The Power of the Parent
We often seed ourselves in our clients’ or their competitors’ communications flows to better understand what prospective students experience and to see what colleges are saying about themselves. We recently noticed a school that directed a high percentage of its communications “to the parents of” the student—maybe even more than to the student themselves. Was this a miscalculation or an insightful strategy?
The father of a high school senior relayed the following story. His son had applied to several universities, two of which required an additional piece of documentation to complete the student’s application. One communicated the need for the missing item directly to the student via email, but the other sent a letter “to the parents of” to request it. Guess which one got action?
The parents asked the student about it, and the student took action. Later, the son said, “Oh, yeah, and I think the other place emailed me about that, too.” To which the father replied, “And you were going to mention that when?”
In college marketing, we often think of parents as ancillary to our strategies to woo prospective students. We treat them as secondary influencers of our primary audience, perhaps only including them in questions of financing the education. Often, however, they are drivers of the college search. This is especially true in an age when students are slower to step forward as individuals and the cost of college raises doubts about return on investment. College attendance is a family decision, and students frequently rely on their parents, not only for wise counsel, but also in orchestrating the college search process.
Next-Level Parent Involvement
Gone are the days when every teenager sits for the driving test on their first day of eligibility and takes a road trip with friends to visit colleges. For the current generation, parents are frequently both close confidantes in the process and the ones identifying the initial choice set. They often spend more time than the student researching school characteristics, and they often reach out to school counselors and other parents for feedback to help their students form or refine their list of candidate schools.
Just ask your admissions office. When was the last time a prospective freshman called to make their own reservation for a tour? It is almost always the parent, and in fact, in most cases, it is the mom who organizes the calendar and handles all of the logistics. Because of this, mom also has a strong influence on which places get visited. Many a college choice has been made because mom decided to add a school to the family visit “while they were in the area.”
This is not a surprise when we think about it, and yet, how much of our marketing efforts are focused on this part of the equation? While we frequently arrange student focus groups, focus groups for parents—or even only for moms—are much less common.
Speaking Mom’s Language
Think about the many ways mothers are likely to influence the search. Moms care about cost and affordability, financial aid opportunities, safety, academic reputation, support services, and the quality of dorms. They have invested their lives in their kids, and there is no way they are going to hand them over to a place that doesn’t look like it has its act together.
There are so many potential touchpoints your team can have with parent in the communication process. They are more likely to go through the mail than their students, so they are much more likely to be the first viewer of any printed material you send. Making your viewbook appealing to them or sending postcards with easy to see dates and and clear registration links could give you the edge in getting noticed and visited.
Parent in general, but in many cases, moms in particular, are concerned about their students missing deadlines or forgetting to do something. If you want a student to take action, recruiting the mom might be the most efficient way to make sure it happens, so addressing individual calls to action or even whole mailings “to the parents of” can actually make a lot of sense if you are trying to move students down the enrollment funnel.
This is an area where your alumni and current parents can really help you. Nothing speaks louder to a potential customer that a current happy customer. Adding testimonials from satisfied parents to your communication flow can have a big impact. This is especially true if you have willing repeat customers who have sent multiple children to your institution.
Engaging Parents IRL
Some schools go beyond just communication and actively engage current parents in the recruitment process. Parents might participate on panels for open houses, attend college fairs, or send individual emails or handwritten notes to prospective families. Some of your parents may even be willing to meet other families for lunch or dinner to talk about their experiences.
Parents are often hungry for good information and sources of truth to guide their students. Some parents do not have college experience, while others have only their own outdated experience. By actively and consistently reaching out to parents in your communication, you are filling in that knowledge gap and establishing your institution as a generous source of expertise in the process.
Often, I think our teams hesitate to “barrage” parents with too many communications, or we fool ourselves into thinking that if we communicate directly with the student, we will be the ones to convince them to step forward and take control of their destiny. Neither of these assumptions is correct. Parents are already intimately involved in the college search process, and we ignore them at our own peril.
Continuing Connection
Your communication with parents doesn’t have to stop with enrollment, either. Clear and consistent communication with your current parents can be a powerful contributor to your retention efforts, as well.
A mother relayed this story about her daughter’s college, which began sending parents weekly emails after their daughter enrolled. The emails publicized events, made recommendations, advertised campus store sales, and more.
“At first, I thought it was kind of strange and maybe a bit annoying,” she said. “After a few more weeks, though, I started to look forward to those emails. I would imagine what my daughter was doing, think about what she might need, and feel connected and grateful to the university for keeping me in the loop.”
The emails changed from spam to part of the retention effort.
Don’t underestimate the power of the parent. Marketing to them can be as important—occasionally even more important—than getting in front of the student. Recruit the parents, and you have recruited powerful allies in your enrollment efforts.
5° Branding can help you make the most of your marketing to parents and students alike. Reach out to our team today to learn more.
