Building a connection with potential students is the cornerstone of any successful enrollment marketing funnel. Email marketing continues to be one of the most powerful digital marketing strategies for lead nurturing. Colleges and universities have a great deal to gain from reaching out and maintaining a connection with students (and parents) who have signed up for their newsletters.
Email marketing done the right way gives you the chance to maintain engagement and give students a glimpse into what life, learning, careers, and fun opportunities are happening every day on campus. But unlike an e-commerce shop, you have so much more detailed and varied content to share with students, and not all students want the same user experience from an email newsletter.
The key is to provide students with options and let them sign up for the user-generated content they find most enticing. Not only in general subject, but also requesting how often they'd like to receive emails, and the types of emails they're most interested in.
Today, we've curated three different categories of newsletters you can (and should) offer students who have shown interest in your school. Updates from these chosen categories will keep future students engaged and prepare them for jumping right into student life.
The enrollment journey newsletter is hand-tailored to both engage and assist students who are preparing to enroll in your school, and those who are already part of the long enrollment process.
Students (and parents) who sign up for the enrollment newsletter are preparing to transition from high school to college and will be interested in tips, timely reminders to get their enrollment paperwork in on time, information about campus visits, and positive stories about what is in store for them.
Equip your future students with the tools they need to enroll successfully and to make the transition from high school to college. These emails should be formatted in a clean and easy-to-read way, filled with helpful checklists, charts, tips, and advice.
Assume the target audience subscribed to this checklist is in the enrollment process or is about to be. Send helpful emails with PDF paperwork and timely reminders on when and how to meet enrollment deadlines. This alone can prevent eager students from accidentally dropping out of the race.
Students often learn when given real-world context. Student stories are an engaging and relatable way to demonstrate what your entire enrollment journey looks like and how other students have made it through successfully.
Don't forget fun campus life stories that show students what is in store for them on campus when they've completed the enrollment process and move into the dorms for the very first time.
Students who are already aiming for a specific degree program will likely be engaged with emails that help and encourage them along this path. Consider crafting a newsletter for each of your leading degree programs and allowing future students to sign up for the fast-track newsletter geared toward their personal career goals.
Allow students to pick the degree program they want to learn about most, or more than one, and send them emails that describe, entice, and assist them to follow these tracks.
Ambitious students already preparing for careers appreciate helpful tips, checklists, and resource materials that will enable them to fast-track their college prep in the right direction.
Give students a glimpse into what it will be like to pursue their career goals in your degree program. Do interviews with students, review future coursework, and highlight the work-study and internship programs available through your school.
Give students a vivid and realistic look at what current students in the program experience and how they are personally chasing their career dreams.
Give ambitious students an in-depth look at what graduates of their chosen degree program are accomplishing with their degrees.
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Many students are actively motivated by the thought of joining fun student groups and activities or doing something meaningful in a student group on or off-campus. A newsletter focusing on student group opportunities, events, and fun activities can get many future students psyched about attending.
Let students select which student groups and activities they want to receive emails about and programmatically generate these emails to contain the most compelling personal content.
Highlight what future students can look forward to in groups, events, and activities during their predicted first semester.
Share the latest news from the selected student groups highlighting what they are up to, what they have achieved, and what is ahead.
Tell stories about what student group members and students who attend activities have experienced and how much fun they are having.
Tell interesting stories and highlight both past and present achievements earned by the selected student groups.
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When colleges put the power of email marketing into students' hands, they are inviting future students to begin hand-tailoring their educational experience, just as they will when they begin selecting courses and joining groups on campus.
Here at Sonority Group, we specialize in higher education marketing solutions and we’re here to navigate you through the email marketing process. Ready to learn more? Let’s chat!
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