Students live on their phones. Text messaging meets them where they’re already spending their time.

When used strategically, SMS can help admissions teams:

• Increase student engagement
• Build affinity
• Deliver time-sensitive information quickly
• Reduce application melt
• Encourage event attendance
• Support students throughout the enrollment journey

But successful texting goes beyond sending deadline reminders. The most effective programs use SMS as part of a larger communication strategy designed to build relationships — not just drive transactions.

Most institutions are familiar with SMS, the traditional text-only message format. But many CRMs also support MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service), which allows admissions offices to send visual content alongside text.

SMS is ideal for:

• Application deadline reminders
• Missing document notifications
• Event confirmations
• Deposit reminders
• Quick calls to action

MMS can elevate engagement with:

• Stunning campus photos
• Personalized welcome messages
• Student testimonial videos
• Open House highlights
• Orientation resources
• GIFs and visual storytelling

Think of SMS as the quick conversation and MMS as the opportunity to bring your institution’s personality to life.

Not every message requires multimedia, but incorporating MMS strategically can help your communications stand out in a sea of notifications.

Nobody wants to receive texts that feel like mass marketing.

Students expect text messages to be more personal than email, and they can quickly recognize when a message feels automated or irrelevant.

Modern CRM platforms make it possible to personalize messages using:

• Student name
• Academic interests
• Geographic location
• Assigned counselor information
• Event participation
• Application status
• Behavioral engagement data

Imagine this scenario:

A student attends your Open House on Saturday. On Monday morning, they receive a text from their admissions counselor:

“Hi Maya! Thanks for joining us this weekend. Do you have any questions about the Nursing program or the application process?”

That feels less like marketing and more like a conversation.

And conversations are what build relationships.

Here’s a simple question every admissions office should ask before sending a text:

Would this feel helpful if I received it?

Students reserve their text inboxes for friends, family, and trusted organizations. If every message sounds promotional, your institution risks becoming background noise.

Some texting best practices include:

• Write like a human
• Use a conversational tone
• Keep messages concise
• Include a clear next step
• Make it easy to respond
• Use recognizable phone numbers
• Respond quickly when students reply

The most successful enrollment teams don’t use texting as a megaphone — they use it as a conversation starter.

As of this year, a new study estimated that US households with internet access consume more than 43 hours of video content per week! That’s equal to 25% of our week! Another recent stat shows that 90% of households have at least one connected TV device. According to Nielsen’s January 2026 TV viewing report, streaming leads at 47%, surpassing both cable and broadcast as the primary way audiences consume television content.

Source: Nielson

And while you might think that many people pay for the ad-free versions of their favorite streaming services, the ad-supported numbers will probably surprise you. According to a Q4 2025 report by Nielsen, almost 75% of streaming subscribers use the ad-supported versions of these apps!

Source: Nielson

The old way of buying TV ads would be to choose a network and a placement, and buy a prime-time TV slot during the shows you guestimated your audience was watching on any given evening. The differentiator with CTV is that we’re able to target our specific niche audience first — and follow them wherever they stream. We follow the target audience rather than making a decision on what we assume they will watch. For example, a prospect and their family might be watching a show on Peacock, then streaming a movie on Hulu, and maybe catching a late-night talk show on CBS. We’ll serve your video ads to that audience as they move networks throughout their evening and weekend binge journey.

And you may be surprised with how specific and granular the targeting can be. Here’s a sampling of who we can intersect with using our third-party targeting tools:

• Parents of College-Bound Teens: Individuals who are parents of college-bound kids. Sourced from self-reported surveys, public records, online activity, and purchase transactions.
• People Researching Northeast Colleges on the Web: Northeast college researchers are those who are most likely searching colleges within that geographic region based on search intent data.
• Households With a 529 College Savings Plan: This audience contains people who have a 529 college savings plan to pay for higher education for their children or grandchildren.
• People Who Recently Visited Colleges and Universities: Individuals who have recently visited college and university locations. Our behavioral location data is sourced from proprietary SDK and app partnerships that track billions of real-time visitation data points to business locations.
• Households With Child Near High School Graduation: Indicates there is a child near high school graduation in the household, aged 16.5–18 years.
• Adult Career Changers (New Job): Individuals who are currently career changers (new job) based on surveys, online/purchase activity, and social media data.
• Video Gamers — Watched E-Sports Online/TV: Watched e-sports online or on TV in the last year; live streaming, e-sports viewers, tournament watching, gaming channels, video content.

As CTV becomes the channel where audiences are spending more downtime, including it in your paid media mix only elevates every other component of your marketing efforts. In fact, studies have found that CTV can have a “halo effect” for paid search and paid social, as well as boost your email marketing performance metrics! Paramount recently reported a 22.3% conversion rate lift in paid social when paired with CTV for 90 days, and similarly an 8.5% lift in conversion rates on paid social when a user had been exposed to a CTV ad. Additionally, 51% of users who are classified as “heavy CTV streamers” search that brand online after seeing a CTV ad. As a marketing strategy cherry-on-top, a recent MNTN study found that B2C email conversion rates rose by 19% after CTV ad exposure. CTV might be the best team player being left untapped on your marketing team!

Source: Paramount