Beefree blog

A Guide to Crafting an Inspirational Welcome Message for Students

Emily Santos
Emily Santos
Mar 30, 2023
A Guide to Crafting an Inspirational Welcome Message for Students
A Guide to Crafting an Inspirational Welcome Message for Students

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.

Welcome email messages for students

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!

Welcome message from Munchery

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!

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Marketo Engage is a powerful tool for marketing automation, but when it comes to email design flexibility, many users find its built-in editor limiting. Creating visually compelling, mobile-responsive emails often requires custom coding or workarounds, slowing down workflow and making it harder to execute high-quality campaigns efficiently.

That is where Beefree comes in. By integrating Beefree’s no-code, drag-and-drop email design platform with Marketo Engage’s advanced automation capabilities, teams can build professional, responsive emails without coding headaches and push them directly to Marketo in just a few clicks.

This article explores:

  • The challenges of designing emails directly in Marketo
  • How Beefree solves these pain points
  • A step-by-step guide to integrating Beefree with Marketo Engage
  • Common FAQs and troubleshooting tips

The challenges of designing emails directly in Marketo

Marketo’s built-in email editor is useful for basic templates but presents several limitations for marketers and designers.

  • Limited design flexibility – Customizing layouts, fonts, or interactive elements can be difficult without custom HTML or Marketo’s proprietary syntax.
  • Technical barriers – Advanced customizations often require HTML knowledge or an understanding of Marketo’s email template language, which may not be ideal for non-technical teams.
  • Time-consuming manual processes – Without a centralized style kit, teams may struggle to stay on-brand and often have to manually recreate headers, footers, and other reusable content blocks for each email, adding extra steps and slowing down production.

Due to these challenges, many marketing teams turn to external email builders like Beefree, FeedOtter, or Knak to improve design efficiency and automation.

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Why Beefree is the best email builder for Marketo Engage

While other external email builders like Knak and FeedOtter also integrate with Marketo, Beefree offers distinct advantages.

  • No-code drag-and-drop builder – Enables teams to design professional emails without writing any code.
  • Advanced design features – Provides more customization options beyond what Marketo’s built-in editor allows.
  • Mobile-responsive templates – Ensures emails adjust automatically for both desktop and mobile devices.
  • One-click export to Marketo – Simplifies the process of moving email designs directly into Marketo Engage.
  • Ability to update existing templates – Allows quick updates without requiring manual re-imports of HTML files.
  • Team collaboration – Enables teams to work together in real time, with built-in guardrails and approval controls to ensure error-free emails before exporting.

By integrating Beefree with Marketo, marketing teams eliminate design frustrations and manual email imports, allowing them to focus on high-performing email campaigns.

Learn more about Beefree's integration with Marketo Enagage [https://support.beefree.io/hc/en-us/articles/24837761625618-Export-Emails-to-Marketo]

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How to update existing email templates in Marketo

Instead of manually editing HTML, Beefree allows users to edit emails in Beefree and update existing ones in Marketo Engage with one click.

  1. Open the email design in Beefree.
  2. Make changes and click “Export.”
  3. Select “Update Existing” to overwrite the previous version in Marketo Engage.

This feature ensures that emails and templates remain up to date without requiring complex HTML edits or duplicates.

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Frequently asked questions on using Beefree with Marketo Engage

Can I use Beefree with other ESPs besides Marketo Engage?

Yes! You can connect Beefree to any ESP, MAP, or CRM including Mailchimp, HubSpot, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, and others. To learn more about how to integrate Beefree to your sending platform watch the video below: 

For a full list of our native integrations visit [https://beefree.io/integrations].

Are there any limitations when exporting Beefree emails to Marketo?

Yes, there are a few important limitations to be aware of:

  • Charset emojis are not supported in Marketo. Including emojis in your email content may result in an error. To prevent this, Beefree automatically replaces unsupported emojis with a placeholder. For more details, refer to the [Marketo documentation on emoji support].

Preheader text is not a native field in Marketo. However, Beefree includes it by embedding the preheader directly in the email's HTML code during export.

Additional resources and links

Why you should use Beefree with Marketo Engage

By integrating Beefree with Marketo Engage, marketing teams gain a faster, more flexible way to build high-converting, on-brand email campaigns—while leveraging Marketo’s powerful automation and analytics to track performance and optimize results.

  • Design responsive, professional emails with ease.
  • Maintain brand consistency across every message.
  • Collaborate efficiently and gain insights to improve campaign performance.

Ready to elevate your Marketo email marketing? Try Beefree today and streamline your entire email creation process.

Start your 15-day free Business trial today!

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What Are Email Security Gateways? A Guide to Secure Communications

Are your newsletters being marked as spam? Discover all you need to know about email security gateways and how to create emails that pass all the checks.
Beefree team
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Email is king when it comes to talking directly to your customers. Sure, we might send texts or share voice notes, but we all still check our emails. It’s how we keep in touch with work and the businesses we connect with. 

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SEGs use sophisticated methods to identify and block spam and phishing emails from ever entering a person’s inbox. While your email newsletters should go through, that doesn’t necessarily mean they will. That’s why businesses need to know what a secure email gateway is and how it works. Know this key info, and you’ll be able to improve the chances of your emails reaching their destination. 

What are email security gateways? 

Protecting yourself from cyber threats is the basis of all cybersecurity risk assessment services. One of the biggest gaps in any security armor is phishing emails. If they get through and someone clicks a link they shouldn’t have, it’s almost impossible to stop the damage. 

The victim could be anyone. The link could lead to a ransomware virus that holds your data captive or be the start of a data breach. It could even lead to a traditional scam that has you input your credit card details so a thief can steal them. 

For all these reasons and more, email providers consistently invest in security features to help protect their customers. One such feature is an email security gateway. 

A secure email gateway uses AI and machine learning to screen incoming emails, identify spam, and stop it from entering. If there’s any doubt, the system quarantines the email in your spam box for review. 

Why are secure email gateways important?

While we are getting better at filtering out spam emails, an estimated 45.6% of emails sent in 2023 were still spam. This poses a massive security risk for consumers, businesses, and governments alike. 

According to IBM, businesses are hit the hardest, with the global average cost of each successful phishing attack increasing to $4.88M USD. The attacks don’t just hit businesses, either, with attacks targeting individuals and even charities.

Just as phishing and spam emails have become more sophisticated, so have the tools designed to protect against them. All providers, including big names like Gmail, use SEGs to secure communications and other features, such as Gmail’s unsubscribe feature

What do SEGs flag as spam? 

SEGs continually update their parameters. This means that what they check for is constantly in flux. What SEGs look for today, for example, could include: 

  • Strange or suspicious subject lines
  • Highly urgent capitalization or excessive exclamation points
  • Strange URLs
  • Poor grammar and/or spelling
  • Generic greetings that don’t address the recipient 
  • Suspicious email addresses
  • The volume of emails sent at once
  • Attachment types 
  • Image-heavy content 

SEGs are far more advanced than just ticking boxes, but that doesn’t mean your emails can’t get blocked or sent to spam. After all, you might put together a great email campaign, but if your email is too image-heavy, it might get quarantined or sent to spam. 

The good news is that once you know what the SEGs look for, you can work to design better emails. Beefree can help you get started, with a range of templates for responsive email designs.

How to create newsletters with secure email gateways in mind 

The good news is that you can implement and send out most, if not all, of your newsletter ideas without issue. So long as the emails are well-made and are sent at a reasonable frequency, you’ll be golden. 

Start by first improving your security methods

In general, you should always look at ramping up the security measures in your business. You can use one of the top types of risk assessment matrix to understand your business's threats and how to resolve them. Then, since you already have that information, you can use it to create better newsletters and emails. 

Make sure the personalization feature works

One of the biggest red flags for an SEG is a generic greeting. Adding Dear Sir/Madam at the start isn’t going to fly in today’s world. Even if your email gets through, it’s unlikely the recipient will open it. 

That’s why you need personalization. Linking your email marketing tools to your customer relationship management system means you can offer easy personalization, like addressing your customers by name, or even offering personalized recommendations based on their order history. 

Avoid image-only emails 

Image-only emails are tempting for an email marketer. They’re striking, they look good, and you can fine-tune what they look like in Photoshop or another image editor. 

They can also be a red flag for SEGs.

Thankfully, the solution is simple: enrich your emails. The best part about this approach is that it also improves the accessibility. Improving email accessibility will help ensure that all your customers can engage with your emails on their terms. Those emails will also load faster, look great on all devices, and be more engaging. 

Align your emails with the landing pages 

SEGs look out for suspicious links. A link might be suspicious if there’s a misspelling or if the link doesn’t sound like the content in the email. So, how do you ensure that SEGs don’t see any of your links as suspicious? 

You make them predictable. 

An easy way to do this is to create a landing page from an email. On top of aligning the landing page with the content of the newsletter, you’ll want to: 

  • Make a custom URL for every link that matches the content of the page 
  • Ensure there’s no misspelling
  • Don’t use urgent language around your link

Use 2FA to boost security

Do you need 2FA to get past SEGs? No, but it’s a great way to help protect you and your customers. 

You can protect sensitive data by adding user identity verification. For example, a customer may get an order confirmation email but wants to cancel or change the delivery details. Including a two-factor authentication step ensures only the customer can request changes. 

Building in extra security features puts your customers at ease. It also protects your endpoints and, in turn, your business. So, no, you don’t need 2FA to get past SEGs, but it’s worth looking into for you and your customers’ protection. 

Avoid urgency 

Urgency can be a flag for SEGs. So: 

  • DON’T WRITE IN ALL CAPS
  • Minimize the use of exclamation points

Think of the copy in your newsletter as a chance to win over your audience, not scare them into clicking the link. Doing this will improve your relationship with your customers since they’ve come to you on their terms. It’s also essential to get emails past the SEG.

Key takeaways 

Secure email gateways are a primary defense against spam and phishing attacks, but they can pose a problem for email marketers. By working to understand the security risks associated with email scams, you can then understand what your email needs to make it into inboxes. 

From there, you’ll want to make your emails more personable, accessible, and secure. Once you’ve found that sweet spot, your newsletters will be more likely to get past the secure email gateway and into your audience’s inboxes. 

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From the latest creative design strategies that inspire your next campaign to industry best practices and tech advancements, our newsletter is the go-to for all things creation.

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