns, including email, search engine marketing, retargeting, and other social campaigns. Always have a complete system that is well strategized and working together.
8. Create ways to measure the various tools to gain better insight into what works.

Many are forecasting the end of print. That is certainly not going to happen. But, you should start thinking about how your institution will make print more effective. It has to be relevant. It has to be different. It has to be about the prospective student.

Need help setting your school apart from the rest of the noise? Take the first step by contacting us.

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Featured Image by TeroVesalainen via Pixabay
Comic Image by zitscomics.com