Fall in Full Swing: Building Effective Strategies for Multichannel Engagement

As the new fall semester kicks off, higher education institutions face increasing pressure to reach both current and newly enrolled students efficiently across diverse digital platforms and time-sensitive milestones.

Unfortunately, relying on siloed communication initiatives that create unnecessary friction for students and administrative overload for staff often adds to this challenge.

By shifting to a multichannel engagement strategy, universities and colleges can improve response rates, drive action, and support institutional goals like enrollment yield and retention.

And with Mongoose’s Conversation Intelligence Platform to unify these efforts, each campus team — from Admissions to Student Success and Academic Advising — can deliver proactive, personalized support, avoid message fatigue, and optimize outreach across channels for meaningful student connections.

The Benefits of Multichannel Outreach in Higher Ed

Unlike an omnichannel approach, which prioritizes a seamless experience across every possible communication channel, a multichannel strategy focuses on reaching target student segments through the channels they use most. This approach allows institutions to prioritize messaging efficiency, reduce noise, and tailor outreach, providing prospects and students with relevant support resources at the right time without overwhelming staff.

Most institutions, however, struggle to reach their students using siloed initiatives that involve  manually sending emails or one-way batch messages that often go unopened. In these situations, cross-team collaboration becomes an afterthought, making it even harder to drive meaningful student engagement. 

With the right tools, the narrative can shift toward sustainable student success. Mongoose enables campus-wide multichannel engagement that is timely, relevant, and personalized by offering features like Smart Messages, AI-powered Chat, and shared inboxes for Text and WhatsApp. 

More than that, the Conversation Intelligence Dashboard provides institutions with a high-level view of real-time conversation data, including resolution status, trending topics, overall sentiment, and emotional signals. These insights empower counselors and advisors to identify student needs, prioritize outreach, and deliver targeted, proactive support for at-risk students. 

“Mongoose has helped us close communication gaps that used to cost us enrollments. Now it’s helping us bring students across the finish line.”

CARRIE PARWORTH, GATEWAY TECHNICAL COLLEGE

Seeing Cross-Team Multichannel Student Engagement In Action 

Dutchess Community College used Mongoose’s Conversation Intelligence Platform to create a unified communication strategy, connecting Admissions, Advising, Financial Services, and Student Activities. This approach enabled the staff to deliver consistent, coordinated outreach while scaling support for their 4,500 students.

Key Outcomes

• Admissions: Achieved a 133% increase in messages, with a 15% reply rate for targeted campaigns and 0.5% fewer opt-outs.
• Advising: Improved personal check-ins, leading to a higher reply rate of 7% and decreased opt-outs under 1%.
• Student Activities: Sent 15,000+ texts in 90 days, driving steady engagement with 1.6% opt-outs.
• Financial Services: Text reminders drove timely student action on payments and overdue accounts.
• Overall: Coordinated staff efforts, higher student engagement, fewer messaging overlaps, and more data-driven strategies.

“Mongoose helps us create a spider web of support. We’re reaching students with empathy and relevance, not just information.”

BRIAN SONDEY, DUTCHESS COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Get Your Institution’s Fall Student Communication Plan Ready with Mongoose

Multichannel communication is not just a trendy tactic — it’s a strategic driver that helps higher education institutions meet students where they are and drive measurable outcomes at scale. 

Here’s a quick checklist to help your institution prepare an effective fall communication strategy:

1. Align Student-Facing Teams

☑ Coordinate messaging across Admissions, Student Success, Academic Advising, and other departments to avoid overlaps.

☑ Route student inquiries to the right team and reduce response time using Mongoose’s shared inboxes. 

☑ Set shared goals for enrollment, retention, and student engagement and track progress across teams regularly within the Mongoose Intelligence Hub.

2. Optimize Your Communication Channel Mix

☑ Build long-term relationships with prospects, students, and parents through two-way, personalized SMS and MMS messaging with Mongoose Text. 

☑ Provide instant, relevant support to website visitors during and outside office hours using Mongoose Chat. 

☑ Engage international students on Mongoose WhatsApp, regardless of time zone.

3. Scale Outreach with AI tools, Automation, and Seamless Integrations

☑ Deliver personalized, timely support while freeing teams to focus on high-impact work using AI-suggested replies and templates.

☑ Tailor messages for each channel and increase engagement without losing the human touch with Smart Messages and AI Assistants.

☑ Connect Mongoose with existing CRMs, SIS, and campus apps to streamline workflows and keep student data updated.

4. Track Engagement Trends and Conversation Resolution

☑ Monitor student sentiment and issue resolution, uncover subtle emotional cues, and watch for trending conversation topics using the Conversation Intelligence Dashboard.

☑ Leverage real-time insights to identify when students are most likely to engage and respond and spot disengaged segments.

☑ Tag at-risk students and adjust outreach strategies to keep them engaged, motivated, and supported throughout their academic journey.

Book a demo today and discover how our Conversation Intelligence tools can help your teams connect with students and scale communication each fall semester.

Author: