What unis did in 2022: The 33 most viewed posts by Education Marketer subscribers
1
East Carolina University has partnered with the no.1 creator on YouTube, Mr Beast. So, it begins! The impact of the creator economy is being felt across the world. 150 million creators joined the industry within the last two years and it’s changing the skills students require (and the kind of education they seek.) The partnership will provide an online course and CERTIFICATION for students in: Managing creator businesses, camerawork and how to drive audience/revenue growth. The course is designed for students preparing for a career in the creator economy, but also those seeking to start their own creator businesses. Legendary marketing. If you work in higher ed partnerships, programme design or careers and employability - now is the time to take advantage of the creator trend. Look
2
University of Sydney has mastered the art of “Gen Z vox pops” on TikTok. Three videos, each clocking in between 16K to 365K views. The format is simple: One overarching question e.g. “What are you doing to do with your degree?” and then share the best responses. Instant comedy. Although, for Sydney, some of its comments are pretty savage… Happy comments | Savage comments
3
Everyone is talking about University of Nottingham and its “world-first” micro-prospectus, including University of Glouchershire that pointed out (in what I think is the first-ever example of university beef) that it had already been doing something similar for the last three years. Risky, funny and very TikTok. Look
4
Birmingham City University went to Karen’s Diner. If you don’t know what that is, it’s a place you go for lunch and have relentless abuse thrown at you for fun. It’s not for me, but it’s an intriguing idea for a business which generates its own social media marketing. That said - I never thought I’d see a university attend and share its experience. It worked out. 384K views, 20K likes and 312 comments. It pays to publish controversial content but be sure to triple-check your tone - sometimes viewers miss irony. BCU’s take on the experience as “a bit relentless” was taken by their audience for meaning “we’re offended” - which clearly wasn’t the case. I mean, the University swears in its own review. Look
5
Birkbeck University has become the first to blacklist Fossil Fuel Companies from its career fairs. Bold move, especially with a recession on the horizon (😬). Apart from some awkward conversations with graduate recruiters, I don’t think this will make too much of a difference - it’s not like graduates are banned from applying. But I love it when universities take a stand. The key to creating a remarkable point of view is to first discover who you aren’t for - so fair play to Birkbirk for taking the risk. Read
6
University of Chichester is killing it on TikTok. It’s secret? Being completely unhinged. You get a student doing a stealthy campus tour (in full camo) at the community’s request; the POV of the one building on campus that was built in 1839; and, my favourite, a reaction vid about not being in the Russell Group. You can’t play it safe on TikTok. Look
7
Born out of its pandemic innovations, Newcastle University runs a “Mini Medical School” via Zoom. It runs in the evenings, is open to anyone over the age of 15 and explores various topics like emergency medicine, psychology and pharmacy. It’s good to see course taster sessions being adopted more broadly in higher ed. They’re the ideal on-ramp to full degrees, can help admissions determine applicant quality, and scale well digitally. Look
8
Search “cost of living university” in TikTok and you’ll see how stretched students are. A few universities have picked up on the trend, bringing cost of living advice out of five-click deep web pages and into social feeds. University of Greenwich outlines advice as well as five bursaries in an IG Reel. University of Gloucestershire takes a similar approach to TikTok. I’m surprised I’m not seeing more of this - there’s a USP in demonstrating that you’re the affordable choice. Gloucestershire | Greenwich
9
Kings College London has a new take on “day in the life” content. It uses Instagram Reels to share short-form snippets. Nice idea. For such a simple format, the content gets A LOT of views and engagement - send one of your content creators out to do the same. TikTok is where you can be daring and strike a chord with your audience, but if you want reach - Instagram Reels is where it’s at. Look
10
Marketing activity felt different for Clearing this year. Notably, the apparent decline in social media engagement. I spoke with over 10 universities - all reported fewer DMs and social media activity e.g. messages or celebratory posts from students. On the flip side, advice and guidance from student creators was hot, and peer-focused sites like Student Crowd and TSR maintained huge surges in traffic. In 2019, I worked in Aston University’s digital Clearing centre and you couldn’t move for all the social mentions and DMs. What happened? I think - the rise of privacy. Read
11
The Open University, “experts in distance learning for over 50 years” (i.e. before it was cool) is running its new ad campaign: The Future is Open. And judging by the reaction in its YouTube comments… I think they’ve nailed it. “Anyone needs proof how good the OU is - this advert says it all, proud to be a OU student...” It’s actually a relatively simple ad. It shows students living their life (looking after their kids, working in a bar etc) and then walking through various hidden doorways into their ideal career. Okay, it sounds TERRIBLE and I’m not sure what happens to the kid left on the sofa, but the visuals are on point and the soundtrack makes it. I’m glad to see more unis picking up on the power of audio in ads. Falmouth did the same recently with its video Creativity in Everything. Open University | Falmouth
12
ETH Zuric’s new campaign “Where the future begins” is a rare combination of A) research being used in a student recruitment ad, B) a university articulating its remarkable point of view, and C) packaging it all in distinctive creative. My highlight has to be how each research topic is positioned with an obvious question, but then takes an unobvious turn. “Everyone is talking about the quantum computer.” Yes, indeed they are. “But the real question is - what’s holding the quantum world together?” Okay, now you have my attention. Look
13
John Hopkins Medicine’s content strategy has turned the institution into a trusted, information powerhouse. Throughout the pandemic, its team listened to the concerns of the public and addressed them through various content programmes. The result: Site visits grew to more than 38 million within seven months (4 times the expected traffic.) Post pandemic, its content continues to take centre stage and positions it as an authority for medical training, education and research. It’s a powerful example of what content marketing can do for higher ed. Look
14
For fun, I Googled Clearing and followed the first two ads… Oh yes, this is how I roll. Surprisingly, the first was for University of Glasgow (tough year?) which is still rocking its timeless Team UofG creative. The landing page isn’t the best but honestly, it’s good to see a uni campaign like TeamUofG going long. Stick with something long enough and you can build momentum, in this case: A campaign that resonates with the uni’s community as well as incoming students. Next, Oxford Brooks already has its vacancies (grades and all) clearly displayed in a table which is a MAJOR plus. The landing page is good too - functional, clear and ideal for this point in the Clearing cycle. Glasgow | Oxford Brooks
15
Moody Bible Institute has a fascinating business model. It generates $110,000,000 annual revenue with around a third of it being made by media sales. Moody Radio (its Christian Radio network) generates $2.3m a year in sponsorship, advertising and donations. Moody Publishers, its book and digital publishing business, generates an incredible $30m a year via book sales and subscriptions. Oh, and then there’s the student recruitment its media drives indirectly… For higher ed, Content marketing is a business model. Moody Bible Institute | Moody Radio | Moody Publishers
16
University of Michigan is “crowdsourcing a time machine” (love that) with a state history project. It’s built a database where members of the public can tag postcards and photos from the early 20th century. The resource is vast and it’s a gem of a community engagement project brought to life via a series of blog posts and video content. If you want to boost community engagement, local history is a good way to go. Video | The Database
17
Edinburgh University has released its first-ever digital design system. For those of you new to design systems, they are sets of rules for how websites are designed at scale. Edinburgh is so proud of its system that it’s quoted its Head of Website and Communications, “Bringing a Design System out is a marathon, not a sprint.” Having done the same at NTU, here’s my translation: “You have no idea how hard this sh*t is. What we’ve achieved is nothing short of a miracle.” Keep going, Edinburgh. Look
18
The University of Wisconsin filmed staff putting out chairs (and got 1000 views.) People putting chairs out | History of putting chairs out
19
University of New South Wales has an awesome YouTube series called 10-Minute Genius. You may remember a while back when a lot of universities were running series like “60-second lectures,” typically with lower production values? Well, this feels like a more mature version. Academics speak on a range of topics with animations and professional production. The bar is rising for this kind of research content. Great concept too. I could easily see this being repurposed into a short-form podcast series. Look
20
Podcasts are popular this year. University of Liverpool is running with “The Liverpool Welcome,” a six-episode series for students’ first few weeks at uni. First impressions: The production value is excellent. I can’t get over how natural the host sounds and the rapport she has with guests - I listen to marketing podcasts that don’t sound this good. So, why end it at six episodes? By broadening the scope, I think the University could have a longer-running and (potentially) revenue-generating show on its hands. I wouldn’t be surprised if this picked up an award. Look
21
Middlesex University has a personalised video prospectus. It’s a novel take on the “prospectus is dead” trend. You’re greeted with a landing page where you essentially “choose your path.” Placements or entrepreneurship? Staying local or going away? You select five options from predefined categories and then the app stitches everything together. The result? Surprisingly compelling. The video feels seamless and the student scripts are extremely polished. Although, the UX of the builder holds it back slightly - it feels a little like a hub page - but the final output (the video) is strong. Worth trying for yourself. Look
22
Here’s a new kind of education challenger - an advertising school that’s been spun out of a subreddit community. r/Advertising School offers a free 12-week course covering topics like copywriting, art direction and account management. The ad professionals delivering the content seem pretty heavyweight too - all sourced from the r/advertising community. It feels hyper-relevant. A few successful cohorts and the project’s owners could easily charge. For sure, there’s an emerging business model here. Look
23
University of Surrey nails it with its research video “Why do we sleep so late?” It follows a formula ideal for higher ed YouTube: Answer a common question, align it with University expertise and animate the story. This particular video has School of Life vibes. I’ve love to see Surrey scale this. How about one a week, each focusing on a different topic connected with uni research? Or, maybe the format is changed so it’s ideal for YouTube Shorts? Lots of potential. Look
24
The University of Law cracked the code on media coverage for a seemingly (routine?) overseas recruitment trip to India. 8 local media companies interviewed the uni’s delegation, covering topics like work placements and scholarships. At first, I thought “this must be paid media,” so I reached out to the University’s Director of Recruitment for clarification - but no, everything was due to the recruitment team’s networks and joint effort pounding the pavement. Fair play. Look
25
Arden University is building out its positioning as “the university that comes to you.” Known for online and blended learning (a bit of a blessing, really) it focuses on student situations and location, rather than subject of interest. A stay at home mum fitting studies around her toddler. A taekwondo Olympian studying for a backup career in finance - there’s a wide range of students, yet the University has a solid sense of who it’s talking to. One to look at if you’re developing your online course offer. Look
26
University of Nottingham published tips from a PhD student on starting a masters career. 13,800 views. Seriously, LinkedIn is underrated when it comes to masters and PhD recruitment. Over 20% of masters students use LinkedIn to make decisions about where to study. For prospective PhDs, it’s even higher at 28%. The most reach you’ll get is from personal profiles, but videos from university accounts do surprisingly well. Take advantage. Look
27
University of Plymouth asked “what would happen if you placed 1,650 ping-pong balls in liquid nitrogen?” and TikTok responded with 105K views. It’s the perfect example of university content that does well on the platform: Visual demonstrations and blowing sh*t up. Maybe the uni should start a side channel or at the very least repurpose this for an open day ad. It’s cool. Look
28
Denver Ad School’s website is a masterclass in tone of voice. Conversational with irreverence on tap, I’ve never seen graduate starting salaries referred to as “big sexy numbers” or a 404 page with the heading “Oh shit, this page has vanished into thin air.” Overall, the School’s offer is distinctive, student work looks like it’s from a New York ad agency, and the website even has a merch page accessible from the main nav. Can you imagine? Look
29
Sheffield University is running an IG Reels series “Sheffield’s hidden gems.” This sort of content used to live on YouTube, but it plays well in Reels - highly produced shots, names of places flashing into view, a few students acting as silent guides - it works. Despite Adam Mosseri’s recent insight that Reels (his own product) trails TikTok in terms of… erm, everything. 55K views isn’t too shabby. Look
30
Plymouth College of Art has rekindled my interest in university course pages. Honestly, these are just beautiful. They have all the hallmarks of good UX, but the two stand-out features for me is the “student-work” tab and consistent use of high-quality, branded photography. Every course page feels like it belongs to a larger set and you get a strong sense of the College’s identity. Bookmark for when you are looking at your own course pages. Look
31
University for the Creative Arts takes a leap with its homepage, opting for horizontal scrolling. From a UX perspective, this always makes me nervous, but generally, I’m starting to see a shift away from standardisation in UI design. Honestly, I think a lot of it has been spurred on by the web3 movement, but also Gen-Z’s tendency towards memes and creative expression. These things happen in waves. We started with MySpace and the ability to customise profiles then we moved to the uniformity of Facebook. Now, we’re swinging back the other way and landing on “functional creativity?” I’m not sure, but I’m happy to see people getting experimental again. 10/10 to UCA for balancing their creative efforts with an “accessibility” switch that works across every page too. UCA | Digital design trends
32
University of Liverpool did a 2021 end of year round-up of student stories, but it wasn’t your typical “… and then I got my dream job” scenario. These stories share adversity - students overcoming cancer, gaps in their education and even fleeing their country in search of a new life. I could take or leave the John Lewis piano music, but the content is hard-hitting and speaks to the diversity of the student body. It’s a nice piece and a fresh take on end of year content. Look
33
The pandemic upped the ante for degree show websites and some unis have continued to innovate. UAL has built its own site around Search. You can explore via categories like course and medium (the regular stuff) but also “work for sale” or for artists “open to collaboration.” Makes sense - the point of these sites is to help students get work, right? Look
