I have found The Lawlor Group to be professionals of the highest caliber: dedicated, intelligent, creative, honest to a fault and fun to work with. John's team encompasses solid, well-grounded individuals who listen, yet speak from and share years of experience for the benefit of the client.

—Ralph Wagoner
President
Lutheran Educational Conference of North America
Sioux Falls, South Dakota

October 2006 Lawlor Focus

Satisfying the "Stealth Shopper" with a Virtual Tour

The New York Times recently highlighted the usefulness of college list generators like College Board's MatchMaker, Princeton Review's Counselor-O-Matic, and Thomas Peterson's College Quest. These web clearinghouses and other "one-stop" portals to find colleges make it easier for today's prospective students—and their parents—to consider schools they have never even heard of, much less seen. So when it comes to cutting their lists down to the schools they will visit, students are looking for a little visual help online.

In fact, 67 percent of more than 11,000 prospective students surveyed by CampusTours, Inc. say they use virtual tours to narrow their college lists. And, according to the survey, when students initially visit a college web site, 33 percent select "Virtual Tour" as their first link to follow (ahead of links to "Admissions" at 21 percent and "Prospective Students" at 20 percent) when that link is prominently displayed.

While the label "Virtual Tour" has become a web convention, it is also a moving target according to Chris Carson, president of CampusTours, Inc., since colleges use the term to signal content ranging from a fully guided video tour to a slideshow of photos, to a 360-degree panoramic view, to a series of Day-in-the-Life presentations. As for what students are actually seeking when they click on "Virtual Tour," Carson has found "the one overriding theme is that students are trying to see what life would be like on your campus—the 'Can I see myself here?' phenomenon." So the old-fashioned facility-oriented virtual tours no longer fit the bill, according to Carson.

"Instead, schools need to articulate their vision and express the excitement of their campus by personalizing the virtual tour experience," says Carson. "The good news is that what form and substance the presentation takes is up to you, so you have a broad degree of freedom to be imaginative in communicating your school's unique facets and strengths."

Lawlor Recommends

More and more students navigate the college search process without making themselves known to higher education institutions—often until they submit an application for admission. Undoubtedly, virtual tours are key to keeping your school on the "short list" of these "stealth" visitors who pre-screen your campus via the web. Clearly, it is essential to make a positive initial impression when students are giving your site a cursory look, but don't underestimate the power of an interactive virtual tour for building engagement during the recruiting process, as well.

While a "high tech" presentation can certainly signal a college's commitment to technology, it also pays to enhance your virtual tour with components that make it "high touch"—from featuring real students as virtual tour guides to highlighting the academic programs within particular facilities, to providing opportunities for students to see themselves on your campus (with tools for arranging and decorating a simulated residence hall room, for example).

But don't stop there: Build synergy with the actual campus visit through features such as podcasts that provide narration for self-guided walking tours and blogs or online diaries from students and faculty who help with campus tours and visits. Doing so will help students to connect with your institution, before and after they arrive on campus.

In the News: Google Acquires YouTube

Remember when having online video actually was harmful to your web traffic? Technology has made quality online video accessible to the average web visitor, and YouTube.com dominates the category, showing more than 100 million videos daily. And now Google has acquired the company for $1.65 billion. "This is just the beginning of an Internet video revolution," states Google CEO Eric Schmidt. Google and other investors see an untapped market in tying advertising revenue to video downloads.

Read the entire story at CNNMoney.com.

Did You Know?

In the first publicly available analysis of consumer usage of online streaming video content, released in October 2005, comScore Media Metrix Online Video Ratings service reported that more than 94 million people in the U.S., or 56 percent of the domestic Internet population, viewed a streaming video online. Over a three-month period, the average consumer viewed 73 minutes of streaming video content per month, with male users accounting for more than 60 percent of all video streamers.

Source: comScore

What are "stealth shoppers" learning about your school? To find out more about how to communicate with prospective students on their own terms, or to have The Lawlor Group conduct an audit of your institution's communications plan, please contact us by e-mailing tlg@thelawlorgroup.com or calling 800.972.4345.

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