The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted almost every element of our lives, and the education sector worldwide has been no exception. According to the UN, the pandemic has created the largest disruption of education systems in history, affecting 1.6 billion learners in more than 190 countries.
While education institutions leveraged digital technology to continue classes online, recruiting students for 2021 and beyond became a cause of concern in the absence of traditional open days. That is why virtual open days have become a lifeline for the education industry. By taking your school Open Day to a virtual space, you are able to effectively market yourself and reach out to a global potential student pool.
So, What Is a Virtual Open Day?
Like the name implies, virtual open days take place online, rather than in-person. Prospective students and their families can access curated content where they can go through interactive experiences, such as taking a virtual tour, attending online information sessions, and asking questions through live Q&A sessions or private chats.You can also host multi-session events combining webinars, webcasts, and panel discussions. These events can be accessed from mobile screens when people are on the go.
What Makes Virtual Open Days Different Than Their Physical Counterparts?
Accessible on Demand
Prospective students and parents can choose between different options of which webinar they want to attend and which resource material they want to save and share. This puts your virtual open day visitors in control of their experience — hence boosting the chances of your visitors converting into leads. With a virtual open day, prospective students who are too busy to attend physical open days are able to have their queries answered by academics and campus staff through live chats in detail and on time.
Read ‘The Power of Virtual Campus Tours in Student Recruitment’: https://silversea-media.com/the-power-of-virtual-campus-tours-in-student-recruitment/
A Global Reach
One of the biggest benefits of a virtual open day is its global reach. It is the best way to attract students from around the world, given the difficulty to travel at this time. Virtual open days ensure students are still able to explore their study options and keep their goals on track. With an immersive 360-degree tour, for example, visitors can get a better understanding of the campus facilities, accommodation, and a student life in general. They can ask questions via the live chat option, as well as explore other digital content and resources of the school in order to make an informed decision. All of these are accessible to anyone with an internet connection or smartphone.
Analytics & Follow-up
If you host a virtual open day, you get to experience its most distinguished advantage, which is the hassle-free follow up. You can easily capture visitors information, such as who attended what session and how long they attended for. With this information, you know what content is working, who is engaging, and where you may need to improve going forward. These details then can be used to share program-specific newsletters and post-event promotional material with visitors.
As the saying goes, data is king in this digital age. With a virtual open day, you collect real time data of the prospects, such as which area are they spending more time and therefore more interested. After a virtual open day, the school can launch a host of complementary virtual follow-up initiatives such as live-chat discussions, parent-only mini events, virtual sessions which faculty can answer questions from students and their families, etc.
A virtual open day removes barriers such as cost, time, and distance to enable prospective students from all over the world to attend at the click of a button. It achieves the same goals as a traditional open day, but in a much more efficient and engaging way for all.
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