Communicating with Admitted Freshmen

Stamats’ SUMMER TeensTALK® findings are in and, as you might expect, there are some real surprises. The full report will be unveiled at our Strategic Integrated Marketing Conference in Chicago on July 27-30. I also plan to devote my next several blog posts to sharing the data with you.

In an effort to provide the higher ed marketing industry with real-time recruitment marketing counsel and insight, we administer the TeensTALK® study three times a year:

1. Fall – seniors begin to apply to the schools on their short lists
2. Spring – those same seniors are considering financial aid offers, and
3. Summer – after final college choices are made.

The 2009 SUMMER TeensTALK® survey was conducted in mid-June, at which point 96% of respondents had selected their school for the coming fall semester. The findings are rich with evidence about the factors that weighed into those final selections and, more importantly, the relative weight of each. I’ll share that information in future blogs.

But given the fact that your school is still communicating with your anticipated fall class, I want to share some data-based advice about how to most effectively communicate with incoming freshmen at this particular point in the matriculation transition. All eyes are focused on “Summer Melt” these days, so you want to be certain you’re using the communication channels your target audience prefers.

Here is some extraordinarily prescriptive data that will help you communicate most effectively with your incoming students. Among college-bound teens across the country:

• 40% identified a personalized letter, delivered via postal mail, as their preferred method of communication from schools to which they have been admitted, while 32% preferred a personalized e-mail, and 15% preferred a phone call
• 31% identified Facebook, mySpace or other social networks to be an appropriate method for  exchanging communication with schools to which they had been admitted, but only 1% identified it as their preferred channel
• 25% identified instant messaging to be an appropriate method for exchanging communication with schools to which they had been admitted, but less than 1% identified it as their preferred channel
• 24% identified text messaging via cell phone to be an appropriate method for exchanging communication with schools to which they had been admitted, but only 3% identified it as their preferred channel
• 28% report they would like to receive more information from the colleges and universities to which they have applied, while 10% report receiving too much information

At the end of the day—once again—personalized “snail mail” wins the communication race when it comes to trading information with your admitted students. Surprised?

Based on these findings, Stamats’ position on communicating with prospective students via social networks and other social media channels remains simple: Build social media capabilities into your communication tool chest so you can be present if and when students invite you to their social media dance, but don’t let the glitter of new technology distract your strategies or your resources from the channels this critically important audience prefers.

In my next blog, I will share 2009 TeensTALK® findings about the factors that weigh in to prospective undergraduates’ final college selections. Just for fun, I’ll ship a copy of Bob Sevier’s latest book, Building Brand Momentum, to the first reader who accurately identifies (and posts a comment about below) the single factor admitted prospective students cited as their most influential consideration in making their final college choice. Here’s a clue: It’s a compilation of information over which your recruiting operation has little, if any, control.

Comment away!

NOTE: TeensTALK® is Stamats’ annual nation-wide telephone study initiative of college-bound teens designed to keep our (and your) finger on the pulse of the trends, attitudes, lifestyles and knowledge that influence their college selection decision-making process. Findings are based on 565 responses from college-bound high school seniors; sampling was completed at random (probability sample) to provide a rigorous data set for accurate assessment of the college selection process. Stamats offers a companion TeensTALK Focus® study for colleges and universities that want to conduct a comparison survey of their inquiry pools and assess their peculiar institutional undergraduate recruitment challenges and opportunities against the backdrop of national findings.

Photo by SC Fiasco