One of the biggest events at the University of North Carolina Charlotte takes place close to Halloween when the Popp Martin Student Union is transformed into the Haunted Union. Each year the event attracts hundreds of students eager to partake in the festivities, including tarot card readings, pumpkin decorating, and, the main attraction, a huge haunted maze.
For Mark Manning, the Assistant Director for Student Involvement at Charlotte, this event presented a golden opportunity to shine a spotlight on NinerEngage+, the university's new student engagement app that seamlessly pairs with their Anthology Engage system.
The app connects students to Anthology Engage events, organizations, and resources while providing a sense of belonging through social feeds and group chats. Charlotte launched the app in August with the goal to hit 2,500 users, 10% of their student body, by the end of the fall semester.
To achieve this milestone, Charlotte employed many strategies, from distributing marketing materials to hosting giveaways and circulating training guides. While they steadily acquired new users, the team eagerly sought an opportunity for a significant surge in their user base.
Mark and his colleagues saw the Haunted Union as the perfect event to accomplish this goal. They set up a table near the event entrance, complete with resources about the app and QR codes for quick and easy downloads. As an added incentive, Mark distributed exclusive glow-in-the-dark wristbands to students who showcased the app on their phones. This clever strategy leveraged the allure of these wristbands to capture the interest of other students, sparking their curiosity about how to secure one for themselves.
Meanwhile, other staff members at Charlotte used the app to scan students into rooms holding different activities. With the app, students are able to access a unique QR code through Anthology’s Event Check-in app (ECIA), which can be scanned to track their attendance at an event. Not only did this strategy help instigate users to download the app, but it also made event check-in easier and more reliable since the event previously relied solely on distributing physical tickets to track attendance.
Through these efforts, NinerEngage+ experienced a remarkable surge of 640 new users in a single night, marking a 37.6% increase in their user base. Reflecting on his expectations for the event, Mark shared, “I try to go into each initiative with realistic expectations. I thought, if we get 100 new users I’ll be satisfied, and if we get 200 I’ll be over the moon. We almost reached our goal in one night!”
As the night concluded, NinerEngage+ reached a total of 2,300 users, closing in on the end-of-semester goal, which they officially accomplished this month!
We can’t wait to see what else is in store for NinerEngage+ and the Charlotte community throughout the rest of the year!
📱 About Navengage
Navengage Inc. delivers leading-edge, mobile-first student engagement software that helps higher ed institutions increase student engagement and boost retention. We aim to advance student engagement technology so that colleges and universities have comprehensive, accurate, and readily available data for decision making. We are committed to engaging today's students with tomorrow's cutting-edge education technology and envision a world where every student has the opportunity to safely and successfully pursue their education. Learn more by visiting www.navengage.com
Navengage: Jan 9, 2024
Navengage