Robust alumni engagement is not just about staying in touch. It’s about nurturing a lifelong relationship that benefits both your institution and your graduates. Alumni engagement matters. A lot. Graduates are essential to effective fund-raising, brand awareness, student recruiting, and carving out mentorship and career pathways for current students. For alumni, a robust relationship with their alma mater offers a sense of belonging and pride, as well as career-enhancing networking and educational opportunities.
One of the most effective ways to grow this relationship is through thoughtful and strategic communications, including email marketing. In this blog, we’ll explore how email marketing and communication can enhance alumni engagement and share tips on improving communication with your alumni community.
What’s Inside:
- Start Early: Build a Strong Relationship With Students
- The Power of Email Marketing in Alumni Engagement
- Alumni Engagement Checklist: 7 Strategies that Work
- Benefits of Robust Alumni Engagement
Looking to improve alumni engagement with a new broadcast email communication or email marketing platform for your college or university? Envoke can help. Our platform is purpose-built for communicators and made to nurture long-term relationships. Consider a free trial today!
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FACT: Universities with engaged alumni raise more money. In 2019-2020, Princeton University had a remarkable 47.8 percent of their undergrad alumni participating in fundraising efforts, raising nearly $66.3 million—the fourth-highest amount in the university’s history.
Start Early: Build a Strong Relationship With Students
Princeton’s remarkable success is an outlier, though. A full 68% of educational institutions say they struggle to engage alumni, according to the 2020 report from Voluntary Alumni Engagement in Support of Education (VAESE). Post-secondary marketing and communications teams report that alumni are unsubscribing at a constant, or growing, rate.
What is Princeton doing right? Building a strong, engaged network with its students, starting with the admissions process and continuing across the student lifecycle. Universities have significant access to student data which can help deliver personalized, value-driven communication that fosters a rich, on-campus experience.
Connect your students with resources, events, and opportunities that are relevant to them. And look beyond academia to ensure your student body is informed about social and networking opportunities on campus.
The Power of Email Marketing in Alumni Engagement
Email marketing is a powerful tool in a communicator’s arsenal. It’s cost-effective and measurable with a wide reach. Here are some benefits of a well-structured email marketing and communications campaign.
1. Email is Cost-Effective and has Wide Reach
Email marketing allows institutions to communicate with a large number of alumni without the significant costs associated with direct mail or phone campaigns. With nearly 4 billion email users worldwide (Statista), email remains a ubiquitous and accessible channel for reaching alumni.
2. Automation Means Smooth Workflows
Automation tools enhance the efficiency of your email marketing efforts. Set up automated workflows to welcome new alumni, follow up after events, or celebrate milestones like anniversaries of graduation. These automated emails ensure that your alumni receive timely and relevant communications without constant manual effort.
3. Personalization is Easy and Effective
It’s no secret that personalization leads to improved engagement. A 2018 survey by Wakefield Research found that 87% of students who received personalized communications said those communications were an important factor in their enrollment decision-making process. Post-secondary institutions receive significant amounts of data from students and can leverage that information to build a solid relationship with students before they graduate, enriching their campus experience and helping them succeed. Continuing that personalized experience with alumni communications will strengthen engagement.
4. Robust Segmentation Strategies Deliver Next-Level Results
Segmenting your alumni based on factors such as graduation year, degree program, location, or on-campus interests will help you tailor your communications. Recent graduates may be interested in career support and networking opportunities, former varsity athletes will appreciate any significant news updates on varsity sports and any opportunities for athletic alumni engagement. Graduates who participated in student government will be interested to hear any important milestones regarding student affairs.
Powerful email marketing tools like Envoke have dynamic content editors along with industry-leading list management tools, so you can target your content to specific groups – and hide it for others – without having to recreate your entire email for each segment. Your emails remain extremely relevant and your engagement rates will go up.
TIP: Inform and engage your alumni with the right content every time, using Envoke’s industry-leading subscription and list management features. Envoke’s flexible tagging and segmentation tools let you create very specific lists so you can take personalisation to a new level. All Envoke billing plans include unlimited subscription lists, unlimited internal tagging options and powerful, truly unlimited custom fields to handle data specific to your alumni.
Alumni Engagement Checklist: 7 Strategies that Work
Building a sustainable alumni engagement strategy requires consistency and a long-term view. These 7 points will lead you to better engagement.
1. Deliver Attractive, Relevant Benefits
In addition to using the right communication channels and the right cadence, you need to deliver value to your alumni. Successful universities with robust cultures and engaged alumni continue to thrive by hosting exclusive events – and not just in the university’s hometown. Establishing a network of alumni in larger centers is an important part of long-term engagement. Offer networking opportunities with industry leaders, attractive retail discounts, and access to sporting events that connect to the school’s culture and reputation. Consistently providing attractive, relevant benefits will keep your alumni involved and interested over time.
2. Communicate That Value With Compelling Content
The content of your emails is what ultimately drives engagement. Emails should be visually appealing, with a clear structure and a strong call to action. Use a friendly, approachable tone. Incorporate photography and design elements and include excellent subscription management options. Remember, the unsubscribe link is an opportunity to understand and communicate with your alumni. Be sure to offer them the chance to review all your communications offerings and select the subscriptions, and the cadence, that’s right for them.
Related Reading: Think Differently About the Unsubscribe Page. Here’s How
3. Be Consistent and Personal
Regular communication is key to keeping alumni engaged. Whether it’s through monthly newsletters, event invitations, or periodic updates, consistent outreach helps maintain a connection between alumni and their alma mater. Acknowledging personal milestones, such as anniversaries of graduation or major life achievements, can make alumni feel valued and appreciated. Automated workflows can help you send personalized messages to alumni on these special occasions, further strengthening their connection to the institution.
4. Seek Feedback
To better engage your alumni you need to understand their needs and preferences. Why not ask them? It pays off in more ways than one. Seeking feedback demonstrates your commitment to your alumni, and offers a straight path to better understanding. An annual online survey is a best practice and will keep your office well-attuned to the changing needs of your alumni. Ask them about topics of interest, preferred communications channels, communications cadence, and anything else that can improve their experience.
5. Listen Attentively
Another way to understand what matters to your alumni is to engage in social listening. Maintaining an active presence on social channels lets you engage with alumni and also listen to their discussions to help distill their preferences and topics of interest. You can also set up a Google alert to capture discussions about your institution that pop up on the web or media.
6. Track Metrics
Tracking key metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates is critical to understanding the effectiveness of your email campaigns. Comparing your performance against industry benchmarks can help you identify areas for improvement. For instance, if your open rates are lower than average, you may need to work on crafting more compelling subject lines.
7. Be Where Your Alumni Are
While email marketing is powerful, it shouldn’t operate in isolation. Integrating other channels, such as social media, alumni portals, and in-person events, can create a more holistic and effective engagement strategy. For example, you can use social media to drive traffic to your email sign-up forms or to promote events that you’ll later follow up on via email. Know your influencers, too. Every audience group has them. Find, and interact with, those magnetic people to help spread the word about your events and opportunities to engage.
The Benefits of Robust Alumni Engagement
It’s important to highlight why robust alumni engagement is crucial for educational institutions.
Increased Donations: Engaged alumni are more likely to contribute financially to their alma mater. A report by CASE (Council for Advancement and Support of Education) found that alumni donations accounted for 26% of total voluntary support to higher education institutions in 2020. Institutions with strong alumni relationships are often more successful in their fundraising efforts.
Enhanced Reputation: Alumni who feel connected to their institution are more likely to speak positively about it in their personal and professional networks. This word-of-mouth advocacy can enhance the institution’s reputation and attract prospective students.
Career Support for Students: Engaged alumni are often willing to give back by mentoring current students, offering internships, or providing career advice. This support can significantly enhance the student experience and contribute to the institution’s success in placing graduates in meaningful careers.
Alumni engagement is a vital component of any educational institution’s long-term success. By leveraging email marketing effectively, institutions can foster strong, lasting relationships with their alumni.
Understanding alumni needs, creating compelling content, and using data to refine your approach are all key strategies for success. As you continue to enhance your alumni engagement efforts, remember that consistent, personalized communication is at the heart of building a thriving alumni community.
