Use This Channel To Improve Your Current Alumni Engagement during the pandemic.

Use This Channel To Improve Your Current Alumni Engagement during the pandemic. How would you rate your current alumni engagement? An alumnus is an essential stakeholder for any educational institution out there. The importance of creating quality relationships and engagement with their respective alumni can’t be stressed enough. The amount of positive impact and value addition that an alumnus has over their institution is immense. But not even 90% of the educational institutions in Australia don’t take the necessary steps in creating quality engagement with their alumni.  If you want to know the importance of proper meaningful alumni engagement and the steps to achieve the same, this blog is for you. Let us begin! Why is quality Alumni engagement so crucial for an educational Institution? Increase Goodwill Alumni who have been provided with a tremendous academic experience would act as brand ambassadors for their educational institution. They would also serve as a source of giving new students to the institution. A well-maintained alumni network would act as goodwill directly and indirectly to an institution. Provide Donations In Times Of Need Donations act as an essential source of revenue for any educational institute out there. Whether it be for renovations or for providing scholarships, donations and fundraisers add value to the institution. Alumni play a significant role in providing much-needed cash flow to their respective institutions through donations and fundraisers. Mentors To Aspiring Students Skilful and talented alumni will have a wealth of information, knowledge and expertise to share with the current set of students. Alumni conducting boot camps and preparing students for the placement season is an example. Alumni can act as a mentor and provide personal and professional development to the existing students of the institution. Employability Alumni can help out the current set of students in an institution concerning the placements. A well-maintained alumni network can be vital in creating great opportunities for the existing students. Providing placements is one of the key factors that a potential student takes in selecting an educational institution. How can you improve the quality of alumni engagement? Educational institutions can use many mediums to improve upon their engagement with their alumni. But there is only one medium that is effective in terms of cost, ROI and quality engagement. It is communication via SMS. Surprised? SMS has been one of the most underutilised mediums for communication. Here are a few reasons why an SMS or Text Messaging stands apart from the crowd:- Target Globally with just one click. Personalised messages. Cost-effective. 2-way communication. High open rates. High engagement rates. High ROI. SMS, when compared to other mediums of communication and engagement, clearly stands out. The best possible way to capitalise on SMS is through using an SMS Gateway. An SMS Gateway allows you to send SMS from your computer to all recipients all over the globe. The following are the benefits of using an SMS Gateway:- With an SMS Gateway, you could target all of your alumni with just one click globally. With an SMS Gateway, you could conduct alumni events and meetups with ease. With an SMS Gateway, get clear analytical insights and make data-driven decisions. With an SMS Gateway, make the messages more personalised by utilising the templates and merge tags available. With an SMS Gateway, communicate one on one to any alumni out there through 2-way communication. With an SMS Gateway, integrate to your existing platforms through API integration.  With an SMS Gateway, Schedule messages to be sent at a later time.   Wrapping Up Are you are looking to capitalise on the power of SMS for your business. In that case, Guni SMS – Australia’s #1 SMS Gateway is the best choice out there. Guni offers custom made solutions as per your educational institution’s requirements. It has helped the likes of AHMI from Sydney, Australia, double upon their alumni engagement.  Are you looking to improve upon your student, parent, and alumni experience via meaningful engagement?  Do you want custom-made engagement solutions as per your processes? Do you want to capitalise on the power of SMS Broadcasting which is more effective in engagement and cost?   Add value to your Institution and double up meaningful engagement with Guni for free. Sign up Today! Share Via Facebook Instagram Twitter Whatsapp Youtube Linkedin Double upon your engagement. Start Growing with Guni today

SMS Broadcast in Education – Importance & Application

SMS Broadcast in Education – Importance & Application Did you know that 90% of SMS messages are opened and read within 3 minutes of sending them?  In such a scenario, it’s a highly beneficial mode of communication to convey immediate information.  It’s specifically helpful for the education sector that requires frequent transfer of information since the pandemic began. Let’s move further and see how the education sector relies on SMS Broadcasting to convey relevant messages. Keep Your Audience Updated Of The Happenings At All Times After the pandemic, keeping personal touch alive became a hassle. Businesses started relying on varied forms of communication to ensure no relevant information remained unconveyed.  Let’s take a look at how The Australian Health & Management Institute-AHMI used  SMS Broadcasting to its advantage.  This is one of those universities that relied on the traditional method of collecting information for recruitment. One of the significant flaws in this method is wrong information. Sometimes students input inaccurate information unintentionally, while other times, it’s hard to understand their language.  AHMI decided to change its ways of collecting information and shifted entirely to SMS surveys. The tools available on the web ensure the sent information gets inserted into the database. This saves the time of staff who otherwise completed the task manually. The response rate was very high after the university inculcated SMS surveys. Apart from getting all relevant information regarding students, it also helped develop relationships.  The university kept the students updated with the happenings and sent timely reminders.  Don’t stay stuck with the myth that SMS Broadcasts have to be promotional. Apart from using it to inform students about admission openings, you can curate engaging and relevant messages. The goal is to stay connected with your target audience to ensure they don’t shift their preferences.  Remember that they plan on spending sufficient time on the campus. It’s your responsibility to add to their excitement.  Make your messages encouraging enough to make them ask questions. Your goal should be to answer all the queries in their minds. After COVID-19, the traditional method ceased to exist, so universities were left with all the online forms of communication.  But emails hardly get opened, and phone calls are mostly ignored.  In such a scenario, relying on SMS Broadcast seems to be the most viable option.  Schools and universities that never sent out SMS Messages before the pandemic need a solid plan. Make sure you jot down relevant things to include in your messages to avoid annoyance. Sending Timely Reminders  For the smooth working of the education sector, one must receive the fees on time. Sending consistent reminders will ensure any sort of delay is avoided.  You can easily show the breakdown of fees in the message to avoid confusion. Any specific or extra payment reminder can also be sent.  Another general delay is in the admission process. Students are unaware of the application forms being filled.  Reminding students that their application form date is near will keep them prepared.  Make sure you mention all important documents they must have to avoid any last-minute hassle.  Here is a case study showing how Guni SMS used two different methods to procure 100% college admissions.  Before taking admissions, students and parents have many doubts running through their heads. In such a scenario, they tried to make it easier by sending bulk messages and using two different strategies.  In the first case, they sent an SMS and inserted a number the student can give a missed call to. The college then contacts those students and provides all necessary information.  Some students or even parents are hesitant about making calls. The second strategy goes in their favour as they insert a short URL. This URL takes them to varied options, including videos, audio, and text, to convey every relevant information.  After using these two strategies, the response from students was terrific. They were eager to have more information about the college.  You cannot expect your prospects to reach out to you directly. The best way is to lure them in at their convenience.  The college started receiving bulk queries and eventually succeeded in turning questions into admissions.  SMS Broadcasting for Education is specifically helpful for younger audiences since they are quick to respond.  SMS Broadcast Templates For Educational Institutions In the educational sector, we often come across similar questions or queries.  To ensure your team replies to queries faster than ever, they need to be prepared with templates.  To make your task more accessible, we have some templates based on the most commonly-asked queries. Admission Inquiry  “Hi <FIRST NAME>, thank you for reaching out to School Name>. I’m <STAFF FIRST NAME>, your admissions counsellor. I look forward to assisting you. Please feel free to text me here or drop a missed call at <NUMBER>if you have any questions.” Follow Up  “Hi <FIRST NAME>, it’s <STAFF FIRST NAME>, your admissions counsellor at <School Name>. Do you have any questions for me? Looking forward to assisting you with any doubt you have.” Application Deadline Reminder “Hi <FIRST NAME>! This is <STAFF FIRST NAME> from <School Name>. I wanted to check in with you since the deadline to submit your application is near. Can I help you with any doubts that you still have before your ultimate decision? Are you still considering <School Name>? Thanks!” Event Reminder “Hi <FIRT NAME! We are excited to announce <NAME OF THE EVENT> being organized on the campus at <DATE AND TIMING> We heartily welcome you to participate in the event and share the fun with us. We are looking forward to your presence. For any further details, reply to this message. Thanks! Giving Them A Space To Put Up Their Questions  As discussed earlier, students often struggle with many questions in their heads.  No one goes through the hassle of calling up individual institutions to get assisted.  Let’s look at a thoughtful strategy used by NC state to answer 6,672 questions during first-year orientation.  People always need a safe space to put up their queries without any burden.