Recruiting Resources

You’ve invested a lot of time and energy designing a program that you feel will provide an added value to the academic career of your students. Now it is time to spread the word and start enrolling participants! One thing to keep in mind is that you are not “selling” something to students; you are offering them a valuable experience that will be beneficial to them, so keep that in mind. Your enthusiasm is vital!

KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

Before starting your marketing plan, think about what type of student will be interested in this program and why. Adapt all communication based on the prospective profile you’ve found. Here are some of the reasons students choose a program:

Destination. Good news! Barcelona is fantastic and helps to sell itself! Let’s make sure that all your materials reflect the city as much as possible.
Attending faculty. Most faculty members come with students that have taken their classes in the past. Students that enjoyed a course with this professor are more likely to sign up, and others are more apt to follow suit if it is a professor that has a great reputation on campus. The enthusiasm the faculty has for promoting the program is perhaps the most important element to making a program successful.
The course offering. Students may need to complete certain requirements, or are simply interested in a specific topic. Running a course that helps students fulfill requirements is very helpful, so get as many departments on board to accept the credit offered. The title of the program also plays a role in attracting students. It should be fun and catchy but also something that students will want to appear on their transcript.
Going Abroad. If you’re running a semester long program, students may be attracted to the idea of travelling while still having the comfort of a familiar face and group structure. Students who may not be ready to travel alone will like this option. If your program is short term, it may appeal to students who can’t fit a semester abroad program into their academic schedule, are balancing work and/or family responsibilities, or are intimidated by the idea of being away for a long period.

Timing

Start early. The earlier you get the word out about your program, the longer students will have to start planning and saving. Plus, the sooner the group is confirmed, the earlier you can book flights, which is another savings to your students. A great time to talk about the program is just before a school break, so that students will have the opportunity to discuss the program with their families while at home.

spread the word

Some ideas of how a faculty member or the study abroad office can begin to get the word out about a program:

Start by mentioning the program in all attending professors’ classes. If possible, give a quick PowerPoint info session with lots of visuals. If you are repeating the program, have a past student come in to speak to your current students. BarcelonaSAE will provide you with a template that you can adapt to your program.
Ask if you can visit other faculty’s classrooms to give the same talk about the program and answer questions.
Host information sessions. Don’t forget to include the times and locations of these in print materials. A good information session should make time to talk about the program, sample itinerary, housing, course offering (and credits received), the culture of Barcelona, the application process, price and financial aid opportunities, and what you are expecting of participants. The more detail you can provide, the better.
Seek out your former students that may be interested and tell them about the program. If there are specific students you would love to have on the program, write a personalized email to these candidates. They’ll be thrilled that you thought of them.
Talk about the program in your department meetings, and ask to attend the meetings of any departments that may have crossover interest to explain the program in detail.
Ask other advisors how your program might fit into their student’s needs. Encourage them to recommend the program to their students who could benefit. Make sure they have fliers and other information on hand.
Use interested students to recruit others. A student is far more likely to join a program if they know someone going. Having a “refer a friend” discount is one option, but just letting students know how many students need to sign up in order to make the program run (and being sure they have access to fliers or websites with more information) will turn your enrolled students into your ambassadors.
Ask to have a table at the study abroad fair or outside of a dining hall. Be sure to bring lots of fliers, posters, and anything related to the local culture of Barcelona that you can find. Again, if you are repeating the program, use past students to help with this.
Visit any student organizations that might have a crossover interest, such as Spanish table, international student organizations, etc.

Keep a list

Gather info. Whenever a student shows interest in the program, add their name and email to a “potential student” list. Be sure to include them in subsequent mailings and follow up with them to answer any questions they have.

Print materials

There are many marketing materials you can use. BarcelonaSAE will send you some of these, but let us know if there is anything else we can help you with.

Posters. Print out and put up posters/fliers in common areas and bulletin boards (as well as classrooms, the career center, study abroad office, staff lounges, library, etc). Be sure to include information so that students can contact you or access a program website if they are interested (tear away fliers are great for this).
Small fliers (half pages) that you can hand out in classes or at info tables could include program basics like cost and dates with ways to get more details (links to program website, facebook page, twitter, etc). Have these ready when you visit classes, to give to other faculty members, at info tables, etc.
Business card fliers. These tiny handouts should include the program name and a way to get more info. You could even include a QR code that links to your website.
Ask to write about the program in campus publications.
If you have the budget, a banner in the dining hall or common areas can be a great way to get attention for your program.

online resources

Some ideas for putting the web to your advantage:

Informational email. Ask if you can use any campus list-serves or department related email lists to send out information about the program and to spread the word about your upcoming info sessions.
Create a program webpage. You can use Google Pages, WordPress or your department website to create a quick website that shares details about the program. Feel free to include a sample itinerary, video about Barcelona, info about the weather, the culture and your course syllabus. This is a great tool for nervous parents and for students that want information on things like housing options, trips they’ll take, etc. The more information the better!
Ask to add a link to your program page on your campus Study Abroad website and any relevant department websites.
Create a Facebook group for students who are interested or enrolled. Post photos of Barcelona or articles related to the material of your class. Feel free to add the BarcelonaSAE staff and we can do a lot of the posting for you. This can be a great way both to recruit student but also to maintain excitement for those that are already signed up!
Create a program blog and start posting things even before you go on the trip. You can blog about Spanish and Catalan culture, course relevant materials, packing tips, etc. If you run the program a second year, the blog will already be populated with great info from your past trip to get new students interested. Warning though, don’t start a blog you can’t keep up with.
Instagram. If you have an account already (or create one just for this course) you can start posting daily “Barcelona Inspiration” photos. Ask us and we can send you photos you can use. Be sure to include the instagram account on your fliers and posters.
Twitter. Create a twitter account for the program and send out tweets related to the program topics, Barcelona culture, etc. BarcelonaSAE has a list of some suggested tweets you can use.
E-mail newsletter. If you’ve started promoting early enough, you may want to keep student engaged through the lead up to the program with a newsletter (monthly or bi-weekly) with reminders of things they need to do (visa steps, deposits, etc) but also with some fun facts about the trip. You can make this an email directly from the study abroad office or faculty member’s email or use a newsletter service like mailchimp.
Videos are a great tool to promote your program. You can make a video using still shots and text that explains your program or if you are repeating the program, think about asking a former student to make a video using their footage. There are also many great videos of Barcelona that already exist, so share them.

RESOURCES

Check out our resources that you can download and adapt to your needs: