Rick Newman, PR & Marketing Executive:

• How to stand out in open evening season
• Five ways to maximise attendance 
• Understand your audience

Each year, thousands of students and their families have to make the difficult decision of which sixth form to apply for. We’re based in Cambridge; a world-renowned hub of education where competition amongst schools and colleges couldn’t be higher. However, this year, we have worked together with our client, Impington International College, to achieve a record number of registered attendees to its open evening by deploying marketing tactics to highlight the College’s unique selling points.

Standing out in a crowded space can be challenging, but here are my five top tips to ensure you maximise attendance at your open evening.

Get ahead of the pack

While it may seem obvious, the earlier you start promoting your open evening, the better. Students and their families will likely be thinking about the next steps of their educational journeys’ months, or even years, before the date of your open event. I’m not suggesting that you immediately set up an event page today for your 2030 open evening, but in the months leading up to the date, make sure that any positive stories about your college in relevant media and owned channels include call to actions to encourage readers to register their place.

Know your audience 

This may sound like a tip out of the ‘Marketing for Dummies’ handbook, but understanding your audience and promoting content that is tailored to their motivations is an almost guaranteed way to boost attendance numbers. Some parents may place greater importance on academic achievements, while students tend to be more interested in the overall experience of life at the college. Understanding what your audience is interested in and how they consume information can be the difference between a packed open evening and half empty school halls!

Consistently post on social media

As someone who works in public relations, placing a story in print media is something that I could never tire of, but the reality is, the majority of 12 to 15 year olds get their news from social media. Building an engaged audience on your sixth form’s social channels is a long process but the rewards will be significant. In the run up to your open evening, ensure you post a steady stream of content across the college’s social channels that appeals to prospective families and highlight things that make your sixth form unique. Importantly, where relevant, include details of the open event within your posts to ensure your audience is regularly reminded.

Showcase your alumni network

There is no better way to promote the benefits of your sixth form than by showcasing the experiences of those who have lived experience of studying there. This could be done by asking a former student who secured a place at a renowned university to provide a quote for your social channels, or distributing a press release to local media to highlight a previous student who has achieved something incredible. The right alumni success story could be the persuading factor between a prospective student attending your open evening or not.

Make the most of the big day

Once you’ve secured the registrations and planned a memorable evening to showcase the best of the sixth form, it is important that you provide your attendees with high quality resources and take aways that will make you stand out from the competition. Designing an interesting prospectus will provide an engaging reminder of why prospective students should enrol at your sixth form and live posting to social media will show those who were unable to attend what they missed out on!