Landing top jobs in HE marketing takes a combination of hard work, experience and learning from others. This session hosted by committee members of the Chartered Institute of Marketing HE Special Interest Group will give you some top tips on how to make your career dreams a reality, with practical advice including your personal brand, the benefits of mentoring, how to find (and fill) the gaps in your CV, the connections that matter and the power of influencing and networking.

With alumni spread across the globe, how do we create events that resonate, connect, and engage? Join us to explore the unique challenges and opportunities of organising alumni events that transcend geographical boundaries. Share your experiences, innovative strategies, and the hurdles you've faced in creating meaningful events that connect alumni both locally and globally. This is a chance to connect with fellow alumni professionals, exchange ideas, and gain insights that can inspire and transform the way we approach alumni events. Together, we'll delve into the future of alumni engagement, fostering a community of collaboration and innovation.

Podcasting is one of the biggest growth industries, and as the medium becomes more and more popular, it is the perfect way to engage a growing alumni community. From interviews with Hollywood A-listers to in-depth discussions about the latest on-campus research, podcasting is providing alumni with a new, immersive way to engage with their alma mater. Hear how the University of Leeds has built its own podcast brand, what we have learned, and what this could mean for engagement, stewardship, and donor relations across the Advancement community.

First-party data is the most reliable data we have access to as higher education marketers but tracking restrictions are tightening and prospective students are less likely than ever to hand Universities their personal data in the pre-application stage. In this session, we’ll explore the challenges student recruitment and marketing teams face in collecting first-party data and delivering personalised experiences to pre-applicants. We’ll look at best practices, real-world examples and discuss how we can develop creative and compelling value exchanges for prospective students. What’s your hook?

Here’s an interesting statistic from a survey of 130+ higher-ed institutions in the UK. When asked how connected alumni felt with their university (on a scale of 1-10), the average rating was a mere 4.8. Furthermore, only about 9% of the alumni surveyed have made a donation to their university. How can our industry reverse this downward trend by building alumni communities and a healthy pipeline of loyal donors? That’s exactly what we’ll discuss during our roundtable session. Join us for a continuation of our previous session. This is your opportunity to exchange and brainstorm ideas with like-minded professionals working towards a common goal. Don’t miss out!

How can you attract, acquire and steward mid-value donors, and develop a programme that engages them? In this case study, Imperial College London takes you through how they developed a brand new mid-value programme from scratch. From early brainstorming and insight to engaging academics and conducting qualitative and quantitative research they will take you through the step-by-step process they went through to create and launch a brand new mid-level giving programme.

The focus of this presentation is the importance of empowering individuals within a team to utilise social media and video making as a means of promoting team objectives. By providing team members with the tools, resources, and autonomy to create content, teams can more effectively build and manage their internal resources. Additionally, empowering team members to take ownership of their own content creation can foster a sense of belonging and investment in the team’s success. This session will also discuss the potential challenges and best practices for implementing such an approach with the social media team at Cambridge University.