Reduce Print Costs: Striking the Balance Between Print and Digital in Higher Ed Admissions Marketing

Jan 13, 2021

The trends vary. While every institution has their own take on the strategic use of print pieces for prospective students, each grapple with the same considerations. What is the right balance between print and digital? Where in the recruitment cycle? What kind of pieces? Does Generation Z even look at print? Is it really just for parents? In our GenZ Labs user testing sessions, the students are pretty adamant. They only want print pieces:

  • If they asked for it
  • If the information is specifically relevant to their interests
  • If it’s brief, factual – not too ‘salesy’

And, news flash: they do like stickers.

Our CVB Clients tell us that print is here to stay, though how they use it is evolving. Many are shifting away from expensive, one-size-fits-all print viewbooks. Instead, they start the recruitment cycle with inexpensive print pieces (postcards, tri-fold brochures) inviting prospective students to create their own CustomViewbooks. Once more qualifying information about the prospective student is captured, a targeted print piece is sent, with content relevant to the prospect’s interest. For many of our clients, this streamlined approach has resulted in reduced print production costs.

“CustomViewbook has played a significant role in reducing our print costs. We don’t use very much print anymore, and are making our main piece even smaller. Our bigger main piece is for out-of-state. Our smaller bread-and-butter pieces are driving students to create their own CustomViewbook. When we have VIP visitors to campus, we print out the Viewbook itself.”

“Print is here to stay but its purpose is changing. Because there is a big shift to digital, we use print pieces as something special and extra-personal to get. We use them less often.”

“There are shifts happening but not as quickly as you’d might expect. People are still using quite a bit of print, maybe shorter pieces and not as frequently.”

We get it – print and digital communications should work hand-in-hand! CustomViewbook makes two customizable print designs available for our clients (a hand-out piece and a self-mailer), each working to build awareness and drive prospects to create their own CVB. And, we can help clients track the effectiveness of these print campaigns with specific source URLs. CustomViewbook can help make your print strategy more effective.

About CustomViewbook
CustomViewbook is a powerful student engagement platform designed to help colleges and universities deliver personalized, digital recruitment experiences. With CustomViewbook, prospective students build their own viewbook based on the programs, activities, and features they care about most—while your team gains valuable insights into what resonates.

Colleges use CustomViewbook to increase inquiry volume, reduce stealth applicants, and drive better enrollment outcomes through tailored content and actionable engagement data.

Learn more about how CustomViewbook works.
Ready to see it in action? Schedule a free demo today.

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