Collective Enrollment Episode 3: How to Recruit Us: An Open Letter to Admissions Teams from Gen-Z

Full Transcript

[00:00:12] ZachBusekrus: welcome to collective enrollment, a special four-part podcast series that explores the future of student marketing and recruitment brought to you by Zimmy and enroll a five over the next four weeks. You'll get a crash course on what collective enrollment is, why it matters for both enrollment and marketing profession And how to adopt collective enrollment [00:00:30] strategies into your enrollment marketing mix. We'll explore what a 

[00:00:33] ZachBusekrus: world without Facebook and the college board might mean for new student acquisition. We'll hear the founding story of Zemy and we'll learn from current high school students about how they want to and don't want to be recruited by [00:00:45] institutions.  This series is brought to you by ZeeMee, the go-to social community for students headed to college. More than 1 million students use ZeeMee to connect and chat with other perspectives interested in the same colleges and universities, and more than [00:01:00] 150 schools use ZeeMee to establish and facilitate quality relationships with future students as early as their sophomore year in high school, to learn more about ZeeMee, head on over to colleges dot colleges.zeemee.com. And be sure to tell them that your friends over at [00:01:15] enrollify sent you their way. Without further ado, welcome to collective enrollment. In episode [00:01:23] three of collective enrollment, you'll meet Kevin Huang and Maggie Jordan, Kevin and Maggie are both 

[00:01:28] ZachBusekrus: current high school students who have [00:01:30] graciously accepted my invitation to chat about their college search experience. We discussed the marketing strategy school should. Attract engage gen Z and we dive deep into the role and relationships played in their decisions on where to [00:01:45] go. You can connect  with Kevin and Maggie on LinkedIn. You get the links in the show notes.

[00:01:53] ZachBusekrus: All right, Maggie and Kevin, I want you both to walk me through your morning routines. So [00:02:00] your alarms go off and then like what happened? Immediately after Maggie let's, let's start with you. And then we'll hop on over to. 

[00:02:10] MaggieJordan: Alrighty. So my alarm goes off and I immediately jump up and hit snooze. [00:02:15] That's all kind of works for me.

[00:02:17] MaggieJordan: Um, that happens a couple of more times. And then eventually I wake up and decide I'm going to go get some coffee. Um, so I, I start making my coffee and it's somewhere. That little process right [00:02:30] there. I start making some cereal to eat some breakfast. Um, I have cereal every morning. I'm very boring. 

[00:02:37] KevinHuang: Like your favorite cereal, like what's your go-to 

[00:02:38] MaggieJordan: it's called total.

[00:02:40] MaggieJordan: Um, it's just like a mineral stuff. I don't know. Everybody makes fun of me for it. [00:02:45] It's really good though. Um, but yeah, so I eat my cereal and then I kind of decide what I'm going to do for the day. Um, look at my schedule, kind of what stuff I have going on. If I have to classes, if I have anything that's due today, you know, just kind of stuff like that.

[00:02:58] MaggieJordan: And then it goes from there. [00:03:00] 

[00:03:00] ZachBusekrus: Wonderful. Wonderful. And what about you, Kevin? 

[00:03:03] KevinHuang: Honestly, I've kind of the same with baggy. I would wake up, probably hit snooze a couple of times. I also have early classes, so I have eight thirties and nines. So I normally would get out of bed around like [00:03:15] seven 30 to eight and.

[00:03:17] KevinHuang: Like get ready and then start walking into class. It's usually really cold in the morning now. Um, but it's getting better. Um, and then normally afterwards, depending on my schedule, I would probably go back to my door and then take a nap before I [00:03:30] go to my next class or like take a nap and then go do homework and then go get some lunch with friends.

[00:03:37] KevinHuang: And also like Maggie, I usually will write out my schedule and then also go through. 

[00:03:42] ZachBusekrus: Wonderful. And, um, I'm [00:03:45] curious. So are, are, are either of you that kind of people that like, we'll put the alarm, I guess it's probably your phone, but do you ever like put your phone or your alarm, like away from you so that you have to like get out of bed and like run to it to shut it off?

[00:03:57] ZachBusekrus: Maggie saying yes. And Kevin saying no. [00:04:00] 

[00:04:00] KevinHuang: Yeah. I've I don't because I have roommates, so like, I would like, no. Like to bother them when they're also sleeping. So I keep it close. Cause he, my roommate has [00:04:15] later like classes, so I like to let him sleep in. And then if I'm have early classes, normally the first sound my alarm makes I would usually snooze it.

[00:04:25] KevinHuang: So I don't bother. Well, that's very 

[00:04:27] ZachBusekrus: considered a V Kevin. I don't know that, uh, I [00:04:30] would be as considerate, but uh, love it. Uh, so talk to us a little bit, uh, I'm excited for this conversation that we're going to have today. And, uh, this is the, uh, third episode in a series that we are putting together with our friends over at [00:04:45] Zemi.

[00:04:45] ZachBusekrus: Um, and really this, this series is all about. What we call collective enrollment, which is this, this idea that community based marketing, this idea of peer-to-peer true, peer-to-peer, uh, influence, uh, in, in higher education, [00:05:00] specifically higher education admissions goes a long way in a student's decision around if where, you know, when and where to go to, to go to college.

[00:05:09] ZachBusekrus: So we wanted to be sure that we were actually. Students who, uh, you use Zini and, or [00:05:15] have used Zeni as a part of their college search process for this, for this series. So I want to start by just getting to know each of you a little bit more. Kevin, where did you go to school? And, and what grade are you in?

[00:05:28] ZachBusekrus: And then we'll punt over to you. [00:05:30] 

[00:05:30] KevinHuang: So I'm from California, but I actually, I'm a freshman in college this year. So I committed to Purdue university and west Lafayette, Indiana. Um, I'm currently a pre communication major, but I [00:05:45] CA I technically changed my major already to media and mass communication.

[00:05:50] ZachBusekrus: Wonderful. Well, Hey look, you're getting some experience with a podcast right now. Hopefully you have told your professors, maybe they'll give you a little bit of extra credit or something. Uh, [00:06:00] Maggie, what about you? Where were you? And then where'd you go? 

[00:06:03] MaggieJordan: Oh, well, okay. So for me, my high school experience was a little interesting.

[00:06:07] MaggieJordan: Um, I graduated early from the state college of Florida, so that was last year. Um, I decided to take a gap year just so I could, [00:06:15] um, kind of figure out what life was all about and who I am really as a person. And Kevin knows all about that. Um, but yeah. And then in August, I'll be starting at Florida Southern college as a business major and computer 

[00:06:28] ZachBusekrus: science.

[00:06:29] ZachBusekrus: [00:06:30] Wonderful. Well, I appreciate you guys giving us a little bit of context into who you are and where you come from. And by the way, I think it's so cool that you're doing a gap year. Maggie, as I briefly mentioned to you offline, I did the same and didn't regret it at all. I thought it was a really, really cool [00:06:45] experience.

[00:06:45] ZachBusekrus: I want to talk with you both about. The very first, or even if it's not the very first AA, memorable college or university advertisement that you saw. I, if you, if you can [00:07:00] remember, uh, any of them during your college search process, was, was there any school that had an ad, whether it was, uh, an Instagram ad, uh, an ad on a, you know, tick talk and, or even just a billboard, you know, near your home that you remember [00:07:15] seeing.

[00:07:15] ZachBusekrus: Particularly memorable. And if so, what was the school? And what about the, the advertisement was, was memorable. Well, we'll start this time with you Maggie, and then, and then go over to you. 

[00:07:28] KevinHuang: So 

[00:07:28] MaggieJordan: for me, the very first [00:07:30] ad I probably saw it was honestly for yelling at mercy. Um, just because they're so big. Um, and I thought that was really cool, but the most interesting ad that I remember seeing, like towards the beginning of my process was I think it was called Champlain college.

[00:07:44] MaggieJordan: Um, [00:07:45] and they were running like a promotion of some kind, you know, where, um, They were making, they send you business cards, um, with like, you know, like your name and what your major was, um, your prospective major. [00:08:00] Cause at this point we weren't in college yet, but yeah, I thought that was really interesting just because it kind of like gave you something just to, well, it gave you something out of it for one, you know, Had that physical or mind your, oh, I got this from champion [00:08:15] college.

[00:08:15] MaggieJordan: Um, and then also it was just like a really, um, actually like an interesting thing that we were getting instead of just like, um, a postcard or something, you know, something boring from a college. 

[00:08:27] ZachBusekrus: Did you, do you remember keeping, did you keep the business card [00:08:30] like or did it eventually? Okay. Wow. Memorable swag, uh, enough to keep.

[00:08:36] ZachBusekrus: Anyways. What about, what about you, Kevin? What was the first college or university advertisement that you remember? 

[00:08:42] KevinHuang: I think there were a couple that were memorable to [00:08:45] me. Um, I really like digital, like ads. So like video ads that were posted on YouTube. Um, normally I would hate advertisements, but honestly the college advertisements were probably the ones that I loved the most, because like with [00:09:00] COVID we didn't really have the opportunity to really like fly out to visit schools.

[00:09:04] KevinHuang: So like seeing like a visual, like understanding of like what the college campus looks like, which of the. Communities look like it really demonstrated to me like, [00:09:15] Uh, either the students that were diverse or like if they were any, if they had any interesting programs, I think I really clicked with me. And the two that I remember most of were probably Iowa state university and Purdue university.

[00:09:29] KevinHuang: So [00:09:30] basically they had very descriptive ads about like how their school is oriented, how the campus looks like on a normal. Day basis without COVID. I really liked that because like, if I can see myself going to the school, I think that's obviously [00:09:45] a great way to market the school to other. 

[00:09:48] ZachBusekrus: So video ads were particularly compelling to you.

[00:09:51] ZachBusekrus: Um, really, really interesting insights there to, um, uh, around how it was important to in a, in a season where you couldn't [00:10:00] visit campus yourself or where it was a lot more challenging to visit campus yourself. And even if you did get onto a campus tour that with, with COVID restrictions, it was probably just, you know, not as robust of a tour as it could have been.

[00:10:10] ZachBusekrus: So it was cool. It's, it's neat to hear that schools that really stood out to you were the one. [00:10:15] Found a way to bring at least a semblance of that, uh, to your screen, uh, the, uh, the, uh, video ad. So I want you both to talk about your, your college search experience. Like were, were you guys the kind of kids that.[00:10:30] 

[00:10:30] ZachBusekrus: You know, from freshman year you were thinking about college and university. Like, I I'm going to go here. This is what I'm going to study. I know what I want to be when I grow up or where you more like, uh, I don't know. I don't know who I am. I don't know what I want to do. And you didn't really think about [00:10:45] college until your fresh year, your first semester of senior year.

[00:10:48] ZachBusekrus: How would each of you talk about. When you started thinking about college and what, what your initial search process looked like? Kevin, let's start with you. And then, and then Maggie, uh, you can go after him. [00:11:00] 

[00:11:00] KevinHuang: So I went to a very, very, very stem high school in California. So like they immediately put pressure on.

[00:11:08] KevinHuang: Are we put pressure on each other, like we're known for our competitiveness. Um, so like college [00:11:15] wise, like we were all aware of it, but I I'm different. So I like to avoid my problems. Um, so honestly for me, when I really started thinking about college, it was the summer before my senior year. When you actually think about which schools to apply to.[00:11:30] 

[00:11:31] KevinHuang: Some schools that start at 70 was my parents. And I, are we really like to look at statistics of schools, especially cause I'm a humanities major. So like we want to see, like there were two methods of methods that we really took. One, we used the U S [00:11:45] news to look at the ranking of the school tuition wise.

[00:11:48] KevinHuang: And to, as we looked at some schools with like very stem based. So if I applied to as humanities, there's probably a higher chance for me to get in. Um, As for what [00:12:00] major I wanted to do, I actually knew what I wanted to do early on, but I actually ended up switching to it at the very last second, basically.

[00:12:09] KevinHuang: So I initially wanted to start off with like an acting major. So I applied to like NYU consider [00:12:15] applying to AMDA, but at the very last I can like my accounts to actually referred to me to communication. And I looked into the program. Throughout the schools that I applied to a little bit more, I thought it was more interesting to me as like [00:12:30] now you would probably know that I'm pretty extroverted.

[00:12:32] KevinHuang: I like working with people. I like using creativity to help in my roles. If I had positions in organizations. So like, honestly, communication-wise was probably a better decision for me to go throughout and [00:12:45] I can still do acting if I want. 

[00:12:47] ZachBusekrus: Very, very, uh, well-planned in terms of, I know that you say that you weren't, you weren't that plan, but it still sounds like there's a lot of intentionality that went into how you approached the college search process.

[00:12:58] ZachBusekrus: As you, as you were [00:13:00] Googling, do you remember like what specific search terms you use by any chance? Like, do you remember like giggling like best schools that do X, Y or Z or best acting schools in like California, or like, what were some of the search queries that you conducted? 

[00:13:13] KevinHuang: Honestly, like some of the [00:13:15] ones that you want to say said, because I didn't really know how to go about my college search process, because it's a huge decision to make, to like, decide if you want to go to college or if you want to stay back and like take a gap year, but it's a really big decision.

[00:13:28] KevinHuang: So you really want to be careful with [00:13:30] the choices or the schools that you may want to consider to apply to like California. Like I applied to most of the UCS, like university of California schools, because that's what California schools are. No. Um, and then as for my out-of-state schools, [00:13:45] a lot of the schools that I considered applying, or I did apply to were good schools known by the students from my high school.

[00:13:54] KevinHuang: So my high school, like friends went to school. That I decided to apply to [00:14:00] because apparently our school has good students that other colleges want. And so I kind of use that to my advantage. Um, and I also looked at statistics wise to see like where the school's at ranking, where the schools are [00:14:15] for my major and like specifics, um, to see if the school will be compatible.

[00:14:21] KevinHuang: If I decide to change my major. 

[00:14:23] ZachBusekrus: Super super interesting. What about, what about you, Maggie? How did you approach the college search experience? [00:14:30] 

[00:14:31] MaggieJordan: Okay. So why college search experience was a little bit different? I started thinking about college fully in seventh grade. Um, just because I am that person, who's like, oh no, I'm [00:14:45] never going to get anywhere in life.

[00:14:45] MaggieJordan: So I have to do everything that I can possibly do, um, to try and do well. Um, so I kind of had this fear motivated, um, approach to everything. I started really seriously looking at colleges [00:15:00] in junior year. Um, I remember going to, um, new college of Florida. Um, I toured Florida Southern actually once. And at first I thought I didn't like it, but yeah.

[00:15:13] MaggieJordan: Um, and then from [00:15:15] there I kind of, I went through several different majors, um, Before I kind of settled on business. Um, originally, uh, I mentioned that I was in dual enrollment. Um, and so when I was going through that, I loved my English classes. Like kind of like having an eye [00:15:30] communications was, um, one of the major things that I was really into.

[00:15:33] MaggieJordan: Um, so I chose an English major originally. That was where I applied. Um, during senior year I applied all like for liberal arts, you know, English major. Um, and then. I [00:15:45] made a 180 degree turn and decided I was going to go into engineering. Um, so I applied to Florida Polytechnic on a whim, um, after being encouraged by one of my friends who was just like, you should try this.

[00:15:57] MaggieJordan: So I, I actually [00:16:00] ended up going for a tour and loving it there. Um, and then six months later, um, I I got in and I loved it. And, um, and then I had a mental breakdown because I was like, [00:16:15] this is not for me. Um, there's no way that I am an engineering person. It's just not who I am. Um, so I had to have this kind of like major re-evaluation of who I am and what I want to do.

[00:16:27] MaggieJordan: And that was part of the reason why the gap year that I'm taking right [00:16:30] now is so important because it really allowed me to find who I am and what I want to do, which is ultimately business. Yeah. So that's kind of what my process looked like. It was, it was very 

[00:16:40] ZachBusekrus: rough. No, but that's, uh, you know, I think for, for what it's worth, [00:16:45] uh, I think everyone's process is, is so different and more and more and more we're hearing.

[00:16:51] ZachBusekrus: And we're seeing students taking very non-traditional approaches through. Uh, the college experience, right? Like the [00:17:00] number of students that ended up transferring, or, you know, taking a year off in between and doing something a little bit different and switching majors and, you know, the major that they go in with by the time that they graduate, they're doing something completely different.

[00:17:12] ZachBusekrus: So it's interesting to kind of [00:17:15] see how, even, even since I was in school, just how much more flexible, uh, or maybe it's not even about flexibility per se, but you know, how much more okay. Uh, students today are with taking these, you know, semi [00:17:30] non-conventional path. So thanks for sharing that. I, and, uh, sorry about the, you know, mental breakdown, but it sounds like you're, you're doing much better and, and you, you know, a little bit more about what you want to do.

[00:17:39] ZachBusekrus: So that's, that's great to hear. I'd love to hear all those thoughts on any, anything that [00:17:45] schools did during. The college search process that were, uh, that you didn't appreciate whether it was like, it was weird. It was a knowing whether people were calling too much or sending you too many pieces of mail, like whether there were too many emails, like, do you remember anything that [00:18:00] schools did that was, that was just, you know, uh, knowing or frustrating or, or, or even like cringy, um, Kevin, let's start with you.

[00:18:07] ZachBusekrus: And then Maggie, we can, we can ask, uh, you can answer the questions. 

[00:18:12] KevinHuang: Oh, I got a lot of mail, like, oh [00:18:15] wow. Like I am tired drawers filled with like different science mail. I still have not touched because like the schools were not appealing to me, I guess. Like I did research on most of the schools that sent me mail, but some of them, like, I [00:18:30] got so many emails from certain schools and I was like, If I were to apply to your school, this is probably not the way that I would want to get information.

[00:18:39] KevinHuang: Um, and also I applied to this school where I got a lot [00:18:45] of information and they used to call me all the time while I was in school. I was doing work and. It was just so annoying because I was trying to keep up with my thing and my phone would ring and I'd be like, I can't pick up because like [00:19:00] I'm in school or I'm taking an exam and it would just be like nonstop.

[00:19:03] KevinHuang: Like every day it would be like once or twice a day. And then to a point where it kind of like low key blocked the number because I was a little annoyed. Um, I was just [00:19:15] really like angry because like, if you want it to reach someone. Like do figure out different forms of communication, not just by calling.

[00:19:23] KevinHuang: Like I put my email and make her just emails me with information. But also speaking of email, I also [00:19:30] got a lot of mail from random schools. Like even after like now I'm in college, I still get email from colleges. Like I finished applying get the message because like I'm no longer interested in transferring or applying, but it's just nonstop.

[00:19:44] KevinHuang: [00:19:45] Like they keep coming. Like why? Because I'm done with the college application process, that was a big process, a long process. I don't want to go back to it. So like stop segregated 

[00:19:57] ZachBusekrus: please. Uh, one follow-up [00:20:00] question here, Kevin, because I think if what you said is true, this is kind of interesting to me as somebody who like geeks out over how schools recruit students, which I know is a weird thing to geek out about.

[00:20:10] ZachBusekrus: But, um, you mentioned that after you got. [00:20:15] Pamphlets or, or, uh, uh, brochures or, or postcards in the mail from schools that you actually would go. And you do research on the school, like after, like, after you received something in the mail, like what percentage do you think of the time when a school sent you something, even if you [00:20:30] didn't know much about them, did you at least go and like Google the school's name and read a couple of things about it?

[00:20:36] KevinHuang: So I've probably gotten mail from. Over a hundred schools. So like the ones with good design on the front of [00:20:45] the cover really attracted me because I like R I like creativity. And if you can put two and two together to present to a student that like, for me, that clicks my mind. So for me, if they sent me just like a plain white envelope with mail, I probably just threw it away.[00:21:00] 

[00:21:00] KevinHuang: But if they sent me. Like a hard copy or something with like pictures of what the school looks like. I would probably look more into it because I, in communication, you learn that color appeals to audiences. So that really appealed to me. And [00:21:15] sometimes they are like, they would. Nicely designed each of the sections where they include paragraphs or like sections, where they include photos.

[00:21:24] KevinHuang: And like, I just, some of them, I really liked the design. So really attracted to me. Do you 

[00:21:28] ZachBusekrus: remember, was there, was [00:21:30] there any school that like had a really cool attractive piece and then when you Googled them, you were. This website's terrible. Or like, I don't like what I, you know, did you ever feel like there was like a, a school that looked good in the mail, but like really crappy [00:21:45] online?

[00:21:45] ZachBusekrus: Um, or was it like the ones that looked good in the mail typically also had really nice weather. 

[00:21:50] KevinHuang: There were a couple, which I will say the marketing on the website was not the best. I don't want to name names because I don't want to get in trouble by any schools. [00:22:00] But, um, yeah, it was, there was this one particular school where it was like really pretty.

[00:22:06] KevinHuang: It was at a pretty decent like level of color complexion on the mail that I received. And I looked on the website and it was just mainly, really [00:22:15] just the screen was just white. There was no design on the bag. There was nothing. Really popping. Um, they were also like basic pictures. I don't know if they just like took it from the internet or they took it themselves.

[00:22:27] KevinHuang: You couldn't really tell that it was specific for the [00:22:30] school itself, which I didn't really like, because like, if you're trying to promote a school to students, you would want to see pictures from the school. But if you put like a generic photo, no one can tell if it's from the school or you just took it from the internet.

[00:22:41] KevinHuang: Yeah. 

[00:22:42] ZachBusekrus: Yeah. Really, really interesting points. What about you, Maggie? [00:22:45] What do you remember about the. The way that schools courted you the way that they tried to convince you to come, uh, come and roll there was annoying or frustrating or, or cringy. And again, if nothing was, I, you know, [00:23:00] feel free to say no, it was all great.

[00:23:01] ZachBusekrus: Um, but, uh, but talk to us a little bit about what your experience of how school is marketed to you. Was 

[00:23:07] KevinHuang: it. 

[00:23:09] MaggieJordan: Yeah. So I had a pretty similar experience of with Kevin. Um, I got a ton of mail, [00:23:15] like a ton of mail. Um, I currently in my garage still have two big storage bins of mail and I never read because it was really annoying and I just wanted it to stop coming and sometimes I'd get like two or three of the same thing in the mail.[00:23:30] 

[00:23:30] MaggieJordan: For one, I didn't even read the first one second of all, you don't need to send me three more. So that was really irritating. Um, just because like, especially being a really busy student, um, at the time I was in senior year, you know, um, I, I didn't [00:23:45] really have a lot of time to sort through mail and figure out, you know, oh, this college seems good or this one doesn't, you know?

[00:23:51] MaggieJordan: Um, so what I really appreciated, um, when I did get mail was seeing schools that were. [00:24:00] They give me some facts that really into me, it's like not just, oh, come to our school period, you know? Um, I, I appreciated it when I'd be like, um, I'd get something like, um, okay. [00:24:15] Um, here's how many clubs we have on campus because like, as a relationship builder type person, um, uh, social media, The community is really important to me.

[00:24:23] MaggieJordan: That's part of the reason why I chose my college, Florida Southern. Um, so when I, when I saw something that like, um, [00:24:30] really had the attractive colors and then gave me some good facts and made me have a good sense of who the school was, that was when I actually read it. Um, I look again at the design, um, just kind of either determine, okay.

[00:24:44] MaggieJordan: If, for [00:24:45] example, um, I remember one school, um, Had very dark green colors and like dark green is a cool color all. Um, and I love it, but it just kind of gave me this like kind of like foreboding feeling like, oh no, I'm [00:25:00] getting pulled to the middle of a forest to get murdered. Um, that was kinda what I thought of when I read that advertisement.

[00:25:08] MaggieJordan: Um, so, you know, when I see like some good design that's colorful, um, but isn't too busy. That's another [00:25:15] thing I, when I did get advertisements every so often, they would be. Overwhelming. Um, so I, I didn't really like that. Um, just give me the facts and then let me decide on my own and don't try and force me into this decision.

[00:25:29] MaggieJordan: [00:25:30] Um, cause that was another thing that I got a lot was oh, um, you know, What are you committing to our school? And I'm like, thanks. But, um, no, that usually made me decide not to commit 

[00:25:43] KevinHuang: there. Wow. Yeah. 

[00:25:44] ZachBusekrus: [00:25:45] That's super interesting. So both of you are talking about how influential, like the design of print pieces were on, whether, on how you initially perceived a school, which is a really interesting, uh, take an insight and not to be candid.

[00:25:58] ZachBusekrus: I don't know that enough. [00:26:00] People think about that. Yeah. Yeah. Go ahead. Do you want to say something about. Yeah. 

[00:26:03] MaggieJordan: Um, it's kind of interesting to think about, because I think the part of the reason is that we've grown up. Um, well most of us have grown up a lot. Um, you know, using platforms like [00:26:15] Instagram or Tik TOK, you know, um, Are used to consuming visual content.

[00:26:20] MaggieJordan: That's presented in a really nice way. Um, you know, like on Instagram you won't follow somebody that has like really grainy content or, you know, it's just not [00:26:30] nice, you know? Um, unless you're kind of like me, I'm kind of like, you know, special social and weird. Um, my friends sometimes, so some really questionable stuff.

[00:26:43] MaggieJordan: You know, generally, [00:26:45] um, we really like to consume the more visually appealing things. And so I think that we just kind of got used to having these, um, these nice designs. And so when you give us something that we don't visually like, it just kind of like you, [00:27:00] so we automatically 

[00:27:01] KevinHuang: kind of go, no, Kevin, did you want to add anything to that?

[00:27:04] KevinHuang: Yeah. I think what Maggie said was actually really perfect. Like what I want to say, because like, we all grew up like this generation and all the future generations, we all have grown from [00:27:15] digital media. So like Maggie said, we're, we're appealed to Instagram. We're appealed to tick tock or appealed to content that's like appealing or interesting to us.

[00:27:24] KevinHuang: Like that's why we follow the person or like the content creators. But I also, [00:27:30] um, so two things that I wanted to connect between what you said, and all that Maggie said was Maggie mentioned how, like we would get like repetitive nails, like saying the same thing over and over again. So a lot of the current generation, we're all like activists, we all like [00:27:45] care about the importance of the environment, care about trees.

[00:27:49] KevinHuang: And just like the idea of sending mail is just too much paper. Okay. That like, sometimes we'll lower people's standards of the school because like they don't respect maybe similar [00:28:00] values that you might share while it's like a good tactic to market your school. But like, sometimes you have to know when enough is enough.

[00:28:07] KevinHuang: Yeah. Um, so like that's just something. Like, I thought, like, some people might have an opinion on if, especially if it's [00:28:15] like hardcore hard mail, but also additionally, since last year, especially for me, I went virtual like my entire senior year. So we're all like kind of addicted to our laptops and our screens.

[00:28:27] KevinHuang: So the best way, honestly, to market to us was just [00:28:30] sending us mail or like having like advertisements or videos posted around so we can, we can see it like actual, see it rather than just like, read about. But also, um, a lot of the mail that they send us, it's very generic. Like [00:28:45] it's like apply to this school because we want you because they're there, but you don't really know like the type of student you want, you just sending it out because it's easiest to Marketo.

[00:28:55] ZachBusekrus: Maggie, go ahead. You have something 

[00:28:56] KevinHuang: else to say here. Yeah. 

[00:28:58] MaggieJordan: And another thing that I [00:29:00] noticed sometimes when I get like emails or mail, um, Kevin mentioned how sometimes it's like really not personalized and you know, it just kind of like very generic. Um, sometimes I would get mail that was not, even to me.

[00:29:12] MaggieJordan: Um, I would get they'd send me, [00:29:15] um, like with my address and everything on it. And it'd say Nike Jordan, but then. On the actual like card itself, it'd be like written to Joseph. I was like, whoops, somebody made a mistake here. You know? [00:29:30] Um, so I usually, when I got those like auto block, that email, just because I was like, man, you can't even put in the effort to like, get this.

[00:29:36] MaggieJordan: Right. 

[00:29:36] KevinHuang: So yeah. I also am 10, a few and it's just, it's just so. [00:29:45] It just for us, it's like an attack on a sort of like, it's really rude to us because we had to take the time, how to, of our own schedules to do this college application process. And then specifically, if we apply to your school and you send us a card with like the [00:30:00] wrong name or the wrong.

[00:30:01] KevinHuang: But that's an Amelia immediately. No, for us, like it's immediate regret because if you can't do your job, like why should we like respect that? Because like, if you can't do your part, we can't do our part and then you can't get like another [00:30:15] student to apply to your school. So it was just like, just be careful when you send out like, 

[00:30:23] ZachBusekrus: Oh guys, these, uh, these insights are golden.

[00:30:26] ZachBusekrus: So I want to transition a little bit here and I want to talk about the [00:30:30] very first time that you all heard that each of you heard of, of Zemi. Uh, w do you remember kind of like where you were or how you heard about it, and then how would you describe Zemi to somebody working at a college or university?

[00:30:41] ZachBusekrus: That's never heard of DME. [00:30:45] We can start with you. 

[00:30:48] MaggieJordan: All right. So I first heard about Simi. I was on a college webinar with Rollins college. Um, and I remember thinking, you know, just kinda like, oh, what's this, what's this I've never heard of this before. Um, you know, they kind of [00:31:00] presented it as like, um, a small little community that, um, Would connect you with other students and also gave me the opportunity to connect with counselors from Rollins college.

[00:31:13] MaggieJordan: Um, and so I kind of looked at [00:31:15] this and I was like, Hmm, that's kind of a cool idea. Um, and I, I remember downloading it and I didn't even really use it for awhile because Rollins college and I didn't really, uh, fit that well, but, and I didn't realize really that there were. That they were growing in. There were more [00:31:30] schools, um, being added to the community.

[00:31:32] MaggieJordan: So I kind of left it for a little while. And then, um, I saw it come across in my LinkedIn page, um, that Simi was growing and like they always send out these new announcements. Oh, so-and-so just joined our meet family. And I remember, I don't remember which [00:31:45] college. But one of the colleges I was really interested in at the time had joined their community.

[00:31:49] MaggieJordan: And so I was like, oh, okay. I see where this is going. This, this is growing and this is kind of cool. So I got back on it. I joined, um, some of those socials, the knees. Um, [00:32:00] and then I just kind of all the, all like 15 different schools that I was interested in. Um, I, I added them and I just. Kept an eye on it.

[00:32:10] MaggieJordan: Um, sometimes I'd interact in the community and sometimes I wouldn't, um, [00:32:15] like what, what, what school was it? There was one that was super active, but I just didn't vibe with the students. And that was a big, um, a big thing for me. Cause I just, I was like, if I don't bond with them here, then I'm probably not going to bond with them on campus.

[00:32:29] MaggieJordan: And [00:32:30] that's a big thing for me. So, um, now I'd probably describe Jeannie as like. Hmm, it's really cool, honestly. Um, so I call it kind of like, uh, the new social media, you know, um, [00:32:45] for college students like college and high school students to find college, um, and to really, um, Connect with like-minded students that are interested in the same things and same places as you are.

[00:32:58] MaggieJordan: Um, because that was, that was a [00:33:00] major factor in my decision was the community. And I know it is for a lot of other people as well. 

[00:33:04] KevinHuang: So, 

[00:33:04] ZachBusekrus: so you went in and just to, just to thank you for sharing, that was so well said, just to kind of summarize a little bit, you get into Zamie and you see what you see like a list of schools, and then you say, [00:33:15] Hey, I want to join, you know, university X is community.

[00:33:19] ZachBusekrus: Are you joined that community and then you're invited into, it's kind of like a chat room with like different, uh, you know, chat threads, and you can join different conversations happening in and around that school, but it's [00:33:30] all, but it's all pertinent to mostly prospective students that are, that are also kind of checking out that same school.

[00:33:35] ZachBusekrus: Is that, is that correct? 

[00:33:37] MaggieJordan: Yes. That's exactly how it is. And I really liked being able to connect not only with other prospective students, but also sometimes there are current students [00:33:45] on the platform. And so that was really useful for me too, being able to connect with somebody, not only that is interesting in that school, but actually decided to go there so I can ask them questions like, Hey, you know, my tour guide said, the food here is really good, but what do you, as a student who's not being paid for this, [00:34:00] what do you actually think of the food?

[00:34:01] MaggieJordan: You know, 

[00:34:02] KevinHuang: stuff like that. 

[00:34:03] ZachBusekrus: Super, super interesting. And we're the conversation. The w w did you, did, did any of the conversations that you had in these various school communities change your, your perception of any of these [00:34:15] institutions? And if so, how? 

[00:34:17] KevinHuang: Oh 

[00:34:18] MaggieJordan: yeah. Um, one of the schools that I was really looking forward to, I won't name names, but there was one that I was really interested in and at one point, and I was super excited to join their community on Zemi when they joined.

[00:34:28] MaggieJordan: And then I was majorly [00:34:30] disappointed. You know, they just, the students either didn't interact at all with each other. And I was like, oh man. I mean, like I love nerds. Y'all are a bunch of nerds know. So that was kind of how that went. And then [00:34:45] for Florida Southern, it was a completely different thing. I wasn't really looking at them super seriously until, um, I really saw the community on CME and I was like, Hey, these students seem really cool.

[00:34:55] MaggieJordan: Um, we did a couple of these like online events and. Uh, [00:35:00] man, these are, these are my people, you know? So, um, between like the like speed swiping event, I think we called it, I was like a friend friend making roommate thing. Um, then we did like a Lakeland trivia night. Um, and so kind of like those events were [00:35:15] really helpful, 

[00:35:15] KevinHuang: too.

[00:35:16] ZachBusekrus: Super, super interesting. What about you, Kevin? When, when was the first time that you heard about Zini and when did you ultimately join and what was kind of your, your experience at the planet? 

[00:35:28] KevinHuang: I think I joined [00:35:30] November. Yeah. 2020. I think, um, I actually received a text from university of California, Berkeley.

[00:35:38] KevinHuang: I, they were like, you should come check out this app. Like it's a great way to network or it's a great way to meet other students. [00:35:45] Like who wants to, who applied to Berkeley? You can talk about like Berkeley life. And so I like jumped at the opportunity, honestly, cause I thought like, oh, maybe this can boost my chances to get into the school.

 

[00:35:57] KevinHuang: Nope. Uh, but. So I [00:36:00] was like, okay, let me just try out this school. Cause it was, I think it was the day, like after I applied to all the university of California schools, I was like, let me just try, let me give this app a chance, like what can hurt, what can go wrong? So I joined the app and immediately, like, I try [00:36:15] to like figure out where's where, and I like.

[00:36:18] KevinHuang: All the schools that I applied to, or I have currently at that time applied to, and I just stayed up with, like, you can tell that there's like 30,000 seats and like a chat. Um, [00:36:30] and there's in the UC Berkeley chat specifically, there was a representative. She talked a lot about like Berkeley life. She answered, obviously there were a lot of questions, but she answered as many questions as she could while she checked in on the chat.

[00:36:44] KevinHuang: And honestly [00:36:45] like that. Draw my attention, because like, there's a student representative who goes to Berkeley, who like, was willing to offer a little of her time to answer questions, to check in on the Berkeley students to relay information that she got while working at, like on [00:37:00] campus. And I really like really appreciated that.

[00:37:03] KevinHuang: And like now, like even after applying, like I still. I don't the only college shot that I am in right now is pretty university. So like sometimes I'll check in to like, answer [00:37:15] any questions that like students may have, like now I'm doing the job that the girl did and when, when I was applying to the school.

[00:37:22] KevinHuang: Wow. Yeah. So it was, it's honestly a really cool experience. And additionally, You can also meet a lot of people with similar [00:37:30] interests. So we have this, these social channels. So like some of them are like called for the love of art. So people with like art majors or like people who love to do art would love to like, be part of the child.

[00:37:41] KevinHuang: They'll sometimes send pictures of like some of the work that they've done. And the people [00:37:45] in these chats are extremely supportive. They're like, wow, like this is amazing. Like sometimes we would offer feedback on like some of the things that they can improve on, but there's also chats like. I am also, I monitor a lot of chats, [00:38:00] like, um, I also monitor sometimes outdoors and you really see like the different.

[00:38:05] KevinHuang: Like perspectives that students have on the idea of outdoors. Because some people, like I did not grow up from a place where I fished a lot, but [00:38:15] people will talk about fishing. They'll talk about hunting. They'll talk about like sports and like, it's really cool to see like where people come from or what they've grown upon.

[00:38:23] KevinHuang: Realize that like, oh, like people are really, really different and have different interests despite being like a specific major, like they can be an [00:38:30] aerospace major and still like, love painting or something. It just shows like the variety or that students present themselves when they like go on Zuni and like, to now like Maggie and I met like through Z me, like we became [00:38:45] moderators around the same time, honestly.

[00:38:47] KevinHuang: Like I remember checking back awhile ago to say like, when I became like a Z moderator, actually today's my one-year anniversary. Congratulations. Thank you. [00:39:00] Um, so honestly, I've been in to see me with, for an entire year. So like the timing wise, it was perfect. Um, and for me to really message to like other people, honestly, like it's, life-changing Maggie and I haven't done a lot of projects together.

[00:39:13] KevinHuang: We've worked together a lot. [00:39:15] Like with a Z me, but also outside. And I was eating so honestly for humanities majors. Like me, like, honestly, I jumped at the networking opportunity because it's honestly kind of hard to like network because everyone's so [00:39:30] focused on stone that you don't really give humanities majors a try.

[00:39:34] KevinHuang: And then Maggie gave me a try on some of the projects that she was working on. So honestly, for me, it's like a great networking platform. A variety of students. And honestly, [00:39:45] like Maggie said, you can tell, like what type of people decide to apply to these schools and you can figure out whether or not you fit in the schools or not.

[00:39:53] KevinHuang: How, how do you 

[00:39:53] ZachBusekrus: all think about the difference between Zemi. And other social media sites. Right? So, you [00:40:00] know, like a lot of colleges, I think Facebook actually recently just shut this down, but for a long time, anyways, universities would go and they'd create these Facebook groups and say, Hey, come join the class of, you know, 20 whatever Facebook group.

[00:40:13] ZachBusekrus: Right. And then they, they were trying to [00:40:15] facilitate some sort of community there. Um, and I think. Uh, when I was, when I was applying to school, that was sort of, the big thing is you were invited to certain Facebook groups. If you had either, uh, inquired at this particular school and, or applied, and w w you know, were accepted at a particular [00:40:30] school.

[00:40:30] ZachBusekrus: I think those days are long gone, but like, when you guys think of. And when you think about Zumiez compared to like, you know, chatting with somebody in a group, uh, you know, maybe it's just even sort of like an, a chat group or maybe it's even [00:40:45] just like, DM-ing somebody on Instagram or whatever it might be like.

[00:40:48] ZachBusekrus: Uh, how do you, how do you think about the differences between how you spend time on Instagram or Tik dock versus how you spend time on. 

[00:40:58] KevinHuang: I can go first and the content [00:41:00] wise, it's very different. Um, I would say like Zemi is like a bridge between all the social media apps. Like you can see parts of like Instagram, Thursday, me, you can see parts of like discord through Simi as well.

[00:41:11] KevinHuang: So honestly, it's seen as like the bridge between like, and gaming channels, but also. [00:41:15] Content wise. So it's like, honestly, perfectly appealing to high school students to college students, because that's what keeps us invested in an app as for like the Facebook groups that like, I know pretty universities still use those Facebook [00:41:30] groups.

[00:41:31] KevinHuang: There's so many, like Facebook groups, don't just go for just students. Like a lot of parents would join like Facebook groups and it's, and also like, since Facebook groups are like sometimes open or like sometimes like if [00:41:45] they're closed, but like if mainly they're open, like bots can just go in. Like, if you're like talking about like, Like unmask, we start talking in the like, Berkeley chat.

[00:41:54] KevinHuang: Like, there'll be so many students. And then you see a random mom, just comments saying something random. It just really [00:42:00] like affects your interest in the school. Because like, well, the entire point of the Facebook group is for us to like, communicate with each other, but like with a random person joining, like, you don't feel that you don't feel comfortable having the same conversation with while that person [00:42:15] is in the room.

[00:42:16] KevinHuang: And additionally, like Facebook groups, like lead to messenger groups. So like messenger groups, All in all big. So there can be only so many people in a chat while Zemi provides the opportunity to have like [00:42:30] thousands of people in a chat and still have the chat consistent Facebook groups. Can't do that.

[00:42:35] KevinHuang: Um, additionally, I think that like zany in general, it's like a great access for students since like it's appealing for digital media [00:42:45] wise. It's for appealing for currently, like where. Digital networking apps based in like the 21st century. I think it really bridges like all the apps and like, it's like improving itself by being like slightly more different, but also [00:43:00] using a little bit of each of the current apps to build something better for college students.

[00:43:06] KevinHuang: What would you add to that? Maggie? 

[00:43:09] MaggieJordan: Oh, man. Um, I agree with everything Kevin said, um, to add onto that, [00:43:15] I'd say it's a lot less, um, You know, Instagram, you see these perfectly cultivated feeds, you know, it's like everybody, um, you know, everybody wants to be an influencer. Everybody wants to have those super high quality photos, all the same color [00:43:30] backgrounds, you know, so that everything's like cultivated and perfect.

[00:43:34] MaggieJordan: Um, I don't think I've ever seen anybody see me post something like that. Um, to be honest, you know, like those, those edited photos, you know, which is kind of like, [00:43:45] we can be ourselves here a little bit more. And also while we're learning and connecting with people, I'm like never have, I really like reached out to somebody on like Instagram or tech talk or anyone, anything, and been like, Hey, let's be friends, but on Xeni I do that a [00:44:00] lot because I'm like, Hey, your profile seems like really cool, like reading through your little, like question, answer.

[00:44:05] MaggieJordan: Things or your roommate profile or whatever. I'm just like, Hey, you know, you sound like we'd be good friends rather than, oh, look at how pretty her photos are. You 

[00:44:13] KevinHuang: know, [00:44:15] I really like what Maggie said, because it shows the genuine auntie of, um, people on like Vimeo apps who goes on Instagram, like Maggie said, like, you can see edited photos.

[00:44:24] KevinHuang: It's like not their real, real south, but if you see on Zemi like no one really takes out of their [00:44:30] time to edit their own photos to look good on us. Like. Talking aside. Um, and it just like, you can see, like what type of people, what type of, what qualities a person has based on a picture or based on what they write [00:44:45] on their like distract their description or like the questions they answer.

[00:44:49] KevinHuang: And it just shows like how like nice of a person is or how like compatible you are to that person. And then you can like become friends with and like message on it. It's just like a [00:45:00] really easy, like safe process to meet. 

[00:45:04] ZachBusekrus: Super interesting. Yeah, it seems, it seems to me that like, based off of what you both are getting that here, that, you know, this is sort of a space where people feel a little bit more comfortable just like [00:45:15] being who they are and saying like, Hey, this is who I am.

[00:45:17] ZachBusekrus: This is what I'm interested in. Um, You know, let's connect in a sense, whereas maybe on some other social channels, it is a little bit easier. Like you're supposed to present, like, you're your best self, right? Like that's kind of how [00:45:30] these, how these apps are designed. Um, whereas it sounds like based of what you all are saying, that it seems a little bit more about like, Hey, Hey, here's who, here's where.

[00:45:38] ZachBusekrus: All right. Like, this is, you know, this is what I, uh, this is what I look like when I wake up at six in the morning and you know, this is, uh, this is kind of how I [00:45:45] actually walked through my day. Uh, not for Instagram, but, but for me, which is, which is really, really interesting. And I feel like, you know, from everything that I've heard and read about gen Z, it seems, it seems to sort of align with gen Z core value.[00:46:00] 

[00:46:00] KevinHuang: Another 

[00:46:01] MaggieJordan: thing that I really think about a lot, when I think about like social media platforms, you know, you always hear about like the Facebook, like the lawsuits and everything about privacy. Um, and you know, with Instagram being taken over by Facebook and then, you know, like they're, your parents are always [00:46:15] worrying, you know?

[00:46:16] MaggieJordan: Oh, what about my child? You know? Um, and stuff like that, but I don't think I've ever like, in all my time on Xeni, I don't think I've ever heard somebody worry, you know, like, oh, what are they using our data? You know? Yeah. It just kind of like, you [00:46:30] know, uh, a wholesome platform that you don't really worry about that much.

[00:46:34] KevinHuang: I think it's also like really comfortable for people to like, take a step away from social media. Since like now it's like really toxic. Like we always think the worst of like a photo. Like [00:46:45] we see like Kim Kardashians. We were like, how come my body is not like that? Um, obviously now it's more like body positive, but there's still people out there like that.

[00:46:52] KevinHuang: And like, while here people just like encourage each other. There's no like negative comments about themselves or other people that are like, oh my God, you're so pretty. Or like, I [00:47:00] love like. Piece of art or something. Um, it's just a really, really supportive community. And like, sometimes you need that in your life, especially since you're so on your phone all the time.

[00:47:09] KevinHuang: You're on ticked off all the time. Instagram, you just need to take that one opportunity to step back [00:47:15] and like re relive the real world while talking to other people who are genuinely. 

[00:47:20] ZachBusekrus: So, well, sad. Well, I've got, I've got one final question for both of you, and this is just around advice that you have for people that are hired marketers [00:47:30] and admissions professionals, uh, that people that we're trying to recruit you, the people that are sending you, those, uh, those emails and those, uh, uh, those mailers, right?

[00:47:38] ZachBusekrus: What, what advice do you have for them on how they. Do a better job at, at recruiting [00:47:45] students, students like you all. Um, and we'll, we'll start with you, Kevin, and then we'll, we'll close with you, Maggie, 

[00:47:51] KevinHuang: honestly, understand students better. Like I know that's like really hard, cause it's like so specific, but honestly, like trying to understand.[00:48:00] 

[00:48:00] KevinHuang: The demographics of a person trying to understand where they're from their current situation, but also understand like a person's nature, because like, in a lot of schools, like stem has focus, that's still really focused and it's like, not fair to [00:48:15] those who want to do humanities. Cause like, why would you want, like, why would you displace these majors when you're so all your attention is focused on other places.

[00:48:23] KevinHuang: So like if you're trying to market to like a D a wide variety of majors and people. Like really understand like [00:48:30] the people that you want to get from like a message that you're trying to spread because sometimes like people take it the other way, especially like communication majors, English majors is like, something you say is like slightly off.

[00:48:42] KevinHuang: We can pick up on that. Like we realize that [00:48:45] like, oh, like your, your mindset is just this. And like, obviously if we go to this, like the school with this type of mindset, we can't like succeed. We can't do well in it. So if you're trying to market. Make sure you mark it to like a wide variety of students, [00:49:00] because like just targeting a huge group of audiences, not fair to other groups.

[00:49:05] KevinHuang: And like, if you would like to. Additionally for marketing, like something that I mentioned earlier, it's like, don't keep sending generic mail to people because [00:49:15] it's gets to a point where it's really annoying. And it's also a really waste of paper because all we do is like, sometimes we don't even have the opportunity to read it because while we know like the first two were like repetitive already, so we know like the third or fourth or fifth are probably the same thing.

[00:49:29] KevinHuang: So it just [00:49:30] goes through the trash. So like it's a waste of paper. It's a wasted. Basically everything. And like with the digital media now today we have more people being attached or having, having addiction to phones, to laptops. [00:49:45] And for me still, the best way to digital market to me is through videos.

[00:49:52] KevinHuang: Like sometimes we don't have the expenses to travel from California to New York to visit New York schools. So like being [00:50:00] able to see what college life specifically for that school is like, because we don't have the opportunity to visit. Um, but also like. Like something that still bothers me. It's like the [00:50:15] generics of a male, especially like, if you're trying to impress like some students that come to your school, make sure you like revise.

[00:50:23] KevinHuang: Like your paragraph over and over again, because like Maggie Britton, Maggie and I both received [00:50:30] mail with like the wrong name, like that is so crucial to the student to a point where you mess it up. Like if you cannot get the student's name, right. Well, you're not paying close attention to the person that you're writing the mail to, and it's not fair to the person.

[00:50:43] KevinHuang: Received the mail and the person who [00:50:45] didn't get theirs, rightful male, 

[00:50:47] ZachBusekrus: especially, especially when colleges and universities are trying so hard to personalize their marketing and communications down to individual perspective student and tout themselves as doing that. What about, what about you Maggie, uh, [00:51:00] advice for hiring marketers and admissions professionals who are trying to recruit students like you, what are, what are some dues and maybe some final don'ts.

[00:51:09] MaggieJordan: Yeah. So going off of what Kevin said. Please, please, for the [00:51:15] love of all good things, know your audience, you know, don't, um, you know, don't, don't act like we're 40 year olds or whatever, um, market to us where we're at, um, and have fun with it. You know, we, we like to have [00:51:30] fun. We don't, I mean, we, we like to see serious things sometimes too, but we, um, we like a good mix of fun and serious, um, You know, meet us where we're at, find us on Instagram.

[00:51:44] MaggieJordan: Um, [00:51:45] find us on Tik TOK, you know, um, reach out to us, but not with generic mail, you know, host events, you know, like I went to scholars weekend for Florida Southern, and that was a big thing. Um, maybe do a virtual events for the [00:52:00] students that can't be there, like Kevin said. Um, so stuff like that, I just think really meeting us where we're at and understanding who we are as opposed to who you think we are is really.

[00:52:11] ZachBusekrus: Yeah, Kevin, you got one last 

[00:52:12] KevinHuang: thing that. I think something that Maggie said that [00:52:15] really hit me was like, make sure you have fun when you're trying to spread your message. Because now that like on top of everything, we'd still like to have fun. We still like to take out our own time to enjoy like our life, but we can't do that because if you cannot like [00:52:30] present yourselves to a rightful audience, And there's honestly no point that like your message will reach a person.

[00:52:36] KevinHuang: And if we do fun, you can see the personality, the school, or at least the person who designed everything who put two and two together. And like, you can [00:52:45] see like the personality of that. And you can tell whether or not like the, the writer was like enthusiastic when they wrote their own blurb to other Syrians.

[00:52:54] KevinHuang: And then if they, if you can see if like, if it's generic, like, you know, immediately it's boring because like, It's not appealing to [00:53:00] you specifically. And if they don't do a good job writing like a S a little bit more specific mail to like, uh, a specific student, then you're not really you doing your job to market to the generation [00:53:15] today.

[00:53:16] ZachBusekrus: Wow. You guys are incredible. Uh, I just wanna, I just want to thank you both for taking time to, to share your stories, share these insights. Um, it's gonna be a lot of people that listen to this and are, I think kind of. I'm going to be impressed. [00:53:30] Um, not just by, by your entitled impressed and also maybe a little bit like, oh shit.

[00:53:34] ZachBusekrus: Like now I have to go like change up my whole, uh, marketing mix, but that's a good thing. We want people to, we won't be able to be smarter when it comes to marketing. So thank you both so much for, for your time. Um, [00:53:45] if folks want to, you know, reach out and learn a little bit more about, about you, both. Um, is there, is there a good place for them to connect with you?

[00:53:52] ZachBusekrus: Do you mind if we, uh, share your LinkedIn profiles and anything else that you know, you anywhere else you might want folks to connect? 

[00:53:58] KevinHuang: Please share my [00:54:00] LinkedIn because that's also a good way for me to network. Yeah. Honestly, that'd be great. And it's obviously, if you have any questions, please reach out.

[00:54:09] KevinHuang: It's like Maggie and I both will take time to respond to their questions. 

[00:54:14] MaggieJordan: Yeah, [00:54:15] absolutely. Seeing here. I love LinkedIn. I'm also on Instagram quite a bit, even though I probably shouldn't be. Um, and then of course find the on Z. 

[00:54:24] KevinHuang: Yes. 

[00:54:24] ZachBusekrus: Yes. Wonderful. Well, Kevin Maggie, thank you both so much for your time and we'll [00:54:30] hopefully stay in touch and go, go slice school.

[00:54:33] ZachBusekrus: Keep doing great work and best of luck to 

[00:54:36] KevinHuang: you both.