Meredith Collins
Channel Marketing Manager - Merchants, Transactional Printers, and Publishing
Student recruitment is more competitive than ever. Colleges, universities, private and independent schools, all vie to capture attention and connect with prospective students in a crowded marketplace.
Most students and families consider multiple schools before deciding, making every interaction increasingly important. While digital channels play a significant role in recruitment, print continues to offer advantages that are difficult to replicate online.
Whether it’s a direct mail campaign, an acceptance package, or a magazine, print gives schools an opportunity to create a more memorable experience. Print (when paired with digital) can help institutions stand out, communicate what makes them unique, and build stronger connections with prospective students and their families.
Print Marketing Helps You Win a Place on the Pile
Print gives schools an opportunity to tell a fuller story. From academic programs and student life to career opportunities and campus culture, printed materials can highlight what makes a school unique in a format that is easy to revisit, share and discuss with family members.
This University of Virginia student mailer demonstrates how print can help colleges and universities communicate something that’s difficult to capture through rankings, websites, and social media alone: culture.
By highlighting the people and communities that define the student experience, the piece gives admitted students a more personal introduction to the university. As part of a broader recruitment strategy, print helps build stronger connections, reinforce what sets them apart and stay in consideration as students move closer to making an enrollment decision.
Print Marketing Provides Unboxing Moments
Unboxing videos have become a cultural phenomenon, and higher education marketing teams have taken notice. Schools are creating admit packages filled with printed materials, stickers and keepsakes designed to generate excitement and encourage sharing online. We feature a KU admit package in our gallery to highlight just this.
KU shared that students are commonly opening admit packets with stylistic expectations and often build a social presence around their “unveiling,” even judging schools based on their package. The marketing team at KU saw an opportunity to make a notable impression so they would not miss peer-to-peer endorsements for their school.
Print Marketing Helps Keep Alumni Connected
Alumni are often a school’s strongest supporters, which makes ongoing communication an important part of any engagement strategy. While email and digital communications play a key role, print gives schools another way to stay connected and remain top of mind.
Printed magazines and newsletters provide a dedicated space to share student success stories, campus milestones and future initiatives in a format that recipients can read, revisit, and keep. SPIRITUS-COLUMNS, the magazine of The St. Paul’s Schools, is a great example of a printed magazine. Designed for alumni, parents and friends of the school, the publication uses stories and photography to showcase the opportunities, experiences and accomplishments that define the school community.
It’s a reminder that print continues to be an effective tool for keeping audiences engaged and strengthening connections over time.
From recruitment mailers and admit packages to alumni magazines, print helps schools create lasting impressions at every stage of the relationship. When combined with digital channels, it can help capture attention, tell a richer story and keep audiences engaged long after the first interaction.
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