For incoming post-secondary students belonging to Gen Z, there’s an expectation of immediacy when it comes to how they communicate. Used to instant feedback via Google search and social media notifications, these digital natives have really prioritized speed in communication.
All of this illustrates why it’s important to communicate with your Gen Z leads promptly. The minute a student requests information from your school, the clock is on for you to respond. Unfortunately, even if you aren’t responding to your leads within 24 hours, other schools are.
Nurture Marketing: The Basics
As students request information from multiple schools, you want to make sure you’re at the forefront.
When your leads are added to a nurture campaign, this means they will receive a series of 4-8 emails, with the end goal of moving students to the application stage.
By telling your institution’s story over time, you are better able to engage students and ultimately recruit them to your school.
3 Best Practices for Building a Nurture Campaign
1. Make it Relevant
Always aim to be relevant and engaging with your content. The best lead responses are those that feel personalized and unique to each student. For example, don’t send a General Arts email to a student who’s indicated an interest in Engineering.
2. Add Personalization
By adding personalized details such as a student’s first name or program of interest in the subject line or email body, you can ensure more students will open the email and ultimately engage with the content.
3. Be Persistent
Sending one email to prospects and expecting them to apply is just not realistic. Instead, utilize a multi-pronged approach where you send a series of 4-8 emails spanned over multiple months. This is the best way to ensure multiple touchpoints with students and gives you the chance to communicate on multiple different topics, such as program options, campus life, scholarships, and more.
Drip Marketing in Action: Capilano University Case Study
Recently, we set up a nurture campaign with Vancouver Island University through LeadConnect™. This ensured all leads received an initial response within 24 hours, and then 3 remaining emails every 6 days thereafter.
Nurture Email 1:
“It’s nice to meet you!”
To date, this email has reached 1,774 students.
By using a personalized subject line and preheader, we were able to achieve a 48% unique open rate.
The next 3 emails focused on the variety of programs for undergraduate students, financial aid options, and how to apply.
In the end, VIU received 88 applications for their Fall 2021 term as of June 6, 2021. By sending multiple timely emails, this style of campaign resulted in stronger engagement and ultimately more applications.
For more information on this case study, click here. It includes screenshots from the campaign with email subject line and preheader details.
If you’re looking for a way to see similar results, or need help communicating and connecting with your leads, the SchoolFinder Group can help!
