Keighley News: advertising feature

Bradford College is definitely going that ‘extra mile’ for its students, by introducing a new interactive Facebook application that can give students struggling with deciding which course to take to further their career a helping hand.

The app, part of the college’s ‘We Go the Extra Mile’ campaign, has been developed to take advantage of the social networking platform and datamines users profiles to offer course and career advice based on their likes, dislikes, hobbies and interests.

The College’s We Go the Extra Mile marketing campaign aims to highlight how the College, through its career-focussed courses, strong student support, industry links and quality teaching, provides students with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in a career.

The introduction of the Facebook application is an extension of this forward-thinking college’s core ethos to provide students with the best possible experience from day one, by using an application on a platform that students will already be familiar with. The result is an innovative use of social media to interact with students on a one to one basis and help them make the right choice to maximise their potential in the ‘real’ world later on.

Smart apps for the Facebook generation

The Facebook application looks at the user’s likes, dislikes and hobbies to suggest career paths or courses that would best suit the user based on their profile. This exciting new development has already proved popular with students, who are also able to share the application with their friends and see how effective the application really is.

“The most innovative part of this application is its ability to ‘learn’ as it develops,” explains David Brack, Head of Marketing at Bradford College. “The more information it gathers, the more accurate its predictions become. The result is an application that highlights the importance of education to get what you want out of your career, whilst providing a whimsical and playful interface on a platform that everyone is familiar with,” .

Peter Young, Head of SEO at Brilliant Media, thinks that the college’s innovative approach is the right one. “What Bradford College are doing is looking at the whole student experience from the ground up. They’re ensuring that not only do students leave with a good qualification, but that they are also equipped to face the challenges of the real working environment as well,” she comments. “We’ve been involved with the Extra Mile campaign from the start, and we believe that this represents a new approach by a well-respected education provider who has a far deeper understanding of what that experience should encompass. The result is by listening to the concerns of their students and adopting a strategy that utilises one of the most popular forms of social media in a truly innovative way, Bradford College really are going that extra mile for their students.”

Tailor made for success

“Our courses provide students with a complete palette of academic and vocational skills,” explains David Brack. “The emphasis is on giving a student a complete experience, from providing top quality facilities through to financial support, unique progression opportunities and flexible learning programmes that fit in with a student’s lifestyle. We realise just how important social media is to our students, which is why we developed the application as part of the campaign. It gives them another access point that will help them make one of the most important decisions of their life – which course to choose to advance their career.

To find out more about the range of courses on offer and how Bradford College is going the Extra Mile, visit www.bradfordcollege.ac.uk/courses

Facebook application available at http://www.facebook.com/onemilemore