What to Say With Higher Ed CRM Texting (While Boosting Student Engagement)

Prospective students receive various forms of communication from higher education institutions. These exchanges are the perfect way to send friendly reminders, notify students of important milestones or deadlines, and reconnect after gaps in communication. 

Texting and SMS messaging are growing in popularity within higher education CRM (customer relationship management) platforms, since these tools often provide helpful automations for making the communications process quick and effortless - not to mention it can be the fastest way to speak with a student. Within a higher education CRM, school officials can send important messages to future students while being able to see relevant information about the student’s full journey from within the CRM.

But what should your school staff members really say when connecting with prospective students? How can you make sure that your SMS messages are effective and intentional?

In this post, we’ll cover the ins and outs of higher education texting through CRM platforms as a way to engage students and increase enrollment potential.

What is CRM Texting in Higher Education?

Many businesses now leverage texts and SMS to reach and convert potential customers—and to deliver timely or exclusive marketing messages. In a higher education context, colleges and universities can also use simple text features to keep students moving through the enrollment or admissions pipeline.

More specifically, CRM texting in higher education refers to any text message prompts that are created and delivered within a school’s primary database or engagement platform. The CRM aspect generally means that the sender of the text takes action directly from the student’s primary contact record.

What to Say When Texting Prospective Students

You may already be able to brainstorm ideas for your next text message campaign, but there are a few messages you’ll want to send right out of the gate. Here are some of our favorite ideas for boosting student engagement and increasing enrollment opportunities through texting.

Remember, CRM text messaging is one way to bring more personalization to your student experiences. Schools that drive student engagement with brand loyalty, service, and personalized messages may be more likely to attract students and drive further enrollments in the years to come. 

Admissions Application Reminders

One of the main things that schools say to students through texting involves their application status. This process can begin with recruiters or admissions counselors, who might engage with future students and send easily accessible links to a new application. Remind new students to not only open and complete applications, but encourage them to reach out with questions.

Invitations for On-Campus or Virtual Campus Events

Use your text message strategy to personally invite students to recruitment or admissions events. To make things even easier, send links directly to RSVP landing pages where students can register themselves or family members.

Reminders for Major Deadlines

Use text messages to communicate significant deadlines that students need to meet before enrollment. Think about major financial milestones (like completing a FAFSA or submitting a deposit) that might impact a student’s ability to attend on time. Students will appreciate timely and friendly reminders that help them stay on track, especially when they’re potentially applying to more than one school.

Course Registration Opportunities

Tell your students when new course enrollment is open so that they can secure the classes they need or want before those fill up. When students have their course preferences met, they may be more likely to complete other enrollment steps or persist through future semesters.

Scholarship and Financial Aid Opportunities

Always use texting opportunities to engage your students with good news. If they’re eligible for a particular scholarship or financial package, let them know with a congratulatory text message. If you need them to take further action, provide helpful information or send them a link to their scholarship application.

Campus Alerts or Emergency Notifications

Once students are enrolled, you might also leverage mass text messaging for emergency alerts and campus notifications. If you rely on texting to communicate safety information to students, make sure that you regularly test your system and proofread all messages for accuracy and reliability.

Advantages of CRM Texting for Higher Ed

The CRM connection checks a few important boxes when it comes to connecting with new and prospective students.

• CRM activities can often be automated (with templates) or set at specific intervals.
• CRM text messages are logged in a central location for historical data purposes.
• These texts are also visible by other staff and relevant parties, which prevents students from receiving duplicate or extra messages at a given time.
• Student responses are easily documented, and staff members can easily send next steps or future actions for the student to take.

Why Schools Leverage Texts and SMS

The use of text and SMS messaging in enrollment isn’t a good idea simply because it’s popular or trendy. There are surprisingly positive statistics to back up this increasingly effective communications strategy.

For starters, the open and response rates of text messages are substantially higher than they are for email. With a 98% open rate in some scenarios, it’s no wonder that schools want to use text messaging to get in front of students. 

Additionally, text messages are more likely to be read within just three minutes of the initial send time. To increase the number of quick responses you receive from students, it’s safe to say that texting is the best bet. Speaking to students in this way may also have an indirect impact on the number of submitted applications and the total number of actual enrollments. With such undeniable growth opportunities, colleges and universities must consider how to incorporate text messaging more regularly. 

Benefits of Using Texts to Communicate with Students

Although we’ve already shared encouraging statistics that should prompt you to incorporate texts in your admissions strategy, there are many more advantages. Modern colleges and universities that want to find the right things to say to students through texts have many benefits on their side.

• Texting is how students converse and exchange information. (Students prefer texting.) When partnering with students in their education, you must be willing to meet them where they are. Students are quick to respond to texts, which means they’re already investing time (up to 94 minutes a day) reading and responding to messages.
• It’s possible to adapt your SMS text messaging goals.  Text messaging satisfies multiple purposes at once. Need to send a “mass market” message to thousands of applicants? Want to connect on a personal level about a specific student’s FAFSA review? Text messages solve for both needs, making them flexible and adaptable.
• Texting can be easily automated.  For schools that opt for texting platforms or services, texts can be sent automatically. With certain technologies, it’s even possible to use keywords and message triggers to send out basic responses in a timely manner. These features alleviate some of the manual work, while providing a more personal experience than a standard chatbot.

Create a Successful Higher Ed Texting Strategy for Your Enrollment Process

Many of us are familiar with texting, but it’s important to distinguish conversational messaging from more professional communication with students. 

It may take several tests and experiments to figure out which communication channels your target audience responds to best, but texting has proven to be a worthwhile investment for increasing student engagement.

That being said, there are a few reminders and best practices to follow so that you can maximize the effect of your texting strategy (and avoid the mistakes that could cripple it before you witness measurable success). 

• Text from a short code number. Short code numbers are basic five or six-digit numbers that are required to send mass messages. Using a typical ten-digit number can land your messages as being marked for spam.
• Segment your audience with SMS campaigns. Similar to email marketing, you should always segment your text audience to ensure the best results. The exception to this is when you are sending exclusive one-on-one messages directly to certain students.
• Use it in a personal way. Texting isn’t simply for those mass marketing messages that you want to extend to everyone on your contact list. Zeroing in on students as individuals (often using a two way texting feature) can help you capture new applications and enrollments that may have otherwise gone cold. This strategy can also strengthen student relationships and have a positive effect on student retention. 

Revolutionize Your Admissions Communication with Higher Education Text Messaging

Discovering the best and most relevant way to connect with new students happens gradually. The sooner that you recognize and identify what your students need, the faster you can prioritize techniques and communication methods that help you connect with them more transparently throughout their college life.

Schedule an Element451 demo today to see how a student engagement platform can revamp your existing enrollment processes and help you maintain a competitive edge.