What is the purpose of your college or university's website? A good website's strategy is to develop and nurture relationships with a variety of stakeholders by communicating and supporting a strong, unified institutional image.

1. Telling Your School’s Story With Student
Testimonials
Slide 1
Telling Your School’s Story With
Student Testimonials

2. Telling Your School’s Story With Student
Testimonials
Slide 2
1. Develop written testimonials for skimmers
2. Embed videos throughout your site
3. Testimonials for international recruitment
Overview
Source: Higher Education Marketing – Telling Your School’s Story With Student Testimonials

3. Telling Your School’s Story With Student
Testimonials
Slide 3
One approach is to have current students and recent alumni
respond to:
 interview questions about what they like about your
program, school and location
Include also an open-ended section
 to encourage unexpected insights that might not
otherwise be revealed.
1. Develop written testimonials for skimmers
Source: Higher Education Marketing – Telling Your School’s Story With Student Testimonials

4. Telling Your School’s Story With Student
Testimonials
Slide 4
Testimonials that focus on a student's individual experience
rather than general comments about an institution as a whole
tend to be perceived as more credible to prospects.
Use the students' own words but feature only the most relevant
and engaging content.
1. Develop written testimonials for skimmers
Source: Higher Education Marketing – Telling Your School’s Story With Student Testimonials

5. Telling Your School’s Story With Student
Testimonials
Slide 5
Testimonials can be presented in a consistent format
throughout your website:
 Homepage
 Relevant program pages
 Separate “Testimonials" section that more completely
presents the student's story
1. Develop written testimonials for skimmers
Source: Higher Education Marketing – Telling Your School’s Story With Student Testimonials

6. Telling Your School’s Story With Student
Testimonials
Slide 6
Continuously strive to develop a bank of feedback condensed
to its essential points.
Include relevant details about the student, such as:
 program
 graduation year
 home country
Pictures, typography, and tasteful color contrast will make the
content more readable and attractive.
1. Develop written testimonials for skimmers
Source: Higher Education Marketing – Telling Your School’s Story With Student Testimonials

7. Telling Your School’s Story With Student
Testimonials
Slide 7
Example: Columbia College features large student pictures with
clear typography and design on a separate Testimonials page
Source: Higher Education Marketing – Telling Your School’s Story With Student Testimonials

8. Telling Your School’s Story With Student
Testimonials
Slide 8
Example: Brock University provides a summarizing subtitle with
each testimonial to emphasize their key selling points
Source: Higher Education Marketing – Telling Your School’s Story With Student Testimonials

9. Telling Your School’s Story With Student
Testimonials
Slide 9
Example: Concordia University
features a series of student
profiles in their Undergraduate
Admissions section, with:
- Photo
- concise description
- brief interview answering
questions about choosing
the school and program
- favourite class
- tips for new students
- future plans
Source: Higher Education Marketing – Telling Your School’s Story With Student Testimonials

10. Telling Your School’s Story With Student
Testimonials
Slide 10
Video continues to grow in importance in student marketing
and is a top application for mobile users.
Personal experiences from students and alumni might be
better told in brief video vignettes.
Since not everybody wants to watch videos, make sure there
remain plenty of highly visible written testimonials.
2. Embed videos throughout your site
Source: Higher Education Marketing – Telling Your School’s Story With Student Testimonials

11. Telling Your School’s Story With Student
Testimonials
Slide 11
When determining the format your videos will take, think about
the message you want viewers to take away about both the
student experience and your overall brand image.
Prospective students want to get a feel for the true experience
so unscripted authenticity is essential.
2. Embed videos throughout your site
Source: Higher Education Marketing – Telling Your School’s Story With Student Testimonials

12. Telling Your School’s Story With Student
Testimonials
Slide 12
High production quality isn't necessary but videos can be a
good opportunity to show:
 student projects
 the campus
 AND answer questions about why students chose your
school.
Keep them under two minutes for maximum impact and feel
free to embed them strategically throughout your site.
2. Embed videos throughout your site
Source: Higher Education Marketing – Telling Your School’s Story With Student Testimonials

13. Telling Your School’s Story With Student
Testimonials
Slide 13
Example: American College of Technology turns its
testimonials into students’ success stories.
Source: Higher Education Marketing – Telling Your School’s Story With Student Testimonials

14. Telling Your School’s Story With Student
Testimonials
Slide 14
Testimonials are particularly effective for international
recruitment.
Applying to college or university is a huge decision for any
student but international recruitment signifies even more
excitement and angst.
These applicants are unlikely to have a chance to visit your
school before enrolling and need to know what it's like to study
there.
3. Testimonials for international recruitment
Source: Higher Education Marketing – Telling Your School’s Story With Student Testimonials

15. Telling Your School’s Story With Student
Testimonials
Slide 15
Video and written testimonials are particularly important to:
 answer common concerns
 establish the trust that you are who you say you are.
3. Testimonials for international recruitment
Source: Higher Education Marketing – Telling Your School’s Story With Student Testimonials

16. Telling Your School’s Story With Student
Testimonials
Slide 16
Example: Algonquin College features this video testimonial of an
international student in both English and Turkish, keeping it brief
while showing a little of the campus and some of the student's
projects
Source: Higher Education Marketing – Telling Your School’s Story With Student Testimonials

17. Telling Your School’s Story With Student
Testimonials
Slide 17
Questions?
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info@higher-education-marketing.com
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