Are Microsites Right for Your School?

Slide 1

Are Microsites Right

for Your School?

Are Microsites Right for Your School?

Slide 2

1) Microsites

2) Do you really need a microsite?

3) Microsite Strategy #1: An inside look at student life

4) Microsite Strategy #2: Stimulate curiosity and interest

5) Microsite Strategy #3: Foreign language international recruitment

6) Other microsites

7) Tips for Effective Microsites

Overview

Source: Higher Education Marketing – Are Microsites Right for Your School?

Are Microsites Right for Your School?

Slide 3

A microsite is essentially a mini website, functioning as an

independent off-shoot of a parent site, customized for a

specific purpose or market.

They are particularly useful for generating interest and

excitement around a student recruitment or fundraising

campaign, taking advantage of the directed focus to instantly

connect with visitors in a fresh and more emotionally

gratifying way.

By functioning as a stand-alone website with a unique URL,

there is an opportunity for creative interaction with your

chosen audience using a different tone and look than the

traditional institution's.

1. Microsites

Source: Higher Education Marketing – Are Microsites Right for Your School?

Are Microsites Right for Your School?

Slide 4

Before committing the resources to developing and

maintaining a microsite, it is important to determine whether

it is right for your school at this time.

Decentralizing an institution's official web presence with quirky

microsites can make it harder to keep a consistent branding strategy

and risks confusing users.

A good microsite provides unique content that fulfills a set purpose,

with interactive components that accumulate leads, such as video,

social media, games, contests or virtual tours.

Will it exist for a long or short time?

Microsites are often used for brief promotional campaigns, so

searching for a specific microsite might now return you to a main

site.

2. Do you really need a microsite?

Source: Higher Education Marketing – Are Microsites Right for Your School?

Are Microsites Right for Your School?

Slide 5

One strategic decision to make when considering microsite

development is the extent that it will be connected to the

main page.

Some believe that the relationship between the main site and

microsites should be intuitive, and there are many examples of

colleges that feature an inside look at student life with content

created by the students themselves.

These "for students, by students" microsites may include a live

stream of student tweets and storytelling blogs, providing a platform

for student self-expression and a valuable alternative perspectives of

how campus life really is.

Some sites include quizzes to playfully test how much they know

about the school or to help prospective students determine which

majors would be the best fit for them.

3. Microsite Strategy #1: An inside look at

student life

Source: Higher Education Marketing – Are Microsites Right for Your School?

Are Microsites Right for Your School?

Slide 6

A microsite doesn't necessarily need to directly reference

your brand to be effective.

An engaging microsite may aspire to create a viral movement or

stimulate curiosity and ideas by asking a provocative question

related to a school's program offerings.

The University of British Columbia's "rewrite the rules"

campaign (with the help of rewritetherules.ca microsite)

asked the community where the future of business was

headed, sparking active discussions on social media

channels with over 10,000 people from over 70 countries.

4. Microsite Strategy #2: Stimulate curiosity and

interest

Source: Higher Education Marketing – Are Microsites Right for Your School?

Are Microsites Right for Your School?

Slide 7

Some schools have launched microsites in the languages of

hot international recruitment markets like Arabic, Portuguese

and Chinese.

Although not physically on the main university server, these

sites retain the look and feel of the school, with links directly

to the home site to reassure prospects they're getting

legitimate info.

Translations are as much or more for the parents' benefit,

who often make the final decision for international student

enrollment.

5. Microsite Strategy #3: Foreign language

international recruitment

Source: Higher Education Marketing – Are Microsites Right for Your School?

Are Microsites Right for Your School?

Slide 8

Microsites are often used to highlight specific programs,

clubs or student services.

Some are completely integrated into the website, such as

Dalhousie University's undergraduate program microsites,

which are in effect richer extensions of the main site.

Concordia University has been developing an ambitious

research resource that will encourage exploration of

scholarly topics through a wealth of descriptive searching

tools and interactive links to faculty and course information.

6. Other Microsites

Source: Higher Education Marketing – Are Microsites Right for Your School?

Are Microsites Right for Your School?

Slide 9

There are many types of microsites but here are some

general guidelines:

Have a distinctive strategy and purpose with a size and scope that

fits your budget and resources to develop and maintain

Specific features should engage your audience in interactivity,

including user-generated content or personalized facts and data

The site's name is a great way to generate awareness and recall

Subject matter and call-to-action should be clear, compelling and

highly targeted (i.e. a small and agile but "meaty" site)

Maximize SEO for higher education by using topic-specific keywords

throughout the content

Don't forget to actively promote it in marketing communications, such

as emails to prospective students

Of course, your school's main website should be your priority and it

would be a mistake to create new sites without addressing old and

outdated content.

7. Tips for Effective Microsites

Source: Higher Education Marketing – Are Microsites Right for Your School?

Are Microsites Right for Your School?

Slide 10

Questions? 1.514.312.3968

info@higher-education-marketing.com

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