Spring Your CRM Into Action
With spring visits, spring break, decision letter prep and releases, and the ever-present pressure of May 1 looming, March is anything but calm in the world of admissions. That’s why it’s so important that your events are properly set up and organized, payments are being collected, academic advisor calendar integrations are functioning, and checklists are being implemented. Whew, that’s a long list.
Thankfully, we know your pain points and are here to help with tips and tricks to set your office up for success in the coming weeks — no special luck required! 🍀
Decision Releases & Admitted Student Comms
Oh, decision releases… Few things are more stressful or take more time to get right. Whether it’s striking the precise note of empathy in denial or waitlist messages, or putting together a celebratory admit package, it takes a whole lot of work. To help ensure you’re getting the reactions you’re hoping for, leverage personalization at every step! Tailor your messages to reflect each student’s journey and achievements. Little details like including their intended major, calling out their interests, or noting something from their application essay that stood out to you, can go such a long way.
Carry that personalization through customized checklists and utilize segmentation to make sure students are only receiving information relevant to them (events included!).
Slate Pro Tip: Utilize the Admitted Student Checklist and set up your portal, so students can easily upload their required documents. Anything you can do to make the process easier is a win!
Spring & Summer Visits
With spring and summer comes the natural influx of on-campus visitors! Are you ready? Make sure your events are updated and all associated communications (invitations, reminders, instructions, confirmations, etc.) are crafted and automated to perfection.
How? Start with—you guessed it—personalization! Use your CRM to track student interests and tailor their visit experience accordingly. If a student is interested in a particular major, arrange for them to meet with faculty or attend a class. Did they list specific clubs or activities they want to pursue? Show them those meeting spaces and introduce them to current members! Also, don’t overlook the importance of following up with students and families after their visit. Setting up your CRM to automatically send out post-visit surveys not only provides another touch point, but the feedback you’ll gather will also be critical for refining and enhancing future events. Surveys can be built in your CRM or in other platforms like Qualtrics. If you don’t know where to start, ask us how! Remember, the hard work you put in now leads to stellar anti-melt initiatives later.
Last but certainly not least, try rethinking how you and your team interact with students and families. Instead of asking generic questions, inquire about the students’ interests, career goals, or what they’re most looking forward to about college. Doing so not only helps foster more meaningful connections, but it will also help you stand out in their memory.
Slate Pro Tip: Did you know that you can customize which fields are displayed internally on a form response? Here’s how: Edit Form → Edit Properties → Custom List Fields → Select Your Fields. Consider adding things like student major, state, status, or any other field that would be useful!
May 1 Prep
Let’s be real—getting students to confirm their enrollment and pay their deposits can take some serious work. Help ease the burden on your team by keeping the following in mind:
- It’s easy to forget that not everyone knows what we mean when we say “enrollment deposit.” Let’s make sure it’s clear from the get-go by using plain language to explain what it is and why it’s important.
- Make sure you provide easy, step-by-step instructions on how and where to submit deposits and required paperwork.
- Take an omnichannel approach to May 1 reminders and leverage key dates as the deadline approaches. Think countdown emails and texts, phone calls, or even IG Live Q&A sessions!
We’re Here to Help
At Spark451, we understand that admissions teams are spread thinner than ever, and that you may need a helping hand in order to implement new tactics or approaches. That’s where our flexible SparkAssist service comes in, whether you want to learn with us to become an expert on all things Slate, Salesforce, or Element451, or hand us a project for onetime completion. No project is too big or too small. If you’re interested in learning more, please reach out to us!
Cultivating a Class Through Events
Uncategorized
|March 3, 2025The spring is a busy time in the admissions event world, with calendars filled with admitted student days, open houses, spring break weeks, financial aid workshops, and more. Trying to stay in front of several different audiences, at different funnel stages, is not easy — all while external factors are complicating an already busy time of the year.
Having worked on campus in an admissions office for 15 years, I remember feeling the importance of those admitted student days, the drive to get deposits, to help students make their final choice. In our most recent College-Bound Student and Parent Surveys, we had some interesting findings:
28%
of students knew they had found the right school after their first visit.
25%
of parents knew an institution was the “right fit” for their student when they first visited.
38%
of students visited campus before applying.
Top 5
Both students and parents listed “campus appearance” in their top 5 enrollment decision drivers.
Visits are a powerful tool — this is not breaking news. What can get lost in the spring shuffle, though, are those first-time visitors. As we can see from our surveys, that first impression can be very powerful. Students who have visited will move through the funnel at a higher rate, and ultimately, be more likely to enroll.
Students who are visiting your campus want to connect with your institution. Prioritization — choosing how and when to spend resources to have the most impact on the right students — can be a challenge. A tool like Spark451’s Predictive Model can help use data, including campus visit and engagement metrics, to help you prioritize. Our predictive model analyzes several data points and segments students into categories with likelihood to enroll. In addition, Spark451 will identify student clusters that share common attributes, which can lead to new recruitment opportunities and segmentation.
Here are four ways to help optimize campus events:
All Are Welcome
Using a visit call-to-action is vital at every stage of the funnel. Make it clear that you want students and their families to visit you anytime that they are ready. If you have events geared toward specific audiences, make sure to clearly define that in your communication plan, and be purposeful in your messaging. Developing parent communication plans specific to events is also a great idea and something Spark451 is well-versed in, should you need assistance.
Impactful Experiences
Remember the audience you are catering to and what steps you want them to take when they leave campus. For a spring open house, that may be filling out an application five months later, so how will you make sure they are ready to do that via targeted communications after their visit?
Incentivizing the Campus Visit
The visit incentive is becoming more prevalent at colleges and universities. From keychains to laptops, we have seen it all. But it is important to remember what you are trying to accomplish with these incentives. Are you looking to improve attendance, or looking to help your yield? Clearly outlining your goals for the event can help you determine not only if an incentive is appropriate, but also, if it is the right one to help you accomplish those goals.
Be Adaptable
Remember to be flexible, think outside the box, and make sure you are providing sessions that will be important to students and families. For example, not offering financial aid appointments last year, but instead offering large-scale financial aid Q&A opportunities at an admitted student day, when you know families will have a lot of the same questions. Always be true to who you are as an institution, but remember to have fun and be open to trying something new!
As always, remember we are here to assist and partner with you! Spark451 is positioned to help you create impactful and meaningful experiences with students and families, while achieving your goals. Reach out to us to strategize today!
Job-E-marketing Associate
TECHNOLOGY
E-marketing Associate
You are:
- A bachelor’s degree holder in Marketing, Business or related field
- Interested in problem solving and are able to anticipate possible errors before they occur
- Adept at multi-tasking and have a high attention to detail
- Familiar with Excel
What you’ll do in this role:
- Provide quality assurance on the email marketing team
- Review and deploy emails and ensure the correct recipient population
- Prepare and implement email quality assurance policies and procedures
- Identify and resolve workflow and email deployment issues
- Monitor client email performance and suggest optimizations to the team
