International Student Recruitment Strategies by The Silent Salesmen

The Recruitment Methods of the Past

Imported education markets are changing quickly, especially with regards to how European institutions target Indian students. Using agents and commission-based recruitment models is becoming ineffective for institutions whose recruitment agencies are seeking a more transparent model with sustained, long-term value for their brand. The Silent Salesmen are encouraging international student recruitment teams to rethink their approach to the recruitment of international students by adopting their direct digital engagement strategies.

Students today are more informed than ever. They conduct their research before even composing their first application. Potential students will conduct searches and research on:

• Google

• Reddit

• YouTube

• Instagram

• University reviews, and

• feedback from alumni with first-hand experience.

Universities that refuse to build direct digital engagement strategies will rapidly disappear from the eyes of serious applicants.

Recruiting Agents: The Outdated Approach

Using recruitment agents to access the Indian education market has been a tried and tested model for the largest part of the last 3 decades for institutions. Unfortunately, the models tend to create long-term issues for the institutions, such as:

• Over-reliance on international third-party recruitment

• Limited control and insight into their marketing strategies

• Weakened institutional brand proposition

• Liability for own audience engagement

An extremely concerning issue is that the following:

The university does not hold or own the student relationship. Once the recruitment agents are no longer partnered, the trust and visibility towards the university will not remain.

The Transformation of Learning Attitudes and Behaviors

Students from India used to be dependent on agents for their educational choices. Nowadays, they conduct their own research about their desired universities on the internet before asking them any questions.

Key Student Decision-Making Tools

• Google

• Quora

• Reddit

• Instagram

• YouTube

• Alumni networks

Students now believe in and appreciate:

• Personal experiences

• Career progress

• Employment data

• Open and honest dialogue

as opposed to promotional materials.

This is the new path for international student recruitment.

The Silent Salesmen Strategy for International Student Recruitment

This strategy, in contrast to commission-based models, emphasises the importance of direct digital communication from universities to students.

This Model Employs:

• Direct lead generation

• Targeted performance campaigns

• Transparent data

• Audience segmentation

A long-term commitment to the brand, Contrarily, it used to be:

University → Agent → Student

Now it is:

University → Student

This provides:

• Greater trust

• Greater quality of inquiries

• Greater focus from universities and greater conversion opportunities

Finally and most essentially, the university gets to control their brand presence in India.

The Prominence of Direct Digital Communication

Visibility is no longer everything in the recruitment of students to universities. The most important factor now is credibility.

What Students Want

First, Indian students and parents look at:

• Career outcomes

• Return on investment

• Safety and housing

• Chances of getting a visa

• Exposure to industry

• Good alumni

Students will actively look out for universities that show these factors.

Performance Marketing vs Traditional Recruitment Techniques

In the modern world, traditional recruitment techniques mainly focus on getting students to enroll. The new recruitment techniques are centred around strategies that allow recruitment to be measured.

What Should Be Measured

• Cost for each lead

• Lead quality

• Level of engagement

• Inquiries compared to applications

What the audience is doing

Being a part of this new age visibility will allow universities to optimize:

• Finding the right market

• Spending in the right way

• Improving the right campaigns

Lasting Impressions

Universities have difficulty adapting to the changing recruitment environment. The more reliant a university is on traditional systems, the more likely it will fall behind in the new recruitment age.

The tenets of contemporary recruitment environments are:

• Clarity

• Proactive Participation

• Digitized Interaction

• Brand Control

The Silent Salesmen bridges the confidence gap with Indian students by implementing advanced education marketing, impact-driven campaigns, and a sustained online presence

Is your university ready to foster a more robust recruitment engine in India? To further recruit students, contact The Silent Salesman today.