There is a running joke in the military community about university marketing brochures. It usually involves a stock photo of a “soldier” wearing a uniform that doesn’t exist, sporting a terrible haircut, and standing in front of a backwards flag. While it might seem like a small oversight to a marketing team, it’s a mistake when recruiting military students. To a prospective military student, it screams: “This school does not understand me.”
As discussed in our recent Military Friendly® Schools discussion on Student Attraction, the bedrock of recruiting military students is authenticity. Simply put, marketing to the military community fails when it lacks trust.
Who Are You Actually Talking To?
One of the biggest mistakes institutions make is treating the “military student” as a monolith. During the webinar, we explored how top-performing schools approach their messaging:
1. Proper Identification is Crucial: You cannot market authentically if you don’t know who is on your campus. Relying on a single checkbox for “Veteran” on an application leaves out a massive segment of your audience. Update your inquiry forms to allow students to self-identify as Active Duty, National Guard, Reserve, Spouses, or Dependents.
2. Tell Real Stories: Ditch the generic military stock imagery. Feature your actual students in your marketing materials. Show a National Guard member who is also playing on the soccer team. Highlight a military spouse excelling in the nursing program. Show them in their element, on your campus.
3. Speak Their Language (Correctly): If you are going to highlight specific GI Bill benefits or yellow ribbon programs, ensure the terminology is 100% accurate. If in doubt, run your marketing copy past your campus VA Certifying Official or your student Veteran group before publishing.
Watch the Full Strategy Session
Authenticity isn’t a buzzword… It’s a measurable recruitment strategy. When your external marketing matches the internal reality of your campus, you build a pipeline based on trust.
[Click here to watch the full Student Attraction webinar replay.]
Don’t leave your enrollment to chance. Gain visibility with transitioning service members and equip your team with proven data. [Schedule a membership consultation] to discover how becoming a Military Friendly® Member can transform your student recruitment ecosystem.
