In many cases, advertising and marketing materials may be the only familiarity a prospective student has with the school. Becoming familiar with this can help us know what perceptions a prospective student may be starting with.
It is important so we can know what type of questions we will be answering from our prospective students.
Assisting the prospective student is vital to all that we do as agents. The education center I work for has all of our current messages on the website to review. Testimonials, publibity and advertisements where we can easily see them and maintain those messges at the campus level.
So you know whats out there! If you have no general knowledge of how your institution advertizes then you are doing yourself no good. Knowing the products and keeping up to date with current changes allows you to not only market yourself but your institution to the fullest.
It also is a great way to figure out how serious a student really is about going to school. If someone says they were just playing around on the internet and just saw the ad and it's their first college they've looked into, you can tell they're not as serious and may need more time to check out other school as compared to someone else who says they've been researching online and checking our programs on our website and then received mailers, etc who is pretty serious and probably ready to make a decision. But it is definitely an ice breaker to see how the student heard about us so you can see what types of shows/music/etc they are into.
It is important to have this information because if you don't know what is already being put out there, you may say something that contradicts. One always wants to have every pice of information that they can, in their arsenal. That way you are never caught off-guard.
To keep up with changes in information and fees.
It is important to know what is being marketed to the general public. As a admission officer you need to know what promotions, programs, promises are being marketed.
It is important to know the type of information your students are consuming regarding your institution. This is so you can address any information they may already know about and tell them more. Also based on this information you know what the student might be expecting and possibly what questions they may have. It is important to know what information is cycling about your institution.
I totally agree. Not to mention I direct many of prospective students to our website so they can refer back to the information that I present to them. So, for me to direct someone to our website I need to know exactly what information is on the website and where they can find certain information. Also, as far as mailings go out I need to know what information was on the mailing so when they call and they state they received a letter from us I can go in more detail about the letter. Being knowledgable helps make the school look more professional and organized.
I usually ask a prospect as my ice breaker how they heard about our college. This is why it is important for me to know what adevertising we have out there.
It's important to know how your school is marketing/advertising to prospective students since this will generally be the way a student will hear about your college. If they say they say the college on the internet, you'll want to be familiar with what they saw. If they recieved something in the mail, you'd want to know what they read, etc. Being fully informed will help to field a prospective students questions with much more ease and confidence.
So you know the latest things happening at the school or the latest incentives for students to inquire or start school there.
Thomas:
Yes, referral incentives are permitted in Ohio so long as they are part of a school's written referral program and in compliance with the federal rules on "token gifts". This generally permits non-cash referral gifts to students so long as the gifts to any student do not exceed $100 in value annually.
I feel it is important because your school's advertising and marketing material is a reflection of the character of the school and it's integrity. Information provided has to be correct. In order to know whether something is inaccurate or not, you need to review the material and in the process further educate yourself about your school and it's policies and programs.
Our school recently added tv commercials to our advertising. It's important that I know what is said in those ads so I can answer any questions which refer to the commercials.
You should always know what the public information is about your programs. I can't imagine not reviewing this as often as necessary.
Let's not forget the power of referrals. Happy students will referer their friends and relatives to your school. Many schools have limited advertising budgets and depend heavily on referrals. Does the State of Ohio allow incentives for active stuidents to refer their friends?
It will help me as an agent to develop a general understanding of the school's programs and knowledge of policies and procedures as well.
I know that at presentation time, I am the student's first impression which is often a lasting impression. Therefore, I must be educated in regard to the programs, the costs, and the potential for job placement upon completion of the program.
Students are considering our school in order to become employed. Our placement rate is high, and it's my goal to continue that.
It's mainly important so you simply know what product your are introducing to prospective students. If your talking with a student and they mention that they seen a TV ad, I think it's important to know what about that ad sparked their attention. This helps an individual better serve and advise the potential student with program matching.
