Marketing & Recruitment

Graduate recruitment

Graduate programs interested in recruitment can consider 1) sending emails to academics who have written letters of recommendations on behalf of their applicants, 2) purchasing a list of qualified potential applicants from GRE and sending them an email letting them know about their program, and 3) crafting marketing materials about the program for recruitment events.

During fall 2018, the Department of English sent emails to both letter-of-recommendation writers and potential applicants through the GRE, who had taken the English subject test. Here are the emails and result information:

To letter writers - Opened by nearly 70% of the faculty (industry standard open rate is 21%, so this is great!); no one unsubscribed. Emails like this one can help graduate rankings since rankings like U.S. News & World Report query other scholars about their perception of graduate programs. 

To GRE list - Opened by nearly 50% of the students. 

Both the Department chair and graduate director received inquiries as a result of these emails and felt the outreach was successful.

Email marketing

Considering sending emails to your alumni or supporters to keep them updated on news from your department/program/center? Here are marketing platforms that will allow you to create beautiful, html emails.Email best practices:
  • Do not embed flyers into the body of an email. Anyone who is visually impaired and using a screen reader will not be able to read the text on top of the flyer. For more information on accessibility, click here.
  • Treat your email address like gold. If you email too frequently, or with irrelevant information, your subscribers may unsubscribe. Once someone has unsubscribed, you cannot email them ever again.
  • Segment your list. Have a large mailing list? Segment it by type (local scholars, national scholars, alumni, donors, etc.) so that you can only send the most relevant information to each group.
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