Personalized communication from brands and organizations is no longer just a nice-to-have element. Consumers expect it and will turn away from organizations that don’t deliver. Three-fourths of consumers are more likely to purchase from brands that deliver relevant, personalized content that aligns with their needs. But the key to success lies in scalable personalization, not just personalization.
Scalable personalization is even more important when it comes to the college admissions process. After all, choosing a college is one of the most impactful decisions in a student’s life. When admissions communications are irrelevant or generic, students will likely seek out a college or university with more potential to meet their needs.
College admissions teams like nothing more than matching incoming students to everything their school has to offer. But it’s nearly impossible for admissions teams handling hundreds or thousands of prospective students to deliver authentic one-to-one connections. Luckily, the right technology can help admissions teams achieve scalable personalization without sacrificing authenticity.
If you’re drowning in applications and floundering to meet modern personalization expectations, then you’ve come to the right place. This blog will explore how to personalize admissions in a way that makes every student feel like more than just a name on a list, even at scale.
Why Personalization Is No Longer Optional
Gen Z is the first generation of true digital natives who have never known a world without technology at their fingertips. They are idealistic, skilled learners who expect the organizations they interact with to meet their unique needs.
While 83% of Gen Z say that a college education is very important or fairly important, many have a desire to pursue non-traditional career paths. Reaching their goals requires complete transparency and tailored information regarding what a school has to offer. Colleges and universities must meet students and parents where they are to promote campus offerings and illustrate how they align with the interests of prospective students. This typically means interacting with students through email, text messages, social media, and website contact forms.
Gen Z’s natural distrust of corporations and institutions makes transparency critical. Incoming students want to know that the school they attend will meet their needs. As such, they expect tailored communication that reflects their interests, goals, and concerns. Admissions teams that meet these expectations with personalized communications gain the advantage of increased engagement and trust that influences enrollment decisions. Institutions that fail to personalize interactions risk getting lost in the noise.
The Personalization vs. Bandwidth Problem
From initial application screenings through in-depth reviews of academic records, extracurricular activities, and special circumstances, application professionals are responsible for a variety of tasks related to every applicant. Furthermore, applicant pools are growing for several reasons.
- The number of high school graduates increased from 2.5 million to 3.6 million over four years.
- 30 years ago, half of high school graduates were applying to college. Today, almost two-thirds of all graduates apply.
- Students are applying to as many schools as possible to increase their odds of acceptance.
- The college admissions process is increasingly competitive, leading students to compensate by applying to more schools.
In short, admissions teams have more applications than ever before, straining limited staff resources. While one-size-fits-all messaging could allow teams to meet increased demand, it is ineffective for engaging students. Scalable personalization is crucial for engaging today’s applicants and gaining their trust. However, personalizing admissions communications for every student isn’t sustainable without technology support.
The Role of Technology in Scaling Personalization
Modern technology designed for college admissions processes is making great strides in helping schools achieve scalable personalization. From automating repetitive manual tasks to sending personalized admissions follow-ups, the right tools can significantly simplify targeted communication.
Customer relationship management (CRM) software is crucial for centralizing student data and tracking interactions to ensure prospective students don’t fall through the cracks due to a lack of communication. Data-driven platforms empower admissions teams to take personalized communication to the next level with dynamic, tailored interactions aligned with students’ immediate interests.
Tools driven by generative AI can recognize student actions (i.e., searching for information about financial aid or academic offerings) and respond with relevant messages, immediately providing critical information and making students feel seen. Systems that integrate predictive analytics can automatically identify students who need additional attention and automate increased communications that build engagement and trust.
Tactics to Make Students Feel Seen at Scale
Personalizing admissions communications requires admissions teams to tailor ongoing communications for diverse groups of students across large audiences, from application to enrollment. A single personalized message or generic reminders aren’t enough to engage students. Interactions should provide valuable information about topics that affect enrollment decisions, such as academic programs, financial assistance, and housing.
These tactics can help you determine how to personalize admissions in a way that makes each student feel seen.
- Segment messaging based on key interests, including academic interests, geography, campus life, and financial information.
- Set parameters for automated messages based on students’ engagement history.
- Use keywords in subject lines and messages. Greet students by name. Mention topics related to their interests and engagement history, such as extracurricular interests, academics, events, etc.
- Tailor invitations for campus visits and virtual events based on student profile data.
- Utilize student profile data to send relevant and timely information regarding financial aid.
While this level of tailored, personalized communication would have been impossible a decade ago, it is achievable with today’s technology. When teams can reduce manual sorting and produce highly targeted personalization, they can balance automation with the human touch to engage students from application to the first day of class.
Measuring the Impact of Personalized Outreach
Personalized communications aren’t a one-size-fits-all application for higher student yields and immediate student matches. Admissions teams will need to integrate technology into their workflows to match student interests with school criteria. Achieving the right approach to scalable personalization for your school requires a system to measure whether personalization efforts are actually working.
Monitor Student Engagement
Students are likely to engage with the schools they’re interested in early and often. Monitoring activity from emails, event attendance, social media, and other interactions will give you insight into which types of communication students are most likely to engage with. Along with these individual communications, tracking inquiry-to-application conversion rates will help teams determine how the big-picture strategy works to meet admissions goals.
Gather Feedback
Student feedback is one of the most valuable tools for learning how you can improve your efforts. Survey students after events like campus tours and virtual interactions to learn whether students felt they gained the knowledge they were seeking. Surveys and short questionnaires following online interactions can also provide essential data regarding communication methods.
Analyze Enrollment Data
Technology isn’t only for segmenting student audiences and automating personalized messages. It can be used to gather and analyze data about how students use the resources you provide and respond to communication efforts. Different types of data can be used to continually improve personalization efforts as student needs grow and change. Analyzing historical data can help you develop accurate information to identify best-fit students and cater to their needs.
Tracking student actions when using resources and following specific actions can provide insight into student interests and which communications are most effective. Monitoring page views and time spent on specific website sections can advise personalized messaging. Teams can then dig deeper by collecting data about how students react to communications. For instance, when a student explores financial aid information on the website and receives a personalized message with links to downloadable forms, do they use the provided links?
Personalizing Admissions Communications With Modern Technology
The importance of scalable personalization in the college admissions process is likely to continue growing in the coming decades. For most schools, determining how to personalize admissions will come down to investing in the right technology. As application pools continue to grow, admissions teams will need to balance scale and personalization to authentically reach as many students as possible. Technology that can automate personalized messaging and match student interests with school profiles can free up staff time while reaching hundreds of students.
Want to learn more about the value of technology in supporting your admissions goals? Contact us today or explore how Concept3D’s connected suite of solutions can help your team drive engagement, streamline processes, and support every stage of the student journey.