When it comes to college recruitment, colleges and universities all face similar problems. They want to recruit the maximum number of students while maintaining a modest budget. This can be difficult since most universities are marketing toward the same pool of students. Universities must get creative in their email recruitment strategies to succeed at this goal. In this article, we will discuss personalized email marketing techniques that will increase the diversity at their institutions and increase their admission numbers.
Unique recruitment strategies for universities and colleges must be dedicated to targeting high school seniors as potential students. There are a variety of different groups that would consider higher education. Focusing your admission effort on these nonconventional groups with personalized email marketing can help increase the number of students that end up attending your college or university.
College Recruitment with High School Teachers
Some of the most underutilized influencers in a high school student’s life are their teachers. Teachers can play a big role in a student’s life and affect their decisions for years to come. Universities can take advantage of this by marketing directly to teachers instead of students or parents. If a teacher connects with a certain school, they can become an advocate to their students. Teachers are not generally marketed to so education them will produce more of a receptive response over marketing to parents or students. Reaching out to high school teacher and higher education teacher as well is a unique strategy. Make them champions for your university. They know exactly which students would benefit from programs being offered at schools they are familiar with. Ultimately, leading to higher student admissions for colleges that use this out of the box approach.
Expanding Outreach to International Opportunities
Recruitment for universities has become more challenging. Part of the reason is that universities are all fighting to enroll the same pool of students, even internationally. One strategy to overcome this problem is to expand recruitment potential, really think outside the box. It is common practice to target a specific age group, however we must consider that the international market of higher education is growing. As third world countries become more connected to western economy, more of their workforce will need training. Focus on what makes your university unique and a global educator and start reaching out to this community with an international mailing list.
Reaching out to professional can have a different tone. Showcase your global education is in line with what industries are looking for. Segment them into specific groups, and then target them with personalized email marketing that includes specific messaging for more effective results. Also, the previous technique of outreach to primary educators works even better in international outreach. It is also helpful to provide clear and straight forward information on all marketing materials on visas and specialized group dedicated to international students. International mailing list data can be segmented by country, by the language they speak, by interest, by educational goals or much more.
Focusing on Undergraduate Professionals
Not all college recruitment should happen with high school students. According to PBS, 60% of adults in the US do not have college degrees. This means that this percentage of the population still has the potential of going to college. In order to increase admission numbers, universities should target this population for higher education. Marketing tactics will need to be adapted to successfully market to this group of potential students. Oftentimes, cultural barriers or money will play a big role in this group’s decision not to get a degree. Colleges must focus on showcasing clear, short and efficient paths to getting a degree. Furthermore, this must all be done and retain a low cost. These are the biggest challenges universities must face in order to admit more adult learners.
Developing Strategies for Veterans
Veterans should be a key target for higher education. Veterans are given government subsidies for higher education, making them students who are financially capable of higher education. Admissions offices should create specific strategies and marketing messages to tailor to veteran’s needs. Many of our veterans are highly skilled and have had unique experiences. Universities should focus on creating strategies that encourage veterans to fully use their higher education endowments as a unique tool and privilege for their service to our country. They should also create marketing around how their school addresses veteran’s unique talents, challenges and needs. Creating targeted marketing material for this segment helps veterans identify with your recruitment message. This will ultimately lead to higher recruitment of this population segment.
Conclusion
University admissions offices should not just focus on recruiting high school students. They should focus on a variety of different learners which can lead to higher diversity in their schools and higher admissions. By recruiting with teachers, international students, undergraduate professionals and veterans, admissions offices have a variety of avenues to meet their admissions goals. By reaching these audiences with personalized email marketing, these segments can increase higher education enrollment, hopefully making the task less daunting.
