The Ultimate Open Event Make Over

Many schools will have learnt valuable lessons from lockdown when it comes to Open Events  – whether that be the amount of money that can be saved from hosting an event online or cutting down on the overseas fairs they attend.  

Since the pandemic, schools and colleges globally joined the surge in hosting virtual open events, utilising the platforms that have been used to bridge that temporary gap between keeping people safe and providing information, on a personable level, to prospects. 

There are so many pros and cons to virtual events when comparing to the real deal, but as things slowly begin to revert to normal for schools, it presents the perfect opportunity to reinvent a traditional School/College Open Event to increase your conversions. 

We have narrowed down a few starting points from an inbound perspective that could really give your Open Day events the revamp they have been calling out for to drive prospects over the application line... 

Use what you know 

You couldn’t ask for a better starting point. Fresh from experiencing open events post-pandemic and during, you will have first-hand knowledge of what worked and what didn’t.  

Here at HubGem, we are very familiar with the age-old saying, ‘if it’s not broken, don’t fix it’. We like to think if it’s been done a certain way for x amount of years, chances are, there is a better way of doing it to keep things fresh, not only for your prospective families but for the internal staff involved.  

If you know that there was a certain element of your previous in-person open events that parents recognised and positively responded to, it may be worth keeping those aspects and renewing others. 

Ask the staff involved in previous events for their feedback on the things they liked best from virtual and in-person events to get a good starting point in place to form a strategy. 

For example, they may have recognised that a huge pro to virtual events throughout the pandemic was the flexibility for parents to attend, based in all different locations via a simple link on their desktop or phone - resulting in a surge of international interest and retention.  

Research and take inspiration from other schools to collate a truly unique strategy that works just for you and your school. Identify your USP’s (unique selling points) that really make you stand out as a school. Even asking for your students to get involved is a great way to show parents about your school. Maybe your Head Girl and Boy could lead groups attendee tours, speaking with parents along the way about their own experiences within the school and offering a friendly face to any prospective pupils who may benefit from a relatable face.  

Review 

Use any old feedback from your previous events to see what stood out to your prospective families.  

You may find a clear favourite or even a complete mix. One important thing to note is that hosting a mixture of virtual and in-person events throughout the year could be the answer to accommodate your prospective families. Especially those who are based overseas but would still like to get an insight into your school and meet with staff.  

Find a balance that works for you based on what your target audience needs. You may want to consider the different expectations for an Open Event for parents of children in a variety of age groups, or maybe even run a mixture of virtual and in-person Open events throughout the year.

Parents views on Open events may have changed to following the pandemic. Using social media polls and conversations to gain areal insight into their behaviours may also be a great way to understand what they would like from an Open Event. 

Once a few ideas have been established, a meeting with all staff involved is a great way to begin to really put these ideas into motion to begin to form a strategy.   

Pathway workflow  

Once you have completed all the above, putting a clear pathway and structure in place is a great starting point. This should entail details from the very beginning of an Open event such as social ads, establishing the staff required, marketing material preparation and so much more...all before you've even had your first sign up!  

This may sound daunting but once you have put in the groundwork of really understanding your prospective families and what they will want to see during the event, it gives you a great starting point to build the event and a much bigger chance at attending prospectives becoming pupils within your school.  

It is important to establish some key factors at this point such as: 

• How will you be collecting data? 
• What staff would you like at the event? 
• Are there going to be a series of personal tours and one-to-one meeting opportunities with staff? 
• What resources will be available for parents and prospective pupils to take home? 

The beauty of CRM Personalisation  

Traditionally, a lot of schools stick to the age-old rule of pen and paper as parents come through the doors to an Open Event. Whilst this was has worked in the past, it leaves no room for you to gather any real data or insight into your attendees prior to the event. The introduction of a CRM system to help manage events may be a great way for you really step up your communications before families have even stepped through the door.  

The journey can begin with a simple online contact form where parents are able to register their attendance, which can be linked via your website and social media ads.  In doing so, you have your contact’s details, and with a CRM such as HubSpot, an insight into any other website pages the parent may have visited and shown interest prior to the event, such as Sports or Arts. You could also include a question within the registration form asking about their child’s favourite subjects of interest are.  

This not only provides you with the information required to provide personalised communications on the lead-up and follow up of the event but also to perhaps pre organise and gather a unique prospective welcome pack and note to hand to the family upon arrival. With HubSpot’s custom properties, you re even able to manually sign each attendee in as they walk through the door! 

This also is incredibly useful following the event, where you can chase any registered contacts who didn’t attend to ask if they would like to schedule another visit or speak to a member of your team. 

Follow up Tips 

So, you have perfected the event and are sitting back with a well-deserved frothy coffee and slice of cake. But we’re going to need you to step away from that idyllic setting for just one moment to complete the most crucial part of your open event of all...Follow-ups!  

After your prospective families have been blown away by your school following the event, the timing of your follow up can be the difference between converting a prospect to joining your school or opting for the other school they viewed who have reached out and shown more efficient communication.  

Gathering data from any of your attendees, allowing you to effectively follow up with any relevant information is key - you can really make this process more efficient and personal. With certain CRM systems such a HubSpot, you are able to put all attendees into a static list of contacts, ready for you to reach out to with any notes regarding specific interests using a pre-written open event template. This particular use of CRM is a game-changer for those reading this who are familiar with the tedious task of manual follow up emails (if you know, you know!)