College enrollment promo success

With the pressures to build a freshman class, the strategies to influence and create excitement with prospective students is imperative. This requires constant adaptations to your engagement practices.

Two keystone moments of the recruitment process are when students are admitted into college and when they make their final decision. These moments are truly special for students because they have been working towards them for years. Colleges need to make sure they’re appropriately amplifying the excitement for maximum impact. 

Currently I am getting personal experience with this. I have a high school senior at home. He recently had one of his best smiles when he was accepted into his coveted college. 

There are a number of multi-channel marketing strategies to amplify these keystone moments. One consistent key ingredient is branded merch mailed to the student. The fact is students love merch. It is influential, it creates excitement, and its tangibility allows students (and family) to show off their pride after making their decision. Friends, family, classmates, social media and your community get to see the student’s enthusiasm as they begin their next chapter. And not just for a day, but for days/weeks/months/years to come.

When colleges mail branded merch, they often deploy a “surprise and delight” tactic. This is when students do not know what is coming their way and are surprised when they receive it.

While there are many good reasons for this strategy, I want colleges to consider another tactic: tease what branded merch you’ll be sending and encourage students to take action once it’s received.

Let’s explore this strategy. By sharing their incoming merch drop, colleges move forward this excitement and can take advantage of the student’s attention. 

For example, colleges can use creative and engaging videos to share ideas on how best to pose and use their incoming merch. “We are so excited that you committed! To help celebrate, we are sending you a crewneck and a yard sign so you can show off your most recent decision! Post a photo in your sweatshirt next to your ‘future university student’ sign. Be sure to tag us so we can share your excitement with your future classmates too!”

I believe that messaging ahead of receiving the mailing can be more effective because you have their attention and can influence your desired outcome. Once the student has the product, influencing their behavior can be a bigger challenge.

This tactic of pre-sharing has been long used by collegiate fundraising campaigns. Colleges know merch drives action. So they use merch to drive fundraising by telling their donors ahead of time what they will be receiving. 

There are numerous strategies to employ when thinking through the student experience during the admit and yield stages. When it comes to merch, consider the positive impact that sharing the merch before it arrives can have!