🏆 Gold for Innovation: How Flowella Helped Redefine FE Recruitment

When we built Flowella, we weren’t trying to “add another channel” to marketing.

We were trying to solve a deeper problem:

How do you meet students where they already are, and convert engagement into real opportunity?

This week, that vision was validated in the most powerful way possible.

Together with Oaklands College and our strategic partner Discover Digital, Flowella won Gold in Innovation & Creativity at the FE Marketing Awards.

And the judges didn’t hold back:

“Genuinely exemplar… original, strategically aligned, and delivering clear, measurable impact.”

The Problem: Open Events That Inform. But Don’t Convert

Further Education open events traditionally rely on:

• Paper forms
• Static prospectuses
• Generic follow-up emails
• Delayed applications

Students leave inspired… but distracted.

Intent fades.

Conversion drops.

The Shift: From Information to Interaction

Instead of asking students to “go home and apply later”, we built a real-time conversational journey using:

• WhatsApp
• Flowella no-code integration
• Seamless CRM integration via HubSpot

Students could:

✔ Explore career pathways
✔ Get personalised course recommendations
✔ Ask questions instantly
✔ Apply on the same day

No downloads.
No portals.
No friction.

Just conversation.

The Results That Changed the Room

The judges highlighted one metric above all:

📈 160% Increase in Same-Day Applications

But that’s only part of the story.

They also recognised:

• Measurable engagement uplift
• Improved student confidence
• Greater inclusivity
• A more personalised recruitment experience
• Seamless scalability beyond individual events

This wasn’t just marketing performance.

It was student experience transformation.

Why This Worked

The judges called out several elements as best practice:

• Innovative WhatsApp integration for careers guidance
• Clear, SMART, conversion-led objectives
• Cross-team collaboration between marketing, careers and SLT
• Strategic alignment with digital transformation
• A careers-first prospectus model
• Scalability beyond events

And critically:

“The integration with HubSpot demonstrated sustainability and long-term value.”

This wasn’t a campaign.

It was infrastructure.

This Is Bigger Than One College

The feedback included something powerful:

“Your project has clear potential to inspire other colleges.”

We agree.

FE recruitment is changing.

Students expect:

• Personalisation
• Instant answers
• Mobile-first experiences
• Conversational journeys

Flowella makes that possible. Without complex builds or enterprise overhead.

What’s Next

The judges suggested adding deeper quantitative mapping between engagement and specific career-path choices.

We’re already building that layer.

Because this isn’t a finish line.

It’s a foundation.