Engaging students in the midst of a pandemic

Work and play

Making a real difference to local government

Real difference

Engaging diverse audiences for the NHS

Your NHS

A global challenge

100% you

The social mobility challenge

Be the apprentices

The pandemic has changed student engagement in a number of different ways. Virtual has become a norm &#8211; to attract as well as assess students. And it seems that employers are determined not to go back to old methods, but to embrace a more hybrid model. But this means different kinds of challenges &#8211; breaking through the digital noise, grabbing the passers-by, reaching out to diverse audiences and creating connected experiences that students want to be part of. We are here to support employers and help them transform engagement &#8211; from school years to graduate alumni, from initial contact to webinars, social engagement and more.

Autumn Not On Campus Guide for Early Careers

Student Marketing Bootcamp

No one needs another generic survey about generation z or student trends. There are enough of them already; and as we’ve seen, very few of them agree with each other. We’re focused on personalised, focused insight into the very real challenges you face – and how you can identify and engage the right people. We’ve got the experience and expertise to conduct qualitative and quantitative research that makes for better decision making.
Talk to us about:
• Audience insight 
• Value proposition research 
• Engagement analysis 
• Process audit 
• Measurement

Insight

What are your key audiences?  How can you realistically engage them?  How can you deliver experiences that make you the go-to employer?  These are some of the questions we look to answer in any strategy.  Combining experience, insight and innovation, we provide clients with strategies that will invariably challenge current approaches.  Because without new and divergent thinking, aren’t we simply doing the same thing and expecting a different result?
Talk to us about:
<ul>
<li>Value proposition development</li>
<li>Channel strategy</li>
<li>Student engagement</li>
<li>Schools and campus strategy</li>
<li>Identification and targeting</li>
</ul>

Strategy

We are a brand and engagement agency; so we focus heavily on how a brand story can evoke the right emotions in the audience and provoke action.  We are master storytellers, using all the tools in the communications box to engage and inspire our audiences, from the first contact right through to life inside an organisation.  Remember, communications that engages really connect with the right people and builds the brand is as much about the science as it is surprising audiences.
Talk to us about:
<ul>
<li>Concept development</li>
<li>Social media content</li>
<li>Writing and design</li>
</ul>

CREATIVE

In 2020, we’ve seen a seismic shift in the way we might work in the future – and it is more virtual and more digital, relying less on the traditional engagement opportunities.  Now more than ever brands need to invest in digital experiences that cut through the ever-increasing noise and engage people in novel and relevant ways.  It is no longer enough simply to have a website.  What is your social strategy?  How can you use Voice or AR?  What will help and support students in the best possible way?  Lots of questions.  We can help you come up with the answers.
Talk to us about:
<ul>
<li>Website design and development</li>
<li>App development</li>
<li>AR, VR and Voice</li>
<li>Social media engagement</li>
<li>Digital marketing</li>
</ul>

DIGITAL

Student Marketing

As we move into a new phase of hybrid working environments, we must keep our internal communications healthy and strong to maintain mutual trust and ensure the wellbeing of every employee and ultimately the organisation.  
The weekly company update that once got half-hearted glance gained significance in the pandemic when internal communications became vital for organisations to navigate their way through the volatile pandemic landscape.  The <a href="https://www.edelman.com/trust/2021-trust-barometer">2021 Edelman Trust Barometer</a> revealed that employer media was considered the most believable in the past year, and business became the only trusted institution over government, media and NGOs. As we hash out hybrid working plans and increasingly integrate technology to our processes, it’s time to do an internal comms health check to build on that positive foundation of trust and open communication.    
 Transparency incites trust – be clear and present 
The less time you leave people guessing the better. Our imaginations can make monsters out of shadows, and silence – especially in this tense climate – can be easily filled with misinformation. Regardless of an organisations’ path through the pandemic, the underlying anxiety in employees over job security permeates society globally (<a href="https://www.edelman.com/trust/2021-trust-barometer">Edelman Trust Barometer</a>). Keep people informed of what’s going on, and what is expected of them as the ever-changing government guidelines will have implications for people’s routines and behaviours. Be a reliable source of information to cut through the stress-inducing media noise.  
 Communication is a two-way street – listen!  
Building trust and productive communication channels means recognising the needs and concerns of your people. Create opportunities for people to give feedback with pulse surveys, one-to-ones with key people or random population samples, or create anonymous feedback hubs for example. Returning to work will be difficult for many, and the numbers certainly show an overall reluctance to return work as shown in the work put out by Jisc at the <a href="https://www.106comms.com/publications/ise-conference-insights">ISE Student Recruitment Conference 2021</a>. So be transparent about what is happening and why, listen to people and actually take action or refine your strategy with this valuable employee insight.  
Empowering key communication agents 
Strong internal communication means more than just a reliable bulletin or a weekly roundup. It means empowering key information conduits – line managers, the CEO, other trusted internal ambassadors – and giving them the information they need to be effective communicators. That may be granting them access to the primary messaging channels, it may be giving them a toolkit that structures their information in a concise and consistent way, or it could be working with them to identify their stakeholders’ needs and the key information points that should be shared. 
 Straight from the source – consolidating channels and consistent messaging   
 This is important at every level. Review your current communication channels and, if possible, check the data to see how much engagement your communications have received. Analytical insights are a powerful tool that will save you time and money as they enable you to make informed decisions when streamlining processes. Hybrid working introduces a plethora of communication channels which can lead to crossed wires. Clarify what platforms are used for what, and how they work together – it may seem obvious, but we all have different virtual habits and assumptions lead to confusion which results in a loss of trust.  
 The virtual trust fall 
 Misinformation, disinformation, confusion and chaos have ruled the media landscape throughout the pandemic. Trust in all information in the UK is at a record low, so people are turning to their employers for stability and honesty (Edelman Trust Barometer).  We need to be there to catch them and that requires a robust internal communication strategy.   
 Multigenerational expert Lindsey Pollak gave a great paper at the <a href="https://www.106comms.com/publications/ise-conference-insights">ISE Conference</a> in which she spoke about the importance of asking.  She gave the example of a team WFH. The senior team leader was frustrated by people leaning on direct messaging rather than hashing it out over a quick call and not calling her back. When why they weren’t calling back, the team responded they didn’t want to disturb her as they were sure she was very busy. Good intentions all around, but the lack of communication disrupted productivity and fostered a tense environment.  
So key communicators – remember to ask!

A virtual trust fall:Keeping trust at the heart of your internal comms strategy

<h2>Practical steps to grow your cultural capital:</h2>
Audience insight – it is everything if you want to build cultural capital.
Global flex – of course, so many companies work in a global context; so it’s important to think about how your cultural capital flexes across countries.
Use of language – this is not simply about gender de-coding tools; but how your language connects with audiences.
Safe to engage – make it easy to engage with you, and encourage people to ask anything they like, even what might seem like silly questions.
Team upskilling – make sure your team is aware and in tune with your strategy – and have the skills and support to create the best experience.
Candidate engagement – from assessment to feedback, it’s critical to engage all audiences.
To discover more about growing your cultural capital, get in touch with <a href="mailto:Jayne@106comms.com">Jayne@106comms.com</a>

Cultural Capital

Technology isn’t the only thing defining the brave new hybrid world we’re stepping into. At the 2021 ISE Student Recruitment Conference it became clear we’re entering a new age of meaningful connections and mutual respect. This nexus of new perspectives, practical learnings and optimism gave us a glimpse at where we’re at and what’s to come. Take a look below to get your own peek into the crystal ball with 106 Comms’ Six Session Takeaways.
The <a href="https://ise.org.uk/">ISE</a> conference this week was a fantastic opportunity to come together as a community and talk about the changes we want to see across all sectors, and how we can support our graduates in this incredibly difficult job market.
Our team have picked out six themes that were woven across the 25+ sessions. These takeaways are a call to action, for us all to take those small steps that build a movement. Diversity and inclusion is gaining momentum across the board, so it’s vital the conversion from words to actions continues to grow.
1. Recruitment is a force for good! 
Early talent recruitment offers an amazing opportunity for us to come together and set a positive professional culture of diversity and inclusion from the word ‘go’. Early talent candidates and professionals have the optimism, the raw talent and fresh perspective that we need to shift the dial.
2. Be aware of your audience and their deeper motivations and experience. 
We have to segment groups to market effectively and streamline the talent pool. Be clever with how you divide groups to target, your ideal candidate may look different to what you think. And make sure that you remember, no matter how you segment, every group is granular with infinite variety of experience and intersectionality.
3. Confidence is key – be proactive with early talent and reap the rewards. 
Setting D&amp;I goals is vital, but unless underrepresented talent is supported and built up then these goals may fall short. Lack of confidence can stem from imposter syndrome, or from not feeling wanted or capable due to lack of representation, and most often affects people from low socio-economic backgrounds and women. This in turn results in low application rates from these groups or late applications which, in a flooded job market, can mean missing out. Reach out directly to candidates and show them it’s safe to have a go and that they have something valuable to offer.
4. Belonging and inclusion must be the bedrock of company culture. 
This goes beyond the recruitment and the induction phase and spans a career. Retention of underrepresented employees has been difficult for some organisations as their D&amp;I policy doesn’t go further than the paper it’s written on. There must be a mentality of equity before equality, to give underrepresented employees the opportunity and support that comes so easily to traditionally dominant groups in the workplace.
5. Be reflexive and bring down barriers and biases. 
This will always be an ongoing process, but as we move to hybrid working and virtual recruitment it is vital assessors and employers are aware of new barriers and biases that can arise. Not everyone has access to a good internet connection or has space to set up a productive work environment or an interview room at home. People also have different communication styles online. To be as fair and inclusive as possible, keep communication open and ask what their situation is and how you can help them.
6. Technology has a human heart with immense potential. 
We may feel disconnected at times, but the virtual world – as demonstrated by the virtual ISE conference! – has the capacity to engage and create new networks and meaningful connections. It is a fantastic democratizing tool, removing geographic hurdles and increasing accessibility to information and people.
We left the conference with a feeling of optimism and motivation which was shared by everyone there. If you want to take part and read more about the incredible insights brought forward at the conference, head <a href="https://www.106comms.com/publications/ise-conference-insights">here</a> for session summaries put together by yours truly.

ISE 2021 :106 Comms’ Six Session Takeaways.

Planning your 2021-2 Attraction/ Student Outreach campaign and need external support? How do you know who to work with?
I can’t fail to notice the creeping tide of webinars around virtual engagement, on how to attract niche audiences (sorry guilty as charged on that one),that had temporarily abated over the past couple of months.  So it must be that time again – Graduate Campaign Planning Season.
If you are working in the student recruitment space and are in the throes of planning your next campaign, then this article might be useful if you are thinking about who to work with to deliver your campaign whether that be a long-term relationship or on an individual project basis.
It all starts with the WHY? Why are you looking for a supplier partner to work with?
In most cases, it is due to either capacity or capability of your own internal team.  Having clarity on this will be hugely helpful for the tendering suppliers as it will shape the expectations of the supplier in its broadest terms. If you have been working with an agency to date, then it is important to understand and to communicate the reasons behind either a re-pitch or a change in agency.  Some of the most cited reasons for a change in agency are:
<ul>
<li>Breakdown of the working relationship</li>
<li>Change of personnel at the agency</li>
<li>Gone stale/ complacency/ lack of proactivity.</li>
<li>Ineffective solutions</li>
<li>Cost</li>
<li>Trust due to conflict with other agency clients</li>
</ul>
Secondly it’s really important to focus on ‘WHAT is the response that is required and what is the brief?’
The written brief for your future supplier sets the tone for the rest of the relationship. For agencies, it shows how the client sees the relationship – a well-researched, thought-through brief that sets the agency up for success is what we all would wish for. The brief will include:
The scope of work, (what’s in and what’s not) indicative budget, relevant experience required, size and reputation of agency, culture. I could go on. The agency selection criterion is a really important part of the brief as this will give agencies the opportunity to self-select in or out of the process.
The very best pitches that I have worked on have been where the client has invested more time in the briefing process than in the pitches themselves. Opening their diaries for follow-up sessions post-initial briefings allows agencies to work in collaboration with the client as they develop their response.
Next is to understand WHO can deliver the ask?
Conducting market due diligence is key to understanding who should be in the frame to pitch for this work. How do you gather your long list? It’s a matter of doing the basics – does the supplier website clearly demonstrate they have the experience, the capacity and the approach you require? And are they proud to share client feedback?  It’s also about digging more deeply – talk to your network as well as those you don’t usually approach for personal recommendations. Which agencies are proactive in the market (e.g. on LinkedIn) and has a point of view on student marketing? Its also worth looking at how invested the agency is in student marketing – do they run their own proprietary research into the market showing real passion and commitment?
Holding chemistry meetings with a number of selected agencies is a great opportunity for you to meet with the agencies before any kind of formal pitch takes place &#8211; to see how the &#8216;chemistry&#8216; works between the  two teams.  Sometimes, the meeting format will be a creds presentation by the agency but sometimes the client will pose a specific challenge for discussion.
As part of understanding who can deliver, ask the age-old question of ‘to pitch or not to pitch? – how many?
IF you ask agencies ‘is pitching helpful ?’, you often get this answer….
<img loading="lazy" class=" wp-image-8734 aligncenter" src="https://media.106comms.com/app/uploads/20210609121134/Picture-1-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="440" height="330" srcset="https://media.106comms.com/app/uploads/20210609121134/Picture-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https://media.106comms.com/app/uploads/20210609121134/Picture-1.jpg 451w" sizes="(max-width: 440px) 100vw, 440px" />And this is because agencies challenge these ‘test’ briefs as being little more than a beauty parade as a way to gauge the skills of their creative vendor. Of course, there is the other controversial part of pitching and that is that these assignments are unpaid, often involving weeks of head scratching and long costly hours that are unrecoverable. (Just jumping down from the high horse now!)
But for clients it’s a tried-and-tested method to differentiate one supplier from another.
A couple of cautionary words on asking for pitch creative. How do you not advantage those agencies who have or who are currently working with you to create that level playing field? For example, sharing as much research around the brand as possible will help; allowing access to internal stakeholders to share their brand insights and stories is helpful.
Secondly, how to avoid basing your decision solely on the creative tingles that one creative campaign has inspired? Ultimately, when seeking a creative agency, it is important they not only understand the power of the creative, but can also demonstrate enthusiasm and passion for your brief. That they understand your brand, what you are trying to achieve and the parameters within which you can work.
And that brings me nicely onto the final decision &#8211; the final WHY?
Designing an evaluation scorecard that is agreed upfront and communicated to all stakeholders is key to the successful selection and onboarding of any new supplier. You need to buy into their culture and they need to understand yours. Is the team innovative, collaborative, proactive and reactive?
Here are some key areas that are typically included in an agency evaluation:
Strategic approach, communication skills, Interpersonal and social skills, chemistry (working together), cultural alignment, mission and philosophies alignment, account and PM skills, understanding of the sector and the specific brand and of specific challenges.
In over 25 years of working in the Student Marketing space I think I may have tallied up over 500 pitches and have been asked some interesting questions by my clients here are just a few:
<ul>
<li>Why do you want to win this work?</li>
<li>What was your last client win and why did you win it?</li>
<li>Who was your last client loss and why?</li>
<li>What are your business goals for the next year?</li>
<li>What do you wish you could do differently as an agency?</li>
<li>What size is your wine budget? (yes, really!)</li>
</ul>
106 Communications is a Student Marketing agency that helps Student brands transform their communications. We aim to inspire the next generation of talent with authentic storytelling and creative that speaks their language. If you would like to have an informal chat about our experience, our work and our approach please contact Jayne Cullen – <a href="mailto:jayne@106comms.com">jayne@106comms.com</a>

The art of selecting the right agency

Will career changers offer graduate employers better value for money in 2021-2 than 2021 graduates? 
Earlier this year more than a third (36 per cent) of 2020 <a href="https://luminate.prospects.ac.uk/survey-reveals-students-concerns-amid-coronavirus-crisis">finalists surveyed by Prospects</a> indicated that they plan to remain in higher education rather than start their careers. The number of students who delayed their entry into the graduate job market by opting for a “Panic Masters” will likely lead to a rise in graduate labour availability in the summer of 2021. But is the purist graduate labour market where employers should be sourcing the very best and diverse talent from? Or could engaging with Career Changers or Second Jobbers (i.e. those somewhere between 18 months and 4 years post-graduation) offer some significant value to employers and to those who have been badged as the forgotten graduate cohort?
Targeting second jobbers could diversify your talent pool
It is a well-cited fact that many undergraduate students from lower socio-economic backgrounds or from certain under-represented minority groups engage less with employability initiatives and services.  Typically these groups tend to engage in career planning or job hunting much later than other audiences. By the time they have secured their First or Upper Second Class honours the traditional milkround cart has passed them by. We interviewed one student from the University of Nottingham from a low participation neighbourhood:
“By the time Christmas holidays in my final year had come around most of my friends had jobs lined up without me even having thought about what I wanted to do with the rest of my life”.
This sense of being left behind by their more well-networked friends is common amongst under-represented audiences: “I want to focus on getting the best degree I can otherwise I won’t get a good job”.
With over a quarter of graduates not employed in graduate occupations, the skills mismatch of graduates offers employers the opportunity to reach a pool of talent that are currently under-employed and under-valued in the jobs market. Graduates are also more occupationally and geographically mobile, a factor that may support their employment in times of crisis compared to non-graduates (source ONS: Graduates’ labour market outcomes during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic: occupational switches and skill mismatch) again making them a useful target audience.
According to several careers services contacts we have spoken to, the pressure has been on many undergraduates to accept their first graduate job offers and the number of students holding multiple offers (and playing the waiting game) has significantly fallen this year. Fears over the economic impact of the pandemic may have longer term consequences of increased graduate attrition as the pent-up demand increases as the economy recovers.
There will likely be a slice of the graduate labour market who have been working in roles that aren’t meeting their expectations such as Alfie, a graduate from Leeds working for a large professional services firm:
“It’s not what I was expecting and Covid really made me realise that I wanted to do something with real impact, not stuck behind a desk working for clients that I never get to meet.”
In March 2021 the <a href="https://ise.org.uk/">Institute of Student Employers</a> (ISE) found that graduates lacked the workplace and technical skills that employers require. The overwhelming majority (78%) of ISE employers agreed that graduates who had completed an internship or work placement were more skilled than those who had not. With over a quarter fewer placement and internship opportunities this season, perhaps the second-jobber market is a good way to source the work-based soft and technical skills needed. 
How to develop a second-jobber strategy?
Here are the 106 Communications ABC of top tips to engage with second jobbers:
A – It’s all about the Audience 
How confident are we that we really understand the key behaviours, motivations, triggers and detractors of our Second Jobber audience? A good place to start is by getting forensic with your current applicant and hire cohort. What was their journey from first job to applying to you?
Are there any common themes that you can identify?
How do you identify the gap between what type of second jobber is out there and what type(s) you currently attract? Are you missing out on a potential source of untapped talent simply because your marketing isn’t pulling the right triggers or quashing some of the key barriers to consideration?
B- Building the right building blocks upon which to develop your campaign
A great foundation for any marketing strategy is to develop second-jobber persona groups to be able to understand the audience each of your target universities has access to?  We use social listening tools to find out what university alumni are talking about in relation to hashtags and mentions like #Alumni #Graduation #School#jobs
We also work closely with both Careers Services and Alumni teams to get a baseline of information about their alumni cohorts. It is obvious to say that a large percentage of graduates in their first jobs will not all be active job seekers: the ISE graduate retention rates vary by sector, but on average an employer retains 57% of its intake after five years. So, more graduates stay in their first jobs than leave during the first five years.
OR you could view it as 40% of the market are open to hearing about other opportunities.
In our research we have identified the following generic personas (that are not aligned to any particular graduate brand):
Mis-matched (someone who joined grad programme 12 months ago and realises their skills aren’t aligned to their chosen career)
Career Changer (someone three years into a career in The City who now wants a career with a higher purpose due to wanting to make a difference)
Second Jobber (someone 3 years post-graduation who wants a faster track to leadership)
Covid re-thinker (someone 2-4 years ppost-graduation who now wants a job with more stability)
C) Getting the Content and Channels right 
Universities and Alumni teams continue to work closely with their graduates (not least because of Graduate Outcomes 15 months post-graduation) but also because of the benefits that alumni bring for incumbent students. Few things drive alumni back to their alma mater quite like the search for a new career. Collaborating with your career services department to offer training sessions for alumni is a great way to build brand value. Some of the useful training resources you could provide for your students might include advice on:
<ul>
<li>How to act in an interview</li>
<li>How to find a mentor</li>
<li>How to change careers</li>
<li>How to use LinkedIn to ask for an employer referral</li>
<li>How to network through social media</li>
<li>How to build your personal brand</li>
</ul>
Content creation isn’t just the domain of your employer brand team. When it comes to targeting alumni think about giving second jobbers reasons to share careers-related content within their networks… and nostalgia is a powerful marketing tool. Nothing generates nostalgia more than a personal story or picture from fellow alumni.
Building content that alumni will engage with such as UWE Bristol who built an Executive Education programme giving alumni access to life-long learning, cutting-edge research, and cross-disciplinary networking opportunities. The course was oversubscribed by 125% over just 24 hours. Employers have a great opportunity to partner with such initiatives and sharing some of the internal L&amp;D resources with your target audience.
If you have enjoyed reading this article and would like to find out more about how 106 Communications helps ambitious brands to transform their student engagement, then drop me a line for an informal chat: <a href="mailto:jayne@106comms.com">jayne@106comms.com</a>
&nbsp;

Growing diversity by engaging career changers

Thinking about a competition as part of your student marketing mix this autumn, here are some things to think about.
The latest ISE press release in May around the graduate market and hiring numbers is really encouraging and with a bounce-back likely in hiring, then we will likely hear much more noise from employer brands seeking to compete for hard-to-reach talent.
Anecdotally we are hearing that employer brands are not willing to rely on campus alone this season as a means of attracting diverse audiences. Unsurprisingly the world of virtual attraction is here to stay. 106 has been working with a number of brands in the public sector, the banking space and in the legal industry to support them with ideas around how to build out greater brand equity through virtual competitions. So we thought we would share the things we think about when designing virtual student competitions.
<ol>
<li>A more single-minded brief </li>
</ol>
My favourite question when we get any brief is ‘why are you doing this?’.
We often hear:
<ul>
<li>We have a new employer brand and a competition is a great way to socialise this</li>
<li>We’re not well-known amongst science students</li>
<li>We want to win hearts and minds of finalists</li>
<li>We want to get into the TT100 rankings</li>
<li>We want to hire more lower socio-economic background students</li>
<li>We need to attract more students outside of London and to our offices in Gatwick, Truro and Glasgow.</li>
</ul>
…and sometimes all from the one same client. It’s a tricky ask. Keeping your brief as simple as possible will yield better ideas and better results.
Having a more single-minded approach with any marketing will give you more laser targeted options for promotion and allow you to set KPIs that are more achievable. You can always run more than one competition as virtual is way more cost-effective than campus events.
<ol start="2">
<li>The competition itself</li>
</ol>
Is it a gratuitous short-term competition or do you want to build your brand over a longer period of time?
When brands were able to do face-to-face promotions on campus, the market was full of great ways to attract the attention of a passer-by who might just be your next star hire. Campus marketing really did allow creative teams to flex their creative muscles.  We have seen examples such as Lloyds Banking Group’s vending machines on campus to J.P. Morgan’s smoothie bar and a [rofessional service firm’s 4D sensory booth.
But when in 2020 UK campuses closed their doors, we had to rethink how to create that sense of instant gratification but in an online environment. We saw some good examples of digital student competitions and we particularly liked the Allen &amp; Overy Fresher’s takeover with five days of themed content allowing students to win different prizes linked to topics that students tell us they care about including, Fitness, Mental Health and the Climate.
At 106 we supported Teach First in building their own quick-to-consume digital game to capture people who may not think of teaching, but would like to win a £100 Deliveroo voucher – and just play the game! The game was set up to reward individuals, but also to pit universities against each other.
All of these examples were designed to raise brand or sector recognition amongst time poor students (many of whom were not necessarily in a career-planning mindset). With the idea being that it would spark some level of curiosity or interest and engage them in the start of a journey with said brand.
There are other examples of competitions that are less about the instant satisfaction of winning a relatively low-level prize and more about:
<ul>
<li>Offering experience</li>
<li>Building employability skills</li>
<li>Building networks</li>
</ul>
And for the employer where it’s more about:
<ul>
<li>A deeper relationship with a particular audience</li>
<li>Converting the audience along the decision journey</li>
<li>Improving the quality of the applicant pool</li>
</ul>
There are equally some great examples of these types of competitions in the market with some of them having established themselves as a brand in their own right:
L’Oreal Brandstorm, Bank of America Shape your World Challenge and Mckinsey’s Solve It.
When deciding on which of these approaches to take it is worth thinking about:
<ul>
<li>Ease of entry for students (and different types of students) – both time commitment and the physical entry itself</li>
<li>Are you asking them to work in teams or individually or both?</li>
<li>How to support those from less advantaged backgrounds who may suffer due to lack of networks or tech support? (for example, running training webinars and offering a team mentor)</li>
</ul>
Contest duration – Determining the right time frame will help obtain the greatest results from your online competition. End the contest too soon and miss out on extra signups. End the contest too far into the future and risk losing the interest of your audience. We have seen anywhere between a minimum of 2 weeks to a maximum of 6 weeks tend to perform the best. The best performing competitions are ones that achieve a perfect balance between contest duration and a sense of urgency.
<ol start="3">
<li>The prize</li>
</ol>
This is often a big sticking point for many teams when designing their online competitions. Be creative and try to come up with a prize that excites your target audience. Whatever prize you decide make it memorable and desirable to potential applicants. It’s a great idea to give away multiple, tiered prizes — 1st, 2nd, 3rd place or runner-up prizes. Try giving away one prize at random and another to the person with the most sign-up referrals. People will feel greater odds of winning and can potentially boost your competition engagement.
We have seen the following types of prizes being offered:
Specific degrees &#8211; Thinking about what is going to be attractive to the specific audience is a good place to start.  For example, if you are looking to widen your appeal amongst certain degrees then offering a magazine-related subscription could be an option.
D&amp; I &#8211; Providing a prize such as career coaching or a mentoring is a great way to support less advantaged candidate audiences.
Monetary prizes &#8211; are always useful for students and range from team prize funds of £10,000 to as little as £100 in vouchers. It doesn’t have to be a million-pound prize – but it has to be worth a lot more than the effort of signing up and sharing with friends.
Work Experience/ Work shadowing within particular departments or for hard-to-fill roles is a useful way to increase awareness and interest. Of course, there is a need to be mindful of eligibility to work in the UK.
<ol start="4">
<li>Promotion of the competition</li>
</ol>
It’s important to think about how the competition fits with the wider campaign? How will you cross promote the competition using your existing employer brand campaign assets and channels? If you don’t see it fitting then the question is Is this the right thing to be doing?
Think about phygital – ie a hybrid of campus and digital. Although we haven’t got that illusive crystal ball, we do expect (or hope) that campus will be open for business in September/ October.
<ul>
<li>Critical to any online competition success will be your ability to mobilise Campus Brand Managers (CBMs) and influencers to spread the word in their networks and get students sharing…</li>
<li>You don’t physically have to be on-campus yourselves to promote your competition… campus installations staffed by CBMs with QR codes driving to the competition landing pages will create competition stand out.</li>
<li>Using the careers services to help raise the profile through their social media and emails</li>
<li>Doing targeted Facebook posts based on location to get your message in front of the right students</li>
<li>Re-target those who have visited your landing page or microsite and keep your social media profiles active.</li>
</ul>
Why not encourage students who are already in your talent pipeline/ community to encourage them to engage in and to promote the competition.
<ol start="5">
<li>Measuring success</li>
</ol>
It is all back to that brief again. What did you set out to achieve…?
One thing that some employer brands do not invest in is post-event qualitative feedback. Yes, QR codes, number of likes and shares will give you an indication of numbers and indicative reach, but what did students really think? What impact did it have and what insights can we glean for future activity?
Another thing to consider is A/B testing through the campaign to see what messages and channels are most effective for you.  This is much easier in a digital environment, and gives you the chance to optimise your campaign – and target very specific audiences and see what works as you go.  The important thing here is to be open to using different messages, rather than a pure corporate line.
<ol start="6">
<li>Finally don’t forget to map out your post competition engagement</li>
</ol>
Students who engage in your competition will be expecting something of value from the exchange and following up after the competition is completed with something of additional value will further cement your brand.  For example:
<ul>
<li>Invitations to webinars, exclusive invites to open days/ evenings, early application window alerts, access to live chats, etc.</li>
<li>If your prizes are &#8220;instagrammable,&#8221; then that will give students another reason to share their story and share your brand.</li>
</ul>
We hope this was useful.
If you are interested in finding out more about what we do here at 106 Communications and would like to have a coffee, lunch or just a chat then do get in touch: <a href="mailto:Jayne@106comms.com">Jayne@106comms.com</a>
&nbsp;

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