Strategies for Best Leveraging Your XR Projects
Launching an XR project is an exciting milestone, but its true value comes from how you evolve, share, and sustain it over time. Think of your XR experience not as a static campaign asset, but as a dynamic tool that can grow with your institution, adapt to multiple audiences, and reinforce your innovative edge across communication channels.
Update Over Time
An XR project should never be “set it and forget it.” Instead, it should evolve in response to audience feedback and shifting institutional goals. A simple but powerful first step is to integrate UTM codes into every link you share. These codes enable you to track precisely which channels are driving engagement and which elements aren’t connecting as strongly. Over time, this data becomes a roadmap for optimizing your linked assets—helping you decide whether a button needs to be moved, a call-to-action needs to be rewritten, or a video needs to be refreshed with new content.
Beyond small optimizations, think about long-term adaptability. Many XR experiences are initially created for a single campaign, but with a few smart edits, they can be repurposed for multiple uses throughout the admissions cycle. This ensures your investment continues to generate returns long after its launch. At the same time, look for ways to diversify how people can access the experience. By creating activation points on business cards, postcards, posters, banners, advertisements, and stickers, you provide your audience with more opportunities to discover your brand in both physical and digital contexts.
You should also consider format expansion. Developing a WebXR version, for instance, enables your audience to interact directly through a browser without needing to download an app—a significant advantage for accessibility and reach. In 2025, the convergence of XR has enabled projects to be deployed across multiple formats—whether in Augmented Reality, 3D holograms, Web, or Virtual Reality—allowing a single experience to connect seamlessly across platforms.
Internal Adoption Campaigns
Internal adoption is one of the most overlooked aspects of establishing XR success. For an XR project to thrive, it needs to be more than a flashy marketing tool—it should become a resource that different teams can use, adapt, and champion. The stronger the buy-in across your institution, the more longevity the project will have.
- Distribute internally: Start by sharing the videos and assets created about your XR project with your immediate team. These clips and previews make it easy for staff to understand what the experience does without needing to test it themselves right away. Having those materials on hand gives colleagues a reference point, helping them explain the project accurately to others.
- Present it live: Demonstrations go a long way in building excitement. Schedule time in a team meeting to walk through the experience step by step—show how to activate it, explain the intended audience, and highlight moments that usually spark reactions. A live demo doesn’t just showcase the technology; it creates a shared “aha” moment that can inspire colleagues to think creatively about how they might use it.
- Encourage cross-department use: Don’t let the project sit in one corner of your organization. Admissions may use it as a recruitment hook, while alumni relations might frame it as a way to engage donors, and student life could adapt it for campus orientation. Share the experience broadly so each department can brainstorm use cases tailored to their audience. The more groups involved, the more integrated and sustainable the XR project becomes.
- Include it in newsletters: Internal newsletters are a powerful way to reinforce awareness. Featuring the XR project in a staff or faculty update signals that it is a priority and keeps it visible long after the launch. For external newsletters, including a section about the XR project positions your institution as innovative, showing prospective students and alumni that you’re exploring new ways to connect with them.
- Make it part of ongoing training: As new staff join, include the XR project in onboarding sessions or departmental training. This ensures knowledge of the tool doesn’t fade as teams change. The more normalized the project becomes as “part of how we do things,” the less risk there is of it being forgotten after the initial excitement.
- Create champions: Identify individuals in different departments who can act as “XR champions.” These staff members become the go-to contacts for questions and can help promote the project in their circles. Empowering champions helps the project gain traction more quickly and ensures it doesn’t rely on one person or team to push adoption forward.
Share It With Your Community
The ultimate test of an XR project is how it resonates with your external audience—whether prospective students, current students, alumni, or partners. XR is at its most powerful when it’s demonstrated in person. Whenever the opportunity arises, scan the card live in front of someone. That immediate reveal creates a “wow” moment that’s far more impactful than describing the technology in words alone.
You can also weave XR into everyday communication. Adding it to your email signature ensures that every message you send doubles as an invitation to engage. Featuring it in student and alumni newsletters signals that your institution is at the forefront of innovation while giving your audience a reason to click through and explore. Larger placements, such as dedicating space on your website or digital campus portals, reinforce its visibility and help it reach audiences who may not encounter it elsewhere.
Social media adds another layer of reach. Short video clips showing the XR experience in action can perform well on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn. These posts not only drive curiosity but also establish your institution as a leader in experimenting with cutting-edge tools for engagement. By combining live demonstrations, digital communication, and social media storytelling, you ensure the XR experience reaches both niche and broad audiences.
Bringing It All Together
The most successful XR projects are those treated as living assets. Tracking performance through UTM codes and analytics ensures you’re constantly refining the experience. Expanding activation points and formats makes it versatile across campaigns and platforms. Sharing it internally embeds it into the culture of your institution, giving multiple teams ownership and their own unique use cases.
When managed properly, an XR project stops being a one-time experiment and becomes a sustained, evolving part of any outreach strategy. It grows with your institution, adapts to campaign goals, and consistently highlights your forward-thinking approach to Gen Z engagement.