4 real examples of universities using SMS to drive results
Families can help you achieve your campus goals — if you can effectively reach them. With evolving trends such as nearly 50% of Black, Hispanic, first-generation, and low-income families considering SMS a top preferred communication channel, SMS has become one of the best ways to connect with families. Explore four easy ways you can text families today to drive results.
Maximize campus visits
SMS provides a quick and easy way to get information out to prospective families about Open Houses and other visit opportunities. Keep the message simple – let families know the date of the event and include a link to register. Mentioning that space is limited can help increase urgency.
Florida Polytechnic University was promoting their upcoming Open House and noticed that email communication had stalled. After turning to text messaging as an alternative way to push the event, Florida Poly filled their event within the week.
Boost deposits
Texting families a deposit reminder is just the right nudge to push their students to take action. Since text messages have open rates up to 98%, sending an SMS campaign can help you reach your enrollment goal – even if it’s the day of your deposit deadline.
SMS helped boost University of the Pacific’s deposits fast. On May 1, Pacific sent a deposit reminder that received a 37% click rate. Pacific’s deposits increased 6% in less than 48 hours!
Increase scholarship applications
Families may already be familiar with scholarships from previous communications, but SMS prompts families to focus on the information that matters right now, such as approaching deadlines. By informing families about available scholarships, institutions can drive awareness to increase applications.
New Mexico State University has used SMS to communicate several important messages to both prospective and current families. NMSU generally sees 20-30% click rates for their SMS campaigns, and one campaign received the highest engagement by far. With over 900 sends and 400 clicks, NMSU’s scholarship reminder yielded a 45% click rate.
Break down barriers for student success
Hispanic families are more likely to prefer SMS as a communication channel, in addition to Black, first-generation, and low-income families. By offering SMS as an option and providing key information in languages like Spanish, institutions can play a part in breaking down barriers so more families can help their students succeed.
As a Hispanic Serving Institution, New Mexico State University is committed to sending most of their most impactful communications in both English and Spanish. CampusESP makes it easy for NMSU to segment SMS campaigns so that texts in Spanish are only sent to Spanish-speaking families.
“CampusESP SMS campaigns have helped me decrease the language barrier for families. From billing to scholarship deadlines to Family Weekend and other events, it’s easy to reach families and provide the knowledge they need to help support their students.”
Looking for more information?
Current customers: Simply email your Account Manager, or shoot us a line at support@campusesp.com for more information on the SMS Module. You can implement SMS in a snap (all it takes is two meetings!)
New to CampusESP? Reach out here to learn how you can channel parent influence into results.