5 successful family engagement strategies from customers
Each quarter, we highlight several institutions that approach family engagement in thoughtful and creative ways. This quarter, we’re featuring how institutions are boosting registrations for admissions events, directing parents towards CampusESP instead of Facebook, and more!
The New School experiences 10% increase in parent engagement with student-authored content
Last quarter, The New School reached the milestone of publishing 100 posts written by students — content that is seeing 10% higher engagement than other posts. Some of the top-clicked posts have covered topics such as tips for making friends in New York City, securing internships at The New School, scholarship Advising at The New School, and what summer as a Performing Arts student is like.
Read more about how TNS highlights their students as storytellers HERE!
University of Mount Union increases Fall Visit Day registrations by 34% with launch of their family portal
We love to see our new customers leveraging CampusESP to improve their results! Within the first week of launching The Mount Union Family Portal, our friends at Mount Union spruced up their first Announcement by using the Advanced Designer and Mail Merge.
Caitlin Clark, Director of Enrollment Services at Mount Union, said:
“One of our top priorities for the fall semester is to drive campus visit numbers and attendance at admission events. We’ve utilized the portal to make sure parents are informed and reminded about upcoming events – and we’ve seen the results! Our upcoming Fall Visit day has over 120 families registered, which is an increase of over 30 families from last year’s event!”
Keep it up, Mount Union!
Kennesaw State University steers parents towards CampusESP rather than Facebook
To help set the record straight on the realities of KSU’s Parent Facebook Group, Sharon from Kennesaw State featured a post specifically about the pros and cons of the Facebook page. She also got creative by linking parents to the post in The Owl Family Hub directly in their unofficial Facebook group to draw parents back to where they can find official resources. The post has received over 1,500 clicks and several comments!
Hear from Sharon Brownlow, Director of Parent and Family Programs at KSU:
“KSU, like many institutions, has an unofficial Facebook page that’s led by a former KSU parent. While the intentions are likely good, it always tends to be a breeding ground for misinformation and anxiety that we know has a direct effect on our students. I featured the post at the top of our Orientation community for several weeks as we approached the new term and was bold enough to share the link to the post in the Facebook page. This has really helped me take a healthy approach as a university professional to help direct parents back to official university information sources.”
Stay bold, KSU! Learn more about why Facebook won’t help you reach your parent engagement goals.
Thomas College attracts prospective families with creative subject lines
As part of their enrollment marketing strategy, Thomas College uses CampusESP’s Announcements feature to share student spotlights and parent testimonials. Their catchy subject lines like “If I had 10 kids, I would send them all to Thomas!” easily inspire parents to open the email to read more.
Hear from Amy Gingras, Social Media Specialist at Thomas College:
“With CampusESP we have expanded our approach to email marketing by sending out long-form web stories as weekly announcements. We typically select student and alumni spotlights, campus news, and parent testimonials. When we create our emails, we pull a compelling line from the article to use as our subject line. This has resulted in us seeing 40-50% open rates for most of our announcements. The best part about this strategy is that the content can be used across multiple channels, ultimately saving our small marketing department precious time without sacrificing the quality of our work!”
Way to go, Thomas College! We can’t wait to see your next subject line.
North Central College creates personalized posts from the Admissions Office
North Central College recently introduced its "From the Office of Admission" post series that shares important things to know coming directly from the Assistant Director of Admission. They also create unique versions for different cohorts and student types. The posts have received over 1,440 clicks in total so far!
Ashley Dudich, Admission CRM Communication Specialist at North Central College, summed it up best:
“We have made family communication a real priority in our messaging efforts over the last few years, and the monthly newsletters sent through CampusESP have helped us tremendously in connecting with this influential population. The newsletters have allowed us to keep families up to date on important next steps, as well as to reinforce value, resources, and opportunities.”
Go, North Central! We love the personal touch!
Want to learn more about what other customers are up to?