Short conversation with Steven Postma from Breda University of Applied Sciences
Of all the Hippocampus users we’ve spoken to so far, Steven Postma is the one most closely connected to technology. He is Senior Marketer at BUas, an educational institution with one campus in Breda, 7,000 students, and 800 staff members. The perfect person, therefore, to tell us something about how he has linked other systems to Hippocampus.
Was it necessary to connect the systems?
When it comes to using technology for marketing, Breda University of Applied Sciences has always been a frontrunner. Alongside Hippocampus, several other systems were already in place. These have been carefully configured with many conditions, as we want to communicate as relevantly as possible with prospective students. You don’t just replace such systems overnight. That’s why Hippocampus is now our central point from which we all work. All other relevant systems are connected to it, including our email program and our customer data platform.
How do you handle all the data?
We import as much of it as possible into Hippocampus, so we can work with one database for our CRM. For example, we have a “matchmaker” on our website that helps prospective students orient themselves. When a lead comes from that, it goes directly into Hippocampus. And from there, we take it forward, all the way to the final enrollment.
How easy is it to connect systems?
Of course, you always have to pay attention to the details, but the Hippocampus API – which makes the connections possible – is well developed and clearly tailored to what Hippocampus needs to do for us. The API is also continuously updated and improved; they actively welcome feedback from us and other users and actually act on it.
Does everything remain clear and manageable that way?
Yes, absolutely. Most of the connected systems are listed in the Hippocampus dashboard under “External channels.” And although Hippocampus has its own integrated email program, the external email program we use is also linked to Hippocampus.
How many colleagues work with Hippocampus?
About 10 people. That’s not a huge number, but that’s because we have centralized Marketing and Communication within our organization. We meet regularly, and sometimes issues come up that we’d like to handle differently in Hippocampus – such as recently being able to select by postal code and adding, via the API from an external program, the date on which a prospective student plans to start. We pass that on to Tessa, our project manager at Hippocampus, and she has placed these requests on their development roadmap.
So working with Hippocampus is going well?
We do occasionally talk to other providers who claim and promise the same, but the big advantage is that Hippocampus knows the education market very well, especially how the admission and enrollment process works here in the Netherlands. And you really notice that when recruiting students. The fact that we work extensively with international students and also set up activities across the border is no problem for the system. It also easily switches to English, which is convenient, as quite a few of our colleagues are non-Dutch speakers.
