Why student email isn’t dead
250+ people attended The State of Student Email webinar I presented with UCAS.
For a medium that’s meant to be “dead,” that’s a lot of people 😅
While writing the accompanying report, it didn’t matter where I searched for answers - students, marketers, third-party organisations - email is the no.1 channel where students want to hear from universities.
But the potential of using email to connect with students is barely being realised.
There are tonnes of compelling insights in this report, but one that stuck with me comes via education marketer, Kris Achten:
“Treat student emails as an executive summary of your website.”
This sounds strange at first glance.
But by analysing common questions asked by students and blending it with other things “they need to know,” Kris has boosted KdG’s open rates to over 50%, halved his number of enquiries and doubled applications within two years…
Students like this kind of communication too:
65% of UCAS’s pre-applicant database for 2024 entry said that email is “very important/extremely important” for managing university research.
Some students I spoke with even mentioned that once they signed up for a university’s email updates, they didn’t return to its website.
Additionally, email is viewed as a destination to consume content, not just a jumping-off point for portals and various other mediums.
Put differently, emails are sticky.
Some providers see students returning up to 4 times to individual emails, using them as a reference tool and as a trusted place to inform university choices.
So yeah, email doesn’t feel dead to me.
Best to take advantage before more catch on.
Get the full report
