Innovation in Action – Welcome to the IDP Events Hub

IDP product and client teams are constantly exploring innovation opportunities that will improve partner experience and help students achieve better outcomes. Recently the teams examined the capabilities and services offered to event attendees to evaluate how we could improve the event experience and further support partners with their data-driven strategising after events. We listened to what our partners were telling us and knew we could provide the services they were looking for.   

The focus for our development teams was to create innovative methods of engagement that will: 

• improve return on investment for partners attending IDP events and education fairs through enhanced student enquiry tracking and more in-depth event performance data. 

• enhance partner communication with IDP counsellors through referrals and custom notes. 

• enable greater visibility to international students via the IDP Live App, where they can see shortlisted courses, recommended institutions, and counsellor referrals. 

• provide personalised QR codes to help students check-in effortlessly at client booths. 

We spoke to Lucy Williams, Product Manager for Events, to find out more.  

Why did the product team decide to work on a set of improvements for events?

IDP hosts more than 5,000 events across the globe every year and receives over 1 million student sign ups from these events. This makes IDP events one of the most important ways for international students to connect with client institutions and to gain the information they need to inform their decision about where and what to study. However, our customer research revealed mixed sentiments relating to our ability to deliver a consistent but differentiated events service across the global markets.

As a unique touchpoint where counsellors, students and institutions all come together, we saw the opportunity to innovate and connect our customers through technology before, during, and after events. The truly exciting thing about the launch of the Events Hub is that each customer has a digital tool built and designed just for them and they connect in real time to deliver an improved experience for everyone.

What are the innovation benefits that you are most excited to see in action?

The in-event interactions between students, counsellors and institutions will be the most exciting for me to see go live. Before this, everything was on paper and in spreadsheets, and lacked a connected and integrated view, but the Events Hub is a tool that brings all event insights together in one place.

For the first time, we’ll get a picture of the outcomes our events achieved for institutions, such as the number of booth visits, how many students were prompted to apply, and notes that institutions want to share back with counsellors. For counsellors, these insights will support prioritisation and follow up to ensure service excellence and better outcomes for institutions.

Are there any other key improvements included at launch that will offer better experiences for clients and students?

One of the key pain points for student attendees in the past was in finding the details of participating institutions, courses, and relevant content. The great thing for students about introducing events on the IDP Live app is that we now have another channel to help students discover, engage, and find the information they need to make the best choices.

For institutions, this means more brand visibility and engagement in the IDP Live app from students who have registered for an event and better outcomes from event interactions because students will be informed and qualified before they reach the institution booth at the event.

How will IDP assess and evaluate the success of the new Events Hub?

We’ve introduced a range of tracking measures to evaluate product uptake for both clients and students so that we can adjust and enhance features to ensure maximum customer value. Our key performance outcomes are to deliver an increase in customer satisfaction for clients and students at IDP events and to increase the application percentages from students who attend IDP events.

Are there still more improvements/innovations to come? What should clients be looking out for in the future?

Absolutely. We will continue to enhance and improve IDP events based on what our customers want most. One exciting feature that we know is important to institutions is the ability to report which students they met at an event who then went on to apply and finalise with them. This is now a possibility with our new platform and something our teams will be actively working on to deliver after the launch.  

How are we communicating the benefits to students so they know what to expect and how their experiences of events will be improved?

Our global and regional marketing teams will be supporting the launch of the improved value proposition that the Events Hub and IDP Live will deliver to students. These will be widely promoted for major event seasons in-country and across our global and regional digital channels.

We’re also working with our teams across the globe to ensure that offices, contact centres and counsellors all understand this unique benefit and share it with students across the different touchpoints as they prepare to meet with clients at our IDP events.  

On the day of an event, partners can check-in to view the Student Records tab and gain access to the list of students who have been referred to them by IDP counsellors. Clients can see any tags the student record may already have from IDP counsellors, such as ‘Fastlane’ or ‘Application Submitted’. During the event, clients can edit the interaction information for students, record booth check-ins (manually and via student QR codes) and record outcomes and notes for each student.

A client dashboard is updated in real time, so partners can see information on all interactions and outcomes as the event progresses. Counsellors can view student profiles, recommend universities, track student outcomes, and provide notes to universities.

After the event, clients will receive a post-event metrics email and will be able to download a post-event report that will help them analyse performance and plan for future events.

The new Events Hub aims to:

• Improve student interactions – the Events Hub allows clients to view student registrant information ahead of the event. This means that clients are better prepared to provide the information the students want.

• Enable better understanding of student quality and intent – IDP counsellors can send referrals and notes through the hub.

• Provide greater understanding of event outcomes and ROI – clients can track lead data, booth visits and the outcomes of student discussions.

• Support the pipeline view and facilitate better follow-up conversations – clients can download event performance data and metrics.

• Increase institution profile and brand visibility – students are able to discover institutions through the IDP Live app and understand more about client offerings prior to the event.

To find out more about how IDP can help you fulfill your student recruitment objectives contact IDP today or contact your client success manager for more information about our new Events Hub.