Email personalisation offers university marketers a powerful tool to engage prospective students in a more meaningful way, and thanks to marketing automation, this can be done at scale!

 
Universities across the UK facing an increasingly competitive landscape for student recruitment.
 
With economic pressures, rising tuition fees, and stricter visa regulations affecting international student intake, institutions are under pressure to maintain or grow their admissions numbers.
 

Quick reference

• Why personalisation matters in student recruitment campaigns
• Achieving better engagement and conversion with personalised content
• Overcoming recruitment challenges using marketing automation
• Addressing challenges in international student recruitment
• Existing students: Increase in retention through personalisation
• Alumni: Using personalisation to increase donations
• Making the move from simple to powerful personalisation
• Use of progressive information gathering
• Scaling email personalisation through data and automation
• Starting your marketing automation journey

Why personalisation matters in student recruitment campaigns

 
For university marketers focused on admissions, personalisation isn’t just about addressing a student by their first name.
 
It’s about delivering content that’s highly relevant to their interests, study aspirations, and even socio-economic background.
 

In a time when students expect tailored communications, generic email blasts simply won’t cut it.

Achieving better engagement and conversion with personalised content

 
When students feel like a university understands their individual goals, they are more likely to engage with the content, as it is now relevant and important to them.
 
Segmenting email lists by prospective students’ interests, such as course preferences, geographic location, or stage in the application process makes each communication more relevant and is relatively easy to achieve!
 
For example, a student interested in engineering could receive detailed course descriptions, job placement statistics, and case studies of successful graduates in their field, rather than generic university information.
 

This level of customisation can lead to significantly higher open and click-through rates, which in turn increases applications.

Overcoming recruitment challenges using marketing automation

 
One of the main pain points for university marketers is managing the large volume of prospects they wish to target, meaning generic sends become the norm due to time pressures of the role.
 
However, with marketing automation, universities can deploy behaviour-triggered email campaigns to prospective students based on their actions.
 
If a student begins but doesn’t complete an application, for example, they could receive a reminder email with tips on finishing the process.
 
Similarly, those who attend a virtual open day might be automatically sent follow-up content on campus life or specific courses.
 

Granted, there’s time needed at the start to create all these automations. But once in place they’ll be good to go year-after-year saving marketing teams hours of time.

Addressing challenges in international student recruitment

 
For many UK universities, international students represent a crucial income stream, but with fewer visas being granted, competition has never been tougher.
 
Personalised email campaigns are essential in addressing these students’ unique concerns, from visa support to career prospects in the UK post-graduation.
 

Providing reassurance and building trust with international students

International students face specific challenges, such as navigating visa applications or securing accommodation before arrival. Personalised emails that offer advice based on the student’s location can go a long way in building trust.
 
For example, universities can send automated reminders about visa deadlines or share testimonials from students from the same country, providing reassurance and support.
 

Tapping into alumni networks to attract international students

Another effective tactic is to include alumni testimonials in personalised emails. Hearing from graduates who have successfully navigated the visa process and found employment in the UK can offer valuable reassurance to international students considering studying abroad.

Existing students: Increase in retention through personalisation

 
Once students have enrolled, keeping them engaged is just as important as attracting new applicants.
 
Personalisation can also be used to enhance the student experience and support retention efforts, especially in the digital age where students are balancing hybrid learning models and online engagement.
 

Tailored academic support and engagement

 
Emails can be tailored to provide useful, relevant information to students based on their academic progress or struggles.
 
For instance, universities could use data to send personalised course recommendations, reminders of assignment deadlines, or targeted messages offering academic support services for students who may be falling behind.
 

Actionable tip:

A university could adopt a strategy similar to that which ecommerce brands employ; Gamification. For universities, this could mean personalising emails based on a student’s participation in certain modules or extracurricular activities. Points scored form part of a leaderboard encouraging students to increase their tally to earn exclusive rewards such as free tickets to a sought-after gig at the students’ union.

Personalised event invitations and content

Students often feel more connected to their university community when they are actively involved in events and extracurricular activities.
 

Sending personalised invitations to campus events, whether academic, social, or related to their specific department can foster a greater sense of belonging and engagement.

Alumni: Using personalisation to increase donations

 
Alumni engagement is critical not only for maintaining a sense of community but also for securing future donations.
 
Personalisation plays a pivotal role in reminding alumni of their ongoing connection to the university, particularly when paired with automation.
 

Customised donation appeals

Rather than sending generic fundraising emails, universities can segment alumni based on their previous donations or areas of interest.
 
For example, an alumnus who participated in the university’s music programme might receive a personalised email asking for donations to support a new music facility.
 
By aligning the ask with their personal history, the message becomes far more compelling.
 

Personalising communications for greater loyalty

Alumni often respond better to emails that celebrate their achievements since graduation. A university could create automated emails triggered by a specific milestone such as five years since graduation, celebrating the alumnus’ contributions and updating them on how their alma mater has grown.
 

For example; universities could apply this by personalising emails to alumni, highlighting past donations and demonstrating the tangible impact of their contributions on the university community.

Making the move from simple to powerful personalisation

 
According to Inside Higher Ed, today’s students expect personalisation that addresses their actual needs and concerns, not just a name at the top of an email.
 
Universities should focus on creating impactful personalisation, which means creating content that helps students overcome specific hurdles such as understanding visa requirements or securing funding.
 

Actionable tip:

Instead of simply addressing students by name, universities should build campaigns that speak directly to their biggest concerns. For example, a student from India applying to a UK university could receive personalised content explaining the visa process and providing links to resources on student accommodation near campus

Use of progressive information gathering

 
Inside Higher Ed also suggests a progressive approach to collecting student information.
 
Instead of overwhelming prospective students with lengthy forms right away, universities could gather basic information first and then follow up with more personalised questions based on the student’s interactions.
 
This technique not only keeps students engaged but also allows universities to deliver more relevant content over time
 

Actionable tip:

Universities can start by asking for just a name and email address, and then progressively ask for additional details like course preferences, family circumstances, visa requirements, special education needs and application status. This allows for more targeted follow-up emails without overwhelming the student at the first point of contact.

Scaling personalisation through data and automation

 
As mentioned at the top of this article one of the main concerns universities have is how to achieve personalisation on a large scale, given the diverse needs of prospective and current students, as well as alumni.
 
Fortunately, marketing automation tools and fully integrated CRM systems make this possible.
 
It all starts by collecting and analysing student data such as surveys, applications, or previous engagement, and ensuring that data comes into a single customer view against a single record. From here, personalisation can begin!
 
University marketers will then be able segment their audience and automate targeted communications at key moments in a student’s journey and leveraging student data for personalisation.
 
Starting small can yield significant results. For those new to email personalisation we aways recommend simple yet effective personalisation to start with.
 

Actionable tip:

• Automated welcome emails for new applicants, tailored by course of interest.
• Reminders of application deadlines, triggered when a student shows interest in a programme but hasn’t completed the application.
• Personalised congratulatory messages upon completing their first year, encouraging students to share feedback or get involved in specific campus events.

By personalising these touchpoints, universities can build stronger connections with students and alumni, ultimately increasing retention and boosting donations.

Starting your journey into personalised student recruitment campaigns can be pretty daunting

 
Personalisation is key in making your email marketing campaigns stand out against all the other higher education institutions. Knowing how to scale those efforts efficiently can be challenging.
 
That’s where our specialist solutions come in. RedEye is here to help you!
 
At RedEye, we specialise in data-driven email marketing that helps universities deliver impactful, personalised communications at every stage of the student journey, from attracting prospective applicants to retaining current students and engaging alumni.
 
Ready to take your next steps into personalised email marketing strategies?
 
Visit our Higher Education Email Marketing page and see how we can help you turn personalisation into increased enrolments and engagement. Or click below to get started and… Talk to one of our experts!
 
 

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