Creating an effective marketing tool using student reviews

Last month our Director of B2B Marketing Caroline Cowdrey highlighted how a steady flow of reviews will benefit your university recruitment between now and A Level results day.

In summary: 

• Students hold the power of choice so you need to stand out
• Students want to feel supported and guided by relevant and helpful information
• Reviews are one of the most important resources students use when choosing a university
• Not everyone can make university open days, so reviews are an essential way of sharing student experience 
• Students and key influencers want objective and trustworthy information

So we know reviews are important, but how do you create an effective tool from reviews?

StudentCrowd is the only complete decision-making platform with reviews at the focal point - and we represent 100% of UG degree courses, universities and accommodation halls enabling students to make all of their decisions on one platform.

If you want to demonstrate excellent student experience harnessing the power of student voice, here are 10 things to consider:

1. Your review scores contribute to an overall rating out of 5 stars and determines your league table position so ensuring your students are getting an all-round great experience is just as important as generating reviews.
2. Overall review scores are not purely based on an average score. We use a sophisticated algorithm which also takes into account recency of reviews, volume and authenticity.
3. Many international students can’t visit your university open days in person, so aim for a good balance of domestic Vs international reviewers as their experience will likely be from a different perspective and more meaningful.
4. Responding to reviews enables you to demonstrate to parents and students how much you value student experience.
5. Incentivising students to leave reviews, might impact the quality of reviews. Don’t forget authenticity signals are picked up by our algorithm so consider using student ambassadors to drive reviews amongst peers. 
6. On campus events provide an excellent time to meet your students face to face and encourage them to review their experience, enabling you to build a good bank of reviews quickly.
7. Integrating your reviews into your own website provides social proof and students can trust that they are from an unbiased reputable source.
8. We don’t filter out or hide negative reviews on your profile. Showing a mix of feedback and experience paints an honest and authentic picture for researching students.
9. Don’t forget about your accommodation reviews. Accommodation is a huge influencer when choosing where to study so give prospective students your best foot forward and show them the whole student experience.
10. Treat your reviews as free market research and use the intel they provide to understand your strengths and drive change.

We hope this has been insightful and ignited a passion in you for leveraging student voice to boost your reputation.

If you would like to know more, or would like a demo, please get in touch.