In mid-November, I attended the American Marketing Association Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education. This conference provided me a different angle of how the website assists in the overall marketing of a university.

Recruitment trends have changed

I wanted to highlight one particular session, Trends through the Eyes of the Web, which was presented by Google. This session highlighted how online behaviors and trends have changed the recruitment process:

Then	Now
Receiving letters and pamphlets	Actively searching for information online
Talking to friends	Talking to friends online through social networks
Watching ads on TV	Using multiple screens at once (mobile, computer, etc.)
Taking a campus tour	Taking a video campus tour
Asking a guidance counselor	Using an online matching site

Compelling statistics

• One in four education seekers use online sources exclusively.
• 78% of education decisions involve searching online.
• In less than four years, 91% of college students will have a smartphone.