Blog — Hippocampus

Vista College

Vista College is one of the larger vocational education institutions in Limburg. With a wide range of courses and multiple locations, the college consistently invests in student recruitment—from education fairs and open days to regional campaigns. However, until recently, there was no insight into what these investments were tangibly achieving.

Investing without direction

"To be honest, we didn't have that insight. We didn't know where an enrolment came from, how many potential students we reached, and what they did next. After an event, it essentially ended for us."
— Janine Winkels, Senior Marketing & Communications Advisor, Vista College

The team saw attendance but not precisely who was there, whether someone later attended other activities, or if someone eventually became a student. This impacted decision-making on three levels: decisions made on intuition, budgets with no view of returns, and an underestimation of the value of this data. The team simply couldn't focus on what actually worked.

In 2017, this became painfully apparent. Enrolments declined, while attendance at events remained steady. This gap between activity and result provided the team with the argument to convince management: this needed to change.

First the team, then the technology

Hippocampus became operational relatively quickly. But the real change was not in the software—it was within the team. Vista College had to learn to look at data differently, register consistently, and above all: use data in conversations and decisions.

"The real change was not in the technology but in the team. We had to learn to view data differently, register consistently, and use data in conversations and decisions. It is now part of how we work."
— Janine Winkels, Senior Marketing & Communications Advisor, Vista College

Where Vista College initially thought in terms of activities, the team now thinks in terms of return per channel, per target group, and per step in the journey. No longer focusing on busyness, but on effect.

From activities to returns

With Hippocampus, Vista College can now precisely see what each recruitment activity yields. At an education fair in the South, for example: the team scans conversations at the fair, registers them in Hippocampus, and follows the entire journey—from the first touchpoint, through any follow-up activities, to enrolment. On average, 4 to 6 registrations per fair from a specific region. Combined with the funding value per student, the team knows that the fair is profitable. And more importantly: why.

This changes the choices. Activities that do not perform are scaled down. Activities that contribute structurally receive more investment. And it changes the position of marketing within the organisation: no longer "something with campaigns and events," but a demonstrable contribution to enrolment. With figures to back it up.

Beyond enrolment

The next step: to make the entire student journey insightful, beyond enrolment. Study success, dropout, progression, alumni, and ultimately Lifelong Learning. Not just knowing who enrols, but who is successful. And why.