Email Marketing Best Practices
Email Marketing Best Practices
Essential Tips for Elevating Your Communication Strategy
|September 18, 2024In today’s digital landscape, email remains a cornerstone of effective communication. They’re not just messages, but powerful tools that can create relationships, drive engagement, and so much more. So, whether you’re trying to get students to register for an event or trying to spread the word about a new program, mastering email best practices is essential for achieving your goals.
In this blog, I will delve into the core principles and strategies that support successful email communications. From crafting compelling subject lines to optimizing your email’s design and content, I’ll cover everything you need to know to enhance your email strategy. By adopting these best practices, you’ll be well-equipped to deliver clear, concise, and impactful messages with potential students and parents.
5 Key Factors to Perfect Before Hitting Send
When crafting your emails, it’s critical that the following key components are flawless:
- Subject Line & Preview Text
- Email Copy
- Call-to-Action Buttons
- Signature & Title
- Email Templates
1. Subject Line & Preview Text
Subject Line
The initial impression your recipient gets from your email is crucial. It determines whether they find it engaging enough to read further, delete it immediately, or even unsubscribe.
Creating the perfect email starts with making a personal connection right from the start, so use the data you have (first name, location, school name, relevant stats, etc.) to immediately grab your recipient’s attention. Be sure to keep the subject line concise, ideally under 70 characters, to ensure it’s fully visible on mobile devices and doesn’t get cut off.
Example: Apply to Spark University Today! —> Jane, Apply to Spark U’s Marketing Program Today!
Preview Text
The preview text should complement the subject line, offering additional value without being redundant. For example, if your subject line reads, “Jane, Apply to Spark U’s Marketing Program Today!” an effective preview text might be, “Our alumni help marketing students secure internships and real-world experiences.” This approach ensures the preview text provides new, enticing information that enhances the subject line, giving the recipient a compelling reason to open the email.
By strategically using the preview text to highlight unique benefits or important details, you can significantly improve open rates and engagement with your email content.
2. Email Copy
Incorporating dynamic content into your emails can significantly enhance personalization and engagement. By tailoring emails to include details such as the recipient’s preferred major, proximity to campus (local vs. non-local), or student status (prospect, applicant, admit, etc.), you create a more individualized and relevant experience for each student.
Let’s face it: each student is unique. Sending the same email to a large group won’t be as effective as sending a message that incorporates a few personalized touches.
Here are a few tips for creating more personalized emails:
- Use Dynamic Content: Make your emails feel personal by including specific information like the recipient’s preferences. Example: Marketing Major.
- Clear Call-to-Action (CTA): Ensure that your CTA is prominent and easy to follow throughout the entire email, including in the P.S. line. A clear CTA guides the recipient on the next steps and encourages them to take action.
- Utilize Bullets or Numbers: When presenting information, using bullets or numbers makes the content easier to read and digest. This format helps break down complex information into manageable pieces, making your email more reader-friendly.
Interesting Fact: Gen Z has an 8-second attention span for reading, so make sure those 8 seconds are impactful!
3. Call-to-Action Buttons
To maximize the effectiveness of your emails, it’s essential to strategically place and design your call-to-action (CTA) buttons. Here are some best practices that we follow:
- Position CTA Button Above the Fold: Place the primary CTA button near the top of the email, ensuring it is visible without scrolling on mobile devices. This increases the likelihood of engagement.
- Use Double CTA Buttons When Appropriate: This not only increases the chances of students clicking on your email, but also provides them with options. For example, you could include both “Learn More” and “Schedule Your Visit” buttons.
- Incorporate UTM Tracking Links: Always include UTM parameters in your links to track the effectiveness of your email campaigns and understand user behavior.
- Craft Clear & Urgent Button Copy: For single CTA emails, use concise and compelling language on your buttons (e.g., “Apply Today” instead of “Click Here to Apply”) to create a sense of urgency and drive action.
CTA buttons are crucial and should always be included. They are often the first elements that catch the reader’s attention, so it’s important to make a strong and meaningful first impression.
4. Signature & Title
To create a more personal and trustworthy connection with recipients, it’s best for emails to come from a real person or department. For example, an email could be signed by John Doe, Executive Director, Office of University Admissions. This approach adds credibility and a human touch to your communications. It’s also important to keep this information updated across all emails, as titles and personnel can change, to help ensure messages remain accurate and relevant. With the rise of phishing emails, maintaining the trust of our audience is essential!
5. Email Templates
Perfecting your email templates is also an essential step! There’s nothing worse than sending out a message with broken links, social media icons that don’t lead to the correct pages (this is especially important), or header images that don’t align with the email’s content. When creating your email template, be sure to keep the following points in mind.
- Include Links in All Images: Always ensure that all images in your email, especially header images, are linked. This can significantly boost your click-through-rate (CTR) by giving your recipient more chances to click.
- Optimize CTA Buttons: When designing call-to-action (CTA) buttons, make sure they include a link and are going to the correct page! If not, this might throw off the point of the email.
- Highlight Clickable Links: Make sure all clickable links stand out by using bold formatting, a different color, or underlining them. This helps to draw attention and encourage clicks.
- Personalization Is Key: Take advantage of personalization tokens such as First Name, Parent Name, Major, City, etc. Personalizing your emails can increase engagement and make your communications feel more relevant to the recipient.
- Verify Social Icons & Footer Links: Ensure all social icons and links in the footer of your email are correct and lead to the intended destinations. This not only provides additional engagement opportunities but also builds trust with your audience.
- Testing Your Template on Mobile and Desktop: Make sure your email template displays well on both mobile and desktop devices by checking its layout, images, and functionality across various screen sizes. Since many students frequently use their phones, this step is essential. Pro tip: Don’t forget to test your email in dark mode, as this feature is increasingly popular.
With thousands of colleges and universities sending billions of emails daily, it’s crucial that your emails not only stand out in the inbox but also keep the reader engaged once opened. Need a hand getting started? Reach out to learn more about how Spark451’s expert team can help support your email needs.
Top 5 Admissions CRM Focus Areas for Fall
Top 5 Admissions CRM Focus Areas for Fall
Make the Most of This Critical Season
By Jennie Bayless and Chris Gonzalez
Students settling in, classes starting, admissions teams gearing up to hit the road… it can only mean one thing: Fall semester is officially upon us! Before you get swept away with the busyness of the season, make sure you take the time to review our Top 5 Admissions CRM Focus Areas for Fall to help ensure you’re getting the most out of your CRM and effectively supporting Fall 2025 enrollment.
1. Fall Travel
Hundreds of hours are about to be spent on fall travel, with counselors and road warriors heading to high schools and college fairs throughout the country and abroad. Help them have a successful season and ensure your data stays clean by:
- Implementing an automated communication plan prepared for prospective students and high school counselors to let them know about upcoming travel plans.
- Watching, and having a plan, for duplicate records for organizations and CEEB codes.
- Leveraging travel-centric reports and tools (like Voyager if you’re in Slate).
- Using QR Codes at college fairs that direct students to inquiry forms. Or, for a more advanced approach, consider using them for online check-ins.
- Integrating with a vendor that enables you to leverage college fair inquiry forms.
2. Campus Visits
With fall comes a massive influx of campus visitors. In addition to making sure the grounds and buildings are in tip-top shape, pay attention to your database.
- Is your database ready to collect information about students’ guests? Parent information (thank-you notes and follow-up comms), sibling emails (future prospects) — they’re all important.
Pro Tip: Collecting parent information? Why not make a parent drip campaign? - Are your pre– and post-event communications built?
- Are you sending invitations?
- Event reminders?
- Are you reaching out to people who didn’t attend?
- Will you be sending post-event information and surveys?
3. Reporting
Don’t let the effort of collecting data go to waste — reporting is key!
- How are you reporting on your travel? Are you analyzing that information? Using it to influence future travel?
- Are your funnel reports up to date for the upcoming year? Is your Vice Provost already asking for 2025 numbers? (Hint: They should be.)
4. Third-Party Applications
Thousands of students take advantage of third-party applications. Do you have systems in place to quickly and smoothly integrate them?
- Did you get your Common App, Coalition App, and other third-party mappings updated?
- Have you tested your imports?
5. Application Reading
Nothing is worse than sitting down for a reading session and encountering issues. Before reading season kicks into high gear, make sure you’re ready for it.
- Update your scholarship fields
- Review and set up this year’s reading structure
- What’s your game plan for training new staff on your application reading process?
Let's Get Across the Finish Line Together. 🏁
Our team of experts is well-versed in all major admissions CRMs and is ready to put their combined experience to work. Through our flexible SparkAssist service, you can learn with us and become an expert on all things Salesforce, Slate, and Element451. Or, hand us a project for one-time completion. No project is too small or large for us!
- Drip campaigns development and automation
- Responsive HTML email templates
- Querying and reporting
- Database efficiencies
- Lead generation and strategizing origin sources
If you’re interested in learning about Spark451’s SparkAssist options, please reach out to us!
It’s the Perfect Time to Plan Your Fall Photoshoot!
Blog
|September 10, 2024For many schools, photos gathered in the past few years depict the urgently erected plexiglass partitions and covered student faces.
While the challenges of the past few years may have left their mark, they have also sparked innovation and adaptation. Now, more than ever, it is essential for colleges to showcase the resilience and evolution of their spaces and culture through strategic photography. By capturing the vibrancy of campus life and the transformative changes that have taken place, colleges can inspire confidence, optimism, and a sense of excitement for the future.
You may not often stop to consider what an incredibly exciting time fall is. Nowhere is this more true than on college campuses, where the long-forgotten summer quiet has been replaced with the buzz of student life. It’s a time when the energy of first-year students settling in is balanced by the anticipation of seniors eager to secure a job offer and change the world. Classrooms and residence halls are freshened up for the new academic year, and in some areas of the country even nature puts on a colorful show.
The colorful display and flurry of activity make autumn a perfect time for a photo or video shoot to capture your school at its best.
No matter when you schedule your shoot, the most important thing to determine is what to capture. These visual narratives are what will sell the perfect college experience to your next incoming class — your future “successful alumni.” So how do you know exactly what prospective students (and their parents) want to see in addition to a list of majors and career opportunities? Luckily, Spark451 has conducted research to provide you with a little insight on subjects of particular interest to your target audiences.
1. School Spirit
We’ve gotten overwhelming responses from students about how much the strength of school pride and the student body’s enthusiasm factors into their perception of a school. Like coming to a great party, if others are thrilled to be there, the buzz will be contagious and you’re likely to enjoy it, too.
TIP: There’s nothing like cheering with the mascot for your home team, celebrating diversity at a cultural festival, or participating in campus traditions to capture the energy of student life. Consider what quirky, unusual traditions define your student body — the more unique, the more they will stick in the minds of prospective students.
2. Authentic Portrayal of Peers
This is a big one — and a tough one. With so much user-generated content in social media, students are too savvy to fall for any depiction of diversity that feels forced. Often, schools get so sensitive about representing every possible identity group, that they fall into the trap of trying to ensure every photo represents every possible demographic at their institution. Research suggests that 88% of consumers (various ages and industries) say that authenticity is important in deciding which brands to support. That is even more true for digital natives!
TIP: While it’s okay to tip the scales a little by showcasing more of the populations you hope to increase, aim for authenticity in the mix of genders, cultures, and ethnic backgrounds. Balance can be achieved through a variety of images (rather than in each orchestrated shot), to ensure that your communications, as a whole, honestly reflect the identities within your student body. Also make sure that the scene feels real. Would these kids really be lounging on a picnic blanket in front of the school sign while laughing wildly? Ask your student “models” to help choose the spots that feel natural to them. When the participants are at ease, the resulting photo will be more authentic.
3. The Setting Is as Much a Character as the Individuals
Like hunting through a real estate website, viewers want to get a sense of the property before investing additional time in person. Through your communications, students want to get an idea of the home they’ll be renting for the next few years. How current are the research labs? Do the residence halls look comfortable? Is the surrounding area safe, with enough to do when you just need to get off campus for a bit?
TIP: Tightly cropped, dramatic images of teacher-student interaction are great, but be sure to show off your facilities, amenities, and what’s in the area just as much. The environments and creature comforts add to the value of the experience (and help validate the price tag for parents, too). Don’t forget to “dress things up” with brightly colored props or tinted lights for a dramatic look.
4. Strong Values Tie Into Good Value
Many college-bound students believe their education is a means to making a difference in the world. They feel duty-bound to initiate positive change and are optimistic about their powers to do so. To that end, they seek an environment that aligns with their vision. Parents examine the values projected by an institution (whether faith-based or secular) and the community within it. Will my child be in good company and influenced by the right peers? Will my child have the necessary support to reach goals, be fulfilled, and make a living?
TIP: Showcase opportunities outside the classroom that foster personal — as well as professional — growth through community service. Service trips abroad, working for Habitat for Humanity, and helping local food pantries by partnering with a sustainable farm, are all great examples of social outreach that students seek. Highlight moments of caring and support not only from faculty and administrative staff (such as career services), but also from students helping others and one another, as well. The culture of your campus community goes a long way to building an emotional bond with your prospective student families.
5. Bring Scenes to Life
We all know that campus beauty is often the first impression audiences get, and this attraction, like in dating, plays a big emotional part in falling in love. The luxurious aerial certainly has its place, but gorgeous scenery and stately architecture alone aren’t enough. Don’t forget all the memorable spots on campus — a cozy dorm room, a recognizable gazebo in the quad, a famous rock embedded in student traditions, or a popular selfie spot favored on campus tours.
TIP: Make sure to infuse life into these scenes by including people. Keep things fresh with new ways of capturing these moments. Challenge your photographer to create dynamic effects, such as blurred motion, or to change the vantage point by shooting from an unusual angle, such as 20 feet in the air or from an adjoining building. This may require some additional equipment, but the results will be worth it.
There is so much more that goes into scheduling the right shot list and capturing everything you’ll need in your institutional communications and publications. (We haven’t even touched on incredible outcomes stories!) But even if you have only a single day to devote to your shoot, capturing the key features is not that hard when you know where to focus.
About the Author
Irene has led countless photoshoots with a critical eye and a keen understanding of what images will be most effective in a wide variety of marketing materials. She’s also been known to bring an entire bag of colorful scarves as props to brighten a scene. Irene is happy to share her insights to help you capture the spark that sets your school apart. Reach out for more pro tips or to discuss your specific creative needs.
Take Control of Your Financial Aid Offers
Blog
August 13, 2024Breaking News: FAFSA made the 2024 admissions cycle one of the most challenging yet. Just kidding — we’ve all been weathering this same storm and its nonstop headlines since before New Year’s Day. We spent the spring wishing we’d had more warning, more control, faster systems, and clearer information to provide families. Promises have been made for smoother seas next year, but if we learned anything from the ’24 yield season, it’s to expect the unexpected and try to handle what we can, the best we can.
That said, there is something we can take back control over, and that’s communicating financial aid offers. Though launching the actual FAFSA form and having the IT infrastructure to package offers are out of the hands of most enrollment officers, there is one thing we can do to continuously get students and their families an aid offer faster: send it digitally first.
Sending financial aid offers to the inbox in addition to the mailbox is:
1: FASTER
Imagine pressing send on an email campaign the day all packages have been tested, reviewed, merged, and approved. No more waiting to get the first call to the financial aid office to know they’ve started arriving in mailboxes. Sending digitally gets aid offers to students weeks faster than mailing.
2: INFORMATIVE
Sending digitally gives you analytics that mail never could. At any given moment, you can know exactly who has downloaded their aid package and who has yet to take this important step.
3: ACTIONABLE
Tailor your admissions and financial aid representatives’ time using segmentation. Based on where you are in the cycle, your goals related to the financial aid offer probably shift. Early on, you might consider personal outreach to those who have yet to download their aid package, in hopes of making sure they know what is available. As the deadline nears, it may be better to focus on those who have already downloaded their package, or those who have accessed it multiple times, as they are likely still considering enrolling at your school.
4: ACCESSIBLE
As those same staff are reaching out, they have complete access to the same material the student received. Conversations are significantly easier when your staff can reference certain pages, lines, etc., when discussing details of an offer. No more referencing charts in SIS systems and hoping to translate them correctly.
Some schools have even chosen to send only digital offers, which can save thousands of dollars in print and postage costs. However, in a world where high school families are inundated with digital outreach, they are showing an increased affinity for mailed information. In fact, Spark451 hosts an annual college-bound survey for high school seniors and parents who just recently concluded their search process, and the results are clear: they want tangible materials now. While there may have been a moment where mail seemed antiquated, printed financial aid offers are likely here to stay.
You’re already creating an aid package for every student, so why not get it to them faster while simultaneously enabling your admissions team to have better, more informative, and actionable conversations with students? Why not send it digitally first?
If you’re interested in learning about Spark451’s personalized aid offers that leverage variable data, please reach out to us! Financial aid has always been a lynchpin of yield season, and while it may feel like yield just ended, it’s never too early to start planning for the next one — especially if you hope to have something new and ready to make a splash in the market. Spark451 is here to support you in making sure your team is set up for success.
Make the Most of Slate Cycle Prep
It’s summer and you’re between admissions cycles. Go beyond updating your Slate period and round structure. Start here to get a clear picture of where your team stands. 🏁
What Is Cycle Prep?
In short, cycle prep is the annual process of making updates to your Slate instance before the next admissions cycle begins. Ideally, between admissions cycles your team experiences a rare occurrence: some flexibility and time. It is imperative to use this opportunity to evaluate your current processes, fix issues, and craft a road map for the cycle ahead. In that road map, you’ll want to include refinements and enhancements to your current Slate processes.
Who Is Involved?
Everyone on your team should be involved in cycle prep. This way, you’ll gain unique perspectives and uncover specific pain points in your Slate processes. Teams can include:
Planners and Strategists
Include your Slate Captain and members of your Operations and Marketing teams. This group will make intentional and strategic decisions, and drive the outcome of your cycle prep.
Stress Testers
Leverage your student workers, counselors, tour guides, admissions representatives, and coaches. They use Slate regularly and will have great ideas on how to improve your Slate configuration. (Seek some Gen Z input here!)
User Experience Tenants
Think of students and parents as stakeholders, too. Their impressions of your Slate environment are key to your success. What changes can you make that will drive value for them?
What Should Your Timeline Look Like?
Cycle prep typically runs summer to early fall. However, your exact timing will vary based on your institution’s unique needs and processes. When planning your cycle prep schedule, weigh what changes are necessary for the upcoming admissions cycle against all wish list items you have in mind for your Slate instance. This will allow your team to focus on necessary updates and projects first, then aim for nonessential improvements as time permits.
Be sure to start small, as small steps will lead to big wins. Here’s a timeline we find helpful:
Strategize and Prioritize
Make a wish list of all the components you want to see enhanced or built in your Slate environment. From there, estimate the difficulty and duration of each project. Then, prioritize what should be completed first.
Build and Update
Get started on updating existing components in your Slate environment. If your timeline permits, build out new functionality that will strategically improve your team’s processes.
Test and Refine
Test your updates and newly built components to maximize a flawless go-live date. Leverage your test environment, impersonate users, create sample records, and build example applications. Trial these changes and find gaps that need attention.
Go Live and Post-Project Review
Migrate your processes and celebrate your team’s successes. Before making the switch, be sure that all Slate users at your institution are aware of what’s happening ahead of the go-live date. Lastly, create a post-project review (PPR). Using that PPR, a road map for next year’s Cycle Prep is already underway. 🎉
What Should We Refine and Why?
Start with necessary updates that are crucial to your upcoming cycle. There’s a whole lot to consider, so our team has created a checklist to help you strategize:
Annual Slate Upkeep
Perform these tasks to get ready for the upcoming cycle.
| Item | Difficulty |
| Staff Assignment Rules Updates | 🔥🔥🔥 |
| Material & Checklist Items Audit | 🔥🔥🔥🔥 |
| Update Decision Letters & Codes | 🔥🔥 |
| Strategize Your Populations How are you leveraging populations? |
🔥🔥🔥 |
| Batch Acquire Review | 🔥🔥 |
| Consolidate Records Review Are the counts in these tools manageable? |
🔥🔥🔥 |
Application Prep
Maintain a top-notch application.
| Item | Difficulty |
| Periods & Rounds Updates Have you created them for the upcoming cycle? |
🔥 |
| Application Forms Updates | 🔥🔥🔥🔥 |
| Streamline Application Questions Only ask questions that you need answers to! |
🔥🔥 |
| Status Page Updates & Additions Dynamic content and multi-tabs are 👌 |
🔥🔥🔥🔥 |
| Application Logic Updates & Testing | 🔥🔥🔥 |
| Clear Bins | 🔥🔥 |
| Move Defers Forward | 🔥 |
| Withdraw Old Applications | 🔥 |
| Updates to Third-Party Applications Common App, Coalition, CAS, etc. |
🔥🔥🔥🔥 |
| Reader Workflow Review Do you like how your reader workflow is set up? |
🔥🔥 |
| Cycle Prep Status Page Review | 🔥 |
Deliver
Enhance your communications.
| Item | Difficulty |
| Review Scheduled Campaigns | 🔥🔥🔥 |
| Email Template Updates Test for mobile responsiveness. |
🔥🔥 |
| Recipient List Queries Updates Are the right filters established? |
🔥🔥 |
| Liquid Markup & Custom Personalization | 🔥🔥🔥 |
Data Hygiene
Crucial items for maintaining Queries, Reports, and overall database health.
| Item | Difficulty |
| Updated Configurable Joins Libraries | 🔥🔥 |
| Turn Over Scheduled Queries & Reports What’s necessary for this cycle? |
🔥🔥🔥🔥 |
| Review Integrations | 🔥🔥🔥🔥 |
| Create Source Formats Are there any new integrations you’d like to build? |
🔥🔥 |
| Update Source Formats Refresh prompt values! |
🔥🔥 |
| Job Activity Monitor Audit | 🔥🔥 |
| Migration to Configurable Joins How is your transition going? |
🔥🔥🔥🔥 |
User Permissions
Confirm all Slate users are seeing what they need to see.
| Item | Difficulty |
| User Permissions Cleanup & Audit Remove inactive accounts & confirm permission levels. |
🔥 |
| Staff Assignment Rules Updates | 🔥🔥🔥 |
| Impersonate New User Accounts Confirm permissions function as intended. |
🔥🔥 |
In-Depth Review
Identify next steps and mark them complete.
| Item | Difficulty |
| Organizations Dataset Updates | 🔥🔥 |
| Rules Health Audit Any erroneous rules? |
🔥🔥🔥 |
| Compliance Dashboard Audit | 🔥 |
| Ping Implementation Review | 🔥 |
| Origin Sources Review Remember these? |
🔥🔥🔥🔥 |
| Create New Event Templates | 🔥🔥 |
| Update Current Event Templates | 🔥🔥 |
Proactive Measures
These additional steps will help you make big gains.
| Item | Difficulty |
| Activate Early Access Features | 🔥🔥 |
| Migrate to Workflows | 🔥🔥🔥🔥 |
| Update/Configure Slate.org Profile | 🔥 |
| Buy Deliver Credits | 🔥 |
| Hire Spark451 to Help | 🙌 |
Be a Pro in the Game
We want to see you succeed! When you’re ready to take your Slate instance to the next level, reach out to the enrollment marketing and CRM pros at Spark451. Together we’ll make sure you’re getting the most out of this powerful CRM!
Interested in learning more about the different ways Spark451 can support your efforts in Slate? Check out our SparkAssist service, which offers customizable packages to fit your needs!
SparkThink@JAM Snapshots
Blog
Whether or not you were able to join us for this year’s SparkThink@JAM, we certainly hope you’ll make room for us in your travel plans for the cycle ahead. Please mark your calendar and plan to join us in Nashville, TN for SparkThink@JAM 2025 from Wednesday, May 28–Friday, May 30, 2025!
In the meantime, we’re still reminiscing about our favorite moments from this year’s event. We’ve included some of the best memories from this year’s gathering below. Flip through the photos to catch a glimpse of your colleagues who were there, and then tap into your FOMO to make sure you don’t miss next year’s event. We can’t wait to see you there!
The Value of Graduate Applicant Personas
The Value of Graduate Applicant Personas
Identifying the Unique Needs and Motivations of Today’s Graduate Students
|July 9, 2024Understanding the unique experiences, expectations, and challenges of individual graduate students is critical for building a successful recruitment plan. Graduate student persona modeling — the process of identifying the key characteristics and differing needs of various types of potential students — helps graduate admission departments see the prospective student enrollment journey through a nuanced lens, making it easier to target the right students with the right messaging in order to motivate them through the enrollment funnel.
Through the development of detailed personas, everyone from faculty to administrators gets a clearer picture of what will motivate these students to act. This insight helps stakeholders throughout a college or university to tailor support both inside and outside the classroom, ensuring every program, policy, and piece of communication not only resonates but also enriches the student’s academic and personal growth.
Identifying Graduate Student Needs
Motivations to return to school or to matriculate directly to graduate school from undergraduate will differ for every prospective student. Career goals, personal fulfillment, and research opportunities are just a few of the reasons students may pursue a graduate degree.
Along with those goals come challenges and concerns. Financial considerations, balancing commitments, and choosing the right program are common concerns among those considering graduate studies. Persona modeling can help institutions meet the prospective student’s needs as well as address any objections the prospective student may have in taking the next step into graduate school.
Graduate recruitment persona modeling also helps institutions make data-driven decisions. It provides institutions with a strong base of information to make evidence-based decisions in not only marketing, but also program development and student services. This alignment enables the crafting of stage-specific strategies that effectively guide prospective students through their decision-making process.
Augmenting Messaging for Specific Personas
Let’s take a closer look at a commonly known persona, the career changer. Generally speaking, there is usually a wide age range for this persona, but let’s call it 35–50 years old. This group is making a life-changing decision by pivoting from their current field to another in a later stage in their life.
When speaking with career changers, the institution needs to understand the challenges facing this prospective student. The key to reaching this group is empathetic and supportive messaging that recognizes the challenges and stresses of such a significant life transition. Communicating about program structure, timelines, and institutional resources that will be available to them early in the cycle will be critical to help best address their needs.
Journey Mapping
After persona models are developed, the following phase typically involves charting their path through the enrollment funnel, an approach that is referred to as journey mapping.
Journey mapping can complement the persona modeling process by helping to improve marketing strategies, the student experience, and retention. It helps institutions gain better insight into what graduate students are looking for throughout their enrollment journey and how to tailor messaging to them in each distinct stage of the funnel.
When journey mapping is combined with persona modeling, it can be a powerful recruitment tool that can better help institutions maximize their resources. For additional insights on persona modeling and journey mapping, please see our previous blog on the topic.
Let's Get Started
Building student personas for graduate recruitment is critical for institutions to hit enrollment goals. It not only supports the process of developing a market strategy, but also helps us better understand the psychological aspects of the student the institution is recruiting, while having data-driven metrics to help develop a target audience. Developing these personas can set up both the institution and student for success as they make their way through the enrollment funnel.
When you’re ready to discuss how to develop and operationalize personas for your specific graduate programs, don’t hesitate to reach out. Spark451’s enrollment and marketing strategy pros will be happy to walk you through the process.
Longwood University’s Macrae Robertson Joins Spark451
Longwood University’s Macrae Robertson Joins Spark451
Meet Our Latest Senior Business Development Strategist
|June 26, 2024Westbury, NY — Spark451, a Jenzabar company, is proud to welcome Macrae Robertson, our newest Senior Business Development Strategist. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, Robertson will work closely with the company’s partner institutions, primarily in the Southeast region, to help them achieve their enrollment goals.
“Macrae has an in-depth understanding of the higher education landscape, and she brings a great deal of experience to this role,” says Steve Kerge, Co-founder of Spark451 and Jenzabar Vice President for Enrollment Marketing. “With her comprehensive background in marketing and admissions, I’m certain she’ll offer valuable insights and support to our partner colleges and universities.”
Robertson holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in special education, both earned from Longwood University. She decided that the inside of a classroom was not her ideal setting, preferring to remain on campus to put her skills to use in shaping and strengthening her alma mater. Robertson spent a decade serving as a strategist, marketer, project manager, data analyst, and general jack-of-all-trades, working closely with the C-suite, enrollment management team, and marketing department. The results speak for themselves: She increased annual visit registrations well beyond pre-Covid metrics, doubled the dual enrollment program in size, and led the marketing efforts that brought in Longwood’s largest class in six years.
Robertson’s success stems from her holistic knowledge of an institution’s goals and functions, and taking a collaborative approach to solving whatever challenges exist. She never hesitates to ask why, digging deeply into the analytics to the point that her self-proclaimed title is that of Data Dork! All of this exemplifies why Robertson’s partner schools feel as if she’s an extension of their own team.
“I love working in higher education because I get to influence a student’s life and success from behind the scenes,” says Robertson. “I’m excited to be building relationships with the incredible teams at our partner colleges and universities, as we join forces to achieve their specific goals.”
About Spark451
Spark451, a Jenzabar company, is a higher education enrollment strategy, technology, and marketing firm that combines creativity with powerful technology to achieve measurable results. With a mission to help colleges and students fuel their future, the firm integrates a multitude of communication channels and platforms for effective enrollment marketing, student search, creative services, and digital media. Since 2011, Spark451 has worked with over 200 colleges and universities nationwide. For more information, please visit spark451.com.
Going for Gold: Spark451 Earns an Additional 13 Collegiate Advertising Awards
Blog
|June 11, 2024WESTBURY, NEW YORK — Higher education marketing firm Spark451, a Jenzabar company, is excited to announce that 13 of their recent marketing projects — launched in cooperation with their valued partner institutions — have received recognition from the Collegiate Advertising Awards, an elite national program honoring the most talented higher education marketing professionals.
“Receiving these awards is not just an accolade, but a testament to our commitment to innovation, integrity, and excellence,” says Irene Scala, Executive Creative Director at Spark451. “We are once again honored to receive such recognition and are thrilled to share these accomplishments with our partners, without whom, none of this would be possible.”
Gold Awards
Longwood University
Entry Name: Never Miss a Connection
Category: Outdoor Transit/Airport/Subway – Series
Manhattan College
Entry Name: Advance the Future of Healthcare Digital Program Guide
Category: Recruitment
Molloy University
Entry Name: Welcome to the New U
Category: Pocket Folder
New York University
Entry Name: Military-Connected Student Resource Guide
Category: Handbook
New York University Tandon School of Engineering
Entry Name: Admitted Student Reception Invitation
Category: Invitations
Silver Awards
Longwood University
Entry Name: Understanding How It’s All Connected
Category: Student Viewbook – Printed
Rockland Community College
Entry Name: Discover Your Brightest Future
Category: Recruitment
SUNY Westchester Community College
Entry Name: Building Minds. Building Futures. Environmental Graphics.
Category: Poster/Display – Series
The New School
Entry Name: Create a World That Doesn’t Exist Yet
Category: Recruitment
Bronze Awards
Longwood University
Entry Name: Connect With What Matters to You
Category: Recruitment
New York University
Entry Name: 2022–2023 Impact
Category: Annual Report
New York University
Entry Name: Admissions Bot Logo
Category: Logos/Trademarks/Mascots
If you’d like to learn how Spark451’s award-winning team can help your institution gain a competitive edge, reach out today.
Webinar: The Language of Non-Traditional Learning: How to Market Your CE Programs
Webinar
Webinar: The Language of Non-Traditional Learning: How to Market Your CE Programs
|June 4, 2024The continuing education arena presents plenty of opportunities to drive revenue for your college or university. However, a strong marketing plan is critical to drawing the right non-traditional learners and corporate partners to ensure your program’s success.
In our recent webinar, Michael McGetrick, VP of Creative and Interactive Services, shared:
- a quick look at the industry landscape for marketing non-traditional programs
- a marketing framework to attract more non-traditional learners and increase continuing education and workforce development revenue
- proven tactics to turn existing students into returning CE learners, as well as how to target and engage non-traditional learners
- how to connect with local corporations to build partnerships that expand your reach and unlock funding opportunities
You can still access our presentation and recording. Simply complete this form, and we’ll send you a link to the recording and presentation deck right away!
