How to get your Students' Union on board with HE marketing and student recruitment

What if the secret to attracting more students lies in the collaboration between Students' Unions and university marketing teams? In this episode, we explore the often-overlooked partnership that can transform the way higher education institutions engage with prospective students.

We spoke with Fay Harris, Deputy CEO of Membership Services at Keele University Students’ Union, and Ian Pain, Director & Co-Founder of The Crowd Agency. Together, they unpack the complex relationship between Students' Unions and universities, and ways they can work together more effectively.

Students' Unions are an invaluable resource for showing the real life of students on campus, and marketers can tap into that to build trust with prospective students during open days. We also look at how marketers can highlight events and societies to enhance the student experience in marketing materials and drive student numbers.

Keep reading to learn more, or listen to the full podcast below.

A complex relationship?

Students' Unions and universities don’t always see eye to eye. In fact, the relationship can be complex and even strained at times. The main reasons for this include competing priorities – Students' Unions represent the student body (which can sometimes conflict with university objectives), and they must operate with resource constraints; SUs are given a grant from the university which may not always be adequate for them to achieve their goals.

Why Students' Unions make such great marketing partners

Despite the occasional difficulties, Students' Unions are often best placed to help marketers with messaging to target students and can highlight the realities of campus life beyond the education side.

Students’ Unions have the students’ interests at heart, so that’s an element of trust and authenticity that marketers can tap into.

Prospective students want to see genuine student experiences at open days. They want to see examples of events, societies, the community, and everything that goes on between lectures. Students' Unions are key to this. But there’s a tendency sometimes to try to make student experiences look too polished and perfect during open days. Naturally, marketers want the university to look at its best, but is that what students want to see?

It’s a fine balance between making the environment welcoming and presentable, and showing an authentic experience of campus life. But that’s why it’s key for marketers and Students' Unions to have open communications about these potential challenges.

How to improve the relationship between Students' Unions and universities

Both Ian and Fay agreed that the number one thing is to foster open communication between the university marketing team and Students' Unions.

One way to develop this relationship is to make it more akin to a partnership. Marketers should involve the Students' Unions in decisions related to messaging and marketing, rather than occasionally calling on them to help out. When both sides are on the same page, it makes the collaboration run much more smoothly. Each can learn from the other and share resources to maximise the impact of marketing.

Another key part of the relationship is a mutual understanding of each other’s challenges and pain points. Together, marketers and Students' Unions can break down those barriers.

How to make open days work for Students' Unions

The tricky thing about open days is they usually don’t coincide with student events throughout the year. So it’s harder to replicate the buzz and excitement that Students' Unions invoke all year round on open days. Some of the tactics Fay uses for her own union include involving music, giveaways, tailored information for different audiences, tours of the building, and big screens that showcase the type of events and societies that students can expect.

This is something that marketers can help with also, by sharing ideas and resources from the university to make sure that open days reflect the great parts of student life. They can also help to open dialogue with student representatives and even alumni that can act as great ambassadors to the university during open days.

The biggest theme in our conversation was that open communication is key. By communicating marketing objectives, understanding challenges, and working together, Students' Unions and universities can promote exciting and authentic student experiences that attract prospective students. To hear more tips from Ian and Fay, tune in to the full episode.

Penny Eccles is a marketing consultant specialising in Higher Education marketing and student recruitment.