Your Emails Need To Be Shorter Because

With this generation of students, cutting out all the fluff in your emails and getting to the point increases the chances it gets remembered.

The more information you share, the more links you include, and the more calls to action you have, the less likely students are to engage. That’s because longer messages tend to feel more salesy, they can be confusing, plus Gen Z and Gen Alpha are used to communicating with people they know via text message.

When’s the last time you read a text that was four or five paragraphs long? And what was your reaction to having to read all of it?

Shorter and less is what they’re used to.

When you make your emails shorter rather than longer, here’s what else happens:

• You eliminate the likelihood of boring students with a long message. Especially at the start of the process, telling them every single detail about your school and campus is the absolute wrong thing to do. They’re not ready for that yet.

• You make it easier to actually absorb your information. Consistently writing less means you’re only giving students a few key facts each time, which in turn makes them easier to remember.

• You create curiosity. Leaving out certain details gives a student an excuse to either go and search for more information or to follow up and actually ask a question.

• You increase the permission they need to reply back when you tell them to reply back. “Feel free to contact me” or “Reach out if you have any questions” are too open ended and sound like a courtesy tagline. When you ask a direct question as your call to action and then end your email with “Reply back and let me know your thoughts on that”, or “I’m looking forward to hearing back and reading your answer”, you give them permission to reply back and make them feel like their opinion and thoughts are valued. And by making your message shorter, you increase the chances they’ll actually get to the end.

• You make it more likely they will read your future messages. Consistently giving students less to read increases the chances they will engage with future messages because you’re building a communication brand that promises shorter, more to-the-point text. That actually draws more students towards you as being someone who is easy to talk to.

  
  

Don’t be like most colleges and universities who are overloading students and giving them more. Give them less, especially at the beginning of their college search process.

You’ll be happy you did.

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