Online video meetings can be an incredible tool to improve your enrollment process. Learn how you can leverage the power of Zoom video meetings to bring more students to your school.
DISCLAIMER: I do NOT get any money or other kind of benefit from writing this recommendation to use Zoom video conferencing. It’s a tool I use myself and recommend to all my clients. I want you to know about it too, in case you haven’t considered it for your enrollment process.
Most people in the world of higher education have heard of Zoom video meetings. And in most cases, Zoom video meetings are used in the context of online learning or long-distance learning.
I myself use Zoom in my business to meet with clients, meet with my team, and talk with prospective clients.
Zoom isn’t the first video meeting solution I’ve tried, but it’s the one I’ve stuck with for quite some time now. I like it for most of the same reasons that educators like using it for online classes.
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- The video and audio quality is not only good, it’s stable – giving you a consistent experience from one call or class to the next.
- There are lots of collaboration features so participants can communicate with the meeting host and each other.
- It has good security features so you can feel safe no one’s listening in on your call.
- You can record your sessions in the cloud or on your computer.
- Anybody with a computer or phone can join the call. Mac, PC, or tablet – it doesn’t matter. Everyone can get in on the call without going through a complicated installation process.
- For schools, Zoom has great integrations with online learning environments like Moodle, Canvas, and Blackboard.
You probably already know that Zoom is fairly popular for higher education, but have you thought of using online video calls for your enrollment marketing?
The Advantage of Video
How often do you call prospective students in your enrollment process?
It’s common for enrollment officers to be on the phone every week following up with prospective students asking for more information. These phone calls are very important to help move prospective students to the next step in the enrollment cycle.
But imagine what those calls could be like if they were in person.
One-to-one interactions almost always produce better results.
They’re more personal and more nuanced.
In person, you can see if the prospective student is really paying attention. You can detect facial expressions and body language that clue you in to how the conversation is going.
Sometimes in person, you see things in their environment that tell you what they care about or want to be.
Students with athletic dreams often have sports memorabilia and collectibles. A student who considers their faith very important to them might have a Bible nearby.
All of these visual clues get lost when you’re just on the phone.
Also in a face-to-face meeting, you can communicate visually with more than body language.
In person, you can show PowerPoints, read through a brochure, present a video, or show examples of projects that your successful students have done. Practically speaking, when talking about education costs and financial aid, being in person helps all the parties to understand the numbers.
Unfortunately, you can’t afford to go out to every call you need to make from week to week.
Here’s where video calls can help bridge the gap.
They give you most of the same advantages as an in person meeting by giving you back the visual element of the face-to-face.
In video calls, you can see if your prospective student is following you or not.
Seeing this will help you know when to go back over a piece of information they didn’t understand rather than barreling forward with your pitch.
Also in video calls, you’ll be able to catch the visual clues behind them.
The clothes they’re wearing, the posters in their rooms, the decorations they have in the house – all of these are clues into what the student and their family care about.
In video calls, you can also use all the visual presentation tools that you would have in person, like videos, PowerPoints, brochures, etc.
Solution: Zoom Video Prospecting Calls
Hopefully, I’ve convinced you that video calls are a powerful way to enhance your prospecting calls just like adding video to your email communications can boost your email response.
I use Zoom video for my client calls.
But why Zoom?
There are a ton of options out there when it comes to video conferencing solutions. Skype, BlueJeans, Adobe Connect, and GoToMeeting are just a few good ones out there.
But for me, it comes down to price, features, and stability.
Zoom comes with all the bells and whistles that you’d expect or need from a video conferencing solution, but it’s affordable and easy-to-use.
Here’s a quick rundown of the features I really like:
HD Video and Audio: Depending on your bandwidth (and that of your prospective student), your mileage will vary on this one. No video call solution can correct a slow signal.
That said, I’m very happy with the consistently high quality of the video and audio in my calls.
I’ve used other tools where I had to focus extremely hard to hear what the person was saying, and the video feed would often freeze.
With Zoom, this doesn’t happen nearly as often. Most of the time, calls are crisp and clear.
Call Recording: For me, this feature is indispensable. When I meet with my creative team, or with my clients, recording the call allows me to focus on what’s being said instead of worrying about what I might forget later.
This is invaluable if you’re on prospecting calls. You don’t have to type furious notes worrying about missing something later. Have fun, be in the moment, and make a transcript later.
Want a fast way to transcribe your calls and meetings?
Send the recording to a robot transcription service like Temi, and get a transcription back in about 30 minutes for an hour call.
Chrome, Outlook, and other Integrations: Another feature that’s been very helpful is the integrations Zoom has with Microsoft Outlook or Google Chrome. With these integrations, you can schedule Zoom video meetings when entering meetings in your digital calendar. If you use these popular office apps, you’ll get a lot of use out of the Zoom Scheduler for Chrome or Outlook.
Screenshare: With screensharing, you can run a PowerPoint for your prospective students or their parents. You can choose to share your whole screen or simply the window that you want them to see, like your presentation, a PDF brochure, your college viewbook, a campus map, or a video.
Using screenshare for visual aids is very helpful when you get into the weeds about majors, financial aid, or academic requirements.
You can communicate a lot with body language on a Zoom call, but using these visual aids, you can take your calls to the next level.
Multiple Callers: Why not get the parents on the line? How about introducing a professor or dean from a specific department to the prospective student? You can do this by inviting multiple people to your Zoom call.
Zoom makes multiple person calls really, really easy.
No one has to have a certain kind of software or computer. They simply click on the link you send them, and they’re on the call. Even if they don’t have a computer or mobile device, they can jump on the call by calling the Zoom meeting phone number.
And when you’re on the call, the way Zoom arranges the video windows also makes it easy to know who’s talking so that you don’t over-talk or cross-talk each other.
Make Your Prospect Calls More Effective
Whether you use Zoom or not, you should really consider using video calls to reach your Gen Z prospective students.
Generation Z students are so new we don’t know much about them yet, but we do know that they highly value authenticity. While this just might be a common value of youth in every generation, you can leverage this preference for authentic interactions using video conference solutions like Zoom.
And when you do, let me know how it goes. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it as much as I do.
For more tips and marketing solutions, feel free to contact us today!
We work exclusively with private, independent schools, colleges, and universities like yours to increase your enrollment success through better marketing strategies.
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Featured image by Djile via Adobe Stock
