University of Nottingham: course content development and training to drive recruitment
Your course pages are your shop window
Research shows that course content is the first, last and most important factor in prospective students' decision-making. Getting this content right is crucial to student recruitment.
A smarter approach to course content
The University of Nottingham had already adopted an insight-led, user-focused approach to designing its content but, recognising the key role of course content in driving recruitment, wanted to redevelop its course pages.
The course pages needed to:
meet prospective students' user needs
remain accurate and compliant with CMA requirements
reflect the University's brand and content pillars
drive home and international student recruitment
To achieve this, the university commissioned us to redevelop their course content template and deliver bespoke copywriting training for their communications and content team.
New course templates
To develop the course templates, we reviewed the university’s existing research, user insights, content strategy, brand guidance and related documents. We distilled the key strategic and user needs and translated these into the revised content.
The revised course template outlined:
section headings and hierarchy
the user needs and acceptance criteria for each section, including outlining how each section aligned to the university’s prospective student archetypes
CMA and technical considerations
guidance for copywriters on what to include in each section and suggested word count
Five star copywriting training
We delivered a bespoke full-day, in-person training workshop to the university’s communications and content team to introduce the revised course template and develop their copywriting skills and confidence.
This training covered:
understanding prospective students’ needs
structuring content for each section of the course page
writing clearly and concisely to inform and build trust
editing copy.
All workshop attendees rated the training as ‘outstanding’, five out of five.
“Dana, our exceptional facilitator, skillfully tailored the session to our specific needs, ensuring its effectiveness. The training covered all essentials including understanding our users’ needs and crafting clear, compelling, and concise copy. The team thoroughly enjoyed the session, finding it invigorating and confidence boosting. Thanks for an outstanding workshop!”
How can we help?
We understand that each organisation is different. That’s why we offer bespoke consultancy services and training programmes to ensure that what we deliver is right for you, your team and your current challenges.
We can support you with developing your course content and provide bespoke copywriting training to meet a variety of needs. For example:
Essential copywriting
Advanced copywriting
Bespoke copywriting for specific channels and purposes
Copywriting training for academics and staff without a communications background who need to communicate as part of their role
Get in touch with us to discuss your needs further.
