The world of marketing has changed significantly over the past few years, catapulting us into a time where technology, big data, consumer choice, and inbound marketing dominate the landscape. According to an Advertising Age article, “to Rise in the [marketing] Industry, One Has to Have a Strong Understanding of Analytics, a Deep Sense of Curiosity and Ability to Speak Between Offline and Online.”

But, what is Next Generation Recruitment Marketing for the world of Higher Education? As we define the next generation of recruitment marketing and embrace the world of 3.0, the following are keys to success for the year 2013 and beyond:

1.)  Storytelling: The ability to curate content and tell a story in an impactful way that makes a human connection is paramount.  Rob Walker recently spoke at CASE V&VI on the art of story-telling.  In his recent book, he demonstrates the increased value of an object when a story is told that connects emotion to the object. Connecting people through stories should be a major area of focus for your recruitment operation. Using social media monitoring to find what stories are being told is one way in which to start to curate that content.  Take, for example, a friend of ours who tells an amazing story about her college experience as a freshman at Northeastern in Boston.

2.)  Community Building: A key to future student recruitment is inviting prospective students into your tribe of enthusiasts through a community that offers relevant and interesting content.  Your prospective student pipeline will be driven by the art of inbound marketing and subsequently by your prospects finding you. Say goodbye to buying hundreds of thousands of leads that won’t convert. Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business provides a great example of how to offer fresh, relevant content that is appealing for its community members.

3.)  Big Data is not Going Away: Analytics that inform user experience, depict engagement, and paint a picture of what works are the true keys to a focused, segmented, data-driven communications strategy.  Determining the questions that need to be answered in relation to how your prospective students are engaging with you via the web is a good first step in using analytics to drive decision making. You can view a recent presentation on this topic here.

As we look to the future of marketing and how we can use resources more effectively, these three areas are crucial.