Strategic Use of T-Shirts in Admissions
Today I want to challenge the practice of giving t-shirts to all prospective students who take a college tour. The reason is I believe there is a better timing in the enrollment cycle for using the power of a t-shirt. Let me explain.
First, I get why colleges do this. Receiving a t-shirt is popular. Our research verified this: 93% of students who received a t-shirt during the recruitment process wore it.
Colleges want to make impactful impressions for tour visitors. They know if a prospective student visits campus, they are more likely to enroll. Thus colleges want to create an impactful and long-lasting impression and by providing a t-shirt, they do this.
There are two factors that form my perspective:
- The t-shirts that students want are expensive. When I started Magellan in 2005, the go-to t-shirt was the Gildan 100% 6.1oz cotton t-shirt (G2000 for those scoring at home). However, t-shirt tastes have evolved toward comfortable ring-spun cotton and tri-blends. The additional cost for these shirts add up. The obvious goal is wanting the student to wear the t-shirt and the chances are much better with a quality t-shirt. With their high cost, it is a better use of the budget to move the t-shirt further down in the funnel.
- Each attendee on the tour can have a varying interest in the college. This can range from “I am so excited to be here” to “my parents are making me tour” and everything in between. If the student is not highly likely to attend your college, hold back on giving them expensive merch.
To get another opinion on this practice, I went to the expert, Jeff Kallay, Senior VP of Enrollment Consulting at Echo Delta. If you aren’t aware, Jeff is the foremost campus tour guru. He travels the country auditing and recommending improvements to college campus tours. On this topic, Jeff shared:
“The campus visit t-shirt has become a relic that lacks context. It is ubiquitous. Let’s step back and ask ‘why t-shirts?’ At one time it was unique. Now it has become an uninspired exchange during campus visits. I have heard too many times from admissions leaders that they give out a t-shirt because the student becomes a “walking billboard” for their college. This is not an acceptable reason to do this. Merch should help tell your story, connect the student to the campus and be impactful.”
I do strongly believe that t-shirts should be part of the merch experience for prospective students, but just introduced further down the funnel to better align with their level of interest and the investment you are making. And branded merch does need to be part of the campus tour, as it plays a role in enhancing the overall experience while also providing that unique ability to add excitement, appreciation and a long-lasting connection.
The natural next question is, if not the t-shirt, then what items to recommend? Well, we here at Magellan have a few ideas to share. These include:
- Stickers – Of course stickers – students love them, they are inexpensive, easy to include amongst materials, are visible, and a long term reminder of the school. And as a bonus, stickers can be seen by the student’s community when added to laptops, water bottles and more.
- Useful – Provide practical products that students can use. This can be simple merch that is appreciated and long-lasting. The list of these types of items is long, but include drawstring bags, lip balm, mints and buttons. A few of my favorites that are not often given out are plastic cups and adhesive embroidered patches (as they are perfect to go on backpacks).
- Choice – I am a huge proponent of giving students a choice of branded merch for a number of reasons (discussed in detail in this blog). My favorite reason for this strategy is that you can provide more niche items, which allows students to choose from unexpected and surprising options. Examples include hair scrunchies, croc charms and shoelaces. The more excited you make the student about the branded merch, the higher their affinity rises and the more likely they are going to appreciate it and use it long term. All wins! Merch choice helps make that happen.
When does a t-shirt on a tour make sense? Well, in one case. As I wrote in this blog, since not all tour attendees are in the same place in the funnel, differentiate your branded merch to match their interest. For example, treat your applied and/or accepted students on tours as a VIP and give them a special t-shirt.
When students come on a college tour, give them a first class experience that helps build affinity, influences their decision-making and leaves a lasting impression. While offering t-shirts to all attendees may seem like a great idea, I believe this budget can be reimagined to deliver impactful branded merch that better aligns with your goals.