Does this sound familiar?
A recent graduate lands their dream job, their first significant career milestone, and instinctively shares the news on social media. But instead of tagging their alma mater or engaging with alumni networks, they've drifted away—disconnected from the community and the college that helped shape their future.
This scenario is all too common for many alumni associations. It underscores the critical challenge for alumni professionals: keeping alumni engaged from graduation.
However, more than maintaining engagement alone is needed; a well-rounded strategy requires more.
Today, we will explore the core building blocks to help college alumni associations build strategies to maintain and strengthen their connections with graduates.
Alumni Marketing is like no other marketing.
Alumni marketing is a different animal compared to traditional marketing.
For starters, you already have an audience that knows your institution well. Plus, you have their contact information at your fingertips.
While most marketers spend significant time and resources trying to capture an audience's attention and gather details, you're working with a group that's not only familiar with your brand but also likely has a strong emotional connection to it:
- Your audience already knows the institution.
- You have detailed information about them.
- You're often privy to both professional and personal details.
- Contact information, such as email addresses, is already in your database.
But here's the catch: your audience is fixed. Unlike other markets where the customer base can expand, alumni associations have a set group defined by the size of graduating classes. This 'scarcity' makes every engagement effort critical.
Goals of a College Alumni Association
Given these unique circumstances, alumni associations typically focus on three main areas:
Activation: Initiating and maintaining contact with alumni immediately after graduation, ensuring they transition smoothly from students to active alumni community members.
Engagement: The ongoing efforts to foster a sense of belonging among alumni, encouraging their participation in events, communications, and the broader alumni network.
Contributions: The strategies aimed at inspiring alumni to give back to their alma mater, whether through financial donations, volunteer work, or other forms of support.
These areas are interconnected, and the KPIs and strategies used to achieve success in one area may overlap. For example, effective engagement leads to increased contributions, and strong activation efforts can lay the groundwork for long-term engagement.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Tracking the right KPIs helps assess the effectiveness of your alumni engagement efforts. It's important to note that some KPIs may serve more than one area, given the interconnected nature of activation, engagement, and contributions. Below are some critical KPIs you should monitor:
Activation KPIs:
Email Bounce Rate: Measure undeliverable emails to ensure your contact information is current.
Response Rate to Communications: Track how alumni engage with surveys, event invitations, or other direct communications.
Email Open Rates and Click-Through Rates: Monitor the number of emails opened and the number of times recently graduated alumni click links.
Engagement KPIs:
Newsletter Open Rate: Measure how many alumni are opening and reading your newsletters and alumni magazine updates.
Social Media Engagement Rates: Track interactions on social media posts aimed at alumni, such as likes, shares, and comments.
Website Traffic: Monitor visits to your alumni magazine and the alumni section of your institution's website.
Unsubscribe Rate: Keep track of how many alumni unsubscribe from your communications.
Contribution KPIs:
Total Donations Received: Measure the total amount of financial contributions from alumni.
Number of Donors: Track the number of individual alumni contributing.
Average Donation Size: Monitor the average donation amount from alumni donors.
Content Marketing for Alumni Engagement
Content marketing and social media are pivotal tools for keeping alumni engaged, building a sense of community, and driving contributions.
Alumni magazines, whether digital or in print, remain a cornerstone of alumni relations, providing a tangible connection to the institution.
Content strategy suggestions:
We will go into depth on this topic in another article, but here are some quick suggestions.
Activation: Welcome Content
Content that welcomes recent graduates into the alumni community could include personalized welcome emails and a guide on staying connected with the institution. Alumni magazines can feature special sections for new graduates, highlighting their achievements and offering tips for staying connected. Multimedia elements like videos and infographics can make the content more engaging and shareable on social media.
Engagement: Create Consistently, High-Value Content
Alumni magazines can serve as a comprehensive source of high-value content. Content that resonates with alumni can include career advice, industry insights, and updates on the institution.
Contribution Strategies: Use Storytelling to Inspire Giving
Create compelling content about how alumni contributions make a difference. Feature success stories of scholarship recipients, new facilities funded by donations, or research breakthroughs made possible by alumni support. Share these stories through blog posts, videos, and social media to inspire alumni to give back.
Pro Tip: Alumni magazines, whether in print or online, often need to be more leveraged in implementing content strategies.
Acknowledging Traditional Tactics
While content marketing and social media are powerful tools, it's essential to recognize that they are most effective when integrated with traditional alumni engagement strategies. Events, mentorship programs, and direct outreach remain critical components of a comprehensive alumni engagement strategy. These conventional approaches provide opportunities for deeper connections and personal interactions, which can enhance the effectiveness of your digital efforts.
Conclusion
Alumni marketing is unique, requiring a focus on activation, engagement, and contributions. With a fixed audience size, these efforts are crucial to building a strong and vibrant alumni community. By implementing content marketing, leveraging social media, and integrating these with traditional outreach strategies, alumni associations can create a network that supports the institution and enriches the lives of its graduates.
The success of these strategies goes beyond just keeping alumni connected. It's about cultivating a lifelong relationship that enhances the institution's reputation and resources while offering alumni continuous opportunities for growth. A well-engaged alumni network can become a powerful advocate for the institution, driving financial contributions, mentorship, volunteerism, and the sharing of expertise.
So, as you reflect on your current alumni engagement strategies, ask yourself:
Are you fully leveraging content marketing and social media to enhance your alumni network? What steps can you take today to strengthen these digital connections and ensure your institution's success for years?
The legacy you build with your alumni can span generations, creating a lasting impact that benefits the institution and its graduates.
