Blog — Hippocampus

The slogan of HOGENT – 18,000 students, 12 campuses – says a lot: Give the world the best of yourself. Students, lecturers and alumni are called ‘HOGENTenaars’ and as we read further, it is stated that they are a breed apart: characterised, passionate about their field and determined to achieve their goal. Clearly, HOGENT aims high. This also applies to their recruitment, as Zjef De Loose, communications officer at HOGENT and Hippocampus user from the beginning, tells us.

You will know Hippocampus by now…

Absolutely, I work with it all day after all. And we have given structured feedback from the start. We point out everything that can be improved. And if we miss something, we pass that on as well.

And something is done with that?

They are keen to know, because Hippocampus only gets better as a result. We have a single point of contact and she always responds quickly to our emails. Whether it is a suggestion or something that needs to be adjusted for us.

Which functionalities do you use the most?

First, I would say: the brochure requests. Many prospective students want the information to be bundled. Physical brochures are also requested, which we then send by post. For us, this is an important way of gathering data, which we can also easily follow up. For this follow-up, we like to use the integrated email tool, so we can keep prospective students informed and invite them to everything that helps with their study choice: from information days to open lessons and even Instagram takeovers where students and alumni show what it is like in professional life for a day.

Secondly, registering for our Info Days, where we offer prospective students the opportunity to compose a day programme themselves. In addition, we scan the visitors at our stand during the SID-in study fairs. They want to stay informed, so the opt-in is 100% anyway. Across all registrations in Hippocampus, we achieve a 75% opt-in rate. Naturally, we ask our visitors questions to better help them and gain insight into their current situation. And it turns out to be quite diverse.

Explain that…

A prospective student is often a young person, but certainly not always. At HOGENT, we believe that people keep developing throughout their lives. So we equally take into account reorienters, people who want a career change, or those balancing work and family with studying. These individuals are less likely to visit our campuses, as it is less relevant for them. They mostly orient themselves online. For this group, we have separate activities, such as online information sessions. These are still on a different system, but registrations or sign-ups for those online info sessions and the confirmation and reminder emails, we manage all that with Hippocampus.