International admissions offices, now more than ever, need to hone their strategic recruitment plans to meet their student (and parent) audiences where they spend their time. This pre-conference workshop session at OACAC helps outline those priorities for print, web, & social communications.

1. InternationalAdmissions
101:
Outreach &
Communications
A focus on web, social media, & print/email communications
used to recruit international students. A discussion on best
practices for counselor networking will also be included.

2. Where are we
going?
 International communication strategic plan overview
 Print/e-mail communications flow - what still works?
 International-student friendly websites: Is Yours?
 Building international student relationships & community
via social media
 Counselor networking tips for OACAC & beyond
 Q&A

3. Suggested
Guiding
Principles
 LiveWhereYour Audiences Live (and when)
 KeepThemComing Back For More
 Listen, Listen, Listen

4. How influential
are these
experiences in
the application
decision?
1-5 scale:
5 = most influential
FromCollegeWeekLive/Noel-Levitz2014
InternationalE-ExpectationsReport.

5. Student interest
in using these
resources to
communicate
with college
representatives
1-5 scale:
5 = most influential
FromCollegeWeekLive/Noel-Levitz2014
InternationalE-ExpectationsReport.

6. What do
students look
for on a college
website?
FromCollegeWeekLive/Noel-Levitz2014
InternationalE-ExpectationsReport.

7. Websites
Planning and Implementation:
 Exclusive vs. Inclusive
 Separate International Admission page
 International-specific information included into the general page
 Visibility – Is your page hidden within several other admission pages?
 Accessibility
 Easiness of navigation
 Clear way in and out – being stuck in a page can create negative feelings towards your
institution
 Hierarchy and bureaucracy within the university
 Who is responsible for publishing the page, how quickly can that happen?
 Marketing and branding guidelines
 Website goals
 Targeted population
 Inquiries, applicants, admitted students
 Region of the world, English proficiency
 Will you need information in other languages?
 Q&A pages
 Consistency –appearance, message, institution culture

8. Print & e-mail
communications
Considerations for Publications/Communications:
 One piece or more? Define functions for each piece.
 Who to get involved with the development?
 Who is your audience?
 What questions need to be answered within each
piece?
 What other information needs to be in each piece?
 Who to mail/email to and when?
 Do we mail at all?
 If you use any domestic pieces in your mail flow, are
they international friendly?

9. Print & e-mail
communications
Considerations for Publications/Communications:
 Use clear concise, most simplistic terms for text (P/W)
 Distinguish private, public, religious, gender specific, etc.(P/W)
 Provide Map with entire U.S., your location and distance to well known cities
in kilometers(P/W)
 List accreditations and accolades that lend credibility i.e. ABET, AACSB,
etc.(P/W)
 Climate in Fahrenheit and Celsius(P/W)
 Faculty Stats (P)
 Research (P)
 Majors and degrees offered (P)
 Enrollment: grad vs. undergrad, domestic and int’l, male vs. female(P)
 Int’l stats: where your students come from(P/W)
 Int’l organizations and support services(P/W)

10. Print & e-mail
communications
Designing your Communication Plan: Pre-App
My initial inquiry letter has links to:
 Video, on-line brochures, fact sheets in languages
 Academics: majors/minors/degrees
 Campus Life
 Achievements
 Cost and financial aid
 Application
I send this within a week of making contact with the student.
I have edited versions for int’ls, permanent residents and U.S
citizens living overseas and transfers.

11. Print & e-mail
communications
Designing your Communication Plan:
Post-App/Pre-Admit
 Do your domestic follow-up letters make sense to bring
incomplete apps to completion?
 How strongly do you push an app to complete that you may
ultimately deny?
 Templates for incomplete int’l, incomplete transfers, incomplete
US citizens living overseas.
 Marketing info in follow-up letters

12. Print & e-mail
communications
Designing your Communication Plan: Admit
 Do you scan/email/mail admit packet?
 Personal congrats from you?
 Email to guidance counselor informing of admission?
 What do you communicate once admitted?
Outcomes/accomplishments/internships/study abroad/campus
activities
 Welcome email from current student?
 How often do you send “how to pay deposit”?
 Again, do domestic admit communications work for int’ls?

13. Print & e-mail
communications
Designing your Communication Plan: Confirmed
 Again, do domestic confirmed communications work for int’ls?
 “I’m so excited you’ll be part of the X Univ. community!!”
 Do you send tracking info when an I-20 is sent?
 Is I-20 sent after admission or deposit?
 “X student is coming!!!” email to counselor

14. Branding and
Identity
Challenge or Opportunity?
 Branding – visual or tangible image
 Guidelines set by Marketing or similar office on campus
 Ex. University Communication Standards andWeb Editorial Style
Guide from Furman -
http://www2.furman.edu/sites/marketing/Pages/Home.aspx
 Identity – perception of your institution by individuals in a specific
place
 No name is better than a bad name
 Careful approach in building your institution reputation
 Rush approach based on immediate results can have long-lasting
effects
 “Guilty by Association” phenomenon

15. New Markets
Outreach to New Markets
 Market Sizing Exercise
 Institutional historical data analysis
 IIEOpen Doors data
 http://www.iie.org/en/Research-and-Publications/Open-Doors/Data
 EducationUSA
 UNESCO Institute for Statisctics
 http://www.uis.unesco.org/Education/Pages/international-student-flow-
viz.aspx
 Appraoch
 Armchair vs. suitcase recruitment
 Individual vs. group travel
 Institution image and perception by association
 Considerations
 Take existing data into consideration according to your own institution.
 Short vs. long-term goals
 Are you prepared and able to commit the necessary resources
 Keep in mind how many new markets can be developed at any given
time.

16. Social Media

18. EducationUSA
GlobalSocial
MediaSurvey
Results
spring2013
n.2400+students
190countries

19. EducationUSA
GlobalSocial
MediaSurvey
Results
spring2013
n.2400+students
190countries

20. EducationUSA
Global Social
Media Survey
Results
spring 2013
n. 2400+ students
190 countries

23. EducationUSA
GlobalSocial
MediaSurvey
Results
spring2013
n.2400+students
190countries

24. Global
EducationUSA
Social Media
Survey:
What the data
shows
 Social media is key to student communications
 Most have 2-3 accounts – 91% have Facebook
 Students look primarily online for US college info
 Over 70% use social media to find info about institutions
 Greater majority interact directly with institutional social media
 They want:
 To see aid available
 To ask questions/get answers
 While PCs & laptops are still dominant way students access
social media, mobile phones (increasingly smart phones) are
used by nearly 50%

25. Social Media:
Take-Aways
 Know Where Your Students “Live” Online
 Focus Your Attention Accordingly
 Provide Opportunities to Interact
 Engage in Conversations
 Start Thinking Mobile
 Time / Target Messages

26. Social Media
articles worth
a read
 Higher Education & the Social Media Bubble part 1
 Higher Education & the Social Media Bubble part 2
 IsYour Recruitment ConnectingAwareness & Commitment
 Bring on the GoldenAge of Mobile (infographic)
 Social, Digital & Mobile in China 2014
 Digital Behavior of GlobalTeens
 Admitted Student Communities
 Social Media in 2014
 What Lessons Can Colleges Learn from Big Brands on Social Media

27. Top 10
Counselor
NetworkingTips
fromJudi, Fred,
& Marty
1. Think about attending…OACAC, NACAC, EducationUSA, CIS Forum,CIS
Tri-Association Conference, CIS conference in association withASSA
2. Carry list of admitted and deposited lists to these events. For at least the
last year, if not two or three years. Photos of their students??
3. Consider counselor fly-ins; free hotel if they visit
4. Create quarterly counselor newsletter
5. Participate in the social aspects of OACAC whenever you can
6. Don’t try to “sell” your institution to counselors ; instead, focus on building
a trusting relationship with them. You will have a chance to showcase your
institution during the college fair and in the future
7. Have a “plan of attack” based on region and type of school, but don’t be
afraid of deviating from it. Counselors know other counselors and they
also move around quite a bit.
8. Connect on social media with FB groups & counselors/advisers on
LinkedIn/FB: OACAC,College Admissions Counselors, GlobeTrotters
United, College Admissions Recruiter Network
9. Have enough business cards, always!
10. Be ruthless in dodgeball tournaments with fellow higher ed colleagues, but
go easy on the counselors 

28. Questions for
the Panel
 Judi Marino, InternationalAdmissions Specialist, Flagler
University, jmarino@flagler.edu
 Fred Silva,Assistant Director of Admissions, Furman University,
fred.silva@furman.edu
 Marty Bennett, Manager of International Partnerships,
CollegeWeekLive, mbennett@platformq.com

29. Thank you!
Complete Power Point &
CollegeWeekLive/Noel-Levitz 2014
International E-Expectations Report
Will be emailed to those who leave
a business card !