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For most businesses, the ability to convert leads into customers can mean the difference between profitable operations and unsteady income that causes it to fail. That’s why lead generation and conversion remain a priority.While several tactics can help you achieve this, not all strategies will initiate interest from leads.So, how can you effectively engage leads and turn them into happy customers? That is where lead nurturing can help.Lead Nurturing is the process of building relationships with your prospects with the goal of earning their business when they're ready. Lead nurturing is the third stage of the lead management process. There are five stages or elements of lead management:

• Lead generation, 
• Lead qualification and segmentation
• Lead nurturing
• Lead scoring and lead routing, and 
• Measuring success

To help your unique leads solve their challenges or achieve their goals, it's critical to understand who your leads are and why they've shown interest in your company in the first place.This understanding will help you develop a lead nurturing strategy to engage with each individual personally, based on their needs and goals, rather than sending blast emails. That way, you’ll generate more qualified leads with less effort. In fact, companies that excel at lead nurturing generate 50% more sales-ready leads at 33% lower cost.

How Does Lead Nurturing Work?

Let's view an example of lead nurturing from a HubSpot Solutions Partner, Campaign Creators.

They had a new initiative to target e-commerce businesses, so they created a new buyer persona, named E-Commerce Eric. They developed a new lead nurturing campaign based on this persona, called "E-Commerce Marketing Campaign."A lead would enroll into the E-Commerce Marketing Campaign workflow in HubSpot each time they downloaded the "E-Commerce Marketing: Intro to Lead Generation" guide.Over time, these leads would receive emails that offered a helpful and relevant resource called, "How to Create an E-Commerce Lead Nurturing Campaign." This resource serves the dual purpose of teaching learners how to nurture new leads while also nurturing them for Campaign Creators.Leads also received further nurturing emails to download other helpful offers, like "Your Guide to Filling a Digital Marketing Gap." This resource helped leads determine the right solution to overcome their digital marketing gap, and helped Campaign Creators identify leads that would benefit from their marketing services.After downloading this guide, leads would receive another set of nurturing emails promoting a free marketing consultation that would provide valuable and honest feedback on the best marketing solution for them. The value for Campaign Creators? To gain a better understanding of their leads' challenges and provide tailored experiences during the consultation.If a lead decided to schedule a consultation, the sales team would take over in the process. This marked the end of the lead nurturing campaign.

This multi-tiered lead nurturing campaign is a great example of how you can engage and nurture leads through their buyer’s journey.While some lead nurturing campaigns may differ, the most important aspect is to automate your entire process. This will provide your lead nurturing efforts with timely, efficient, and targeted communication.

Benefits of Lead Nurturing

Let’s explore the benefits described in the above example in more detail. Lead nurturing helps you:

Build a better customer relationship

Building any relationship takes time and effort, and that’s what lead nurturing allows you to do with prospective customers. Maintaining contact with your leads throughout their buyer’s journey and using personalized messaging can lead to increased trust and a sense of commitment from you to these potential customers.

Increase conversion rates

By providing relevant, personalized content with your lead nurturing campaigns, you ensure your audience remains engaged and more likely to click links to your website or online store for more information. This approach is in contrast to sending generalized content that is designed to reach as many people as possible but has no connection with specific audiences.

Identify customer interests or pain points

Lead nurturing is an excellent way to collect feedback that provides insights into your audience’s interests and pain points. This information can assist you in creating accurate buyer personas and products that will better meet your customers' needs.

Boost brand loyalty

The personalized engagement campaigns you use to build a relationship with your audience can also make them loyal to your brand once they take the step to become customers. In fact, 78% of consumers will likely be repeat customers of brands that personalize the shopping experience.

Get more referrals from satisfied customers

One of the objectives of lead nurturing is to ensure customers are satisfied at the end of their buyer’s journey. Happy customers are more likely to refer friends, family, and business associates to your business because of the trust and reputation you built with them.

How to Launch a Successful Lead Nurturing Campaign

There are five fundamental elements to launching a successful lead nurturing campaign:

1. Buyer Personas

A Buyer Persona is a semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer based on real data and some educated speculation about demographics, behaviors, motivations, and goals.Creating buyer personas will help you understand your potential customers’ needs, behaviors, and concerns. Understanding these details will help you tailor your content and messaging in a way that resonates with each lead.In the previous example, the lead nurturing campaign targeted the persona, ECommerce Eric. Not only did understanding ECommerce Eric's needs and goals inspire the different content offers, it also helped drive the messaging in the emails. If you don't have buyer personas, you can get started with HubSpot's Make My Persona Tool​.

2. Content 

The content you create should be strategic. It should showcase your thought leadership in certain topics, educate your audience, address their concerns, and inspire them to take action. You do this by creating content for each stage of the buyer's journey.The Buyer's Journey is the active research process someone goes through leading up to a purchase.This process is broken down into three stages: awareness stage, consideration stage, and decision stage. Creating content for each stage allows you to educate and nurture leads closer to a purchase, no matter where they are in the buyer's journey.

Once you've developed your content, it's time to share it with your leads.

3. Emails 

Emails will serve as the main communication between you and your leads. They enable you to educate and nurture your leads by providing tailored messaging and content offers.HubSpot provides email marketing tools that make it easy to publish your nurturing emails. You can also incorporate personalization tokens to personalize each recipient's email copy and content.But, building effective emails is only part of the process. You have to send the right content to the right person and schedule when the emails should arrive at their destination.

4. Segmentation 

Lead nurturing is the happy union between content and context. Email is how you provide the content, while segmentation is how you provide context.Segmentation is the process of dividing your contacts into sub-groups (known as segments) based on some type of shared characteristics. It works together with your nurturing emails by providing tailored and relevant content for each individual.For example, you can segment your leads by their buyer personas. Your leads will often have different challenges or goals, affecting the personas you create for them. You can create different email campaigns with relevant and compelling content for each of these personas .Another strategy is to segment leads by where they are in their buyer's journey. Leads in different stages of the buyer's journey are seeking specific information.For instance, leads in the awareness stage may be interested in content about the different types of products that are available, while those in the consideration stage may be more concerned about the pros and cons of each product that they are interested in. You can help more of your leads find the right content by segmenting emails by their buyer's journey stage.Try segmenting leads based on their online activity. A great example of this is automatically sending a welcome email every time a visitor subscribes to your newsletter.Lead nurturing is the happy union between content and context. Email is how you provide the content, while segmentation is how you provide context.

5. Automation 

The final element of a successful lead nurturing campaign is automation. Automation makes it easy to send the right content, to the right person, at the right time. HubSpot offers a workflow tool that can help automate your entire lead nurturing process. This tool can help you:

• Set enrollment triggers that automatically enroll leads based on set criteria.
• Add relevant emails and content that will be sent to enrolled leads.
• Indicate when those emails will be sent to each lead.
• Remove leads once they've met the workflow goal.

Implementing automation into your lead nurturing will not only make the entire process feel seamless, but it will also help you scale your lead nurturing efforts in the future.Incorporating these five fundamental elements into your lead nurturing process will give you the foundation needed to implement campaigns that turn more of your leads into happy customers.

Nurture Your Leads to Create Happy Customers

It takes just a few steps to turn leads into happy, returning customers, and it all starts with thinking of them in the buyer’s journey.Ask yourself what their interests or issues are and what solutions your company has that impact their values, needs, and desires. Then, strategically create your content and send it to your leads in a sequence that moves them from awareness of their problem to the decision to buy your solution.Lead nurturing takes time. Segmenting leads based on their buyer persona and the stage they’re in of the buyer’s journey can help you nurture leads more effectively. Automation can help manage a lot of this process and sendails to the appropriate people at the appropriate time with the appropriate content to move them in the right direction.Are you ready to start nurturing your leads? Use HubSpot’s Marketing Hub to create and launch your campaign today, and turn those leads into customers.

A SaaS welcome email is like the opening act of a grand opera; it sets the tone, introduces the main characters, and creates an air of anticipation.In other words, it’s the very first point of interaction between your business and a new customer or prospect. Hence, its impact on customer engagement, retention rates, and the overall trajectory of the customer relationship can be significant.Research indicates that welcome emails generate 320% more revenue per email than other promotional emails. So, we're not merely discussing an introductory email here; we're exploring a crucial aspect of your customer engagement strategy.Simply put, welcome emails matter because they are an opportunity to make a strong first impression, onboard new users effectively, and start building long-term customer relationships.

The Essential Elements of Welcome Emails in SaaS

Creating a unique, engaging, and effective SaaS welcome email requires a careful blend of several key elements. Understanding these elements can empower businesses to formulate emails that resonate with their customers, therefore improving engagement and customer retention.Let’s review them.

Eye-catching subject line

The subject line is the precursor to the email body. It is the first aspect of the email that recipients see and plays a pivotal role in determining whether the email is opened—so an effective subject line needs to grab the recipient's attention immediately. A great subject line incorporates personalization or highlights an enticing offer to increase open rates.

Personalization and Tone

The tone of your welcome emails plays a significant role in determining how recipients perceive your brand.Personalized emails create a more intimate interaction, leading to increased customer engagement. This can range from simple techniques like using the recipient's name throughout the text or more advanced methods such as targeted content based on customer behavior.A friendly tone that aligns with the brand's image also makes emails more relatable and helps build trust, increasing the chances of long-term email engagement.

Relevant and Clear Call-To-Action (CTA)

The call-to-action (CTA) in your email is your guiding light for customer engagement; it directs your customers toward the desired outcome of the email.A relevant and clear CTA is one that aligns with both the content of the email and the overall objectives of your brand, with a direct, concise message that tells the recipient exactly what to do next.For instance, if the purpose of your email is to encourage a new user to begin using a feature of your SaaS product, your CTA could be "Start Using Now!" This CTA is relevant because it directly ties into the content of the email, and it's clear because it tells the user exactly what to do without overcomplicating anything.The CTA should be prominently placed within your email design, ensuring it catches the recipient's eye. A great way to do this is by using contrasting colors to make the CTA stand out. Above all, always ensure that your CTA text is compelling and clear.

Concise Messaging

The age-old adage, "less is more," indeed holds for email communication. The body of your welcome email should be concise, delivering only the most pertinent information to your reader.First, introduce your SaaS product and its primary value proposition to the user. Second, if there are important features that the user should know about to get started, highlight these briefly.Consider what your recipient needs to know to achieve the desired action and convey that information in as few words as possible. Does your user need to understand a specific feature of your software? Or perhaps they need to be reassured about your data security measures? For example, if your product is a project management tool, explain how it helps in task organization or team collaboration.Third, reassure your users about important aspects such as data security or customer support, if applicable.By condensing this information into crisp, clear sentences, you not only improve the readability of your email but also guide your recipients toward the desired action effectively. This approach ensures you deliver value while respecting your users' time.

Branding and Design

Consistent branding in your welcome email is essential for building brand recognition. Leveraging your brand elements, such as logos, colors, and fonts, can create a familiar and consistent experience for the customer.More importantly, a well-designed, aesthetically pleasing email reinforces your brand image, building customer credibility and trust.

Mobile Optimization

As more and more people adopt mobile devices, adapting your welcome emails for mobile platforms is a necessity. Ensuring that your email design is flexible, with accurate displays across a range of screen sizes, will make your communication accessible and user-friendly—regardless of the device being used.Read: Email Design for Mobile: Best Practices to Take Your Email Marketing Up A Level.

Successful Examples of SaaS Welcome Emails

Now that we've covered the importance and essential elements of SaaS welcome emails let's delve into real-world examples and templates provided by BeeFree. These examples demonstrate how top SaaS businesses utilize welcome emails effectively to drive customer engagement.

Asana Emphasizes Benefits

Asana’s welcome email is a testament to their understanding of users’ needs. The line, "What do you need to get done today?" instantaneously highlights the product’s value proposition.Within the email, they briefly outline the core features and advantages of using Asana, such as task management and project tracking, maintaining brevity while still demonstrating clearly their benefits.The prominent 'Add Your Task' CTA prompts users to take the next step and use the application. And the overall tone of the email feels friendly, helpful, and hopeful of their organizational day ahead with Asana.

Dropbox Displays the Power of Simplicity

Dropbox employs the power of simplicity to its advantage. Their welcome email stands out because of its minimalist design and straight-to-the-point content.The email immediately offers a 'Get Started' CTA button, directing users toward their first interaction with the product.Additionally, they provide a brief rundown on using Dropbox and provide the reader with clear next steps of what’s coming in the next few emails. The direct, uncomplicated approach reduces friction and eases the onboarding process for users.

Slack Leverages Personalization

Slack's welcome email use of simple yet effective email personalization. The email begins with a friendly greeting, addressing the workspace name created by the user. It then proceeds to provide a personalized URL for the user's workspace, which not only offers convenience to the user but also plants the seed of a unique, tailored experience—encouraging them to engage further with Slack.

Zoom's Guided Assistance

Zoom’s welcome email provides new users with a comprehensive starting guide. The email is thoughtfully structured, presenting users with various resources such as training webinars, video tutorials, demo invitations, and support links. This approach not only eases the onboarding process but also emphasizes Zoom's commitment to user success. By offering these resources right in the welcome email, Zoom ensures users can smoothly transition into using their platform.

MailChimp Builds Connection

MailChimp’s welcome email establishes a warm, friendly connection with users from the start. The email begins with a personalized greeting, followed by a brief introduction to their services. They discuss the ease of creating campaigns with MailChimp and guide users to create their first campaign through several CTAs. This approach is effective in making new users feel valued and excited about their journey with MailChimp.

HubSpot Offers Resources

HubSpot keeps content itself to a bare minimum but speaks loudly with the few lines it does include in its welcome email. Brief lines like “Close deals faster” and “250,000+ other sales teams skyrocketing revenue” summarize the product’s key points while still encouraging action. This approach conveys HubSpot's desire for users to succeed and get the most out of their services, which can increase user engagement and long-term retention.

Trello Embraces Visuals

Trello's welcome email stands out with its visually appealing layout and vibrant colors. It delivers a concise yet informative message, guiding users on how to get started with their first board and introducing key features. Through its visually engaging design, Trello effectively conveys its brand persona of simplicity and creativity, setting the stage for a positive user experience that encourages exploration and productivity.

Start Creating Your Eye-catching SaaS Welcome Email with a Template

Creating an effective welcome message from scratch can seem daunting. Thankfully, using a premade email template can help make the process smoother and quicker. Templates help with the heavy lifting of having to identify what to write and where. A great email template should be easy to edit. be engaging, and offer guidance on the content.

Beefree’s SaaS Welcome Email Template

BeeFree's own SaaS welcome email template serves as a prime example of an engaging and well-designed welcome email. It features a simple yet eye-catching visual design, a space to insert personalization, and a brief section to list off features—all elements a SaaS business needs to provide a seamless onboarding experience. The best part? All of Beefree's templates are mobile-optimized to save you time and effort.

Get the Most Out of Your SaaS Welcome Email

The welcome email plays a pivotal role in setting the tone for your customer relationship and should be treated as an opportunity to establish your brand’s voice and personality. As simple as it might seem, that means it’s one of the most important pieces of content you can produce for your SaaSSo, be sure to remember these key elements when writing a winning email: Make sure it is eye-catching, personalized, concise, and mobile-friendly. Use these tips, get inspired by the examples, and make the most out of your welcome emails to foster successful customer relationships.Ready to get started? Check out Beefree’s library of email templates for more inspiration or dive deeper into welcome email design examples.

A strong, on-brand, and engaging experience is everything in e-commerce. Digital communications become the central focus of your brand’s marketing efforts without a face-to-face opportunity to win online customers. That's where an order confirmation email comes in.E-commerce merchants report that as many as 80% of sales will likely come from only 20% of your customers because they return repeatedly.While a digital experience with your audience begins when they first land on your website, they become repeat customers based on the impactful experience you provide after purchase. A confirmation email, more than just a receipt, is your opportunity to engage the customer - let us show you how!

What is an Order Confirmation Email?

Now that we’ve hyped up confirmation emails, I guess it’s time to explain what an order confirmation email is.In short, it’s a transactional receipt sent to acknowledge an online purchase. An electronic confirmation of purchase is important if you’re the customer; it legitimizes the purchase and provides the next steps (and peace of mind).So, what do brands stand to gain from sending transactional emails? This type of communication is an opportunity to build excitement over the purchase—a way of building and nurturing your relationship with your customers.And, of course, a great way to earn valuable repeat business is by introducing additional products or services.Typically, an order confirmation will contain the following:

• Order confirmation number
• Description of what was purchased
• Cost and payment information
• Shipping and delivery details
• Links to your return policies
• Customer service contact information

Features of the Best Order Confirmation Emails

The best order confirmation emails will go beyond the basic nuts and bolts listed above. Here are some additional features of an excellent order confirmation email.

Mobile-Friendly Design

According to Shopify, shoppers will make nearly half of all e-commerce purchases using a mobile device by 2024. People are shopping on their phones, which means they’ll also be looking for that order confirmation email on their smartphones. Mobile-friendly design is a must-have for order confirmation emails if you’re serious about winning repeat business. Read the blog: Email Design for Mobile: Best Practices to Take Your Marketing Emails Up a Level

Brand Voice

It will take more than sending a receipt to excite a customer. Help them see who you are and the value you bring by spicing up your email content with a brand voice. For example, you can integrate voice into graphics or add some delightful intro copy to your email. While the goal is to keep this email reasonably short, it’s still important to create separation between your brand and others.

Call-to-Action

If your ultimate goal is to drive repeat business and engagement, we’d recommend including a call-to-action for the customer to take the next step with you. So what is the next step?

• Cross-sell: show them other products they may like to purchase
• Up-sell: show them how to make their purchase better
• Referral: ask them to share your brand with others for gifts.
• Subscribe: promote newsletter or email sign-ups
• Engage: promote downloading your mobile app
• Reward: provide a coupon for use on a future purchase
• Feedback: ask them to complete a survey or leave a review

Email Subject Line

According to HubSpot, order confirmation emails have the highest open rate at 65%. Of course, this should be expected as the customer wants to confirm and review their order to ensure they were charged appropriately and that the purchase will arrive on time. Because there is great value inside the order confirmation email, it’s essential that the subject line clearly describes what’s inside. Here are a few ways to go about this:

• Administrative: Order #83627193 is confirmed.
• Thank you:  Thank you for your purchase!
• Confirmation:  Review your purchase
• Engaging: We’ve got your order! 

Learning From an Order Confirmation Email Template

If you’re new to order confirmation emails or want to revamp your existing ones, consider using an order confirmation email template. Using a template can save you time when it comes to finding the right layout, sections to include, and overall design of the emails.BEE’s templates are designed with the customer in mind and follow email design best practices, including mobile-friendly layouts. Using our drag-and-drop interface, you can fully customize the email to match your branding and voice.

Examples of Order Confirmation Emails

Here are a few examples of order confirmation emails we love!

Amazon

If you’re one of the millions of Amazon customers, you’ve seen this before. Amazon keeps things short and sweet. You can easily see what was ordered, your total, and when it is expected to arrive. Some stand-out components are the large “view or manage order” button that allows customers to make changes with ease should something need to be edited. The “suggested products” section is also a great use of personalization and encourages repeat purchases.

Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/144607838013729735/

REI Co-op

REI’s order confirmation email is well-branded and easy to read. They’ve chosen to use the bottom of this order confirmation email to promote their membership and credit card programs. One stand-out component that encourages brand loyalty is the REI difference statement which promises a 100% satisfaction guarantee, offering peace of mind to customers with each purchase.

Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/70437474160298/

Order Confirmation Email Best Practices to Consider

The next time you send an order confirmation email, remember that there is more to it than a simple Leverage the high email open rate with the opportunity to cross-sell or grow customer loyalty and drive return sales. Don’t forget to include some elements of your branding. A great place to start is with a well-designed email template, like those available from BEE.

Happy Pride Month! This month's blog spotlight our very own Content Specialist, Emily Santos. Before working with BEE, they operated their very own Brand Studio focusing on human-centered brand strategy and ensuring businesses were acting in alignment with their values. Emily brings this energy to the team by ensuring that our very own messaging, brand, and tone/voice is in alignment with who we are and our beliefs.Here is a little more on their story:

Can you walk us through your journey as a marketer and what led to you BEE? Including different areas of marketing you've worked in, different locations, etc.

My journey to where I am today began in a very unconventional way.It was 2020, and one day, I was a Restaurant Supervisor, and the next, I was an unemployed stay-at-home dog parent. Left with the uncertainty of the hospitality industry and my career, I turned to art as an outlet.A hobby that then turned into a side hustle, which then turned into a full-blown business - Santos & Co Studios. A business that started as me doing custom portraits until the BLM protests started and LGBTQIA+ rights began being threatened; then, I felt like there were more important things than spending my time drawing faces.

"Santos & Co Studios quickly became an outlet for me to speak loudly and boldly about the injustices happening, something that I never really thought I was capable of doing."

I like to think that having my own business provided a safe space for me to speak on these things. There was no one that I had to be worried about offending with my values, and if they were offended, then they were obviously not my audience.It was freeing. I took a step back to rethink the future of Santos & Co. It was important to be that regardless of what I did, I was serving activists and creating art.In an effort to put my Hospitality degree to good use, I looked back at my course material and realized that while building my own brand, I WAS putting my degree to use. Hospitality has a lot of overlapping elements with Branding and Marketing. I took the next two years to learn about Brand Strategy. Learning from industry experts like Melinda Livsey and Jalyn Gordon of The Afrocentric Communiversity. From there, I built my own brand strategy process that, I like to think, was a beautiful blend of activism, human-centered strategy, and values. Long story short, I loved what I did, but being a business owner is hard and unpredictable. On my search for some stability, I was looking for an organization to work for that shared similar values to mine. That spoke loud and proud about what’s important to them. BEE was just that.

As a marketer, what makes you unique within the space? How do you infuse your different identities into your work? 

I think a lot of marketers shy away from their identities, their beliefs, and their opinions. Marketing was never an industry I saw myself part of because of this. I don’t believe in sayings such as “politics have no place in business.” I believe if you have employees or even customers with different identities, your business automatically becomes political. It is so important to consider how the political, social, and economic climate affects the way you serve people, the way they feel taken care of, and the way they thrive. My identities as a non-binary, neurodivergent, Queer, Dominican person influence so much of who I am, what I do, how I speak, how I move through the world, and how I do my work, and I refuse to hide that. I love that BEE lets me express that.

As someone representative of many different cultures and identities, what are your best marketing tips for someone to keep in mind when creating a marketing campaign to ensure it is as inclusive as possible?

Your values should be an integral part of the way you make decisions in your business. It is not enough to plaster on your website “we love inclusivity” and not consider being inclusive when creating campaigns. Ask yourself:

•  “Is this representative of our values,”
•  “In what ways is this campaign representative the change we want to see?” 
• “ Does this campaign in alignment with our mission?” 

And open the conversation beyond your own team to make sure there are no biases. Most importantly, open the conversation to people who don’t share your same identities.

In what ways do you think the marketing space can better support and elevate diverse voices?

This can be as simple as bringing diverse voices onto your team. If everyone in your team shares similar identities to yours, ask yourself, “Why?” And it might not even be on purpose. It’s not malicious; it happens. There may perhaps be some unconscious biases to deconstruct that we’re unaware of. Regardless, the best way to START elevating and supporting diverse voices is to bring them on to your team.

What is the one thing companies can do right now in 2023 to be better allies?

Start internally.Does your company have policies and systems that allow LGTBQIA+ folx to feel safe and thrive? More specifically, how is your organization helping Trans folx feel safe, supported, and acknowledged? AND are LGBTQIA+ folx involved in the process of creating such policies and systems? If not, maybe it’s time to ask for their support in how you can better serve them.Externally, I recommend saving changing your logo to a rainbow and asking yourself what you’re doing to take a stand against Anti-LGBTQ bills and legislation. Are you aware of the laws currently being passed in your state? What are you doing to protect your LGBTQ community?If you’re wanting to be a better ally, my recommendation is not to act just yet. Before taking action, sit, reflect, assess, and educate yourself! Learn from diverse voices and hear what they have to say about being better allies. Most importantly, understand that perfect allyship does not exist. Acknowledging that you have biases that need to be deconstructed is the first step, and take small steps every day to work towards a better future for all.

Just when you thought you had Millennials figured out, here comes Gen Z. Being that Gen Z's current age ranges from 11-26, it's safe to say that they are now the majority of college attendees. This makes them your target demographic when it comes to thinking about your student retention strategies. The good news is that email is still the most effective way to communicate with this audience. According to a Campaign Monitor survey, 81% of Gen Z check their email daily and prefer it over other forms of communication.

Strategy #1: Personalize Emails to Students

One benefit email has over other marketing channels is the ability to personalize content for the recipient.

We talk about this one a lot, but it is one of the most effective ways to get students to engage. Email automation platforms have tools that allow customization of messaging from subject lines to whole paragraphs and even images. This personalization allows you to make students feel special and build personable connections build on their own unique college experiences.

Here are some ways to use personalization to improve your email student retention strategies 

• Subject lines - Use their first name as a greeting to improve open rates.
• Graduation dates - Let them know you are following their success.
• Field of study - Show interest in topics they may be interested in.
• Birthdate - Wish them well on their special day.

Read: How to Drive Student Engagement Using Personalization in Email

Strategy #2: Use Visuals

Gen Z is a very visual group, with studies showing high weekly engagement on visual social media: 89% use YouTube, 74% are on Instagram, and 68% use Snapchat. That's why including visuals is a great way to boost engagement and retention in communications with your Gen Z students.

When choosing visuals, use high-quality images of the campus, events, or student life that get students excited for the next event or classes. It’s important when using visuals to consider best practices for diversity and inclusion to make sure everyone feels represented in your university. As always, keep in mind accessibility guidelines by including alt text and optimizing your images for email.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDQmWRJBFg0

Strategy #3: Be Mobile-Friendly

Gen Z has been around technology their entire lives. Their expectations for tech-savvy communication are high, meaning emails and online forms should always be optimized for mobile use. By ignoring mobile design standards, your emails could end up in the virtual trashcan.

Tips for mobile-friendly email design

• Use a responsive email design that adjusts to screen sizes. BEE Pro offers a mobile design mode to help you quickly optimize emails for mobile devices by hiding and stacking elements.
• Highlight important information near the top of the email, and help the students avoid long-scrolling actions.
• Use clear branding with your logo and colors for fast recognition.
• Use large fonts and clear calls to action that are easy to read and select.

Examples of Best Practices for Mobile-Friendly Email Design

A great example of an optimized mobile experience is this email from Disney. The headline is engaging and immediately tells you what the email is about. The image is high quality, and there is a clear call to action. And, of course, the email is on brand throughout its entirety.

Who says email communication has to be boring? Especially with Gen Z, a great way to get them to open an email is by using pop culture references or humor. This example from Topgolf uses humor in the subject line to pull in the reader. To add an additional human touch, the email has a testimonial for a customer. Incorporate this into your student retention email by asking for testimonials after campus events.

Strategy #4: Use Social Proof

Gen Z’s affinity to social media and digital channels has influenced the level of value they place on social proof and the emotion they feel when they miss out. Share stories about activities, events, recognitions, etc., to leverage this generation’s FOMO (fear of missing out) and increase student participation.

How to incorporate social proof into emails

• Use testimonials or quotes from current students, alums, or faculty
• Feature awards or recognitions other students have received
• Include videos of activities recorded by current or former students

Strategy #5: Provide Interactive Content

This goes beyond images and video content. Interactive content, such as surveys, quizzes, or polls, is a way to gather valuable information to improve your student retention strategies.

Examples of interactive content for emails

• Generate a quiz to help students uncover their learning styles or career interests
• Ask students to complete a survey for feedback on a recent program or event
• Poll students on their opinions about current trends or issues

And don't forget to take action! These surveys or polls are a great way to identify the changes and improvements your students desire and work toward improving student engagement and retention.

For instance, if you learn they would like more cereal options in the cafeteria, then provide more variety so students will be more likely to gather and socialize during meals. Taking action on feedback is a good way to engage students in a process and earn trust.

Strategy #6: Provide Valuable Content

To keep students engaged in reading email content, ensure the content you send provides value. Go beyond on-campus activities and position yourself as a trusted source for students to be able to excel beyond their college years.

Examples of valuable content for students

• Career advice
• Study tips
• Personal development topics
• Job/internship opportunities

Consider using segmentation to tailor content toward certain student groups, such as by field of study, activities, or geography if you have multiple campus locations. This option can increase the relevancy and value of the content being provided.

Strategy #7: Use Email Automation

To maintain consistent communication with students, email automation is a helpful tool. Automation can ensure messages are delivered timely. You can create a cadence of alerts and reminders for important events, such as semester registration, to alert students of upcoming responsibilities and deadlines. 

Examples of automated emails for higher education

• Welcome email series introducing students to campus and resources
• Schedule follow-ups for important reminders and announcements
• Event or class reminders

By providing reminders and timely information to students, you will help them to stay engaged and participate, with fewer opportunities to forget.

BONUS STRATEGY: Use AI 

An effective way to optimize your student retention strategies is to incorporate new and innovative tools that allow you to do your best work, fast. That's why we recommend AI.

While AI is still new, it's no secret that it is a great tool to help optimize your email content and improve overall performance, all while saving you time and effort.Join us on May 3rd to learn how you can harness the power of AI and BEE Pro for A/B testing, language translations, and overall just creating more effective, engaging, and impactful emails and landing pages. Register HERE!

There are various ways that your university can leave a lasting first impression on incoming students. A great example is orientation day/week. This event typically starts a few weeks before the academic year begins. It is an effective way to get students to meet their classmates and teachers, tour the campus, and experience a small glimpse of the next four years. Undoubtedly, this is an important step in getting students excited and engaged. But what if there was a way to emulate this excitement far before orientation?

The onboarding process for a student is crucial in how they will feel coming into your university. How you handle the onboarding process determines how safe and secure a student feels about their decision and their willingness to engage in university activities such as clubs, volunteering, and even their classes.

Most universities miss that student onboarding begins the moment they decide to attend their institution. So, how can you create a student onboarding experience that gets them excited from Decision Day and beyond? 

Student Onboarding Emails

An affordable and effective way to create an impactful student onboarding experience is through emails. 

An impactful onboarding email is a great way to welcome students to college and communicate important information that prepares them for success and excites them about the journey ahead. Frequent and resourceful communication allows students to feel sure about their decision, which supports student retention and engagement rates.

Beefree makes creating on-brand email sequences easier for higher education marketers by providing optimized and mobile-friendly email templates.

But, before digging into your email’s design, let’s discuss the best way to get started with a student onboarding college newsletter.

Before designing, establish your goal.

The first step to creating email communication is to identify who the audience is and what information they need. Next, consider your goals for communication in the example of a college student onboarding email. When thinking about goals, also think about the types of content that would help you achieve them.

• Student Orientation - provide helpful campus information like facility hours, building policies, and available student resources.
• Engagement - build community by sharing information about upcoming activities or social events.
• Retention - ensure students have a great start to the year by sharing tips for success in the classroom and how to make new connections.

What goals does your email marketing team have? Strategizing them and listing them out can keep everyone on track for building a successful student onboarding college newsletter.

Let’s get to design. 

Start from scratch or use an email template. 

Beefree makes email communications a breeze for higher education email marketers. 

Choose an existing template or create a new one from scratch. There are pros to both!

Beefree templates are professionally designed with your audience in mind and optimized for conversion. By starting with an existing template, you don’t have to worry about identifying which sections your audience needs, which layout, or where to add images and personalization. Simply drag and drop your unique content into the template and change style guidelines to ensure you stay cohesive with your university’s brand identity.

If you’re going the template route, start here: Higher Education Template Collection.

By “starting from scratch,” the possibilities are endless. Beefree gives you the unlimited design freedom to create fully customized email experiences by adding brand images, campaign videos, gifs, and more.

Email Design Best Practices for Using Beefree  

Beefree allows anyone to design emails with ease, regardless of experience. Our intuitive builder is easy-to-use and requires minimal time to get the hang of it. Here are a few features that will allow you to get the most out of Beefree.

• Style settings - Whether you’re starting from scratch or using a template, start by setting your style guidelines into Beefree. Add your universities color palette, font systems, buttons, icons, and even select your desired width for emails and pages to get an easy start to design. 
• Image library: Upload and keep your universities campus, faculty, and event images in one place so that everyone can access them easily when creating future emails or landing pages.
• Saved rows: Once you’ve built your repetitive content blocks, such as footers and headers, save them and reuse them for next time!
• Synced rows: Great for saved rows that need to be regularly updated, such as menu bars, social links, and terms and conditions. All changes made to a “synced row” will auto-populate in all other templates where that row lives, saving you time and minimizing errors. 

Double Check Everything on Mobile Design Mode

Okay! So you’ve customized your email or template to your liking and saved your rows for next time. Now it’s time to test it on mobile. 

85% of people open emails using their smartphones; therefore, it’s crucial that all emails are built with mobile in mind.

Beefree offers Mobile Design Mode to help you visualize exactly how your content will be shown on mobile.

A PRO tip is to toggle between desktop and mobile while designing to save time and make changes as you go

With Beefree, any changes to the below elements will only be applied to mobile mode for an optimized mobile experience:

• Alignments
• Button widths
• Paddings
• Spacer heights
• Text sizes
• Reconfiguring of elements
• Hiding elements  

The best part about using Beefree for designing mobile-friendly emails is that there is absolutely no coding required. 

Read: Email Design for Mobile: Best Practices to Take Your Email Marketing Up a Level

Collaborate with your team.

You’ve completed your email. Now it’s time to get feedback from your team. Simply begin the review process using our “Request for Approval” feature. The flow will then guide you and your team toward a fully on-brand and approved student onboarding newsletter.

This feature is available for Enterprise customers only, but Free and Team plans can still enjoy seamless collaboration by:

• Using “Send Test” to send your email designs to team members and request feedback.
• Provide comments within the email builder.
• Customize user and permission settings to let team members edit content (or not).

Engaging your whole marketing team to create a memorable student onboarding experience has never been easier.

From an Email to a Landing Page, Easy.

Once you have your email designs done and approved, it’s time to create additional assets that allow you to create a cohesive onboarding experience. Landing pages are a great way to expand the information included in your emails and further create an impactful onboarding experience for incoming students.

With Beefree, you can convert any email into a one-page landing page with just one click. From there, you can easily adjust the layout, content, and CTAs.

Start Designing Your Student Onboarding Emails With Beefree

The best part? It's free to get started.Create student onboarding email sequences, orientation day invitations, course reminders, and so much more. Sign up now! 

Today’s incoming higher education students are part of Generation Z. Meaning that when it comes to choosing the right university for them, they are likely to turn to online sources.When searching for the right university online, Gen Z looks for disruptors and organizations that reflect their personalities and values.Gen Z’s knowledge of technology and familiarity with social media makes them more likely to research their options online versus past generations. Nearly half of Gen Zers are online “almost constantly.”Because of this, your goal as institutional marketers should be to ramp up digital communications. Email is a great way to spur interest in your university and show them why you’re the right fit for them.Now you may be wondering…

Is Email Marketing Effective in Higher Education?

Email marketing remains a popular channel for communicating with Generation Z. Not only does it have a strong ROI with an average return of $44 for every $1 spent, but 85% of Gen Z prefers email over other forms of communication.With 58% saying they check their inboxes multiple times daily, there is ample opportunity to engage incoming students via email to get them excited about choosing your university.A well-written and designed welcome message is the perfect way to start a new relationship. It can help the student feel connected, encouraged, and your educational institution.So, how do you design an inspiring welcome message for students?Continue reading for some of our best practices in email marketing for higher education.

Crafting an Inspirational Welcome Message for Students

A welcome message is a meaningful way to set the tone for an engaging and successful long-term connection. For the best result, make sure your emails have a nice balance between valuable and inspiring content.For instance, when sharing information like campus resources, sprinkle in a hopeful message reminding them of their bright future.Welcome emails are emails with the highest open rates –86% higher, in fact. It’s the first impression, so make it count.To deliver a high-performing welcome message, it’s best to segment your content based on where the student is in their onboarding journey.For instance, a student majoring in science may require a lab coat and safety goggles, while a math major needs an advanced calculator. Understanding the student’s needs will help you to provide the most relevant and valuable information.

Best Practices for Designing a Welcome Message

There are many best practices to consider when designing an impactful welcome message for students.

1. Personalization

Create an instant connection with incoming students by personalizing messages for them. For instance, personalized subject lines make recipients 26% more likely to open your email.Our PRO tip?Go beyond the subject line. Include relevant information about the student, such as their current school, a potential field of study, or graduation date, using dynamic content to help establish relevance and personalized experience.

2. Clear and Concise Messaging

Research shows you have about eight seconds to capture the attention of Gen Z. This means emails need to be focused and easy to understand. Use bullet points, short paragraphs, graphics, and callouts to create interest in your email content.

3. Attention-Grabbing Email Design

Similar to keeping the messages clear and concise, images should be visually appealing and layouts easy to navigate. Remember that many Gen Z’ers will most likely check their email on a smartphone, so ensuring images and layouts are optimized for mobile is very important to engagement.If you’re not a professional email designer or need a little inspiration, check out the template catalog available on our website for a variety of easy-to-use and visually appealing email layouts.

4. Highlight Key Benefits and Opportunities

When writing email content, including the “what’s in it for me” angle.This would include the key benefits and opportunities the student will have by engaging with your educational institution. You can showcase the unique resources, extracurricular activities, or academic programs your university offers that set you apart.

Examples of Successful Welcome Messages You Can Copy ;)

Many businesses and organizations use welcome messages to engage prospects or new subscribers. It’s important to start new relationships off on the right foot. Here are some examples of welcome emails we like.This email by Sephora uses white space and a fun font to capture attention. It’s well branded using Sephora’s signature black and white designs but has a few splashes of red for a pop of color that guides the eye downwards. The content does a great job of expressing the benefits of shopping at Sephora from a "whats in it for me" angle.

Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/123145371052121884/In this welcome email from Munchery, they use big, colorful images and a clear call-to-action. The CTA is a bright orange color that dramatically stands out.The content is short and sweet not to overwhelm the reader, and there is a good amount of whitespace.Universities can follow a similar idea by using engaging images to pull the reader in, while not overwhelming them with too much content within the email. Consider how images could be used to inspire feelings, like how Munchery makes us hungry!

Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/6966574414809343/

Optimizing Your Email Marketing Strategy

Once you’ve drafted your welcome message, remember the work has just begun. Now it’s time to test and refine the message over time to improve student engagement and action.Consider these additional ways to optimize your welcome email:

• Build a segmented list to incorporate more personalized messages
• Incorporate A/B testing to continually improve your message
• Analyze post-send data to refine messages and targeting strategies
• Improve the efficiency of your marketing program with tools and resources like marketing automation software or BEE Pro that can help streamline email design efforts. 

Get Started with BEE Pro to Design Welcome Messages for Students that Inspire

There is no question that email marketing is alive and well with the upcoming generation of students. Ensure you build inspirational and captivating email campaigns, starting with strong welcome messages, to grow long-lasting and successful relationships.Design beautiful emails using best practices and mobile optimization quickly and stress-free with BEE Pro!

In 2021, U.S. colleges and universities raised an impressive $52.9 billion toward their fundraising goals. Alumni donations accounted for 23% of that total, showing just how important strong alumni engagement is for a university's success.So, how do universities use the money donated by alumni?

• Maintain operations
• Offer scholarships
• Improve/update technology
• Support specialty programs, such as study abroad and athletics
• Revitalize campus facilities
• Fund research programs

Higher education institutions rely on donations to support their everyday operations and to be able to give back to the students through events, tools, resources, and courses. Coupled with the changes in the workforce and mostly digital society, funds acquired help universities provide students the latest software and technology, setting them up for success.

5 Tips to Increase Alumni Engagement Using Email

Statista projects businesses will send more than 375 billion emails daily by 2025. This means that any email communication you send to alumni must command (and keep) their attention.

We Know You Hear This A Lot, But Write Compelling Subject Lines!

The subject line is truly the most important line of copy in an email. Why? Because it helps alumni decide whether they want to open the email or not.A great subject line evokes an emotion, elicits curiosity, and at times, makes them laugh. But most importantly, emails for alumni serve as reminders of why they love their Alma Mater.Here are some tips for writing an attention-grabbing subject line.

• Keep it short: you should grab their attention with as little as 40-50 characters.
• Don’t sound spammy: even though you may want to give away a free item in exchange for a donation, don’t use “free” in the subject line, or your message could go to spam.
• Ask a question: use a question to remind them of a college memory, like cramming for a test in the library.
• Create a sense of urgency: remind them students need their support now for the upcoming year 

Besides keeping it short and clear, here are some additional elements (with examples you can steal) to create a subject line that gets alumni to open:

• Draw curiosity: – trust us, you don’t want to miss out on this
• Urgency: One day left to make a difference!
• Belonging: We couldn’t have done it without you
• Personalized: , your help is needed

Use Personalization to Connect with Alumni

As we mentioned before, email inboxes are busy places. Personalization is an excellent way to get alumni to engage. When scrolling through the list of unread emails, readers are more likely to click on an email that calls them out personally.In fact, research shows personalized content engages readers. It improves open rates by 11% and clicks by 27%.When using personalization, consider what you know about your audience to generate successful email campaigns. Some personalized fields include:

• Name
• Last gift amount
• Donation history
• Graduation class
• College field of study

Use this information to interest readers beyond a simple “Hello, John.” We recommend weaving personalized details throughout the message to strengthen the idea you’re trying to communicate.Here are some ways to integrate personalization into a fundraising message:

• Thank you for your gift of [$10,000] last year.
• We appreciate the generous donations coming from the .
• Your support is helping to keep the department thriving.

Web is Dead: Optimize Email Content for Mobile Devices

Up to 41% of emails are opened on a mobile device, surpassing desktop (39%). While that might not seem like much of a difference, we will continue to see a spike favoring mobile in the coming years.This means that if your email is not optimized for mobile, you could be delivering less-than-stellar experiences for alumni. Always make sure that it is easy for alumni to complete the desired action.Here are some essential items to consider when optimizing your messages for mobile.

• Make the design feel app-like: use short amounts of copy and big buttons to take action.
• Use small file sizes: attention spans are short, and readers won’t wait for images to load.
• Use a large font size: no one wants to squint at their phone!

Don’t be Shy! Ask for a Donation.

When it comes to email marketing, beating around the bush won’t get you very far.A call-to-action is a direct statement leading the reader to take a desired step.Calls-to-action should be displayed as a large button or a highlighted link that the reader can easily click on.And if you’re too shy, we get it - there are various ways to ask for money without saying “Give Now” or “Donate Now.”After all, if every email you send says “Give Us Money Now,” alumni will eventually stop opening them. It’s good to change things up now and then to maintain engagement.Here are some options for inspiring call-to-action phrases.

• Make a Difference
• Donate Online
• See the Impact
• Support Students
• Leave a Legacy
• Join Us!

Remember, the alum audience is already invested in your university and wants to help in whichever way they can. A clear call to action makes it clear to the reader exactly how they can help.

Design Matters!

Inspire action in your university’s alums with engaging and strategic email design. Some ways to use design to level up your fundraising emails are:

• Send branded emails with university colors and logos to improve the legitimacy
• Incorporate images and videos in emails to evoke past college memories
• Use a layout that’s easy to navigate and write short copy
• Use an attractive and attention-grabbing color for call-to-action buttons

Great email design delights the reader and sparks memories of the fun they had in college. Feeling reminiscent of positive experiences can contribute to a larger sense of camaraderie with today’s students.One way to do this is to show them how their contributions are supporting current students in creating memorable, community-building experiences.Include photos or videos of life on campus, events, scholarship recipients saying “thank you,” or new equipment being used in class to relay feelings of gratitude and inspire future giving.

Increase Alumni Engagement With BEE Pro

Designing engaging alumni fundraising communications and newsletters has never been easier using BEE Pro. Our easy-to-use, mobile-responsive, drag-and-drop editor will help you follow email best practices to drive donations and alumni engagement.Start designing your university fundraising efforts using one of our free higher education templates made with conversion in mind.

If you look close enough, you'll find that most places serve you with a personalized experience. Like how Starbucks asks for your name when ordering, and Amazon recommends similar products you may like based on previous purchases. In recent years, even personalization in email has entered the marketing world with the development of dynamic email content and emojis.

Without even noticing it, personalization has become another thing we've grown accustomed to, making it harder for businesses to stand out. While digital needs have developed over time for many of us, Gen Z is different.

Gen Z spends more than eight hours a day and grew up with these "personalized experiences." They expect digital delivery in everything—education, communication, and marketing. And not just digital communications but engaging, thought-provoking, human, and well… personalized-to-them, digital communications.

So the question is, how can universities use personalization in email by leveraging what they know about them to increase student engagement?

Universities need students to be engaged. Students support universities in every stage of the recruitment process. Students are the best marketing tool. Incoming students look at factors like student retention rates, job placement, and academic achievement, all of which suffer if students become disengaged. 

The future of the university relies on engaged students. 

Understanding Personalization in Email

Today's consumers expect personalized email content, and 76% get frustrated if expectations aren't met. Consumers know that their time is valuable and that you need them more than they need you. When content is not personalized for what suits their needs or anticipates their desires, they'll probably feel disappointed or annoyed if they even open your email. The same can be said for students. 

Email personalization is essential for communicating with Gen Z and the college population because they are looking for convenience and ease above all. They want to have all the information they need at their fingertips.

Beyond that, they want to feel taken care of. It's important to students that their university provides them with precisely what they need to succeed. And, of course, because not every student is the same — this is where personalization in email comes in.More than 80% of Gen z say they're more likely to choose a brand that personalizes content. The same can be said for whether or not they engage with their university.

Here are some ways your university can benefit from increased online student engagement with personalization:

• Improved open rates and response rates
• Boosted enrollment
• Streamlined online processes
• Enhanced emotional connections with students
• Better referrals and future giving

Knowing Your Audience for Effective Email Personalization

Segmenting an extensive email list into smaller groups is a best practice among email marketers that higher education professionals can easily apply to their marketing efforts. 

Segmentation enables you to provide a more customized message that will resonate better with each smaller group of students. 

In fact, brands that rely on email segmentation and personalization have seen revenue increase by up to 760%.

Now the question is, how can colleges collect this information?

A simple common practice is asking for it on your website's basic interest form or sending an automated survey once students accept the university. Some examples of segments could be: 

• Areas of study: Each area of study could receive personalized emails on networking opportunities, jobs, and internships. 
• Special interests/activities: You could share upcoming events or clubs depending on the student's interest.
• Dorm: You wouldn't want to send information about Dorm F to Students in Dorm A. Segmenting this group ensures that all the information you share applies to each student. 
• Year in school: This helps deliver specific information about graduation, orientation, new-student activities, etc. 

Email Personalization Inspiration

We’re big fans of showing, not telling. Here are a few ways brands use personalization to inspire your next student body email.

In this email from United, they use personalization to remind travelers about their upcoming vacation. Along with providing a clear CTA to book their next vacation. This email helps travelers keep United top of mind next time they think about a vacation. 

You can follow a similar strategy in your higher education emails to inform students about specific classes or activities a student participated in or remind them to register for next semester’s classes. This email could provide all the details, like due dates, and links to the next steps. Like United, you want students to keep this email in mind when registering for events/classes.

In this email from PetSmart, they use personalization by including information about this specific customer. For instance, the use of their email in the top right corner. Couples with the display of how many points they have until their next reward and information about their "pet family." They even take it one step further by asking for more information about the customer's pets. Perhaps to even further segment their list and therefore create more personalized emails. 

A fun way to incorporate this into your higher education emails is by reminding students of how many credits they need until graduation and personalizing information about classes they’ve taken or professors they’ve had.

Crafting Personalized Subject Lines and Greetings

The subject line is the most crucial part of the email—it persuades the reader to open it, so don't forget to use personalization in the subject line when possible. Consider writing email communications as if you're writing to a close friend. This comfort level will help the recipient feel more closely connected with your school.Here are some ways to personalize a subject line to maximize email engagement:

• Lead with their name: , we hope to see you at orientation!
• Connect with their interests: 3 ways our rock
• Notice their graduation date: Only days left until graduation!

Using Dynamic Content to Personalize Emails

Rely on your marketing automation platform or CRM to deliver fully personalized email experiences using dynamic content. Systems offer a variety of ways to personalize email content. With these functions, you can replace entire paragraphs of text, images, etc., based on information stored in a recipient's profile.The email example above from PetSmart featured two dog icons with the names and birthdays of the pet family. Through dynamic content and segmentation, PetSmart creates a personalized email experience for this customer.Some technology-savvy schools have taken dynamic content further, includingpersonalized videosin emails! Personalization puts the reader into the story—helping them to envision themselves at the university. Gen Z is a high consumer of video content, making them the perfect target demographic for this type of effort.

Personalizing Calls-to-Action for Increased Student Engagement

Another way to increase student engagement in communications is to personalize the call-to-action (CTA). The CTA is your invitation to the reader to take the next step, whether applying, contacting you to schedule a visit, or completing a survey.To create a compelling, personalized CTA, keep the reader in mind. How can you connect with them emotionally using the information you have collected about them? A great example if to use "I" or "My" in the copy to make the button more intuitive for the reader.Here are some examples of personalized CTAs.

• Start now,
• Apply for
• I want to join!
• Yes, I'll share my insights.

BEE Pro Email Templates for Higher Education

Connecting with the students of Gen Z requires new, engaging means of communication. Email personalization provides them with an experience tailored to their unique needs and interests and allows them to feel cared for and connected with their university.BEE Pro allows higher education professionals to design on-brand, customized emails quickly and easily. A great example of BEE Pro in action, Dwayne Rice, Senior Associate Director of CRM Engagement and Digital Marketing from USC Marshall School of Business.Rice uses BEE Pro to create personalized emails for his 11 graduate programs to communicate with potential and current students and alumni.Start from scratch or use one of our ready-to-useHigher Education templates. Either way,get started for freeand happy designing!

The higher education industry encounters numerous challenges in the process of designing a great college newsletter. Challenges such as, struggling to keep up with the rapidly advancing technology in email marketing, contenting to limited resources, and ensuring that the campaigns are both relevant and engaging for their wide range of target audiences.The truth is, emails have evolved from simply being a form of communication to a tool for universities to establish connections with students, potential recruits, alumni, and their own internal teams.It's no longer enough to send simple text-based emails; now, the higher education industryhave to strive to ensure their messages are read and opened amidst increasing competition.Keep reading for email design ideas from professionals across different industry that you can implement today to design a great college newsletter.

1. Include Upcoming Events

"Make sure to include upcoming events on the college campus. When people read newsletters, it's nice for them to feel like they have things to look forward to. It also makes them feel like they're in an environment where there's always something fun or interesting going on. This lets them continue to look forward to receiving your newsletter."Maegan Griffin, Founder, CEO, Nurse Practitioner , Skin Pharm

2. Incorporate Images and Videos into Your Emails 

"Incorporate images and videos into your college newsletter to make it visually appealing and engaging for readers. Images and videos break up text blocks and add interest to your newsletter, so it’s more likely readers will read all the way through. Additionally, images and videos illustrate your point or visually tell a story, so your audience better understands your messaging.When using images and videos in your newsletter, use only high-quality images that are relevant to your topic. Otherwise, you wind up distracting readers from the messaging rather than help them comprehend it."Matthew Ramirez, CEO, Rephrasely

3. Include Topics Readers Enjoy

"Newsletters usually suffer from low open rates because they fail to address the needs of their audience.This often happens with college newsletters because faculty assume students are solely interested in scholastic topics. College newsletters rely as much on marketing psychology as any business email campaign does.Your first step should be sending out surveys to collect data on students' interests. Then, infuse these topics into your newsletter in the form of content pillars. By weaving in the student body’s ongoing interests—clubs, campus events, or sponsored job opportunities—you'll instantly see an uptick in your open and click through rates."Brian Nagele, CEO, Restaurant Clicks

4. Try Black and White Design

"One tip for designing a great college newsletter is to consider using black and white design elements. Black and white visuals can provide a clean, modern look that will draw readers in and help make your content more readable. This way you can draw readers’ focus toward the content, rather than eye-catching color or images.It’s also important to make sure the layout is organized, with a hierarchy of headings and subheadings that naturally guide readers through the content.Try using a grid-based design to ensure that all elements and texts are in the appropriate place on the newsletter. This breaks up the monotony of a black and white composition, making it more engaging for readers."Shaun Connell, Founder, WritingTips.org

5. Make the Layout Easy to Navigate

"One great tip for designing a college newsletter is to make sure that the layout is easy to navigate. When it comes to layout, simplicity is key. Use easy-to-read fonts and spacing, and limit the number of different typefaces you use.Breaking your content down into digestible chunks and using headings and subheadings will help your readers quickly scan through the information. Add images and graphs that’ll break up the text and add interest, but make sure they’re relevant to your topic. You also want to be careful about how much information you include—newsletters can quickly become overwhelming if you try to pack in too much information."Kate Wojewoda-Celinska, Marketing Manager, Spacelift

6. Ensure Your Emails Are Accessible

I would ensure that your newsletter is accessible to individuals with disabilities across all devices.Responsive design is when a website or email newsletter is correctly rendered on a variety of platforms, including desktop, mobile, and tablet. Making responsive newsletters is essential as more people read their emails on mobile devices.Thankfully, there are several email marketing platforms available that make it really simple to create flexible newsletter designs.Alice Hall, Co-Founder & Creative Director, Rowen Homes

Design a Great College Newsletter using BEE Pro

The higher education sector is facing increasing difficulties in creating impactful and engaging email campaigns. With the evolution of technology and shifting design trends, higher education institutions must work harder to achieve their goals through email marketing.To address these challenges, it is crucial for these institutions to look to other industries for inspiration and stay current with the latest design trends.BEE Pro, a collaborative email builder, provides a solution to these difficulties. With access to the most recent design trends and over 1,500 templates designed for conversion, higher education institutions can easily create emails for various audiences, such asstudents, recruits, or alumni’s. BEE Pro's latest feature, "synced row", takes email creation to the next level. This feature allows for effortless and seamless updating of your design systems such as -- headers, footers, social links, and menu bars across all templates.Simply make changes to a row in one template, and those changes will automatically "sync" in all other areas where the row is used. This helps keep designs consistent, accurate, and on brand. To learn more about the "Synced Row" feature, watch the video below.https://youtu.be/aQAbfcxkqTg?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=6-tips-for-designing-a-great-college-newsletter

With 2022 coming to a fast close, now is the time to start planning and creating end-of-year email campaigns to thank your stakeholders and stay top of mind when they begin considering who to continue supporting.These campaigns are specially important because they set the tone for what's to come in the new year from yourinitiatives, goals, and ongoing efforts to support your communities.We know the importance of this season for nonprofit organizations. That’s why to help nonprofits craft successful end-of-the-year email campaigns, we asked CEOs and marketing professionals this question for their best tips. From leaning into “gifting” language to not being shy to make ‘the ask,’ there are several tips to help you launch memorable and engaging end-of-the-year email campaigns that leave members and donors excited for the year to come.Here are 10 tips for creating successful end-of-the-year email campaigns for nonprofits:

• Lean into "Gifting" Language

• Use Visuals/Infographics for Impact

• Include a Video Recap of the Year

• Tell Your Organization’s Story

• Segment Your Emails

• Reach Out to Avid Donors Through a Soft Launch

• Avoid Repeating the Same Subject Line

• Thanking Your Donors

• Don’t Forget to Follow Up

• Don’t Be Shy to Make the Ask

Lean Into "Gifting" Language

" The end of the year coincides with the holidays when most folks are in a mindset of goodwill and giving. Nonprofits can capitalize on this connection to humanity and frame engagement as a natural extension of the holidays. For example, a subject line might read, "There's a gift you're forgetting!" These occasions often remind people how blessed they are, plus they are conditioned to give gifts. By crafting messaging around gift-giving versus donation, you can leverage seasonal generosity and drive one final fundraising push for the year." Michael Alexis, CEO, TeamBuilding

Use Visuals/Infographics for Impact

“Visuals are super-effective when it comes to making your messages effective. They grab attention and evoke emotions. You need that to successfully launch end-of-the-year email campaigns. Use relevant images; you can capture your own or use stock images. Or, use infographics to spread awareness about your cause. For instance, if your nonprofit is working on improving the lives of homeless communities, include relevant stats in your infographics. In short, visuals grab interest faster than text. At this time of the year, when every brand and charity organization is launching campaigns, there’s a high chance yours might get blended into the noise. Unique imagery and infographics can help you stand out from the crowd.”Daniel Foley, Director of Marketing, SEO Stack

PRO Tip: With the rate of emails consistently increasing, make sure all images and visuals and optimized for mobile viewing.

Include a Video Recap of the Year

“Include an inspirational video that serves as a recap of all that the non-profit was able to accomplish over the past year. Express gratitude to your donors and supporters in this video as well. Then you can make the ask for further donations to keep the non-profit's initiatives going. A well-done video montage with moving music can be an extremely powerful way to convey a message. Showing rather than telling can make people feel more connected to your non-profit and, thus, more willing to support it.”Miles Beckett, Co-Founder & CEO, Flossy

Tell Your Organization’s Story

“Create a compelling, cohesive email campaign that tells your organization’s story. Create a series of content-rich emails that include compelling text and images, and new appeal information. After that, you can even follow up with current donors. Create an email template for your campaigns with aspects like date, time, text, and image links. With these features in place, you’re ready to engage donors with a new offer.”Ilija Sekulov, Marketing & SEO, Mailbutler

Segment Your End-Of-Year Email Campaigns

“Since the end of the year is always busy, many other non-profits will be reaching out, too. Make sure you send at least 6-7 emails up until December to stay top-of-mind for your supporters. Also, segment your emails to nurture your leads, and don't become repetitive to the supporters who have already donated.”Brenton Thomas, CEO, Twibi Digital Marketing Agency

Reach Out to Avid Donors Through a Soft Launch

“Gain some early momentum for your campaign by doing a soft launch to a select group of your loyal supporters two weeks before you send it out to the general public. Craft an email introducing your campaign by emphasizing the value they bring to your cause, motivating them to help jumpstart your fundraising effort. Write a compelling subject line that's time and personalized but also has a sense of urgency: "The best gift you can give those in need this holiday season." Include a concise description of your campaign and its goals in the body of the email. And mention their previous involvement with your nonprofit and the impact their gifts have made. You may also want to offer special incentives that only your most avid supporters will receive. Be sure to thank them and then sign it with your name above your organization's name. Closing your email with a personal touch shows supporters how much you value them.”Maria Shriver, Cofounder & CEO, MOSH

Avoid Repeating the Same Subject Line

“It's not unusual to get no response from your prospects on the initial part of your email campaign. If that happens, avoid repeating the same subject line in your follow-up emails. The reason is that it only increases your chance of getting rejected again or, worse, being treated as spam. Make the subject line more personal and approachable instead of letting it sound generic and transactional. That will give your recipients the idea that the message comes from a real person and is not just automatically generated by the system.”Sam Tabak, Board Member, RMBH Charities

Thanking Your Donors

“It’s never enough to thank your donors; after all, it’s all because of them that you’re successfully running a non-profit, and more importantly, the right people are being helped. Craft unique, warm, beautiful, and heartfelt thank you emails beforehand to thank your donors the moment they donate. You can even take a step further by delivering the physical hand-written thank you cards to their doorstep. The goal is to appreciate their valuable input in helping you accomplish your nonprofit’s mission. Make sure you’re doing that; in your emails, on social media, on your website, and on your donation page.”Zephyr Chan, Founder & growth marketer, Better Marketer

Don’t Forget to Follow Up

“Bashing out the first batch of your emails and then waiting for donations to skyrocket is not what you should be doing. Chances are your donors are busy, they missed your emails, or they read your emails but forgot to process the donation. Constantly remind your donors with follow-up emails. Send at least 5 follow-up emails with different relevant subject lines and body copy — while keeping the same goal and narrative.You can even take this further by segmenting the less active donors and targeting them with exclusive emails with the goal of re-engaging and, possibly, donating. The year-end campaign at least lasts one month or so. Throughout this period, keep monitoring the performance, and keep following up individually with your most important donors.”Adam Fard, Founder, and CEO, Adam Fard UX Agency

Don’t Be Shy to Make the Ask

“Call to Action in email marketing is super important. In your year-end fundraising campaign, ensure you’re focusing enough on crafting CTAs that are compelling, bold, and make the ask. People need to feel the stir when reading those calls to action.“Donate Now,” “Support The Campaign,” or “Raise Funds” — these calls to action are vague, common, and don’t inspire the action as much. Ensure your call to action are personalized and hyper-focused on your organization, campaign, goal, and your target audience. For instance, “Name, Save a Child’s Life by Just Donating $5. Please Donate by Clicking Her. Or, “Name, Someone In Africa is Waiting for Your $5 Donation to Get The Meals for a Day. Please Donate Here”. Take these examples as inspirations only; craft unique CTAs according to your end goal and mission of your nonprofit.”Tia Campbell, Director of Marketing, Practice Reasoning Tests

Start Creating beautiful, on-brand, and effective End-Of-Year Email Campaigns with BEE Pro

Whether you want to start sharing new initiatives, fundraising, or sending a simple “Thank you” note to your stakeholders, BEE Pro has got you covered. Stakeholders want to see the initiatives their donations have supported, and you want to ensure that you’re staying top of mind in the new year, that’s why a well-crafted email campaign matters. Not only does it communicate the impact that your organization has had over the year, but it also lets your audience know what to look forward to, keeping them excited to continue to support you.Regardless, here at BEE, we know that email plays a crucial role in nonprofits year-round. That’s why we are happy and proud to help nonprofits by providing them with free or heavily discounted plans.Depending on the size of your organization, we will apply a discount of 100% off to your Team plan or a 50% off discount on our Enterprise plan.This program is for 501(C3) organizations based in the U.S. and international charitable organizations everywhere. To get started, fill out your application here! Happy Designing!

According to Gallup's findings, "only 12% of employees feel like their companies did a good job of onboarding." Not many employers realize that onboarding is much more than directing new hires to their office and assigning tasks right away. But instead, it's about finding ways to ensure and improve employee engagement from the first point of contact.While everyone within an organization is responsible for infusing company culture into everything they do, Human Resources helps manage and ensure that new employees feel safe and adapt to said culture.While onboarding emails are great at first, improving employee engagement is an ongoing effort. These efforts are especially important for remote workers who don't get to bond or experience the culture in person. Keep reading ifyou're wondering how emails can help onboard new hires and improve employee engagement.

8 Types of Email Templates to Improve Employee Engagement

Onboarding is an entire process that requires a series of several emails. We'll categorize those messages and give you simpleemail design tips to follow!

1. Thank you for your application email! 

Although this is a pre-boarding email, it's a huge part of the onboarding experience. It is the first time a potential candidate receives communication from your brand and gets to experience the company culture firsthand.A simple "thank you for your application email" goes a long way. Not only does it offer reassurance for potential candidates, but also it lets them know the next steps. This simple step is a great way to be clear and transparent while letting candidates know their time is valued and appreciated.

Use this template in Beefree!

Use this template in Beefree!

2. Offer Email

The job offer email helps to translate the company's culture. It should communicate essential details regarding the position, benefits, salary, and work schedule. However, it should also include that extra "something" (team spirit) that will drive the candidate towards this position before considering another offer.Here's a sample of an offer email that captures the team's culture in a light tone:"Dear Catherine, Over the last week, we enjoyed getting to know you. We loved learning about your interest in (personalized for them), and we're impressed with your energy, skills, and experience, which would make you the perfect person to join us. The entire team and I would like to formally offer you a position as a marketing manager. Congrats!We can offer you a salary of $ annually, plus bonuses and 20 days of vacation per year. I'd love to discuss the details in our offices on Monday, 9 AM. Please contact me with any questions or comments. We are excited to hear back from you. "Often interviews can be draining, and candidates can feel like just a number by the end. By adding a personal and human touch to your offer emails, you can let them know that their time is valuable and that you paid attention to who they are as a person beyond what they can bring to the team.

3. Welcome Email

Now that the person is officially part of your team, you can add more fun elements to the design and message. This email should make the candidate feel excited to have joined the team and offer an opportunity to learn more about the company, the culture, and their co-workers.Here are a few contents and design tips to keep in mind:

• Include information about their direct team members and any other members they will be collaborating with.
• You can use an online collage maker to quickly build photo collages. Include photos of team-building events and your team's day-to-day atmosphere.
• Include a section with useful links and resources. These may be how-to tutorials, library resources, and even food delivery services that your team usually relies on.

Use this template in Beefree!

Use this template in Beefree!

4. Announcing a New Hire Email

Whenever someone joins the team, everyone should be made aware of them. This allows other employees the opportunity to get to know new team members that they'll be collaborating with and congratulate them personally. This is also great to helps avoid the need to introduce themselves over and over again.While this email is to introduce someone in a new position, it should also be about the human - beyond what they are bringing to the team.These are some details you should include in this message:

• A photo of the new hire
• Details about their position and responsibilities, so everyone will know how this new hire will be included in their own workflow.   
• Previous experience,
• Any hobbies, skills, and passions. 

You can also include new hires announcements in the company's HR newsletter to remind the team about last month's newcomers and share their stories.

5. Corporate Training Email

Training emails are especially important. They provide employees with knowledge on how to do their job effectively and efficiently and how they can meet personal and organizational goals. Trainings should be sent to teams on a quarterly basis and should include:

• Main details about the topic of the training.
• Text or video instructions about the organization's values, vision, and security rules. 
• How-to videos on how to complete technical tasks. This is a crucial element of these emails, as it helps a new hire to understand how to use the corporate hardware and software. For example, explaining how they can uninstall programs on Mac and install the ones that are needed is easy to do via email. 

Training emails should also be sent out every time a new tool, policy, and/or procedure is implemented in the organization.

Use this template in Beefree!

Use this template in Beefree!

6. Anniversary or Birthday Email

It's great when the HR team reminds the entire team of birthdays and anniversaries.These emails allow employees to feel like they are part of a community and cared for. This is the right moment to add a dose of fun to the message. Here's an example of the text you can include:It's October 7; an important date! Our colleague Michelle is celebrating her birthday. Everyone is invited to a small party in the meeting room on October 7 at 4 PM. The drinks (and cake!) are on us.  Here is an email collection by BEE Pro to help you celebrate your team's next birthday.If you're writing an email about the first anniversary of someone's hiring, do it in the same light tone. This time, you can include important achievements for this person over the last year.

7. Collecting Feedback Email

According to People Managing People "63% of knowledge workers in the USA are open to looking for a new job within the next year." It's been an unsaid rule that the first 90 days are used as a "trial" period to see how new employees adapt to a new work environment. Now, employees are looking at organizations from that same lens during their first 30 days.Providing new employees with a safe space to give feedback during their first 30,60,90 days of employment is essential for employee retention. And using that feedback survey to make the necessary changes to the company culture. Here are some questions you can ask:

• What did you like on your first day at work?
• Would you have any suggestions on how we can improve the organization?
• What do you think about the company so far?
• Would you like to share any job-related problems you've faced during your time with us?
• How are you adapting to the work environment and your team? 

Providing employees the opportunity to provide feedback during their first 90 days allows them to feel empowered over their success. It also sets a precedent and expectation that feedback is encouraged, creating a safe space and a strong company culture.

8. Performance Review Email

Similar to the email above, this is intended to collect feedback on how the new employee is adapting to the work. Within the first month or 90-days you can ask for feedback on how they believe they've been doing and toestablish specific goals for the upcoming period. This is also a great way to see how you can improve your onboarding and training process in the future.This message shouldn’t sound too formal. Here’s an example:"Hi Marissa, We’ve been thrilled to have you working with us for the past month. We’re happy with the progress you’ve made so far, and we sincerely hope we made you feel welcome in our organization. Allow us to announce your first-ever performance review. Don’t worry; it’s not scary at all! It’s your opportunity to have an important talk with your managers, share how things have been going from your point of view, and get a few suggestions on how to get better at what you do. Hopefully, we’ll be able to set tangible goals for the future. A performance review should go both ways. Provide team members with a self-evaluation form to give them an opportunity to discuss how they have been doing and adapting to the work and workload."

Improve Employee Engagement with BEE Pro

Sign up for a free BEE Pro account today and get access to 1,500+ email and landing pages, including The BEE Recruitment Templates Collection. This collection was made with HR teams in mind to quickly onboard new team members and nurture a strong company culture from the start.