Email is a vital part of engaging prospective students—if they’re actually opened and read. Increasingly, admissions teams pour hours into carefully crafted college admissions emails, only to see open rates stagnate and click-through rates drop. If your emails are falling flat with Gen Z, you’re not alone. But when higher education enrollment marketing is more competitive than ever, you can’t afford to go unnoticed.
Gen Z views emails as formal communications that aren’t typically urgent or even relevant. They’re more likely than other generations to become stressed by a bombardment of emails stacking up in their inboxes. Avoiding this stress requires efficient filtering methods that cut through the noise. In other words, text-heavy emails that don’t immediately capture attention are likely to go unread.
Does this mean sending emails to prospective Gen Z students is a waste of time?
Absolutely not! While traditional emails often fail to engage this generation, the right messages can grab their attention and even spark an ongoing dialogue. Gen Z has different communication expectations, and understanding them is the first step to rethinking your outreach. This blog will break down why Gen Z ignores traditional email campaigns and what strategies admissions professionals can use to actually capture their attention.
Why Gen Z Tunes Out Traditional Emails
Born between 1997 and 2012, Gen Z is the first generation to have constant access to digital technology and unprecedented connectivity. They grew up bombarded by digital noise and have learned to filter aggressively. As digital natives, Gen Z students are accustomed to seamless, fast-paced communications that are visual and interactive. They’re remarkably efficient and resistant to wasting time on irrelevant marketing tactics. If your communications fail to engage them within seconds, your emails will go unread.
Gen Z sees emails as formal communications and assumes they’re not personal or urgent. Growing up in the era of digital mass marketing efforts forced this group to adapt by quickly dumping useless information. The oft-quoted eight-second attention span of this generation can be attributed to their sophisticated digital filters, which enable them to dismiss extraneous communications. They want to connect authentically with organizations that interact with them on a human level. You can typically achieve this through channels that feel direct, instant, and conversational. Generic, lengthy emails miss the mark, making them more likely to go unread.
How Gen Z Actually Wants to Communicate
The evolution of digital communication has shaped Gen Z preferences. They turn to the internet for news, making informed purchases, pursuing passions, and learning. However, they’re skimming on phones, not desktops, making short-form mobile-friendly content key.
Sixty-seven percent of shoppers under the age of 27 prefer a two-way dialogue with brands, and 83% expect brands to understand them as individuals. These expectations could prove even more important in communications from colleges and universities, given the importance of their nature. While these types of communication are often preferred in texts, social DMs, and short videos, personalized emails that don’t feel like broad blasts or long one-way pushes often fit the bill.
Admissions teams hoping to get Gen Z to respond will need to craft communications across multiple platforms that feel personal and tailored to their interests. Fifty-three percent of Gen Z say chat apps are their preferred way of communicating with brands, and younger generations are comfortable interacting with organizations on social media. When emails fit into an ongoing flow of two-way communication through multiple convenient channels, they seem more relevant and informative. Think of outreach more like a dialogue on their terms instead of a newsletter that fits your rules.
Rethinking Email–It’s Not Dead, But It Has to Evolve
While traditional emails are unlikely to get attention from this generation, the right emails have a vital place in Gen Z admission strategies. Forty-two percent of Gen Zers say email is their favorite way to communicate at work, and 36% say they check their inboxes because of FOMO (mainly concerns about missing out on brand discounts and job offers). Carefully crafted college admissions emails can tap into this FOMO with engagement strategies tailored to student interests.
Rethinking college admissions emails for Gen Z requires a new approach to sharing information that passes the sophisticated human filter. These tips can help you make your emails stand out in a sea of digital noise.
Use Email for the Right Reasons
Frequency and content are the biggest factors in whether Gen Z recipients will read your college admissions emails. This group doesn’t want to be bombarded by emails—especially if they’re irrelevant to their interests. Use emails for deeper content when other communications wouldn’t serve the purpose. For example, personalized next steps related to an earlier inquiry or decision updates are ideal for email content.
Make the Most of Subject Lines
Your subject line is a key factor in encouraging people to open an email. Create a personalized but short attention grabber that will pique their interest or call back to an earlier interaction. You might consider adding emojis or a sense of urgency (only when it actually applies) or exclusivity to grab attention. Also, it’s essential to avoid clickbait, or any follow-up communications may go directly to spam.
Include Other Channels in Gen Z Admissions Strategies
Personalization begins with understanding your target audience’s preferences. While Gen Z isn’t opposed to emails altogether, they prefer shorter communications that encourage a two-way dialogue. Layer your college admissions emails with other channels, so email isn’t doing all the heavy lifting. This can help you engage prospective students with varied communications and help you avoid overloading inboxes.
Design for Mobile
A whopping 94% of Gen Zers own a smartphone, and 67% use their phones to check emails. In other words, optimizing your emails for mobile devices is non-negotiable. Making your emails mobile-friendly requires more than content that fits the screen. Use short paragraphs for easy readability, include visuals for engagement, and add clear CTAs that are easy to use.
Emails aren’t dead, and failing to use them to make authentic connections with Gen Z students can be a missed opportunity. However, college admissions emails that work for Gen Z must break the mold with a shorter and sharper tone that is part of a broader mix of communications.
What to Do Instead: Multi-Channel Personalization
Gen Z didn’t just grow up with digital communication at their fingertips. They also grew up with visual communication available across multiple devices. As a result, they prefer to communicate with images across multiple screens. Engaging them requires a multi-channel approach that incorporates personalization at every turn.
Build communication flows that mix email, text, calls, and social posts, so students see you as approachable and responsive instead of just another inbox sender. Gen Z recipients prefer casual communication, making text optimal for short interactions. Use texts for deadline reminders, quick nudges, or to answer common questions. When engagement is your goal, try short videos or social stories from current students. You can easily grab attention and meet your audience’s need for authenticity with peer-driven content.
Making Personalization Work at Scale
Blasting impersonalized emails is the best way to get your college admissions emails sent directly to spam. Segment outreach by interests, engagement level, or intended major instead of batching and blasting.
While scalable personalization may sound demanding, automated tools can lighten the load on admissions teams. Using behavioral data allows you to trigger relevant communications automatically based on user actions. For example, a query about financial aid can trigger an automatic response with links to related forms. However, it’s essential to balance automated touchpoints with personalized admissions follow-up in the form of counselor texts or calls.
Effective communication with Gen Z isn’t about replacing emails. It’s about making them part of a personalized ecosystem that feels meaningful to your target audience. Gen Z admissions strategies demand an omnichannel experience that includes carefully timed emails with content relevant to the recipient.
Engage Gen Z on Their Terms With Modern Technology From Concept3D
Gen Z doesn’t hate hearing from colleges. In fact, this cohort is focused on a meaningful and productive future. However, you can expect communications that feel impersonal, irrelevant, or outdated to be ignored. Engaging Gen Z requires admissions professionals to rethink their current communication strategy and identify gaps where shorter, more direct outreach could make a difference. Luckily, this is one area where you can excel without burdening admissions teams with more manual work.
Looking to improve outreach without adding more work to your admissions team? Concept3D’s connected suite of tools helps you engage students more effectively and create a smoother admissions experience. Explore our solutions for admissions teams »