4 Ways to Increase Student Engagement

Did you know that about 33 percent of college students transfer before completing their degrees? This can be for a number of different reasons that are out of your control as a higher education professional. But, you can control the student engagement at your university through your digital efforts.

Many of the students you currently serve have grown up in the digital age. They expect information to come to them and also expect fast responses – you have to rise above the other media clawing for their attention.

Before you begin, think about who you’re targeting. Develop student personas to define your audience – Freshman Felicia or Senior Sam, for example. This will help you figure out the interests, goals, and pain points of your current students and should guide your messaging and the channels you use to engage with them.

Here are four tips on how you can use digital marketing to engage your current students and increase your retention rate.

1. Get on their level: promote events digitally

Promote on-campus events using the platforms today’s students are engaging with. Think about how you are currently advertising your on-campus events – are you doing it through your student activities or programming board? If you’re not using e-mail, digital newsletters or social media, chances are it isn’t being seen. Students are now receiving their news and entertainment digitally, and you have to participate in order to be heard.

For every event you promote, think about your student personas. What type of current student is going to be most responsive to this type of event? Craft your messaging for this persona, including what type of message will make them feel most welcomed and connected.

Example: Due to your research, while building the “Freshman Felicia” persona, you know that she will love hearing about the outdoor movie on the quad during Welcome Week. You also know she checks Twitter throughout her day. An exciting tweet targeting new freshmen will most likely have them on blankets in the grass watching Finding Nemo. Take your engagement even further. According to your persona research, Freshman Felicia prefers visual content, so add some personality to your invitation with an event-related gif or picture!

2. Highlight leadership and development opportunities

Use your media platforms to show students the unique leadership and development opportunities that your college or university offers. You have the opportunity to showcase how your institution enriches the lives of its current students. On social media, demonstrate to younger students that these experiences will be available to them in their later years at your college or university.

Leadership and development opportunities are going to target a very specific student and you should have these traits already accounted for in your student personas. Students prone to engage in leadership and development are going to respond to a specific type of messaging, and they are a group of influencers you definitely don’t want to lose. Make sure that your efforts are focused on giving them a place for growth and challenging experiences.

3. Target their interests

Customize your engagement marketing to unique student interests. Send out a survey asking students to indicate what they are most interested in receiving information about.

For example, if they check that they are interested in “Greek Life,” place them on a list that will receive important information about recruitment, meetings, and more. Customize the information students receive based on what interests them most. This will prevent them from having to weed through a lot of information to discover what they’re willing to engage with, which they may not even take the time to do.

Obtaining specific information from students will not only help you target engagement messaging, but it will also help you craft your student personas. You may see similar trends among the interests of groups of students or discover that a certain class year is interested in a similar activity.

4. Showcase career services and job fairs

Career services may be underutilized at your campus. Harness the power of this office as a tool for engagement and retention. Think of ways to use digital channels to let students know about these resources at their disposal. Many will appreciate that this is a feature of their institution and take comfort in knowing that when they need this support, it’s there.

There’s no doubt about it – job fairs are the type of event that will hook your students once they are close to graduation. But, getting this information out to all students is important. Why, you might ask? Let freshmen and sophomores know that when they’re looking toward graduation, employment-boosting activities will be available to them. Use crafty messaging to get students excited about the fact that your campus offers these resources.

Connections, relationships, and engagement are key to keeping your students happy and increasing your retention rate. Students won’t know about the awesome resources and opportunities their college or university offers if they don’t receive the information in a format that appeals to them – digitally. Be aware of the unique make-up of your student body; use the media they’re using and craft messages that will interest them.

Are you ready to take your institution’s messaging and retention to the next level?  Pyxl is a digital agency with years of experience helping higher education facilities with their digital strategy and marketing efforts. Contact us today to get started.

Updated: Apr 13, 2022