The top social channels UK-bound students use for researching university
YouTube takes the crown (again) for the top channel UK-bound students use for university research.
According to QS Quacquarelli Symonds’s “The Recruitment Edge: UK” report, 58% of students favour YouTube, with internet forums (!!!) proving more popular than Facebook.
Although, there are some nuances by territory:
Prospective students in Africa and the Middle East put Facebook at no.1.
In Latin America and Western Europe, Instagram takes the highest proportion at 57%.
Latin America is also more likely to use LinkedIn (what?!) than any other region at 46%…
^If you are targeting that territory, you should be all over LinkedIn Lives as they are completely broken for discovery.
A couple more insights:
Respondents in the Asia Pacific region use WeChat and Weibo more than the rest of the world (no surprises there).
But TikTok is used by most prospective students in North America.
SMRS also recently shared that TikTok is the no.1 option for where UK students “spend their free time” and for researching university options.
So it makes sense some of the most compelling content would be found there for international students too.
But research and communication are two different things.
According to QS, 87% of UK-bound prospective students still prefer email to other channels when engaging with universities.
That’s above both WhatsApp (47%) and phone calls (35%)
Rather than running call centres, maybe there’s something in student-to-student email outreach?
Food for thought.
But all hail YouTube, the most universal channel for higher ed research.
