Digital school advocacy

Rochester Independent College

802
stars-decor
unique visitors to the TAP Feed
94
star-plus
conversations between prospective students and ambassadors
469
stars
posts have been published on the TAP Feed

Digital School Advocacy


Rochester Independent College (RIC) approached The Ambassador Platform with the idea of building a digital community for their school.

By placing a significant amount of trust in their students, and giving them a platform through which they could showcase Rochester’s unique student experience, they have found that they have become reliable and passionate advocates for the college.

The Challenge

RIC’s use of student ambassadors started in the early 2000s when they began to work with their current students in an effort to more effectively tell the Rochester story. They started by trying to portray the school using student testimonials, rather than by just using stats and figures, but they received feedback from their audience that it was unclear whether these were real or whether they were created by the college for marketing purposes.

This, ultimately, led them to partner with TAP as part of their effort to offer prospective students the opportunity to connect with their current students to get a real insight into what life at RIC is really like.

RIC also observed that, today, at sixth form level, prospective students themselves play a key in the school decision making process. School choice is no longer a decision made solely by parents. They were aware that students now do their own research, and share the results of this research with their parents. So, for this reason, the idea of working with A-Levels student ambassadors to showcase the student experience through content, and by allowing prospective students to ask questions online was a key reason they decided to embrace the idea of digital ambassadors.  This approach has become central to their recruitment process. 

 

 

Quotes

Why The Ambassador Platform

"The ambassadors get safeguarding training before going live on TAP, but in terms of learning how to represent themselves online, they don’t really need any pointers from us. They are very good at being on brand. The ambassadors are great at posting content that embodies the spirit of the school"

Alistair Brownlow
Principal
Rochester Independent College

 

Check Out RIC's TAP Feed

Openness

RIC's partnership with The Ambassador Platform allowed them to open up the college to the outside world and showcase their unique offering. 

User-generated content

Our content feature has been really important for RIC and continues to be a driving force behind their social media presence.

Digital Ambassadors

RIC wanted to formalise and digitise their existing ambassador programme so their best representatives could engage with prospects online.

Digital Ambassadors at RIC

RIC has built an incredible digital ambassador programme. Their ambassadors represent different countries and courses and they are doing a fantastic job sharing content about their studies, living in Rochester, any activities they are involved in as part of their studies or boarding life; thus allowing prospective students to get a real insight into what it is like to be a student at RIC.

Over the nine months RIC have been using The Ambassador Platform they have found that engagement from prospective sixth form students runs parallel to the formal admissions process. They would simultaneously be dealing with a prospective student as part of the interview process, school visits calendar, or roster of taster days whilst that prospective student was also chatting with one of their student ambassadors. However, the kinds of questions that prospective students asked their ambassadors were very different to those that usually come up as part of the admission process.

 

Impact

• 802 unique visitors to the TAP Feed.
• 94 conversations between prospective students and ambassadors.
• Average conversation length of 11 messages.
• 469 posts have been published on the TAP Feed.
• 110 cross-posts to social media platforms, a video montage showcasing content created via the platform in 2021.
• 1hr 36m average ambassador response time to first prospect message.
• 25% of TAP conversations from parents of potential students.
• Balanced engagement between domestic 48% and overseas (52%) prospects.


40% of all prospects who used their TAP Feed went on to make an admissions enquiry directly with the college

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