Engaging Current Students: Effective University Email Strategies

Email marketing is a powerful tool for universities to engage with their current students. With students spending up to nine hours a day on their mobile devices, universities can use emails to promote events, share important updates, and build a sense of community. Emails can also be tailored to specific groups, such as students living on campus or those involved in extracurricular activities, ensuring that communication is relevant and personalised. Additionally, universities can use email marketing to enhance the student experience by providing information about internships, study abroad programs, and other opportunities. By segmenting their email lists and using eye-catching designs, universities can effectively reach their students and foster a sense of connection to the institution.

How to increase open rates

• Make your emails mobile-friendly: Ensure your emails are easily readable on mobile devices, as many students will be checking their emails on their phones.
• Use images and videos: Visual components make emails more effective. Use images and videos that target a specific audience rather than generic visuals.
• Segment your email lists: Divide your email lists into groups based on characteristics and interests, such as year of enrolment, field of study, age, and language. This allows you to send tailored content to each group.
• Personalise your emails: Use simple personalisation techniques such as addressing subscribers by name, and customising content based on their interests and demographics.
• Optimise your subject lines: Make your subject lines catchy and precise. Address students by name if possible, and include important dates and deadlines.
• Test and track your emails: Measure the success of your emails by tracking metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates. A/B test different versions of your emails to see which perform better.

Using images and videos

When it comes to email marketing for higher education, images and videos are a great way to boost engagement.

Students prefer emails that incorporate images and graphics that accentuate the message. The 2021 E-Expectations Trend Report found that emails with a visual component are much more effective than plain text. Emails with images or graphics that complement the message can help to boost engagement and improve attention, retention and conversion rates.

When selecting images, it is better to use images that target a specific audience rather than a general image. For example, you could showcase photos of your campus to help prospective students visualize themselves there, or create an infographic to showcase how your university is ranking this year.

Videos can also be used to great effect in emails. You can include a video campus tour, interviews with current students, or a lecture recording.

It is important not to overwhelm the recipient with too many visuals. It is best to pick two or three stand-out, quality visuals that effectively convey your message.

Best Practices for Using Images and Videos

• Ensure that any images or videos used are optimized for mobile.
• Use images and videos to complement the text, rather than overwhelm it.
• Ensure that any visuals used are relevant to the message and targeted to the specific audience.
• Use visuals to guide the reader towards your call to action (CTA).
• Don't overdo it! Pick a couple of strong visuals that get your message across.

Examples of Effective Use of Images and Videos

• Oxford University includes embedded images and videos to capture attention, as well as a clear structure and stand-out CTAs.
• Arizona State University uses a GIF format in their emails, which makes for an eye-catching visual element. They also use their school colour to draw the eye and appeal to the reader's interest.
• Syracuse University uses a strong visual with a clear call to action to promote a hashtag and a cause.

By incorporating images and videos into your email marketing campaigns, you can effectively boost engagement and improve the overall performance of your campaigns.

Segmenting your email lists

• Demographic Information: You can divide your email list based on demographic factors such as the students' living situation (on-campus vs. off-campus), extracurricular interests, social clubs, age, gender, ethnicity, etc. This helps you tailor your content to the specific needs and interests of different student groups.
• Academic Information: Current students can also be segmented based on their academic information, such as their field of study, year of study, academic performance, and language. For example, you might want to send different content to students in their first year compared to those in their final year. Similarly, students in different faculties or departments may have different interests and needs.
• Engagement and Interaction: Another way to segment your email lists is by tracking student engagement and interaction with your previous emails and campaigns. You can identify students who frequently open and click through your emails, as well as those who have shown interest in specific topics or calls to action. This information can be used to create more targeted content and improve overall engagement.
• Personalization: Using dynamic content and personalization techniques can greatly enhance the effectiveness of your email campaigns. Addressing students by their names in the subject line or email body can instantly make your message more engaging. Additionally, including dynamic content blocks that are tailored to specific student groups, such as alumni or current students, can make your emails more relevant and appealing.
• Location: Considering the location of your students is another important aspect of segmentation. Sending different emails to students in different locations, such as local vs. international students, can be beneficial. This allows you to provide location-specific information, events, or opportunities that are relevant to each group.
• Behaviour and Preferences: By tracking student behaviour and preferences, you can create more targeted email campaigns. For example, you can use email tools to identify students who haven't opened or interacted with your emails in a while and send them a re-engagement campaign. Similarly, you can segment students based on their preferences, such as their interest in receiving newsletters or their consent to receive emails.

Automating email campaigns

Onboarding Emails

Create a specific welcome series for new students joining in their first semester, outlining the onboarding process and what to expect.

Courses and Training

Set up automated courses via email to deliver virtual classes to students' inboxes. This is especially useful for sharing content that students need to know before joining a lecture.

Graduation Anniversaries

Send automated reminder emails to alumni each year, celebrating the years since they graduated and reminding them to keep in touch.

Resending Unopened Emails

If you've sent out an email and not heard back, you can automatically resend the campaign to those who didn't open or click within the email the first time.

Drip Campaigns

"Drip" emails are those that nurture prospects through the enrollment funnel. When your software automatically follows up and sends thank-you and requested information emails, you don't have to worry about a prospective student or alumnus slipping through the cracks.

Behaviour-Based Messages

Automated emails can be triggered by specific behaviours, such as a student's behaviour when interacting with previous emails. For example, if they haven't opened or clicked on an email in a while, you can send a re-engagement campaign.

Personalising emails

Emails can also be personalised by including information about the student's course, activities and interests. For example, if a student has expressed interest in a particular department, an email could include a letter from the department head. Information about study-abroad programs, internship opportunities or professors and activities related to the student's intended major could also be included.

Email marketing tools allow for emails to be personalised by importing names and areas of interest. Dynamic content features can be used to automatically modify the content of emails based on contacts' data. For example, one email campaign could include customised content assigned to different segments, with one segment reading about athletic programs and another about arts programming.

Frequently asked questions