Maximising Efficiency in Recruiting for Niche Schools

James Aldridge
Director, CEC China

EduGlobal offers a wide range of services designed to meet client needs across a wide spectrum of institution type, size, notoriety, and objectives. One of the more challenging areas is finding a way for niche schools, such as elite private boarding schools, to efficiently establish a presence and effective recruitment strategy that targets the right numbers of the right students in the right market demographic.

Representatives of these schools often find that their trip to China is never long enough to accomplish all they want; their student numbers are good, but not what their boss wants them to be; they’ve been to fairs; they’ve visited agents; they’ve met with partner schools. Through all this, though, they're not wholly satisfied. What can these institutions do to get a leg-up on their competitors?

In recent months, I’ve had the pleasure of helping some of our more niche Canadian schools do just that, through customised, promoted seminars. Most recently, for example, we hosted an event for an all-girls’ Canadian boarding school looking to recruit students for next year’s enrollment. Both our clients and I myself were pleased with the success of these events.

For this small school, visiting China and participating in these events could have become quite expensive. How did we manage to maximise ROI?

EduGlobal China understands and capitalises on the unique marketing opportunities in China. For example, promotions via SMS marketing are hugely successful. So when our all-girl’s Canadian boarding school held a seminar in Beijing, we distributed a customised SMS message that went to 100,000 specifically-targeted students and parents who would most likely afford this type of overseas education. Half of the messages went to female high school students studying at elite and/or private schools in and around Beijing, and half went to married adults of a certain age range, who owned at least one vehicle, an apartment valued at a certain minimum price, and a credit card. Directing the promotions to this specific sector in this manner ensured we would receive the right types (and the right number) of potential students.

The results were quite positive. Five high-quality families attended the event, three of which (so far!) have submitted applications that are currently pending. The caliber of these students met the expectations of the institution, and the number exceeded their goals but not their capacity.

Based on this experience, and the success of a handful of other such events, I can see the seminar becoming an opportunity that clients, particularly those such as private boarding schools and public school boards, as well as post-secondary institutions and specific academic programs. It’s a strong alternative or supplement to the other major events and roadshows our clients participate in each year, and a great opportunity for families to get an intimate look at future opportunities.