Virtual Open Days: How to make the most of your leads?

An East Wind for Universities in 2020?

2020 is proving to be a year like no other in the world of higher education. Despite record student admissions, Universities are facing questions on the value of their courses in 2020, and whether they are worth the cost.

Students are facing a bizarre year of mini-lockdowns, online seminars and limited social interaction. But what about the Universities themselves? The next few months leading up to the UCAS application deadline in January are the most important of the year for Unis to secure admissions in 2021.

What’s going to change?

One of the biggest sources of lead generation for Universities in this period are Open Days. With the majority of Unis now committing to virtual events instead, what effect may this have on their 2021 admissions?

In theory, the process shouldn’t be too different. Attendees of the virtual open days will still leave contact info, just like they would have at the real thing. The online webinars will still provide the same info as the real-life ones would have.

So what’s the big deal?

The answer is in the numbers.

With the events being online, Unis may be dealing with a much higher number of leads than they would normally have if the event was in person. Without the need to travel, students may be able to “attend” more open days (perhaps even 2 or 3 on the same day) from Unis all over the country.

What’s more, the online nature of the events will allow the Unis to continue collecting leads long after the virtual open day itself. 

That would leave Universities with a large pile of leads and the big challenge of being able to identify which ones are seriously interested in their programs.

The question is: What will Unis do with all these leads? 

The pandemic left a toll in most sectors, including education. Organisations should therefore be proactively searching for more cost-effective solutions, to avoid spiralling costs going into 2021.

Universities have had to invest a lot in new infrastructure, programs and processes in order to adapt to the current situation. What’s more, with a large number of unqualified leads entering the system through virtual open days, Unis may spend the next year chasing their own tails.

A large amount of leads often does not translate to more conversions, if there isn’t an efficient process in place.