How SMS Marketing Can Help Schools & Universities

"Class dismissed."

Though the words are timeless, the classroom in which they’re said has begun changing to match the rapid pace of evolving technology and communication. As an educator or member of the academic community, you must embrace these new opportunities to provide students with the best education possible.

Though there are some traditional teaching methods that are tried and true, and will undoubtedly remain staples in the classroom, there are other technologies that can enhance the curriculum and provide students with access to more resources than ever before.

Smartphones and other electronics mean that reading assignments can be completed anywhere, test reviews can take place at any time, and students can connect with each other outside of school. And, as a teacher, you can now dismiss class with a simple text.

With an SMS broadcasting platform, your school or university can easily communicate with all its students and staff. Whether you’re a local small-town pre-school or graduate school with programs across the globe, SMS gives you benefits that spread far beyond the classroom.

Text Message Marketing for Schools and Universities

Most students (and, let’s face it, even professors) are more familiar with the meaning of LOL than they are with the meaning of SMS. But SMS is a useful technology that everyone should know about in order to leverage its power to enhance their educational journey.

SMS stands for short message service and is a text broadcasting system that allows users to send out short texts to subscribers. Short is the key word here— texts can only be 160 characters or less. In the hectic and often time chaotic work environments experienced by professional educators, communicating clear and concise messages via a texting platform is the way to go.

Keep your texts short and sweet to deliver the most informational or persuasive text messages for your school or university.

Why Schools and Universities Turn to SMS Marketing

One digital marketing tactic doesn’t cut it anymore. Instead, your school or university needs to utilize a spread of effective communication and marketing tools. Along with other tools, SMS can provide a strong foundation for your comprehensive digital marketing strategy for several reasons.

Easy Integration

Text message for schools and universities should not be a standalone communication channel. Instead, SMS is the ideal tool to integrate with several other types of digital marketing practices. You can run a text campaigns that sends messages supporting a fundraising drive held on social media. A series of text messages can promote the videos uploaded on YouTube that address different educational topics. When you post a new blog on your school or university website, use SMS to alert every subscriber about the new content. Using SMS messaging ensures a unified omnichannel experience.

Real Time Connection

What typically happens to the emails you send to students and colleagues? Do they remain unopened for hours or days, or else end up in spam folders? Though email can be a useful and effective communication medium, SMS can lighten the load on overstuffed inboxes. The simple fact is that smartphone users read their text messages almost immediately after receiving them. This makes text marketing and communication for schools and universities an indispensable tool to use for connecting with students, parents, and colleagues in real time.

Improved Engagement

As we mentioned, people read text messages. The incredibly high open rate for messages means that using a texting platform immediately engages users and often leads to better engagement. Send out course or subject surveys, request feedback, and seek suggestions for the current or upcoming school year. Improved engagement gives people the feeling of being part of an institution, instead of just a number on the roster.

Customization for Every Need

When you choose an SMS broadcast provider, make sure they offer customization services to meet the unique communication needs of your school or university. Custom contact fields, message templates, and keywords allow you easily and efficiently communicate with everyone, whether it’s the PTSA parent volunteers or the university board members.

Examples of SMS Messaging Ideas

SMS messaging provides schools and universities endless options for communication and marketing. We can’t list them all here, but below are a few ideas to get you started.

Teachers

Distraction and forgetfulness are two primary culprits that cause student to fall behind on their schoolwork. Though you can use SMS to market textbooks and other supplementary educational materials to students, you can also use it as a simple communication tool. Remind students about upcoming tests, schedule tutoring appointments, post exam schedules, and send quiz results quickly and easily. This also provides students an extra layer of confidentiality that posting on public forums lacks.

Students

Millennials and members of Generation Z have made smartphones the most popular information medium and texting the most popular communication medium. They use their phones to access orientation schedules, academic resources, and course assignments. So why not use SMS to preemptively provide this information? Connect with students via text message to tell them about additional educational resources and more. From extracurricular updates to project deadlines, SMS helps students stay in the educational loop.

Administration Officials

School and university administrators operate in a highly challenging environment simply because of the vast amount of information that they must process daily. By using an SMS broadcasting service for their school or university, administrators can remain ahead of the information curve. You can send messages that cover many issues and topics, including:

• Promoting new admissions standards
• Announcing upcoming staff meetings
• Managing student academic progress
• Sending weather and school closure updates
• Monitoring student tuition payments
• Organizing fundraisers with alumni

Schools and Universities Texting Service from Dash Notify

As we enter the third decade of the new millennium, technology has transformed how school and universities conduct business. With much of the talk centered around emerging technology, it should comfort students, instructors, and administration officials that text messages sent and read in real time can make a huge difference in the performance of an education system.

Dash Notify provides you with a customizable texting platform to meet the unique challenges faced by your school or university. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you leverage the power of SMS.

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