Marketing a Sense of Place
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY’S HOMEPAGE LOCATION FEATURE OF BALTIMORE
If photography is powerful for creating a sense of place, video is even more so. With video, you can capture the energy and movement of your location. Turn some of those “talking heads” videos into “walking heads” as your protagonists lead families around campus or invite them into the lab. Do the same in the neighborhood if that shows well, or have students take video of visiting the best restaurants or coffee shops downtown. Show students taking part in traditions (as long as they are not creepy), like rubbing statues for good luck or decorating things. Interview families right after the tour about their experience and why they would recommend that others come visit. Engage your dining hall staff, your custodians, and your grounds keepers in sending messages that they care about students and are looking forward to seeing them on campus.
At the University of Lynchburg, where I work, one of our most popular videos of all time came from one of our marketing staff attaching a video camera to his dog Fred and allowing Fred to walk around campus greeting people. Fred became an overnight sensation on campus and gave people a view of the kindness and fun to be found in the simple things of college life.
Need another layer to strengthen your sense of place? Why not tap into your institutional history? Colleges often shy away from sharing much about their history because they think it will not seem relevant to today’s student. It is true that most students will not care that much about your founding date, first president, or how many students were in the first graduating class, but they will care about the values you were founded on, and how those values contribute to what your institution is doing today. Perhaps your college was the first to serve its area, or maybe it was founded by some very idealistic community leaders to seek out the best and brightest for a particular field. Do you have a good story of how it got its name? There is probably a reason you are in the place where you are, and if you can tie that reason to the story you are trying to tell, it will help your location come alive.
Finally, don’t forget to include outcomes in building your sense of place. We are all tempted to think first about our institution’s most famous alumni around the world, but stories of successful graduates in your local area can also be powerful.
More than ever, families care about the internships and job opportunities available for students. If you are in a major metropolitan area, it may be assumed that there are plenty of internships available, but it is always more effective to show what options your students have access to than to just say it.
Missouri Baptist University in St. Louis recognizes the value of the school’s location for internships and networking, and their marketing materials consistently highlight this benefit. A “Love Your City” spread in their most recent viewbook, for example, describes St. Louis as “a real-life laboratory for launching careers” and lists major companies with a presence in the area.
MISSOURI BAPTIST UNIVERSITY’S FEATURE OF ST. LOUIS
If you are not located in a big city, your local alumni and the business partnerships you have cultivated can be the evidence that families need to feel good about the return on their investment. Getting video or testimonials from employers in the community is easier than collecting it from your busiest alumni across the country. Bring these local success stories to campus frequently and highlight their presence on your website. Show them interacting with students. Have students share the working they are doing as interns or their success transitioning into positions with local businesses. The idea is to demonstrate that the campus is well connected within the community, and that these connections are going to pay off for students.
We all know that getting families to campus for visits is one of the most effective steps we can take to increase enrollment. Marketing a strong sense of place to the students in your enrollment funnel is key to getting them there. By leveraging your website, your video assets, and your local community, you can build a compelling sense of place that will make students want to experience campus for themselves.
