In the highly competitive realm of college admissions, education leaders are eager for any advantage they can gain. Finding a better way to reach and engage high school students has driven the evolution of university marketing methods from mailing to emailing to texting.
Texts received during the enrollment process are welcomed by 90% of students, according to a 2021 study by RNL, an Allied Pixel partner and leading education marketing firm. That’s up from 55% in 2017, as reported by Inside Higher Ed. The trend is a bright green “go” signal.
But there’s a blinking yellow caution signal as well: Teens feel their phones are private space. Marketers must ask permission to enter, then behave as friendly, respectful guests. That means sending only texts that are personal, relevant and helpful.
Personalized Video has proven to be a perfect fit with those teen preferences. As with videos delivered by email, we pull each prospective student’s various interests from a university’s database, and pair those with video segments specific to each student.
To ensure the delivery of thousands of videos via text, we partnered with the best in the higher ed texting business: Mongoose and its Cadence text messaging platform. Our experience now spans 18 months and well over 300,000 Personalized Videos successfully delivered via text.
Best practice continues to be offering students a choice to receive electronic messages by text or email, so we recommend that to our higher ed clients. If the trend toward a preference for text gets closer to 100%, email marketing to teenagers may become as outdated as mailing prospects a thick, glossy, printed viewbook.
Meet our team member Vanessa Balzano
Vanessa, a producer, is a skilled communicator and collaborator. She works closely with our higher education clients on their Personalized Video campaigns. From creative development to scripting and editing, Vanessa ensures that each stage of production goes smoothly. Previously, she spent eight years as a freelance television producer for shows on the Food Network, Netflix, and MTV, refining her skills as a thoughtful and quick-witted storyteller.
We opened a second data center
To keep up with growing demand for high-volume Personalized Videos, Allied Pixel opened a new data center in Pittsburgh this spring. Having a second center to augment our first data center in Valley Forge, PA increases our production capacity by 50%.
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