College Marketing Team Recognised With Industry Awards

Image caption: An image of NWSLC Marketing Team with their FE First Awards.

The Marketing team at North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College has been recognised as part of a national scheme, winning a Gold FE First Award from the College Marketing Network for its website development. It was also named as runner-up in the Marketing Team of the Year award category at the prestigious ceremony in Warwick on 2 December.

The FE First awards, presented annually to further education colleges who have excelled in a variety of marketing disciplines, were presented by Ian Pryce, CBE, Chief Executive of the Bedford College Group.

The team picked up the Gold award for its project to design a single, unified website following the merger of North Warwickshire and Hinckley College, and South Leicestershire College in 2016. The website was praised for reflecting the merged organisations, joint brand and improved customer journey. The redesigned site now features clear signposting and information for website visitors, an improved search function, a clear application process, and pathways designed to help smooth the customer journey.

As an outcome of the project, traffic to the website increased by 21 per cent in the first month after it was launched, key Google ratings saw significant improvements, and the number of online applications saw a ninefold increase.

The Marketing team is responsible for raising the profile of the college, stimulating interest in its programmes, encouraging applications and managing all initial contact with the college across four campuses. The team is focused on the core priorities of increasing student applications within a range of markets including those aged 14-16 and 16-18, as well as adults on part-time courses, in higher education, or gaining qualifications online.

Anita Ladva-Cheung, Marketing and Communications Manager at NWSLC said, “We’re delighted to have been recognised by the College Marketing Network and thrilled to have won the Gold award for our website. Our job is to make it as easy as possible for people to engage with the vast range of study options available through the college. With so many audiences to serve, from young people completing GCSEs to adults wanting to progress in their careers, it was a complex challenge to get the new website right but we can see from the traffic and levels of enquiries that it is already making an impact.”

Marion Plant, OBE FCGI, Principal and Chief Executive of North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College said, “I am proud of the significant impact that the Marketing team has made, particularly with the successful launch of our new website this year, and very pleased that the work of the team has been recognised in this way.”