Adam Eschbach, Brandon Hill, Cassidy Myers, Holly Goldgrabe and Pamela Craig, marketing and communications professionals from the Division of Extended Studies, presented their findings about the impact of storytelling on lead generation, enrollment and student success at the University Professional and Continuing Education Association Marketing and Enrollment Management conference in New Orleans.
Their submission, The Impact of Storytelling on New Cyber Degrees, was included as a poster presentation at the conference and focused on communicating the authentic experiences of students and faculty in degree programs as an essential component to open the imaginations of prospective students. Common questions and barriers students feel such as: Do I belong? Will I feel included? Will I be successful? — can all be addressed with compelling storytelling, they said. The team saw that utilizing storytelling as a tactic in the overall marketing strategy increased campaign performance and led to a boom in enrollments. Boise State’s new Online Cyber Operations and Resilience programs were featured in this case study.