Hack Your Events: The Official Cheat Sheet to Increase Student Attendance
In the world of a higher ed professional, event planning is a given. With so many events occurring on campus though, you’re constantly competing for students’ extremely limited attention. Events may seem like a hit or a miss, and the adage “If you build it, they will come,” unfortunately doesn’t apply in college event planning.
With so much that can go wrong, you maybe wondering what your errors were. Was it bad communication? Poor promotion? Wrong timing? Maybe a combination of all of the above?
College students tend to juggle a large amount of balls all at once, and attending your event to designed to help them succeed just isn’t at the top of their priorities. They have academics pulling them in one direction and the party on friday night in the other. Students have a hard enough time figuring out what they’re going to have for breakfast, never mind deciding what events to go to.
So what is the secret recipe for having high student attendance at events? While there isn’t a cut and dry answer, there are a few simple things you can do right away to improve your events and draw in more students. Read our list and find out what students really want. and how to keep them coming back.
1. QUALITY OVER QUANTITY
Don’t just throw an event for the sake of throwing an event; begin your planning with a clear and valuable purpose in mind. If you have one or two killer events, they will outshine five or six mediocre mediocre events any day of the week. Outstanding content will impress your audience much more than the normal pizza and speaker events that plague the world of higher ed. Go for the gold and aim for quality.
2. DO YOUR RESEARCH
When was the last time you asked your target audience for feedback on the events you’ve had? Are you sure it is something they would spend their time to actually attend? It’s crucial that you serve your audience’s needs and wants and understand their expectations. It could just be that the events are just not what students expect nor want. Listen to your market!
3. MIX UP YOUR MARKETING
We all know how packed and overfilled those bulletin boards in the hallways are. The reality is that students look at them for 10 seconds and then forget everything they just saw. Don’t waste your time creating another lone flyer that never gets noticed. If promotional materials are a must, try tabeling or passing out anything other than flyers at the hub of your campus. Catch your students’ attention and explore other ways that’ll make your event stand out.
4.USE SOCIAL MEDIA
This is probably the most important one. On average, Americans aged 18-64 who use social networks say they spend an average of 3.2 hours per day doing so. That’s a lot of time! Make sure you are promoting and interacting with your audience on social media , since they spend an extended amount of time using it.
5. DITCH THE PIZZA
It’s safe to say that probably every single college in America has served pizza at almost everyone of their school functions. Instead of ordering that greasy, not-so-good-for-you cheese pie from down the street, switch it up. It will not only be a nice change, but it’ll also get your event remembered as the one with awesome food that DIDN’T HAVE PIZZA! Resist the temptation to be like everyone else and do something different.
