Texting has proven to be an essential component of many successful education marketing strategies.

This makes sense, as today’s students absolutely despise talking on the phone and can easily spot generic, scripted emails. The education space, however, is notoriously resistant to new marketing tools. Thankfully, one forward-thinking research company has created a texting platform that helps institutions ensure that their first texting at-bat is a home run.

In today’s episode, we’ll cover:

• Why texting is so valuable for student engagement
• The largest barrier for the mass adoption of texting
• How texting can increase efficiency in multiple elements of your organization

This week, I spoke to Mike Kochczynski, the Assistant Director of Client Success at Mongoose. One of the leading Ed-tech providers, Mongoose helps institutions improve communication with a platform called Cadence. Nearly 500 institutions have used Cadence to text prospective students, current students, parents, alumni, and even faculty members. In addition to explaining how Cadence works, Mongoose shows their clients how to craft their messages while staying compliant with regulations like the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).

How Do Institutions Use Texting Platforms?

Texting is undeniably the preferred medium for all communication. Unlike emails and physical letters, research has revealed that nearly 100% of texts are actually read by their recipients. Thanks to Mongoose, all types of higher ed institutions can now use texting to improve lead retention, alumni participation, and their application completion rate. Cadence mixes one-on-one engagement with the scalability of automation to send the right amount of messages at the right intervals. Mongoose’s clients often use Cadence to send reminders about networking events and application deadlines along with crucial information about financial aid.

Why Texting Is The Most Efficient Communication Channel

Arguably the biggest reward of using Cadence, however, is the massive increase in overall efficiency. Cadence accomplishes this in at least two ways. First is the amount of time schools can save by replacing phone calls with texts. In one of Mike’s previous positions, he literally had to make over 100 phone calls per day. With Cadence, outreach and engagement specialists don’t have to waste full days attempting to communicate with prospective students and parents.

The key word here is “attempting.”

It’s not as if schools have to worry about most of their text messages going ignored. Think about it: A prospective student or parent probably wouldn’t give an institution their mobile number if they weren’t seriously interested in that institution. Cadence filters out prospective students who aren’t interested so institutions can focus on those who are deeper into their marketing funnel.

Bringing New Technology To A Notoriously Outdated World

Encouraging the education space to adopt texting into their marketing efforts hasn’t been easy. A great deal of the space is still stuck in outdated engagement methods. Mike and his team would love to spend more time teaching these schools the various advantages of Cadence. But the reality is, there’s no point in trying to convince people who don’t want to be convinced. When asked about the primary indicators for success with Cadence, Mike said enthusiasm and trust. His most successful clients believed in the power of texting and were confident that their guides at Mongoose knew what they were doing.

Patience is another important quality for success with Cadence. When new clients express skepticism about the platform’s effectiveness, Mike sometimes quotes the football film Remember The Titans: “Our offense is like novocaine. Give it time, and it will knock you out.”

Never Forget Your Main Objective: Making Lives Easier

Speaking to Mike reminded me that aside from growing enrollments, the main objective of companies like Mongoose is to make their clients’ lives easier. Institutions all over the country are currently facing major obstacles, from funding cuts to new regulations that inhibit recruitment. Despite these concerns, Mongoose shows institutions that one critical aspect of their jobs (student engagement) is in fact getting easier, not harder. Education marketers must remember that this is their main objective as well. We are only succeeding when we are making our clients’ lives easier in every way possible.