In my last post, I discussed tools for managing communications effectively at institutions of higher education. Today I want to talk about one of the newest means of communication and how it relates to your college or university.
Mobile applications are all the rage right now, with new apps coming out every day to entertain you as well as solve problems you never knew you had. They’re also being used actively by businesses and public institutions to establish a new touch point for strengthening consumer relationships with the brand and building loyalty. But should mobile applications be part of a university’s communications strategy? Is there a place for apps in higher education?
Answering these questions should begin with an understanding of the target audience. The younger generations have moved away from laptops and computers as their primary digital communications tools, using SMS and mobile social media apps as more convenient ways to keep in constant contact. Academic professionals and researchers are also becoming increasingly comfortable with online collaboration tools and remote learning applications, all of which are either available on, or quickly migrating to, mobile devices. These trends among key audiences work together to bring mobile applications to the forefront of higher ed communications.
Apps allow you to build greater connectivity between your institution and its audience by enriching the community experience. By creating a common point of access through an application to existing communication systems – CMS, news, forms, events, remote learning tools, etc. – you’ll be drawing prospective students, students, faculty, staff and alumni closer together and promote a sense of personal involvement.
One complaint often raised against apps is that the various mobile platforms require each require the development of a completely new app and represent an enormous expenditure of time and money. However, app publishing programs, like web-based Whoop, enable you to create one general version of an app and then automatically format it for use on each of the major mobile platforms.
Here are just a few of the many types of apps that you can use to build greater connectivity between your institution and its audience through an enriched experience:
- Location-based apps – you can offer GPS-guided campus tours, keyed recruitment messages, or activity updates.
- Interactive features not available through mobile versions of a website – with an app you can allow users to easily take and share images or point their mobile device’s built-in camera at a landmark and receive real-time information, two examples of things mobile websites just can’t accomplish.
- Augment and support other campus activities – allow students and faculty to access research databases, schedule or RSVP for campus events, sign up for classes, communicate through class discussion forums or access in-class discussion materials and presentations.
As you can see, apps represent a world of possibilities for making your college or university a better place to be as well as marketing your school to prospective students and alumni donors.
For more insight on higher education communications and marketing, download my new white paper, “Improving Alumni Engagement”.