INTRODUCING FACEBOOK SHOPS: Facebook wants to recreate the in-person shopping experience on its platform. In mid-May, Facebook Shops was launched with the primary focus of helping small businesses tackle the difficulties of digital transformation amid the COVID-19 crisis. Businesses can create a Facebook Shop page and integrate with Shopify and add custom colors and images to product/service offerings. Users can purchase these offerings directly within Facebook Shops or link to the offer on the company’s website. There’s even talk of adding virtual reality in order to recreate in-store experiences.
Why you should care: What if you could recreate the experience of sitting in a classroom, touring campus, or even shopping in the campus bookstore, all within Facebook? For enrollment marketers willing to try Facebook Shops, there could be ample opportunities to engage prospective students on the platform. Replace paid “products” and “services” with your schools’ free marketing content, like eBooks, guides, and faculty research, and you can create a prospective student “storefront” (think, digital resource library) that could drive engagement and conversions.
HOW VIRGINIA’S COLLEGE STUDENTS ARE HANDLING COVID-19: College students in Virginia were surveyed about recent challenges they faced due to COVID-19. Of the top stressors, 80% expressed concerns over their academic performance as a result of the transition to online learning, and 76% expressed mental health concerns due to anxiety, the cancellation of milestones, and the well-being of family.
Why you should care: “Mentally, it’s extremely exhausting.... Your world and classes can’t stop just because everything else has,” said a survey respondent at Lord Fairfax Community College. One Old Dominion University student said that “...transitioning to online classes and working from a different environment has added stress.” Read the survey and you’ll come to find student stressors extend beyond just online learning and affording tuition. Employment, child care, and physical health are also current challenges for both prospective and current students. Keep these challenges in mind as you augment communication flows from initial inquiry through post-application due to COVID-19.
DEALING WITH ZOOM EXHAUSTION?: We’re managing new digital realities. And like most, a new part of this reality is Zoom meetings. For some, reading body language and visual queues has become much more difficult. For others, it's become too easy to get distracted and disengaged while on Zoom meetings (be honest, do you check email while you’re supposed to be listening?). With several people in one virtual meeting at once, we are forced to process visual cues quickly and in new ways.
Why you should care: The Center for Mindful Self-Compassion’s Executive Director, Steven Hickman, compares Zoom to dessert: “[Zoom] is a stimulus-rich environment, but just like rich desserts, sometimes too rich is just too much”. From leading virtual open houses to financial aid meetings with prospective students and internal meetings with faculty, we can’t blame you for being zoom(ed)-out. Check out these 6 refreshing tips to stay connected while managing Zoom exhaustionover Zoom meetings.
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