Schools: Small Fish in a Big Sea
The school you work at is one in a million – literally – but you may not be entirely sure as to how to stand out above the competition.
In the United States alone, there are over 4,500 educational institutions you can attend to obtain a degree. In 2012 alone, there were about 21 million students attending these higher-education institutions – 21 million! In 2013, it was noted that there were over 16,000 higher-education institutions around the world.
Whether you’re a preschool, primary school, secondary school, junior college, career college, private university, or public university, you aren’t exempt from the reality of needing to attract students to your school. Even Ivy League schools are in direct competition with each other to attract top-notch students.
The amount of students enrolling in every type of educational institution (including preschool) continues to increase. It’s time for you to become a bigger fish in this massive sea of schools around the world using student testimonial videos.
Student Testimonial Videos: Attract More Students to your School
Choosing a school for a child or yourself is one of the most important decisions people will ever have to make. If parents choose a primary school that their child doesn’t enjoy, it may create a discouraging image of school and they may struggle to develop socially and intellectually. On the other hand, a student that’s on the road to graduation needs to choose which college or university to apply for, keeping many things in mind: location, programs offered, academic reputation, athletics, and so on. One of the best ways to promote your particular school is to create endorsement videos using student testimonials.
Acquiring student testimonials in text form is undeniably beneficial to the promotion of your educational institution. Studies using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology concluded that more people use emotions than information when evaluating brands. Unfortunately, student testimonials in text don’t portray the personal feelings and experiences of the students, which will be more difficult to affect the emotions of potential students or their parents. There also continues to be a shift towards video viewership worldwide: over 100 million people watch videos every day internationally and YouTube is actually the second largest search engine in the world. In order to adapt to these modern shifts in technology, it’s important to consider producing great testimonial videos using the student testimonials your school receives.
Great Testimonial Videos: Focus on Strengths
When parents and students come across website testimonials, they will need to be convinced that their money (or the risk of graduating with student loan debt) and time should be spent at your school. The best way to do this is to portray authentic evidence of student experiences.
It’s important to remember that your video testimonials can expand beyond students; testimonials produced into endorsement videos for your school can be from teachers, parents, heads of departments, business owners that have hired graduates from your school, and so on. The possibilities are undeniably endless with who can be used to promote your school and attract students.
When approaching students to inquire whether they will provide you with a testimonial for the school, consider guiding them to exhibit your educational institution’s strengths:
- Programs/Academics. Whether your school offers distinct courses or has an incredible record for overall academics, this is one element to consider promoting in your endorsement video. This is especially important when the educational institution needs to develop a stronger reputation in these areas.
- Many students (and parents) consider future schools based on their athletics. Consider the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and its schools reputations. Having student testimonial videos that endorse the school’s athletics will certainly attract more potential students.
- International/Exchange Programs. The popularity of students travelling to different parts of the world to obtain a degree continues to grow. Whether it’s for an undergraduate degree or a Master’s degree, endorse your school’s unique and preferred exchange program in the online testimonials.
- Hiring after Graduation. After graduating from a college or university, one of the biggest concerns for students is how long it will take to be hired (especially if the stress of paying off their student loan debt is on their mind). Having website testimonials that have students explain they were hired relatively close to graduating will be a big promotion for the capabilities of your educational institution.
- Adult Education. It’s important to remember that many adults are deciding to go back to school and further their education. In addition, when students enroll with a particular school, their minds can change at any point to switch schools. With that in mind, higher education institutions’ student testimonial videos shouldn’t focus solely on attracting students graduating from secondary school.
- School, as a Whole. If the student testimonials you obtain endorse your educational institution for multiple elements, the better your chances are that those particular online testimonials will be effective at attracting students. As the saying goes, “The more, the merrier!”
Not only is it critical for online testimonials to promote your school’s strengths, but when the testimonials are relatable and authentic, they will be more effective in attracting potential students.
Reel Vision: A Prominent Leader in Video Testimonial Production
Reel Vision has years of experience in video testimonials service and is eager to assist you with video testimonial production. When producing student testimonial videos, Reel Vision will offer to:
- Assist with a script. It’s better for everyone involved in the student testimonial video to be prepared and know what they’re going to say about your school. The testimonial must explain the student’s personal experience at your school. It’s particularly impactful when students explain a success story, such as having a job waiting for them after graduation.
- Meet with the individual that will be in the testimonial video before filming. This will ensure that the student is better prepared for filming, familiar with the process, and more comfortable on the day of filming.
- Suggest an overall video style.It’s important to consider the setting, if and when there will be graphics used, if multiple angles are required, and so on.
Reel Vision’s Top Priority: Your Satisfaction
Beyond the video testimonials service that Reel Vision offers, our priority is you. Before production begins, Reel Vision will ensure to discuss your:
- It can be very easy to get off track, lose focus and get overly ambitious when producing videos. However, with Reel Vision, there are no surprises. We take your budget and maximize its use without exceeding it.
- Reel Vision values your time and after discussing a timeline with you, we will have the video testimonial production complete within a timeline that has been agreed upon.
- Whether you would like us to take the wheel or be involved in the production of the student testimonial videos, we value your requests and will include you in production as much or as little as you would like.