Introducing TAP 3: a conversion service powered by peer-to-peer

Why Student Voice Matters More Than Ever

Before exploring solutions, it's worth understanding why peer-to-peer connection has become so critical. Our research consistently shows that 85% of prospective students consider talking with real students either extremely or very important when researching study options. 

This is due to two key factors: expertise and trust. Current students possess unmatched expertise about the lived experience of studying at your institution, on specific courses, in particular locations. But perhaps more importantly, they provide the trust that validates the information they get from university websites (still the #1 source) and other marketing material. 

Take the example of Ellie, a UK student considering the University of Manchester we interviewed alongside 28 other domestic students as part of our research. She read about corporate partnerships on the university website, but it was her conversation with a current student that provided the crucial detail about how accessible these opportunities were, what the application process involved, and how many students successfully secured these positions. That authentic insight transformed her interest into genuine confidence, securing the University of Manchester's spot as her first choice. 

Students need peer support throughout their entire journey. At the awareness stage, they're overwhelmed by choice and seeking authentic, relatable content. During research, they're trying to determine fit beyond what appears on paper. Through application and offer stages, they need reassurance and practical guidance. And pre-arrival, they're managing excitement alongside anxiety about the unknown. At every stage, the student voice provides something that institutional marketing simply cannot: genuine, lived experience from someone who truly understands their perspective.

Built on Research, Driven by Real Needs

Understanding these student needs led us to conduct extensive research with The Ambassador Platform's 150+ university partners between June and September 2024, revealing three critical insights that shaped our complete platform rebuild. 

• First, conversion is king. Unsurprisingly, universities told us their number one priority in the current challenging market was to nurture prospective students along their journey towards enrolment. In the case of peer-to-peer, it means that it's not enough to simply facilitate conversations – institutions need a service that actively improves conversion rates whilst making students feel genuinely supported.
• Second, teams are stretched thin. The familiar refrain of "doing more with less" rang loud and clear. Our partners, grappling with tighter budgets and the challenges of having to wear many hats, want a service provider that doesn't drain their valuable time and can deliver successful outcomes with minimal internal resource investment.
• Third, impact measurement matters. When budgets are tight, every investment must demonstrate clear value. Universities needed better tools to understand the actual impact of their peer-to-peer programmes on recruitment outcomes. 

These insights led us to completely rebuild our platform from the ground up – new database, new architecture, new approach. Everything about TAP 3, now a product of IDP, is designed around these core challenges.

From Platform to Conversion Service

Perhaps the most significant shift in TAP 3 is our evolution from product company to service provider. Previously, we operated as a platform company (in other words, SaaS) in the student recruitment sector. Now, we're a student recruitment service that's powered by peer-to-peer technology, and leverages the expertise of the largest student recruitment company in the world, IDP Education. 

This distinction matters enormously. Rather than simply providing tools for universities to manage themselves, TAP 3 delivers conversion outcomes through active management and strategic intervention. We're not just facilitating connections: we're driving results.

Four Ways to Increase Conversions

1. Community Building on one app 

Traditional peer-to-peer platforms facilitated peer conversations, but getting prospective students to chat with ambassadors is only half the battle. TAP 3 has dedicated app for prospective students where they can build profiles to make their personality shine (with a little help from generative AI to eliminate the pain of bio-writing) and interact with current and prospective students. 

The platform tracks where each student is in their journey, so they get the right kind of support at the right time—maybe an online event when they're just exploring, a chat with an ambassador when they're getting serious, or joining an offer-holder community when decision time arrives.

(Plus, prospective students on the app will only see your community, and unlike with other peer-to-peer apps, won't be able to access communities of other partner universities - it's all ring-fenced to ensure your leads remain yours).

2. Intelligent Community Management 

Each prospective student profile captures far more than basic demographics. The system identifies personal interests, topics of research, engagement patterns, and progression between journey stages. This creates a rich understanding of who each student is, what they're looking for, and how best to support their decision-making process along the way. 

A new 'engage' function allows targeted re-engagement of each prospective student on the platform with relevant peer-to-peer content, conversations, or community activities designed to move them to the next stage of their journey.

3. Active Management Service

And if this sounds hard, here's where TAP 3 truly becomes a conversion service rather than just a platform: our team will do it for you. 

Our active management team works alongside your client success manager to understand your target audiences, ambassador constraints, and priority prospective student groups. This way, they have everything they need to re-engage prospective students on your behalf, connecting them with relevant community members, student ambassadors, and content. 

They can even collaborate with your ambassadors to create the right types of engagement opportunities and content. In short, you remain in control of strategy and brand, but we handle the day-to-day nurturing that drives conversion outcomes.

4. Impact Reporting and ROI Calculation 

TAP 3 tracks student progression through recruitment stages and collects feedback at each transition point. The impact report allows you to input key data points – platform costs, ambassador hourly rates, average tuition fees – and receive a comprehensive output showing total platform costs, progression outcomes, and student experience data. 

You can download prospective student data to cross-reference with your enrolled students, validating the platform's capture accuracy and ensuring no enrolments are missed from your calculations.

Delivering Results That Matter

While it's still early days of TAP 3, we have a strong track record of delivering strong enrolment outcomes, including a 251% increase in enrolments for the University of Waikato, a 26% increase in offer acceptance rate for the University of South Australia and £1,155,000 in tuition loss prevention for the Royal College of Art. 

Plus, high praises on how us folks at TAP feel like an extension of your team (thanks, De Montfort University!).

The Future of Student Recruitment 

TAP 3 represents more than platform evolution: it's a fundamental shift towards service-driven student recruitment that puts authentic student voice at the centre of conversion strategy. 

By combining intelligent technology with active management, we're enabling universities to deliver personalised, peer-powered experiences that drive both student satisfaction and enrolment outcomes. 

The question isn't whether peer-to-peer connection matters in student recruitment; it's whether you're ready to harness its full potential through a truly conversion-focused service. 

Ready to explore how TAP 3 can transform your student recruitment outcomes? Get in touch to learn how it works, what you can expect, and special benefits for IDP clients.