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Mark Shay
Chief Academic Liasion
EducationDynamics

The Education Conservancy is a Portland, Oregon group that opposes commercial influences in college admissions. Their web site offers position papers and research on the subject.

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Recruiting Students

Use of web video in student recruiting

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There is no doubt that the web is evolving faster than any other media in history. Online advertising is predicted to exceed $19.5 billion in the U.S. in 2007 which is well over 10% of the $153.7 billion spent on advertising. Online advertising continues to create new outlets as online consumer behavior evolves. Today online marketing includes search engine marketing, display advertising, e-mail marketing, affiliate marketing, interactive advertising, blog marketing, viral marketing and now Internet video.

For some of us, it is hard to imagine life before the Internet, but it was just sixteen years ago that the first web camera debuted, snapping pictures of a Cambridge University computer science department’s coffee pot. Soon universities all over the world were mounting web cams to highlight their main quad or commons. What a long way we have come. We are now using podcasts and web video in ever-increasing amounts to both entertain and to inform our growing web population.s:

Today, video is sweeping the Internet. Inexpensive digital cameras, even cell phones, now output web-friendly video formats, which can be easily uploaded to free web sites like YouTube.com. Visitors who are drawn to YouTube by a search function or referred by a friend then view these videos for free whenever they choose. Once the domain of outlandish stunts, candid outtakes or simply personal sharing among amateurs, web video has gone corporate and an increasing number of professionally produced videos are being distributed through these same channels. People are even searching for catchy commercials, movie trailers or segments of broadcast programming.

What seems to be driving users to new media is the raw or edgy nature of the content and the ability for the user to control what's seen. This public rejection of slick professionally produced content is what is believed to be empowering blogs, online journals and podcasts. This search for unique and fresh content has become important for video as well. I recently read an article in the Wall Street Journal that sited a CBS television web site which showed outtakes and edited segments of a TV shows. It is estimated that some of this content rivaled the show itself for viewership.

As with each of these new media, higher education institutions are slow to adopt. Have you witnessed the YouTube phenomenon? If not, it's time to take notice. Young people are increasingly choosing not to sit in front of the TV and passively watch programming, but are instead sitting in front of the computer searching for and sharing video content from YouTube. According to a Harris Poll, one-third (http://www.harrisinteractive.com/news/allnewsbydate.asp?NewsID=1168) of frequent YouTube visitors state they watch less TV as a result of their YouTube activity. The trend is continuing and is now not just for entertainment. Video is captivating young people and provides a new opportunity to communicate with them.

How are schools using video in their recruiting and can this public desire for a behind-the-scenes look be successful? On YouTube, enter "University Recruiting" and 349 videos match. Top listed is "Appalachian State is HOT, HOT, HOT" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVENWl8uBeg with more than 700,000 views. This video appears to be a university-produced commercial, hosted and broadcast on YouTube for free. 700,000 views is impressive and has to have some impact on the brand and image of the school.

As with the early days of web sites, the entries on YouTube are not always as upbeat and positive as Appalachian State's, in fact some are cynical and do not represent the best interests of the university. Video is here, video is popular and those involved in promoting a university now have another Internet media to harness. If you have not spent time on YouTube, I suggest you do and search on those same keywords you would on a search engine to find what people may be saying about you and what your competitors are up to.

Additional sections of this journal address Innovative Practices in Communicating with Students and student retention. We have also placed all articles with a common theme of online education and distance education programs in a separate portal. New articles will be posted each Monday, please check back by bookmarking this site or placing a link to this Student Recruiting portal.