As you know, students are applying to more colleges than ever in their college search process. To maximize yield efforts, colleges and universities must leverage CRM portals and microsites to offer personalized engagement to admitted students and their parents. Shoring up communication tactics, microsites/portals, and marketing campaigns for both students and families is critical to keeping your institution top of mind — and user-friendly for tech-savvy generations.

During SparkThink@JAM 2023, Spark451’s Senior CRM Strategist Ed Flaherty teamed up with Brewton-Parker College’s Associate VP of Admissions and Retention, Michael P. Moran, M.Ed., to discuss “Maximizing Engagement of Admits and Parents With Personalized Portals and Microsites.” Here are some of the key tips they offered during their session:

Whether you’re using Slate portals, Element451 Microsites, Salesforce Communities, or an SIS or homegrown solution, creating a personalized, engaging, and responsive space to share succinct information will help keep admitted students and families organized, excited, and engaged.

To keep students engaged, prioritize sharing relevant content, such as program and funnel stage-specific information and next steps. Also, be sure to share resources that are available on campus; add options to interact with students, faculty, and staff; and be sure to change content over time so that prospective students and their families will be compelled to come back again and again. After all, a student may log into your application status portal a dozen times until their decision is released — once they are admitted, you can conditionally display new, fresh, and hyper-personalized content creating a whole new experience in a comfortable space.

Think about ways to engage parents that work best for your tech abilities and systems. Here are a few things to try:

• Create email communications delivering parent-centric information (housing, deadlines, resources on campus, plus financial aid and ROI)
• Create a separate or shared portal space and encourage students and families to visit your portal/microsite together
• Consider deploying parent surveys, mailings, or other engagement tactics to keep parents feeling connected to your institution

To make sure that your microsite or portal is functioning optimally, be sure to:

• Test the site as much as possible
• Test the user experience (Share it with student workers or current students to test and break)
• Make sure it is mobile friendly
• Check for outdated content regularly
• Don’t let it get stale — share new videos, stats, and update staff contact information as turnover happens

Summer: A time for rest and relaxation, to re-energize after the long winter season, and enjoy the long, sunny days.

If you’re in enrollment management, the idea of those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer might sound like a dream. As you know, the summer months are still a busy time in admissions—it’s when we do everything we can to hold onto our hard-earned classes and ensure that deposited students matriculate and begin classes in the fall.

The biggest threat: summer melt, a.k.a., when students change their minds prior to the first day of classes. Sometimes students have specific reasons for changing course: financial barriers, lack of resources being provided to them, or choosing a different major not offered at your institution. Other times, it’s a bit more ambiguous, which makes it challenging to find creative ways to limit summer melt. Either way, admissions offers must pull out all the stops to prevent as much melt as possible.

Need help finding a place to start? Here are five anti-melt tactics you can implement to continue connecting with incoming students all summer long. The goal of these different approaches is to help ensure a smooth transition to campus in the fall and include the personal touch that so many students need.

By now, many incoming students have formed relationships with their admissions counselors. From getting them excited about attending your school, to holding their hands through the application process, these counselors have become a trusted guide throughout students’ late high school years. It’s important to continue that relationship over the summer and for counselors to help facilitate the transition to campus in the fall. By continuing communication between the student and counselor with phone calls, texting, or other personalized outreach, the student will feel supported and connected to the school. Ideas for discussion topics include following up on housing applications, health and immunization paperwork, and making a registration appointment with their academic advisor.

Without a doubt, finances are one of the most important factors influencing a student’s ability to attend college. Providing clear information to help students and their families understand their financial aid and tuition payment information will help them know what next steps need to be taken. As a start, try connecting students to their individual contacts in the financial aid and business offices so they’ll know who to go to with questions.

There are a lot of opportunities to connect students with each other through different social media platforms. Encourage students to join a “‘Class of” group online, where they can get to know each other. Create an Instagram account that encourages students to share what they’re planning to study and why they’re excited about attending your school. You might also want to consider hosting a social event on campus to bring students together and invite current student representatives from select clubs and organizations. The incoming students can sign up to get involved with a campus group when they arrive in the fall. These bonding opportunities will help get your incoming students excited about their future on your campus.

While much of your focus is on the student, it’s also important to recognize the transition this experience brings for the families. Make sure that parents and guardians know who their contacts are on campus, and provide them with tailored information about the transition to school, and how their student will be supported so they’ll feel included in the experience and confident that their student belongs on your campus. You may even want to administer a survey to parents so that the student services team can follow up with answers to any questions that arise.

Continue sending personalized emails and other messages to incoming students. Try including a video message welcoming them to campus and letting them know you are looking forward to seeing them soon. Share information on upcoming events for the fall semester to help students get excited about getting involved in activities. Invite them to connect with their academic advisor or career services to get them thinking about their futures. We know personalization is key for keeping students engaged, and it will help to reinforce that they’ve made a good decision to attend your institution.