It's no secret that students are glued to their phones. In fact, the average teen texts 67 times a day and 90 percent of text messages are opened within three minutes of receipt. SMS helps colleges reach students quickly and effectively.
Students crave better communication and respond well to receiving updates on their phones. To stay competitive and improve student experiences, higher education institutions should add texting as a communication tool to supplement the more traditional communication methods, such as email, telephone, or physical letters.
In addition to improving student communication, text messages can help universities stay in touch with alumni and keep staff in the know. Universities should consider modernizing communication outreach with professional text messaging.
<span class="text-center">From getting more college applications to issuing important reminders, texting provides many benefits to higher education institutions. </span>
SMS provides a fast and efficient way to reach students, faculty, and alumni. Messages are typically delivered instantly and read quickly, ensuring timely communication.
With mass texting, universities can send promotional messages to prospective students. These broadcasts can promote your university, share testimonials from grads, or simply share important application tips.
SMS is an accessible communication tool because 97 percent of people own a mobile phone with the capability to text. This makes it an inclusive communication tool for colleges and universities to connect with students, staff, alumni, and donors.
Texting is a highly engaging channel. In fact, it has an average open rate of 98 percent and response rate of 45 percent. This makes it a good channel to send surveys, feedback requests, or event invitations. Use SMS to build better relationships.
It's not just colleges that benefit from SMS communication. Students and parents also prefer texting as a communication channel. Emails often get missed in crowded inboxes and mail can be thrown away. Texting is convenient and allows students and parents to stay informed.
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of Americans own a cell phone. — Pew Research Center
is the open rate for SMS messages. — CTIA
of Gen Z check text messages once every 10 to 30 minutes. — SimpleTexting
Mobile carriers now require organizations to register their texting phone number before messaging any contacts. The registration-first requirement is an effort to protect consumers from unwanted texts. To register, organizations submit details about their texting use case, opt-in procedures, and brand information.
While ensuring proper registration may seem complicated, it’s not with Textline. We’ve made in-app enhancements to simplify this process for all customers. Organizations just need to fill out our built-in compliance form. From there, Textline submits registration on your behalf and notifies you when your number is ready to use.
Textline users can also test the platform while waiting for approval from the mobile carriers. Educational organizations can use this time to create message templates, set up automations, and add team members.
There are many use cases for higher-ed texting. Let’s take a look at some of the key ways you can use a higher education SMS software.
Use mass texting to promote your university to prospective students. These broadcasts can include key stats about student performance, share testimonials from recent grads, or share application tips. An SMS marketing solution can help universities increase enrollment and the number of applications received.
Keep students informed with helpful reminders about payments, application deadlines, move in days, and more. SMS reminders can reduce students' chances of missing important deadlines.
Many of these SMS reminders can be automated. This means there’s minimal effort needed from university staff. You can schedule these messages in advance or set up automated text to trigger when certain conditions are met.
Life on campus doesn't always go as planned. Classes get canceled when professors fall sick, severe weather events occur, or accidents close off parts of campus.
When unexpected things happen, an SMS notification system can inform the right people quickly. Let a class know about a last-minute cancellation or other timely information.
In an emergency, an email isn't enough. Universities need to communicate messages that are seen, not just sent to an inbox. When a critical situation strikes, every second counts.
Textline’s SMS software for universities helps reach students and faculty across the campus fast. Mass text alerts quickly reach the right people directly on their mobile devices to keep them safe.
Use a two-way texting solution to answer common student questions. Let them text in questions about applications, financial aid, or where they can find particular resources on campus.
Distribute student and staff surveys via SMS with Textline. This critical feedback tool helps your university understand student opinions on crucial campus issues or how they’d rank a particular class. Plus, they collect critical feedback from faculty. Use an SMS survey to gauge sentiment about proposed changes and respond appropriately.
Welcome your new and returning students to campus with seasonal messages. Offer semester best wishes or send announcements about major annual events. Sending a personalized seasonal text helps build a sense of community with your students.
Build better relationships with alums using SMS. Provide key campus updates and invite them to events like homecoming. You can also use SMS to ask alumni to complete post-college surveys or ask them to speak at upcoming events.
Use text messaging to ask partners, alumni, or parents for donations. You can send them a text to let them know about an ongoing fundraiser, share a heartwarming story, or update them about how their prior donation was used.
College is difficult for many students. Use SMS to help support students through this transitional phase in life. Let them schedule a counseling appointment via SMS or otherwise connect with someone who can help them navigate the challenges.
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Connect Textline’s SMS platform to the tools and resources your higher education institution uses. Integrating Textline with these tools can remove data silos to improve communication with students, professors, parents, donors, and more.
Join thousands of other higher education institutions that use Textline to enhance and modernize communication. Textline’s higher education SMS platform is the most secure on the market and is simple to use. Textline has the SMS tools your college needs, including mass texting, scheduled messages, two-way SMS, and auto-replies. All of these are accessible from one centralized, multi-user platform. Keep your college contact information safe and meet compliance requirements with Textline’s top-rated higher education texting platform. Discover how Textline's SMS service can revolutionize communication in your college community. Try the platform for free today.
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