When Jannie Kirby accepted her post as Director of Communications and Marketing at the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC LAS), she set out to support the recruitment team by adding a digital experience that prospective students could not refuse!
Jannie worked with her Student Affairs group and CustomViewbook to tackle one of the main challenges that many Liberal Arts schools have – capturing the attention of Gen Z prospective students who have interest in the liberal arts, but may be concerned about career preparedness and a viable post-college path. Together, Jannie, with input from LAS’s Career Development folks, created a Viewbook experience that brings alive the spirit and depth of their diverse programs and vibrant campus life, while providing academic content that underscores the ‘real-world’ value of a liberal arts and sciences education. This content includes inspiring student testimonials, faculty videos, alumni career profiles, experiential learning and internship highlights, and information about minors that can offer a pragmatic complement to a liberal arts’ major.
So far, LAS’s CustomViewbook has proven to be a big hit with prospective students and the recruitment team alike! Jannie noted, “We had a fall Open House and were really pleased with the student enthusiasm for CustomViewbook. The recruitment team really made it a fun event with large banners and signage with QR codes, snippets of student testimonials to encourage prospective students to explore our majors, and chances to win prizes with a ‘Wheel of Fortune’-styled giveaway for those who created their own Viewbook. We captured over 426 new leads through face to face interactions, alone.
“We are really happy with the level of enthusiasm we’ve seen to date. We are not merely pushing info. Students are telling us what interests them the most, which is a great setup for more meaningful dialogue with advisors. We were surprised by some of the most popular areas of interest under ‘Campus Life’, which in turn has informed our web content and communications efforts. We’re incorporating the ViewBook into our social media outreach as well. It’s exciting to see the number of repeat visitors grow and gain new insights about student preferences. For us, CustomViewbook has been a great addition to our lead nurturing and yield efforts, and we are excited to be leveraging digital technology, creative storytelling, and a tailored student experience to reach Gen Z. They’ve pretty much grown up with digital. We want to connect with them using a customized approach that they understand and can fully appreciate.”
To learn more about how CustomViewbook can help you capture high value leads and drive lead nurturing and yield efforts, contact Mary.Pannullo@customviewbook.com