Education was probably one of the hardest-hit sectors when the COVID-19 pandemic began back in 2019. Since reopening, universities & colleges have rapidly innovated the way they approach prospective students.
Like their other services, higher education institutions are developing interesting online activities for university & college students worldwide. Educational institutions now rely heavily on innovative technologies to deliver from basic education to more complex virtual activities for higher education students.
In our post-COVID19 world institutions offer a variety of activities including:
- Teaching through digital media
- Arranging online campus visits and virtual open days
- Offering virtual career fairs for students globally
- Conducting academic conferences
- Performing digital student orientation programs
- Conduction virtual graduation ceremonies
- Offering Virtual support & assistance
Importance Of Hosting Virtual Events For Students
There are considerable benefits for universities and colleges to host fun virtual events for university students. Here are five remarkable advantages of hosting virtual activities for University students.
Engage larger audiences
Virtual events tend to engage larger audiences compared to live in-person events, depending on their marketing strategy. A larger sample of students can participate since they can conveniently join the event from practically anywhere with a phone or computer with the internet.
Professionals recommend that since the ROI potential of virtual University events is high, there should be careful thought put behind the strategic planning of the event. In addition, virtual university events make it quicker for marketing teams to accumulate student data and follow up with them.
Event organizers must also be prepared with eye-catching content and interactive activities to ensure the larger student audiences are kept engaged at all times.
Virtual Events Deliver Time Savings
Compared to in-house events, virtual events are pre-planned and require less time. The registration process, marketing, and promotional activities are usually performed much earlier, allowing institutions and organizers to save considerable time when conducting the actual event.
Enrollment marketing teams can engage students immediately and directly, allowing admission offers to close leads and onboard prospects even during the virtual event. Think Orion assisted many educational institutes and provide them with best practices for virtual events. You can Book a Strategy Call to get professional help!
Lower Costs Compared to Live Events
There is simply no argument when comparing the costs of physical and virtual events. Apart from the added costs of hiring a venue, to offering travel, accommodation, food, and recreational activities, there can be massive cost outlays for live in-house events.
Virtual events on the other hand require a minimum investment and lower costs when conducting them. Coupled with the fact that virtual events have considerably higher ROI, educational institutions can save massively simply by investing in the correct virtual event platform.
Generate Unique Content & Ideas
Virtual academic events for higher education students are a rich source of unique content. The event itself can be a massive content magnet by turning it into a video for social audiences, creating a press release, allowing influencers to blog about it, and creating marketing collateral around the event.
Virtual events can better explain student behaviors and aspirations while allowing institutions to gain insight into new courses and programs. Effective content marketing strategies of universities and colleges can get to know the challenges and issues students face, allowing them to add new services to their portfolios.
20 Amazing Virtual Event Ideas That Keep University Students Engaged
There can be a wide range of virtual events that universities can conduct to engage both existing and prospective students. We compiled a list of 20 interesting virtual event ideas for university students that institutions can conduct to keep them engaged while encouraging prospects to engage with their brand.
Life On Campus Virtual Feeds
Universities can host live ‘life on campus’ feeds that can allow aspiring students to engage with existing students. Prospective students can experience life on campus, and talk to existing students about the education, dorm life, extracurricular activities, and other aspects of school.
Life on campus video events can answer a plethora of questions for prospective students and can serve as social proof solidifying the university’s brand name for future scholars.
Plan Virtual Quiz Competitions
Virtual quiz contests can be both engaging and fun, especially when you’re trying to engage a particular persona of students. It allows interested students to test their knowledge while getting a chance to engage with the university and its existing students directly.
Students can choose from a selection of topics including geo-political & world events, history, sports, music, film, science & technology, and other areas of interest. Events can be organized for teams of existing students against prospects to make the event more challenging.
Live Educational Webinars
Webinars are possibly one of the most popular ways higher education institutions are engaging new students with their brands. Conducting webinars on topics related to science, business & finance, technology, and other areas of interest, such as university branding strategy, can generate a large audience of both students and teachers.
Universities can accumulate a large set of data about prospective students and develop partnerships with organizations that attended the webinar. This can provide institutions with a unique list of students which helps in lead generation for universities.
Virtual Group Movie Nights & Discussions
Hosting live movie nights and discussions is another brilliant way to engage university students, alumni, and future students to come together. Movies discussions and live viewings can allow these groups to engage and talk about the school.
E-Sport Tournaments
Electronic sports are very popular, especially among technology and science students. Conducting tournaments for popular online games including Counter-Strike: GO, DOTA 2, League of Legends, and many others allows universities to engage wide personas of students who are exposed to brand names.
Live Virtual Classroom Sessions
A very intelligent way of allowing prospective students to engage with institutions, teachers, and alumni is to provide them with sampler virtual classroom sessions with different teachers. These
can be cast live or simply recorded sessions that allow students to experience teachers and courses that interest them.
Virtual Academic Consultations
A highly engaging way of attracting more leads while providing students a pathway for their careers is through live virtual consultations with admission officers. Not only does this pave the way for enrollment marketers to follow up with students, but also provides students proof of excellence delivered by the university.
Virtual Alumni Networking
An intuitive tactic, engaging your students by connecting them with alumni is great for both branding and providing answers to these issues and important questions. Alumni are the best resource for younger students to learn about career pathways, while getting real-time proof from experienced individuals who once stood at the same crossroads in life.
Alumni can prepare students for the effort they need to put into their academic life, while balancing it with other extracurricular activities on campus.
Virtual University Tours
As a fun event idea for University students, virtual university tours are an excellent way to attract highly qualified leads to come to experience the university through a screen. Prospective students can get to learn more about the university brand, its facilities, teachers, administration teams, and different schools within the university. Virtual tours can become converting sales pitches in some ways as it allows the students to sample the brand in real-time.
The enrollment funnel is a critical component of higher education institutions, as it outlines the path from a prospective student’s initial inquiry to their enrollment at the university. Students can watch the tour practically anywhere without spending fortunes on travelling and accommodation. It can answer most of their questions while providing them with the final proof to enroll at the university.
Virtual Financials Workshops
Conducting virtual workshops hosted by either students or admission counselors is an excellent virtual event idea for students who are worried about financing their education. Providing essential information about scholarships and financial aid can be very crucial for students to make an enrollment decision with the university brand.
In addition to providing students with financial solutions, this type of event creates trust between students and institutions. Students are more likely to convert when their financial needs are met with expert advice and viable solutions.
Virtual Language Classes
Hosting virtual language classes is a great way to attract new leads and later follow up with them. Highly beneficial for international universities, offering students a skill even before they enroll can have a massive impact on the students’ trust and enrollment decision with the university.
Virtual Career Workshops
An essential for passing out students and degree holders, virtual career workshops are a brilliant way to create a strong brand image and loyalty among graduates. Helping graduates take their first step into the workforce can be a valuable asset in their lives.
Prospective students looking to study at the university will always consider the potential for an institution’s degree to secure them a good job.
Virtual Book Clubs
Taking the book club concept virtual and inviting prospective students to attend is a remarkable way to engage them from earlier in their careers. Virtual book club events can be hosted from university libraries, with professors, students, and guests coming together for invaluable discussions.
Teachers and hosts can engage students by discussing books, discovering interesting titles, and debating concepts in popular books.
Online Debates
Debates have been proven by both academics and business professionals to facilitate learning and unlock the intelligence potential in students. Hosting online debates on trending topics including technology, research, wars, global economics, trade, international relations, and other popular topics can engage a large populace of students and external audiences.
Important debates can even trigger new areas to focus discussions, and inspire prospective students to inquire more about the university. Virtual debates have proven to enable teachers to tap into the intellect and limits of students, allowing them to offer students new perspectives.
Podcasts & Internet Radio Casts
Podcasts and internet radio casts from students can be a highly engaging online activity for Univsersity students of similar ages. Promoting podcasts in our highly digitized era is an excellent idea to enable creativity in existing students while attracting audiences through them to the institution.
Virtual University Life Tutorials
One of the most effective University virtual event ideas is to publish video tutorials about essential skills needed during school life. Institutions and students can share interesting university life tutorials including cooking lessons, financial tips, accommodation guides, travel guides, tours of the town, etc. to engage leads at an early age.
Promoting Social Content from Students
Universities can encourage students through competitions to share their most creative social content with hashtags. Content can be shared and featured on university social feeds to promote the great work of students while encouraging leads to engage consistently.
Platforms like TikTok and Instagram are very popular among students, and engaging this large chunk of audiences through creative video content can be highly effective to increase traffic to university landing pages and growing conversions.
Religious Support & Discussion Groups
Modern universities and colleges invite diverse ethnicities to enroll in their institutions from many countries. Establishing dedicated religious support & discussion groups not only strengthens the university’s brand image but also helps build trust among external audiences.
Students can be affected by several challenges and they can find advice from among virtual religious support groups through open discussions. These initiatives can also attract external audiences, some of whom can be parents and even future students who are researching school facilities & features.
Virtual Celebrations & Summits
Broadcasting important landmark events like foundation days, holidays, and other achievements through organized virtual events is an excellent opportunity to extend brand reach. Publishing event broadcasts on YouTube and social platforms can have a positive brand image boost, as audiences get exposed to interesting content from the university.
Celebrating various national independence events with students and broadcasting these events is a brilliant way to attract interest from international students too.
For the complete guideline visit, how to promote virtual events, and for the services book the strategy call!
Virtual Education & Training
Many universities including Ivy league colleges publish their course materials for free for students to learn virtually even though they may not be enrolled. Publishing older class material is a great way to get students engaged and wanting to learn more.
Teachers, facilities, and other initiatives from the university can immediately attract students to make enrollment decisions. In addition, offering educational material free can have a significant impact on brand image and loyalty allowing marketers to attract even more leads into the sales funnel.
Conclusion
Virtual event ideas for universities are increasingly gaining popularity, especially due to the interconnected digital dynamics of social interactions. As the younger generation increasingly uses digital technology for research and social proof, it is imminent that universities will grab onto the concept.
We hope you enjoyed our countdown of 20 interesting university virtual events for students. No doubt the education technology industry is growing and edtech marketing agency make it possible to reach the maximum number of students. For more interesting reads remember to connect to our social feeds and bookmark our blog.
