Realview TV Takes College Road Trip

2011 // January

When looking for answers to important questions, some go on vacation or seek reflective solitude. Realview TV executives, though, opted for the Jack Kerouac remedy: a great American road trip.

But that's where the romantic comparisons end. Instead of diners and juke joints, it was college campus after college campus -- seven of them, in fact, spread across five states.

The purpose of crisscrossing Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania was twofold. Face time with established clients; and feedback on newly developed product features designed to boost student enrollment.

"It was a really valuable sounding board to position new ideas that interact with admissions campaigns," said VP of the Education Channel, Courtney Cable. "We thought the best way of getting positive feedback was to listen to our current clients and find out the recruitment challenges they're facing."

The higher education industry has become increasingly focal in Realview TV's strategic outlook. Current clients range from large state universities to small, private liberal-arts colleges -- all seeking ways to reach out to prospective students.

So far, that's meant transforming websites with virtual tours and streaming video technology. However, Realview TV feels it can add more, and has spent the last year developing a new range of features to enhance its interactive virtual campus experiences.

"Staying ahead of the curve is crucial in the fast-evolving world of technology," said Realview TV CEO, Jonathan Clues. "That becomes even more pertinent when your efforts are focused on a tech-savvy generation."

Pandering to this generation led Realview last year to develop an application allowing students to take a campus tour through the iPhone and iPad.  Research shows the chances of a prospective student applying to a school is correlated with time spent researching, and, crucially, not necessarily time spent visiting a campus.

"One thing we often hear is: if we get them on campus, they will enroll," said Cable. "In reality we see conversion rates of only 33 percent, so in fact there's a greater chance of a student not enrolling."

Focus is firmly on cultivating a prospective student's initial interest, hence features like Realview TV's easy-to-navigate virtual campus experience. Millennials respond well to these rich media experiences; they absorb more information and get a feeling of familiarity; increasing the chances of a virtual tour becoming a physical tour and delivering the kind of conversion rates that recruiters have mistakenly touted in the past.

"Predominantly, our job is to get more students to the admissions office," said Cable. "Shaping the talent pool underlines a successful admissions and recruiting campaign."