Tripling conversion rates

University of Waikato

251
percent
Increase in enrollments
64
percent
Enrolment rate from one targeted webinar

Tripling international students' conversion rates

The University of Waikato is a forward-thinking university in New Zealand with a strong commitment to attracting and supporting international students. Seeking innovative ways to reduce prospective student anxiety and provide authentic insights into student life, the university turned to The Ambassador Platform (TAP) to enhance its recruitment efforts. And they found the winning formula which allowed them to 3x the number of students enrolled during their last intake.

The challenge

The University of Waikato wanted to help prospective students to connect directly with current students, and needed a tool to make it happen. The primary objective was to help potential future students picture themselves living and studying at Waikato by reducing their anxiety through peer-to-peer interactions. The university wanted to move beyond formal university communications and build a space where prospective students could see themselves in real student scenarios.

Waikato centre
Waikato student centre

Solution

By working closely with the TAP team and incorporating The Ambassador Platform into their recruitment process, the University of Waikato successfully connected ambassadors with potential students in real time. This seamless connection was made possible by embedding the platform across multiple touchpoints, including website interactions, email campaigns, and webinars. This multi-channel approach provided consistent opportunities for authentic peer-to-peer engagement across the student journey through chats, content and online events, supporting the university's broader recruitment goals.

Check out University of Waikato's TAP Feed
  • Integration of TAP with Landing Pages
  • Increased Exposure for Ambassadors
  • Targeted and Personalised Communications

A multi-channel approach

The University of Waikato took a multi-pronged approach to make sure as many prospective students as possible could take advantage of the opportunity to interact with their student ambassadors. This included:

Integration of TAP with Landing Pages: The university modified some of its website landing pages to include pop-cards, ensuring that inquiries about student life would go straight to their ambassadors. This gave prospective students more visibility into real student experiences at the university. 

Leveraging Student Ambassadors: UoW's student ambassadors were incorporated into campus visits, open days, and webinars, helping to humanise the recruitment process. One standout example is the TAP-hosted webinar in December 2023, which achieved a staggering 23% conversion rate from registration to enrollment - significantly higher than the typical conversion rate of 14% for similar initiatives. A webinar targeted to Indian students featuring an Indian ambassador, saw a 64% conversion rate from inquiry to enrollment. 

Targeted Communications: The university also integrated TAP into its inquiry management track through email campaigns. They included links to chat with an ambassador in emails sent at strategic points, such as 7 weeks after an inquiry submission or 8 weeks after an offer was made. Specific campaign emails, like those targeted to business students, also featured links to relevant ambassadors.

The University of Waikato worked closely with TAP through regular meetings to monitor progress, track data, and receive recommendations on how to optimise the platform’s use. The collaborative effort ensured continuous improvements in strategy and execution, helping the university get the most out of TAP’s features.

The Results

The University of Waikato's partnership with The Ambassador Platform has transformed its approach to international student recruitment. By fostering authentic, peer-led interactions, the university has successfully reduced anxiety for prospective students, improved conversion rates, and strengthened its overall recruitment strategy. As a result, they have more than tripled the number of students enrolled during their latest intake.

They have also experienced other positive outcomes:

New Ambassador Recruitment: Every applicant for the university’s ambassador program had attended an ambassador-led webinar, highlighting the value of the peer-to-peer experience in shaping student engagement and decisions. 

Conversion Rates of targeted campaign: The integration of ambassadors into webinars and email campaigns delivered measurable results, with conversion rates significantly higher than standard benchmarks. The Indian applicant webinar, for example, achieved a 64% conversion rate. 

Enhanced Inquiry Management: TAP’s integration into the inquiry management process allowed for more targeted follow-up, with ambassadors playing a key role in nurturing prospective students through emails and direct engagement.

Through trial and error, the University of Waikato found the most effective way to leverage webinars for recruitment. Initially, webinars were segmented by market, but feedback from students led the university to shift to a panel format where all ambassadors could speak. This inclusive approach, with each ambassador presenting for 10 minutes, made the webinars more dynamic and accessible to a broader audience. By focusing on the value of their own student ambassadors, and letting them speak directly to prospective students, enrollment has more than doubled.

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