Almost Live from EduWeb 2006: Why Furman University Gets How the Web is About to Rock the Higher Ed Admission World

Natalie DiPasquale, one of our guest bloggers at EduWeb, attended another very, very interesting presentation: “Marketing Your University with Dynamic Print, Immersive Websites and Streaming Media” by Ryan Fisher, Director of Web Development at Furman University. Her report got me all excited when I read and edited it — especially the last line.

Another interesting session on the implementation of creative marketing tactics that have proved effective for Furman University. While Ryan Fisher opened with a helpful print talk (with ideas like three admissions magazines a year instead of one viewbook), I’ll include notes on the website and streaming media portions here.

Furman completely redesigned its website approx. 18 months ago to include elements like video, audio and a new design – and greatly enhanced the six-year-old Admissions site, EngageFurman.com/, available from the Prospective Students link on the university homepage and promoted in all admissions marketing collateral.

Furman’s goal was to achieve immersion through its website, helping people feel they were at Furman, not just experiencing it from afar. As we know, even when you visit a school in person, the people you meet during your stay and make connections with are far more important than just seeing the buildings. Through Furman’s flash-based virtual tours, Guided Video Tours, real students (“nightlife guy,” “Greek life girl,” “overachieving club president/exerciser/volunteer,” “athlete,” etc.) let you into their lives as a Furman student. When asked by an attendee how long the video tours are kept up on the site, Fisher acknowledged that every year, the site markets to a basically new audience, and that the video tours run for approx. two years.

Another fascinating concept Furman presented was its Dorm Room Extreme Makeover, an engaging way to show students just how they can make a Furman dorm their home. Despite the fact that there were no videographers on campus, all Furman had to invest was approx. $800 worth of equipment plus student labor (physically moving items for the Makeover, then video editing).

It will be six years this Fall that Furman has utilized student blogs. What’s unique about Furman’s program is that students can post their blogs live and unedited from their dorm rooms with no intervention from the marketing office. And Furman’s only seen a handful of questionable posts. While a few speakers alluded to blogs being a fad, Fisher commented that blogs may morph over time and likely include more audio & video, but there’s really no better way to show what current life on campus is like besides student blogs.

Fisher doesn’t see blogs playing a large role in driving application, though. [Karine’s note: on this point, you might want to have a look at my University Business column about the ROI of admission blogs and the interviews I did to prepare this article for the August 2006 issue]

And if you’re doing blogs right, you have to expect to worry about what will be said. Fisher noted an instance when a student blogger announced the reasons he was transferring to another school. While the university was understandably sensitive to this post just days before applicants’ final payment was due, the blog was only taken down for 24 hours and then reposted.

While some presentations lacked statistics, Furman was able to share:

• 33,000 visits a month to EngageFurman.com
• Up from 18,000 visits a month after 2001 launch
• 6.46 minutes = length of average visit
• Students report that they visit weekly (note that nothing else on site is updated weekly besides student blogs, so one can conclude that student blogs play a significant role in driving traffic and maintaining interest)

Furman is also launching their on-demand video channel, with advertising, for the university this Fall, partnering with Multicast Media out of Atlanta, GA (which resells Akamai’s bandwidth) and could include:

• Lecture series
• Athletic events
• Musical performances
• Admissions marketing
• Distance learning for alumni
• Distance learning for corporate education
• Fundraising
• Testimonials
• Student-produced filmed

Furman seems to have an ideal, budget-conscious arrangement in place, only paying for the bandwidth used and number of minutes watched – so the university will not lose out if no one happens to watch or viewers quit viewing early on in the broadcast. An attendee questioned Fisher on music & speaker rebroadcasting issues, and Fisher explained that all of Furman’s speakers sign a waiver before speaking that allows the university to rebroadcast speeches, but Fisher did agree that it might be too cost-prohibitive to purchase copywrights for rebroadcasting musical performances.

Final comments of interest:

• Parents are extremely involved in Furman’s prospective students’ decision process
• This is the first year Furman is spending more on web than print

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Karine’s note: “more budget on web than print” – now, that’s something. I’m pretty sure more and more higher ed institutions will (should) follow Furman’s lead.