TikTok is the pick for 25 per cent of prospective international students who want info on ANZ universities, according to a survey by ranking agency QS.
It could be worse. Actually it is; 17 per cent turn to X, the platform previously known as Twitter.
But there’s a reason why that’s where they look. Some 63 per cent of students expect a complete and personalised response to an enquiry in three days; but QS states these expectations are not being met, with only 48 per cent getting one.
Even worse for marketing teams, only 12 per cent of respondents rated phone calls with institutions as one of the five most useful information sources. Nor is the news great for publishers – just 14 per cent rate advertisements and 18 per cent value institution-independent HE websites.
The top research sources are university sites (70 per cent), general search, rankings, social media and university events, just ahead of education agents (34 per cent). Print (22 per cent) and admission staff (20 per cent) are way back.
YouTube is the top social media source (56 per cent), ahead of Instagram (44 per cent) Facebook (35 per cent), LinkedIn (28 per cent) and WeChat(28 per cent).
The take out: whatever the channel, mention environmental sustainability – 43 per cent of searching students look for it.