Working in higher education right now can feel like the floor is lava and you’re not sure where to stand. With institutions rethinking pricing strategy, an increase in faculty and student burnout causing schools to refocus on supporting the mental and physical health of their communities, and outdated marketing materials that don’t match updated brands, it’s time to rethink how you plan to communicate with a new crop of eager young minds.
It All Begins With an Effective Sophomore/Junior Search
In our recent College-Bound Student Survey for the Class of 2028, 60% of students indicated that they began to look seriously at college before the summer entering their senior year.
Building early brand awareness is the foundation upon which you can expand your funnel and attract a wider pool. Being familiar with your institution is a prerequisite for students’ curiosity: When surveyed, almost 40% of the Class of 2028 said they would not open an email from a college if they had never heard of it. So, how can you make sure they’ve heard of your institution — and know how to feel about it?
60%
of students indicated that they began to look seriously at college before the summer entering their senior year.
40%
of the Class of 2028 said they would not open an email from a college if they had never heard of it.
Step 1: Figure Out With Whom You'd Like to Connect
What kind of students do you want to enroll? Where are they? What are their interests? Answering these questions might seem like a daunting task, but using tools like Spark451’s Purchase Modeling and Predictive Modeling can help you prioritize where to invest your budgets and efforts. By analyzing your institution’s historical data and comparing it with national enrollment trends, we can help you make a strategic name purchase, and then, assign a score to those names ranking the likelihood of their enrollment.
Step 2: Plan for Where You'll Reach Them
Multi-channel communication plans are the most effective tools for building brand awareness. To start, introducing yourself through digital media is an excellent way to gain passive engagement. Having a presence on Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat — or even better, running ads on these channels — is an excellent way to be noticed and remembered.
Of course, email will be the primary vehicle to tell the story of your institution and what it has to offer. 98% of students noted that they used email for their communication during their college search, with mailed materials (68%) and texting (65%) coming in as the next most popular channels. Reflective of this, students ranked email as their preferred communication method, with traditional mail coming in second and texting coming in third. (Also, 37% of respondents noted they were OK with receiving texts anytime!)
Once you’ve established which channels you’re going to cover, it’s time to lean on your admissions counselors. High school visits and college fairs are the best time to connect with sophomores and juniors in their natural habitat. To get the most out of those visits, pair data insights from your communications with the student names you purchased (and potentially scored) to get a better idea of where your team should be traveling. And don’t forget to equip your counselors with a list of students from each school who have received and/or engaged with your communications. Doing so will help them make personalized connections and leave a good impression on the students you’re looking to recruit — a recipe for success! (When was the last time you updated your giveaway and travel materials? We can help with that, too! Read more about that here.)
Another way to build relationships is to offer specific on-campus visit opportunities for sophomores and juniors. After all, 28% of the students we surveyed indicated that they knew their chosen school was right for them upon visiting campus, so any way you can get students to your campus will likely result in a boost in enrollment. A “Tips for College Admissions” workshop could be a great way to garner interest from sophomores and their parents/guardians. For juniors, focusing more on your campus, scholarships, academic opportunities, etc. may be more appropriate.
Step 3: Determine How to Engage Them
Our College-Bound Survey indicated that 27% of students did not click through an email from a college if it was too generic. Digital natives know you have data on them, and they want it used to serve their needs. While keeping branded information simple and clear is important, adding personalization makes your message relevant to your audience. This is the Instagram/TikTok generation, where everyone has their own page, their own individualized timeline, and uniqueness is often celebrated. Leveraging segmentation and personalized messaging is a great way to show these students you not only know what they want, but you can offer it. Make sure you’re talking to them as individuals so they feel that any email, text, or postcard you’ve sent was truly meant for them — it can really make all the difference!
Once you’ve managed to capture their attention, providing easy ways for them to indicate their interest is very important! Make sure you have a user-friendly lead form that is easily accessible in all of your communication channels and has been optimized for mobile.
Step 4: Engage Stakeholders
We know parents/guardians are a huge factor in a student’s college search, with 87% of surveyed students indicating that their families had an impact on their college decisions. Engaging parents/guardians through their own specific campaigns (separate from their students) is a very effective way to build brand recognition and establish relationships with these key influencers. Tailoring these messages to make them feel personalized is paramount, as the way you’d engage with a first-generation family may sound very different than how you might speak with a parent who is an alum, for example.
At Spark451, we have the ability to append parent/guardian data to purchased names, making it easy to include them in your communication plans. Remember, if students and their families feel that your school genuinely cares about them and their academic future, they’re going to be more likely to enroll.
In a nutshell, running a successful sophomore/junior search comes down to playing a strategic long-game in a thoughtful way. We know there are plenty of students who would be a great match for your institution — the challenge is finding them early enough in the process so that they are excited when it comes time to apply.
To discuss the details of your college or university’s sophomore/junior search further, please reach out. We’ll be happy to help you refine your strategy and deliver a campaign that will support your goals. Trust us: Future you will thank you!
