If you are a student recruiter with an online presence you have no doubt come across webinars as a means to recruit students online from different parts of the globe. This fairly new way of universities creating an interactive webinar where they get the opportunity to showcase their courses, the university, the professors and the course directors themselves has proven to be a successful model to get potential students interested in the university and a specific mode of study.
Something that has come to pass through the student recruitment process for our company in the last year is the use of masterclasses as a means to show the people who are interested in the course exactly what it would be like to take a module or elective in their chosen course. This is a great way for the potential students to see what the professors are like, the type of material they will be learning from and also if the course will be of interest to them. The students also get a glimpse into the online virtual classroom and actually see what life is like as a student there. Armed with this crucial and vital information, students will have more of an idea what very important choice they will be making when it comes to picking the best university for them.
The beauty of a masterclass is that it has the opportunity to go viral during the session as so many people worldwide can log in and learn during the class. This is a great thing for universities and recruiters as it provides fantastic brand awareness and boost the name of the university. It can also be used as video merchandising afterwards to maintain online presence and as part of the digital marketing strategies of the business or university.
If a university wants to recruit students successfully and get more from the process of recruiting then this is definitely an effective tool to use to sway the students. Think of a masterclass as something that is crucial in networking online and keeping up a strong image and brand. For example a masterclass we hosted as part of a webinar for IE business school in Madrid Spain included an elective which is taught in IE´s Master in Market Research and Consumer Behavior program. The class was taught by Pedro Sanudo one of the course professors and we had great feedback from both the client (IE university) and also from the students taking part in the class themselves. It seems that virtual learning is becoming a powerful marketing tool that any recruiter should be including in their strategy for success.
