As the saying goes, “April showers bring May flowers,” and in the world of admissions, those flowers come in the form of deposits. By leveraging your CRM to shower students with the information, support, and encouragement they need to feel connected to your school, you’ll be well-positioned to bring in a full and vibrant fall class.

Here are the seeds you should focus on planting this month:

It’s easy to forget that not everyone knows what an enrollment deposit is or why it’s important, so help make it simple for students by doing the following:

• Use plain language that clearly explains the WHAT and WHY of the deposit. Instead of “submit your enrollment deposit,” consider something more descriptive such as “submit your deposit to secure your spot,” or “let us know you’re coming this fall by submitting your deposit.”
• Provide easy, step-by-step instructions on HOW and WHERE to submit the deposit, and be sure your website, microsite, portal, and emails all include prominently displayed buttons that link directly to the deposit page.

Take an omnichannel approach to May 1 reminders, engaging with students across various platforms and mediums. Send countdown emails and texts, post on social media, make phone calls, and consider hosting a live Q&A session to answer questions and help create a sense of community. Once May 1 has passed, keep the conversation going through regular emails or newsletters, and think about building an incoming student/family portal!

Help students get ready for their arrival by sending detailed welcome packets that include information like important dates, required documents, and a list of next steps. You could also consider hosting workshops or webinars on financial aid, scholarships, budgeting, and payment plans to help ensure families have a thorough understanding of their financial responsibilities.

The more connected students feel to your school, the more likely they are to want to join you! Encourage their sense of belonging by organizing comprehensive orientation programs that introduce campus resources, academic expectations, and social opportunities. Put on events or activities that allow new students to meet each other, schedule 1:1 sessions with academic advisors, or throw an on-campus welcome party! Anything that helps to foster engagement and create a sense of community.

With spring visits, spring break, decision letter prep and releases, and the ever-present pressure of May 1 looming, March is anything but calm in the world of admissions. That’s why it’s so important that your events are properly set up and organized, payments are being collected, academic advisor calendar integrations are functioning, and checklists are being implemented. Whew, that’s a long list.

Thankfully, we know your pain points and are here to help with tips and tricks to set your office up for success in the coming weeks — no special luck required!

Oh, decision releases… Few things are more stressful or take more time to get right. Whether it’s striking the precise note of empathy in denial or waitlist messages, or putting together a celebratory admit package, it takes a whole lot of work. To help ensure you’re getting the reactions you’re hoping for, leverage personalization at every step! Tailor your messages to reflect each student’s journey and achievements. Little details like including their intended major, calling out their interests, or noting something from their application essay that stood out to you, can go such a long way.

Carry that personalization through customized checklists and utilize segmentation to make sure students are only receiving information relevant to them (events included!).

With spring and summer comes the natural influx of on-campus visitors! Are you ready? Make sure your events are updated and all associated communications (invitations, reminders, instructions, confirmations, etc.) are crafted and automated to perfection.

How? Start with—you guessed it—personalization! Use your CRM to track student interests and tailor their visit experience accordingly. If a student is interested in a particular major, arrange for them to meet with faculty or attend a class. Did they list specific clubs or activities they want to pursue? Show them those meeting spaces and introduce them to current members! Also, don’t overlook the importance of following up with students and families after their visit. Setting up your CRM to automatically send out post-visit surveys not only provides another touch point, but the feedback you’ll gather will also be critical for refining and enhancing future events. Surveys can be built in your CRM or in other platforms like Qualtrics. If you don’t know where to start, ask us how! Remember, the hard work you put in now leads to stellar anti-melt initiatives later.

Last but certainly not least, try rethinking how you and your team interact with students and families. Instead of asking generic questions, inquire about the students’ interests, career goals, or what they’re most looking forward to about college. Doing so not only helps foster more meaningful connections, but it will also help you stand out in their memory.

Let’s be real—getting students to confirm their enrollment and pay their deposits can take some serious work. Help ease the burden on your team by keeping the following in mind:

1. It’s easy to forget that not everyone knows what we mean when we say “enrollment deposit.” Let’s make sure it’s clear from the get-go by using plain language to explain what it is and why it’s important.
2. Make sure you provide easy, step-by-step instructions on how and where to submit deposits and required paperwork.
3. Take an omnichannel approach to May 1 reminders and leverage key dates as the deadline approaches. Think countdown emails and texts, phone calls, or even IG Live Q&A sessions!

The month of February is synonymous with love, so what better way to spend the coming weeks than leveraging your CRM to help your admitted students fall in love with your college and say “yes!” to joining you this fall.

With application reading complete, it’s time to gear up for admitted student events! We all know how critical getting students on campus is to securing deposits, so you’ll want to pull out all the stops when planning your admitted student days — including in your communications! Show your students that you care (and are paying attention!) by creating hyper-personalized messages leveraging dynamic content and/or Liquid markup. By utilizing dynamic content, you can create a single mailing that displays different, personalized information for each student on everything from their major and athletic interests to their advisor and academic school.

It can easily be argued that nothing is more important to students and their families than the financial aid package. In addition to sending packages digitally (more on that here), consider importing key financial aid information to display on student records. Doing so will allow your admission counselors to have more meaningful conversations with students and further solidify the relationships they’ve been building.

Make life easier for yourself, your counselors, and your admitted students by taking full advantage of your CRM’s workflow automations. Whether it’s on-campus orientation, program-specific visit days, or new student arrival, set up your events to send triggered reminders and follow-up communications. Your counselors will love having one less thing on their to-do lists, and students and their families will appreciate being kept in the loop as their event approaches.

Do you know what’s just as important as getting current admitted students to fall in love with campus? Planting the seeds for future classes. If your campus hosts summer camps (or any camps for that matter), you have a prime opportunity to get new names into your system! Include opt-in language on registration forms or try to work an admissions presentation into the camps’ schedules. No matter how you go about it, make sure those names end up in your database and added to your nurture campaigns.