Universities are allocating more time and money to marketing open days, engaging with students on social media, improving their prospectuses and developing their websites in order to attract applications from students. Those applications are now in, students have made their five choices, and are now tying down which of these will be their firm and insurance options. But what are the factors that influence this decision? How should marketers focus their efforts at this crucial time to swing the decision in their favour?

1. The secrets of
successfully
converting students

2. Universities are allocating more time and money to marketing open days, engaging
with students on social media, improving their prospectuses and developing their
websites in order to attract applications from students. Those applications are now in,
students have made their five choices, and are now tying down which of these will be
their firm and insurance options. But what are the factors that influence this decision?
How should marketers focus their efforts at this crucial time to swing the decision in
their favour?
The Student Room conducted a survey asking students about the things that matter
most to them at this stage in the university selection process. These are the key
findings, together with conversion advice from some of the specialists here at The
Student Room.
Introduction
Key findings
We asked 500 students who were deciding their firm
and insurance choices a range of questions, including:
What separates their firm and insurance choices?
Who are the main influencers on this decision?
What sources of information do they use to make up their mind?
How well do they think universities are communicating with them?
Setting the scene
The main application window has closed for 2015 and students will now
have received offers from all or some of their chosen unis. Jack
Wallington, Director of Community at The Student Room, gives the
insider view on what students are up to on our forums post-application.
It’s not over yet
With five months until A- Level results day, students haven’t downed tools. They’re still
busy researching their chosen universities in detail, chatting to undergrads on The
Student Room for the insider lowdown. They’re busy choosing and you too should be
busy trying to influence that choice.
Students are shopping around like never before
With a greater flexibility in available places in recent years and more info available online,
students’ hearts can still switch between their top unis. Now is the time for you to offer
more detailed assurance that your applicants have made the correct choice.

3. Students want you to build rapport, so do so
Applicants want you to dive in and chat to them. Be a friendly face. Ask them questions
and give them useful, informative answers. Encourage applicants to talk to you and get
to know each other. And don’t forget to wish them luck in their exams!
Students are looking for reassurance
Going to uni is increasingly being seen as nerve-wracking and the thought of
independence both exciting and scary. Why not calm nerves by sharing information
about the way your uni teams support students while settling in. Point out the fun things
about your uni, local shopping, entertainment and perhaps ask existing students to
share their stories (with photos of videos to show future students).
Build course excitement
Even now, students are getting excited about their course and what brilliant new things
they will be capable of. Spread the love by reassuring students they have made the right
choice with your course: share case studies, offer insights into upcoming lectures,
encourage some ‘light’ preparatory reading, include some stats about student success
rates and job prospects.
1. What separates firm and
insurance choices?
Locals 9% Institutionalists 18%
Specialists 12%
Graders 11%
Campusites 5%
Focused on a
single driving factor
64%
It's all about distance
from home
The prestige of the university
is what counts
How they rate the
campus and facilties
Location, location - the
appeal of the city is
what matters
Weighing up the probabilities
of success - focusing on
grade difference
It's the quality of the
specific course that counts
Course, location, lifestyle… It's a mix
of academic and other factors
It's a mix of quality of life
factors including friends,
appeal of the city, social life
Looking at university reputation,
course quality, facilities and
teaching approach
Complete balancers 26%
Lifestylers 2%
Studiers 7%
Focused on
mutiple factors
36%
Tourists 7%
We began by asking our students an open-ended question about what separated their firm and
insurance choices. Their answers showed they are split down into a number of different types –
some of which can be readily influenced by marketing; some with far more difficulty.

4. 2. Which channels have the biggest
influence over their choice?
Students battle with the decision to choose a university, and are seeking information like never
before. But what is the biggest source of influence on their decision?
University marketers work hard across all channels to build the image and reputation of their
institution, and reputation is the key factor for students – with 68% of our respondents saying it
shapes their decision on who will be their firm choice.
The single largest channel in influencing this, for 55% of students is the information they find
online – overshadowing the 41% who mention they are influenced by the communication and
engagement they had from the university.
The advice of parents and teachers at this stage in the post-application process is not to be
underestimated. They represent an influencing channel with strong potential (and 9 in 10 parents
agree with their son or daughter’s choice of university).
What influenced/will influence your firm choice?
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
How the experience of
applying to uni made me feel
Advice from parents/teachers
Advice from peers/friends
Advice from current
students/alumni
Information found online
Reputation and image
Communication I had with
the university
Other (please specify)

5. Pete Langley is a teacher with 37 years’ experience. He is our Study Help
Product Director and oversees relationships with the 80,000+ teachers
engaged with The Student Room. He sees teachers as a much
under-utilised coversion channel. How are they best nurtured to influence
their student cohorts?
Teachers want to be used!
As the survey shows, teachers are a key influence on student decision making – even
though we often don’t have the tools to inform students as well as we would like.
Recognise this and a world of marketing opportunities opens up.
It’s easy to keep us up to date, but most unis don’t
Often teachers’ personal knowledge is way out of date and there is pretty much zero
communication at subject level with the vast majority of universities – so there’s an
opportunity there to be picked up on – both immediately and over the longer term.
Don’t let your best assets sit idle
One of the most powerful information channels for teachers is former pupils - and social
media should make this easy and fast for unis to use. Encourage undergrads to stay in
touch with their teachers - and support them with ideas and advice
Use your subject strengths to engage us
Universities that are active in engaging teachers and students in all aspects of the
subjects they offer - whether this is information updates, workshops, or online events –
are generally the ones that tend to be recommended.
Get to the point
Teachers need to know in simple terms why your course is so compelling, how you
inspire undergraduates and the exciting options available. It’s easy for us to get lost in
reams of information; make sure your key messages stand out clearly so we can pass
them on.
Who influenced you?
Not at all
influential
Not very
influential
Quite
influential
Very
influential
Parents
Teachers
Peers/friends
Career services
16%
22%
17%
46%
18%
10%
8%
6%
26%
30%
38%
28%
41%
37%
37%
20%

6. 3. Students are still deciding…
The majority of students aren’t making light of their decision when it comes to narrowing their
firm and insurance offers down to two universities. Although around 60% of students said they
feel very confident they will get into their chosen university, only 27% of them have confirmed
their choices by February 2015, compared to 73% who are yet to do so.
On a scale of 1 (not at all) to 5 (very) how confident are you that you will
get into your chosen uni?
Have you confirmed your firm and insurance choices yet?
Our research found that universities are generally making a good job of the quality of
communication they have with students (though with no room for complacency as the OK/Poor
scores show). However, they don’t perform as well in terms of how often they communicate,
suggesting students are keen for universities to step up their engagement with them at this
crucial stage in the decision-making process.
4. Universities are communicating
well – but should communicate more
Yes
No
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
5
4
3
2
1
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

7. How do you rate the amount of communication you've had from
universities during the application process?
How do you rate the quality of communication you've had from
universities during the application process?
Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of students have checked out their chosen uni in person. More
surprisingly, is the lack of contact they’ve had through any channel with admissions and course
tutors. Over half of students (52%) who took part in the survey didn’t speak to an admissions
tutor or course team before making a decision.
5. There’s no substitute for personal
experience of a uni – but there’s scope
for tutors to engage more
Poor
OK
Good
Very good
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Poor
OK
Good
Very good
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

8. Did you speak to the admissions tutor or course teams before you
made your decision?
Have you visited the universities you have applied for?
More than a third of students don’t rate the advice they received from careers services when it
comes to making the choice between one university and another. It’s the advice from universities
themselves that they value most.
6. Careers service advice is lacking –
but universities are performing well
Yes
No
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Yes
No
No, but I still
plan too
Very
helpful
Somewhat
helpful
Poor N/A
From teachers
From parents
From peers
From close friends
From universities
25%
26%
18%
26%
47%
16%
17%
17%
14%
8%
45%
45%
50%
48%
41%
15%
12%
15%
11%
4%
From career services
From education websites
focusing on higer education
From The Student Room
17%
33%
34%
38%
21%
17%
25%
39%
47%
20%
6%
2%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

9. Summing it all up – how should
marketers be thinking in the
conversion period?
Rob Hardy has over 14 years’ experience is student marketing and is
Head of Education Sales at The Student Room. What does he see in
summary as the key imperatives for converting students post-application?
Being seen means being considered
It’s crucial to keep your foot on the pedal right through Extra and Clearing. Maintain high
levels of visibility to applicants – and don’t forget the large number of other students who
may still consider you (as our study shows).
Being interesting hooks them in
Sharing information on what they will experience when they arrive on campus, new
technology or the latest piece of research to come out of the faculty they have applied to
really helps get them bought into the idea of choosing your university.
Being helpful counts more than you might think
Be happy to give answers to what may seem low value questions; these can swing a
surprising number of applicants. Even questions such as “What are the crime rates?” and
“Is there room for my food in a shared fridge in halls?” have made a difference.
Show them what they have to look forward to
Who will they meet? What events and activities will be on when they arrive? Can the
Students’ Union offer any support here? Make students excited and enthusiastic at this
point in their decision-making process.
Use every channel students use
To do all these things effectively, you’re going to have to need to use a wider range of
communication channels than ever. Students are promiscuous in where they’ll look for
information, and you’ll need to be too if you want to influence them.
www.tsrmatters.co.uk
Want to know how we can help connect
you with applicants, parents and teachers
through the conversion period?
Email us on hello@thestudentroom.com
or call us on 0800 999 3222