Once you have planned a school presentation or other activity where you actively encourage individuals to start their study abroad journey, please record this activity as a promotional campaign in Global Link so that we can best track our collective efforts in encouraging people to study abroad. Please follow these detailed instructions and contact your Study Abroad Specialist if you need assistance.
When giving a school presentation or holding a tabling event, common practice in the past had been to pass out “lead cards” for interested students to fill out. However, the process for a student going from writing down their name on a card to actually getting started on their application was long and arduous. So, we’ve made it easier.
Now, we ask that you encourage interested students to either:
1) Go to our Website, www.afsusa.org, to Study Abroad and Start your Journey
or
2) Text in to receive a link to thee application and get started on their phone.
“Text opt-in”cards are available to order from our fulfillment site and can be passed out at presentations and events. They will include everything the student needs to get started, along with a fun culture quiz to help them get hooked and stay engaged. If the student would prefer not to send a text, they will still have what they need to go online and start an application there.
So wait, why are we doing this?!
Texting is quicker: For short, easy conversations, high schoolers now use texting as their primary mode of communication – far more than phone calls or even emails. (See the data.) By fitting our processes into theirs, we remove barriers for students to engage with AFS.
It’s free to start an application: Previously, AFS charged $75 to start an application, so we needed some way for students to indicate interest without paying. Now, it doesn’t cost anything to get started. Giving students a link to the application – instead of having them fill out a lead card and wait for follow-up – is the quickest and easiest way for them to “start their journey.”
Keep reading about how to encourage people to study abroad by checking out Find and Contact Sending Leads and Overcoming Objections to Studying Abroad.