Recruitment Strategies for Programs

Review information about your program on all affiliated university websites annually, including UAB’s Find Your Degree portal opens a new website, to ensure it is up-to-date and accurate. Work with your unit’s communication team to make web content edits.

Helpful tips for revision include:

• Make information easy to find
• Anticipate and speak to prospective students’ questions
• Include testimonials from students and alumni
• Avoid broad marketing terms like “world-class” and focus on concrete examples of your program’s strength instead

• Amplify student and alumni stories and tag them directly for additional coverage and support.
• Feature student groups and ways to get involved.
• Create or support content about your majors across various platforms.
• Ensure your social media content is brief, highly visual, and interactive to increase engagement.
• Familiarize your unit with the official UAB social media guidelines opens a new website.

Create a process for regularly identifying faculty, student, staff, and program stories that can be pitched for news articles, UAB Magazine features, or social content. Submit publicity requests to your school’s communicator or through the Office of Marketing and Communications Publicity Request form opens a new website. Faculty can also become Experts opens a new website, which can lead to media coverage in their fields of study.

Prepare your school’s recruiter with helpful insight into the student experience in your program, such as successful student or alumni stories. When possible, offer to meet with students and showcase classroom and laboratory spaces. Use these times to build early connections and share your personal passion for the program.

Hosting interactive, on-campus events can be a great way to bring prospective students to UAB and engage them with your program directly. Examples of events include:

• Information sessions
• Summer campus
• One-day events
• Partnerships
• Webinars

Increase visibility by promoting events across organic (e.g. social media, program website), earned (e.g. publicity request, campus calendar), and paid (e.g. paid social media and boosted posts) channels.

Utilize paid marketing for your program across digital channels such as social media, digital display, search advertising, and more. Paid digital marketing adds an effective layer to your overall recruitment strategy by increasing awareness of your program to reach prospective students who may not encounter your program through other unpaid tactics.

Paid digital marketing is most effective when implemented consistently over time rather than as a one-time tactic. Prospective students will often engage with a program online multiple times before taking an action to place them within the recruitment funnel. Therefore, sustained visibility across paid digital channels can keep your program in the conversation throughout the decision-making process.

If your team is interested in layering paid marketing into your strategy, review the guidelines for paid marketing at UAB opens a new website.

Review information about your program on all affiliated university websites annually, including UAB’s Find Your Degree portal, to ensure it is up-to-date and accurate. Work with your unit’s communication team to make web content edits.

Helpful tips for revision include:

• Make information easy to find
• Anticipate and speak to prospective students’ questions
• Include testimonials from students and alumni
• Avoid broad marketing terms like “world-class” and focus on concrete examples of your program’s strength instead

Connect with prospective students directly by hosting information sessions about your program either on-campus or online.

Increase visibility by promoting events across organic (e.g. social media, program website), earned (e.g. publicity request, campus calendar), and paid (e.g. paid social media and boosted posts) channels.

Use Salesforce Campaigns to manage prospective students information from conferences and recruitment events. Create a form to collect contact information, organize contacts by event, and communicate with your prospective students following the event. Access training and support resources through the Office of Marketing and Communications online course on Salesforce Campaigns opens a new website and on the Salesforce @ UAB website opens a new website.

• Amplify student and alumni stories and tag them directly for additional coverage and support.
• Highlight interesting research initiatives, both ongoing and upcoming opportunities for students.
• Communicate key deadlines by utilizing UAB-branded Adobe Express templates opens a new website.
• Familiarize your unit with the official UAB social media guidelines opens a new website.

UAB has a suite of recruitment and marketing tools available through Salesforce, UAB’s enterprise constituent relationship management system and program, that can help you manage your prospective student information throughout the recruitment process. Access reports of students who complete a lead contact form or apply to your program, collect contact information at events, and create auto-response and follow-up emails. Take advantage of Salesforce training and support opens a new website offered through the Office of Marketing and Communications.

Create a process for regularly identifying faculty, student, staff, and program stories that can be pitched for news articles, UAB Magazine features, or social content. Submit publicity requests to your school’s communicator or through the Office of Marketing and Communications Publicity Request form opens a new website. Faculty can also become Experts opens a new website, which can lead to media coverage in their fields of study.

Utilize paid marketing for your program across digital channels such as social media, digital display, search advertising, and more. Paid digital marketing adds an effective layer to your overall recruitment strategy by increasing awareness of your program to reach prospective students who may not encounter your program through other unpaid tactics.

Paid digital marketing is most effective when implemented consistently over time rather than as a one-time tactic. Prospective students will often engage with a program online multiple times before taking an action to place them within the recruitment funnel. Therefore, sustained visibility across paid digital channels can keep your program in the conversation throughout the decision-making process.

If your team is interested in layering paid marketing into your strategy, review the guidelines for paid marketing at UAB opens a new website.