Recommendations
Based on the overall success and failure of our ‘Step Beyond’ campaign we were able to come up with recommendations which the Global Mobility department will be able to employ in future campaigns in order to continue awareness of the four new exchange partner institutions.
1. Extend to RMIT International University: Hanoi
The RMIT Vietnam Hanoi campus is an extremely important audience to be considered in future campaigns. Further research would need to be conducted into the target audiences and any potential differences between the two campuses. However a very simple way to get the students informed about the exchange partners would be an offline to online social media campaign. The Saigon Global Mobility department could send the Hanoi campus the exchange partner posters and they could print them with their own resources. Then they could easily be distributed around campus the same way our campus did with a focus on specific faculties. Then they could initiate a Facebook competition where students have to take a photo with the poster and post it on the page. The first five students to do so would receive one of the ‘Step Beyond’ tote bags, which we could send to Hanoi. This would not only gain awareness on the Hanoi campus, but also bring the Hanoi students online by spreading awareness to the Facebook page.
2. Develop a Multimedia Interview Video
In the future we would recommend that Global Mobility develops a video which interviews interview students who have attended the four new international partner institutions. This was not possible for this campaign as the program hadn’t begun yet. It will prove useful to interview exchange students and their experiences and the benefits of the study exchange program after they return home from their time abroad at the new institutions, as it will give other students first hand knowledge of what the exchange program is like. Posting the video on the RMIT Website, Global Mobility Facebook and having it play on the television near Highlands will successfully gain more awareness to the exchange partners.
3. Expand social media marketing / connecting online to offline
It is important for the Global Mobility Department to begin to integrate the offline with the online content as it will keep a lasting audience. This could be done by getting the target audience to see a poster on campus then be drawn to go online to seek further information, then later to go to the Global Mobility Department to enroll. This could be done through putting a QR code on the campaign posters, that when scanned could lead to the Facebook page or website.
The offline to online strategy could also be improved by expanding Global Mobilities social media network to include other networks, such as Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. When using Instagram the Global Mobility department could host a competition where the students have to take a photo with one of the exchange posters, and post it with a tagline of “Where would you like to go on exchange…”, then the winner would have to collect a prize from the Global Mobility office, once again connecting online to offline.
Information regarding the Melbourne study exchange program should also be integrated into the social media pages, as it is an overall Global Mobility Department Facebook page, for all the exchange programs. This could be done by either having a singular day where they post just Melbourne information, such as “Melbourne Mondays” or by integrating regular content with the other exchange destinations.
The offline to online strategy could also be improved by expanding Global Mobilities social media network to include other networks, such as Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. When using Instagram the Global Mobility department could host a competition where the students have to take a photo with one of the exchange posters, and post it with a tagline of “Where would you like to go on exchange…”, then the winner would have to collect a prize from the Global Mobility office, once again connecting online to offline.
Information regarding the Melbourne study exchange program should also be integrated into the social media pages, as it is an overall Global Mobility Department Facebook page, for all the exchange programs. This could be done by either having a singular day where they post just Melbourne information, such as “Melbourne Mondays” or by integrating regular content with the other exchange destinations.
4. Lecture slide for teachers
A further recommendation would be to create a lecture slide for teachers to display at the start of lectures that displayed simple information, something similar to our campaign posters. As the campaign discovered that lecturers are a key audience to spreading information to the students. The lecture slide would also be used closer to the date of enrolment to inform students not to forget to enrol.
5. Discipline flyer
In order to make sure it is clearer to students what exchange destinations they can go to based on discipline, a simple A4 flyer could be made for each of the different disciplines. The flyer would include each of the partner institutions they could go to with maybe a short summary of the each of the universities. There would also be a linked to the Facebook and website along with ‘how to apply for exchange’ information. The flyer could be distributed by SESG volunteers around campus, and also a kept in the Global Mobility office.
6. Small travel guides
The travel guide could also be split up into four separate booklets, each focusing on one of the international institutions. This would mean they would be smaller and easier to read, and students could take only one that is relevant to them.