Best Promotional Ideas For Recruitment at College Fairs
Tips for Choosing the Right Promotional Products for Your College Fair Event
Austin, Texas: Colleges and universities usually exhibit at college fairs to try too woo new students.
Most give out promotional products of some kind.
Unfortunately most of these promotional products are lame and do not help the college to stand out from others.
If you exhibit at college fairs, you will see that the typical promotional products ranges from nothing, to a pencil or pen to a decal.
Really!?!?! For a $60,000-$100,000+ four year investment in tuition and additional fees, you are try to excite a student (aka potential client) with something as mundane as a pencil.
And, on top of that, what are you doing to entice that student to do a follow up–such as visiting your website to learn more or to set up an interview, fill out a form, etc.?
Usually the follow up is non-existent or puts the onus on the student to get back in touch with you.
I know 17 and 18 years olds–and they usually are lacking in follow up skills and most need more hand-holding than is usually offered.
Choosing the best college fair promotional products should include a 2-part program:
Part 1) Have an interesting promotional product that will get the student to talk to the recruiter at the fair.
Some of the most popular promotional items for high school seniors include customized music download cards that take the student to your custom landing page, earbuds with your logo, car chargers for smartphones and even nice water bottles with your logo with an card inserted with url’s and pictures.
Create excitement!
Are you worried that you might excite too many students in a line waiting to talk to you in order to get the promotional swag?!? You should only be so lucky.
Use these promotional items to ask a few pertinent questions–which can help you to determine the student’s interest level–and can help you in determining how much follow up that student should be receiving after the college fair has ended.
Part 2) Reward the student for completing a questionnaire on-line after the college fair.
If the student takes the initiative and answers a set of questions on a survey you provided them a link to, they should be rewarded with a second tiered level of gift.
You can send them one type of gift if the questions take them closer to visiting or attending your college or university — and another type of promotional gift if the questionnaire leads them away from your school. Either way, a gift was promised–and the goodwill may help to change their minds or to recommend your school to one of their friends or peers.
These promotional items should be nicer gifts–anything from imprinted headphones, logo portable speakers, power sticks to charge up cellphones and 10-25 song music download cards.
Part 3) Bonus Round: Gift With Campus Visit
Upon visiting your school, the amount spent on promotional swag should be increased dramatically–as this shows a great deal of promise and your closing ratio should be much higher with a campus visit.
Try to reward the student with some unique promotional item that is not available at your campus bookstore or gift shop. It should be available strictly for campus visit–and can be worded with FUTURE STUDENT or some other designations.
Gifts such as laptop power chargers and embroidered computer bag or backpacks make excellent campus visit gifts.
You will be pleasantly surprised at the strength of subtle messaging.
Try these proven ideas when exhibiting at your next college fairs and watch the return on your time and your investment increase.
Happy Recruiting!
