[Susan Lechtanski]

Hi Lauren!?

Penn State uses three different types of messaging services. The first is through our campus app, Penn State Go: Penn State Go | The all-in-one mobile app for Penn State. Almost every student, faculty, and staff member has this app on their phones. We can target by campus location and type of audience (student or staff). As you mentioned, it is selective regarding the kinds of messages: Keeping messages minimal and focused on big-ticket items or high-priority messages. Student organizations and departments can request marketing messages to be sent out through this format. But we still limit the messages to one or two per week to avoid overuse.?

The second service we use is for the on-campus residential students. We can text them individually regarding mail or packages. We can text specific floors or buildings regarding maintenance issues, for example. We use this sparingly for marketing messages, limiting it to housing contract renewal reminders and similar messages related to housing contracts, such as roommate selections, etc. We also use it for other essential notices before holiday breaks, move-out procedures at the end of the semester, etc.?

Third, like most other universities, our emergency management team can text out emergency alerts relating to weather and incidents regarding public safety. This third option is never used for marketing purposes.?

——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 02-27-2025 15:58
From: Lauren Hohls
Subject: Exploring Text Message Marketing for Student Engagement ? Insights & Best Practices?

Hi everyone,

I’m exploring the possibility of implementing text message marketing at Associated Students of San Francisco State University (AS SFSU) as a way to improve event attendance and keep students informed about key programs, services, and deadlines. Right now, we primarily use Instagram, print flyers & our website for event promotion, but we recognize that students may not always see our posts or flyers, so we’re looking for an additional way to reach students quickly and effectively.

A few key things we’re considering:

• Keeping messages minimal and focused on big-ticket items (e.g., major events like concerts and elections, scholarship deadlines, food pantry updates).
• Ensuring an easy opt-in process while remaining compliant with TCPA regulations.
• Avoiding overuse to prevent students from opting out.
• Finding an affordable and easy-to-manage platform, ideally one that integrates with email marketing (we’re currently exploring Mailchimp).
• Training our student Social Media Outreach Coordinators to manage the effort.

I’d love to hear from anyone who has experience with text message marketing for student engagement. Have you tried this at your campus? What platforms have worked well (or not)? What challenges did you face, and how did students respond? Any pros/cons or lessons learned?

If you have insights to share, I’d really appreciate your thoughts! I’m also open to setting up calls with folks who’ve implemented this to dive deeper into best practices.

Thanks in advance for your help!

——————————
Lauren Hohls
Assistant Executive Director of Marketing & Communications
Associated Students of San Francisco State University
San Francisco CA
(415) 338-2771
——————————

[laurenhohls@asi.sfsu.edu]

Hi Susan,

Thank you so much for sharing Penn State’s approach to messaging services! It’s really helpful to see how y’all differentiate between the campus app, housing-related messages, and emergency alerts. I love the idea of using an existing app that students already have on their phones – has Penn State seen good engagement rates with event-related notifications through the app?

Also, do you find that students prefer app notifications over traditional text messages, or is it more of a complementary tool alongside other marketing efforts?

I really appreciate your insights – this gives us a lot to think about!

——————————
Lauren Hohls
Assistant Executive Director of Marketing & Communications
Associated Students of San Francisco State University
San Francisco CA
(415) 338-2771
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 02-27-2025 16:21
From: Susan Lechtanski
Subject: Exploring Text Message Marketing for Student Engagement ? Insights & Best Practices?

Hi Lauren! 

Penn State uses three different types of messaging services. The first is through our campus app, Penn State Go: Penn State Go | The all-in-one mobile app for Penn State. Almost every student, faculty, and staff member has this app on their phones. We can target by campus location and type of audience (student or staff). As you mentioned, it is selective regarding the kinds of messages: Keeping messages minimal and focused on big-ticket items or high-priority messages. Student organizations and departments can request marketing messages to be sent out through this format. But we still limit the messages to one or two per week to avoid overuse. 

The second service we use is for the on-campus residential students. We can text them individually regarding mail or packages. We can text specific floors or buildings regarding maintenance issues, for example. We use this sparingly for marketing messages, limiting it to housing contract renewal reminders and similar messages related to housing contracts, such as roommate selections, etc. We also use it for other essential notices before holiday breaks, move-out procedures at the end of the semester, etc. 

Third, like most other universities, our emergency management team can text out emergency alerts relating to weather and incidents regarding public safety. This third option is never used for marketing purposes. 

Original Message:
Sent: 02-27-2025 15:58
From: Lauren Hohls
Subject: Exploring Text Message Marketing for Student Engagement ? Insights & Best Practices?

Hi everyone,

I’m exploring the possibility of implementing text message marketing at Associated Students of San Francisco State University (AS SFSU) as a way to improve event attendance and keep students informed about key programs, services, and deadlines. Right now, we primarily use Instagram, print flyers & our website for event promotion, but we recognize that students may not always see our posts or flyers, so we’re looking for an additional way to reach students quickly and effectively.

A few key things we’re considering:

• Keeping messages minimal and focused on big-ticket items (e.g., major events like concerts and elections, scholarship deadlines, food pantry updates).
• Ensuring an easy opt-in process while remaining compliant with TCPA regulations.
• Avoiding overuse to prevent students from opting out.
• Finding an affordable and easy-to-manage platform, ideally one that integrates with email marketing (we’re currently exploring Mailchimp).
• Training our student Social Media Outreach Coordinators to manage the effort.

I’d love to hear from anyone who has experience with text message marketing for student engagement. Have you tried this at your campus? What platforms have worked well (or not)? What challenges did you face, and how did students respond? Any pros/cons or lessons learned?

If you have insights to share, I’d really appreciate your thoughts! I’m also open to setting up calls with folks who’ve implemented this to dive deeper into best practices.

Thanks in advance for your help!

——————————
Lauren Hohls
Assistant Executive Director of Marketing & Communications
Associated Students of San Francisco State University
San Francisco CA
(415) 338-2771
——————————

[Susan Lechtanski]

Hi Lauren,

The app gained widespread popularity from the beginning. It is a “one-stop shop” for all your online Penn State needs, making it super helpful. It contains everything from real-time shuttle/bus schedules to ordering food online from our eateries to our course management system, including grades, campus maps, etc. The app is pushed during orientation and then becomes an invaluable asset during your time on campus. The messages appear in the “header” of the app when you open it. Of course, you can ignore them, but they are “in your face” when you open the app. You can dismiss the messages but have to open the message to mark it as read to make it disappear. We use the app for more campus event-related messages such as Homecoming week, THON (dance marathon) weekend, student leader government voting, parents weekend, and other campus-wide events.

We use text messages for more “administrative” marketing, such as housing contracts and meal plans. Aside from texting them individually about mail and packages or building texts for maintenance issues, we sparingly use “marketing” texts, sending them out maybe once per month. Text messages are a valuable resource that we don’t want to abuse and annoy them. Of course, these differ from the required emergency text alerts relating to the Clery Act and Emergency Management for safety-related text messages.?

——————————
Susan Lechtanski
Marketing Director
Pennsylvania State University University Park
University Park PA
(814) 863-6146
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 02-28-2025 19:11
From: Lauren Hohls
Subject: Exploring Text Message Marketing for Student Engagement ? Insights & Best Practices?

Hi Susan,

Thank you so much for sharing Penn State’s approach to messaging services! It’s really helpful to see how y’all differentiate between the campus app, housing-related messages, and emergency alerts. I love the idea of using an existing app that students already have on their phones – has Penn State seen good engagement rates with event-related notifications through the app?

Also, do you find that students prefer app notifications over traditional text messages, or is it more of a complementary tool alongside other marketing efforts?

I really appreciate your insights – this gives us a lot to think about!

——————————
Lauren Hohls
Assistant Executive Director of Marketing & Communications
Associated Students of San Francisco State University
San Francisco CA
(415) 338-2771
——————————

Original Message:
Sent: 02-27-2025 16:21
From: Susan Lechtanski
Subject: Exploring Text Message Marketing for Student Engagement ? Insights & Best Practices?

Hi Lauren! 

Penn State uses three different types of messaging services. The first is through our campus app, Penn State Go: Penn State Go | The all-in-one mobile app for Penn State. Almost every student, faculty, and staff member has this app on their phones. We can target by campus location and type of audience (student or staff). As you mentioned, it is selective regarding the kinds of messages: Keeping messages minimal and focused on big-ticket items or high-priority messages. Student organizations and departments can request marketing messages to be sent out through this format. But we still limit the messages to one or two per week to avoid overuse. 

The second service we use is for the on-campus residential students. We can text them individually regarding mail or packages. We can text specific floors or buildings regarding maintenance issues, for example. We use this sparingly for marketing messages, limiting it to housing contract renewal reminders and similar messages related to housing contracts, such as roommate selections, etc. We also use it for other essential notices before holiday breaks, move-out procedures at the end of the semester, etc. 

Third, like most other universities, our emergency management team can text out emergency alerts relating to weather and incidents regarding public safety. This third option is never used for marketing purposes. 

Original Message:
Sent: 02-27-2025 15:58
From: Lauren Hohls
Subject: Exploring Text Message Marketing for Student Engagement ? Insights & Best Practices?

Hi everyone,

I’m exploring the possibility of implementing text message marketing at Associated Students of San Francisco State University (AS SFSU) as a way to improve event attendance and keep students informed about key programs, services, and deadlines. Right now, we primarily use Instagram, print flyers & our website for event promotion, but we recognize that students may not always see our posts or flyers, so we’re looking for an additional way to reach students quickly and effectively.

A few key things we’re considering:

• Keeping messages minimal and focused on big-ticket items (e.g., major events like concerts and elections, scholarship deadlines, food pantry updates).
• Ensuring an easy opt-in process while remaining compliant with TCPA regulations.
• Avoiding overuse to prevent students from opting out.
• Finding an affordable and easy-to-manage platform, ideally one that integrates with email marketing (we’re currently exploring Mailchimp).
• Training our student Social Media Outreach Coordinators to manage the effort.

I’d love to hear from anyone who has experience with text message marketing for student engagement. Have you tried this at your campus? What platforms have worked well (or not)? What challenges did you face, and how did students respond? Any pros/cons or lessons learned?

If you have insights to share, I’d really appreciate your thoughts! I’m also open to setting up calls with folks who’ve implemented this to dive deeper into best practices.

Thanks in advance for your help!

——————————
Lauren Hohls
Assistant Executive Director of Marketing & Communications
Associated Students of San Francisco State University
San Francisco CA
(415) 338-2771
——————————

[laurenhohls@asi.sfsu.edu]

Hi Susan,

This is really insightful – thank you for sharing! It makes sense that the app has been successful since it consolidates so many essential tools. While we’re not looking to develop our own app, it would be interesting to explore ways to collaborate with the university to leverage their existing platform for event promotion.

I also appreciate your perspective on keeping text messages minimal and focused on more administrative or high-priority updates. That balance is something we’re keeping in mind as we explore our own approach. Have you found that students respond well to the once-per-month marketing texts, or do you ever get feedback about them?

Thanks again for all this helpful info!

——————————
Lauren Hohls
Assistant Executive Director of Marketing & Communications
Associated Students of San Francisco State University
San Francisco CA
(415) 338-2771
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 03-04-2025 15:48
From: Susan Lechtanski
Subject: Exploring Text Message Marketing for Student Engagement ? Insights & Best Practices?

Hi Lauren,

The app gained widespread popularity from the beginning. It is a “one-stop shop” for all your online Penn State needs, making it super helpful. It contains everything from real-time shuttle/bus schedules to ordering food online from our eateries to our course management system, including grades, campus maps, etc. The app is pushed during orientation and then becomes an invaluable asset during your time on campus. The messages appear in the “header” of the app when you open it. Of course, you can ignore them, but they are “in your face” when you open the app. You can dismiss the messages but have to open the message to mark it as read to make it disappear. We use the app for more campus event-related messages such as Homecoming week, THON (dance marathon) weekend, student leader government voting, parents weekend, and other campus-wide events.

We use text messages for more “administrative” marketing, such as housing contracts and meal plans. Aside from texting them individually about mail and packages or building texts for maintenance issues, we sparingly use “marketing” texts, sending them out maybe once per month. Text messages are a valuable resource that we don’t want to abuse and annoy them. Of course, these differ from the required emergency text alerts relating to the Clery Act and Emergency Management for safety-related text messages. 

——————————
Susan Lechtanski
Marketing Director
Pennsylvania State University University Park
University Park PA
(814) 863-6146
——————————

Original Message:
Sent: 02-28-2025 19:11
From: Lauren Hohls
Subject: Exploring Text Message Marketing for Student Engagement ? Insights & Best Practices?

Hi Susan,

Thank you so much for sharing Penn State’s approach to messaging services! It’s really helpful to see how y’all differentiate between the campus app, housing-related messages, and emergency alerts. I love the idea of using an existing app that students already have on their phones – has Penn State seen good engagement rates with event-related notifications through the app?

Also, do you find that students prefer app notifications over traditional text messages, or is it more of a complementary tool alongside other marketing efforts?

I really appreciate your insights – this gives us a lot to think about!

——————————
Lauren Hohls
Assistant Executive Director of Marketing & Communications
Associated Students of San Francisco State University
San Francisco CA
(415) 338-2771

Original Message:
Sent: 02-27-2025 16:21
From: Susan Lechtanski
Subject: Exploring Text Message Marketing for Student Engagement ? Insights & Best Practices?

Hi Lauren! 

Penn State uses three different types of messaging services. The first is through our campus app, Penn State Go: Penn State Go | The all-in-one mobile app for Penn State. Almost every student, faculty, and staff member has this app on their phones. We can target by campus location and type of audience (student or staff). As you mentioned, it is selective regarding the kinds of messages: Keeping messages minimal and focused on big-ticket items or high-priority messages. Student organizations and departments can request marketing messages to be sent out through this format. But we still limit the messages to one or two per week to avoid overuse. 

The second service we use is for the on-campus residential students. We can text them individually regarding mail or packages. We can text specific floors or buildings regarding maintenance issues, for example. We use this sparingly for marketing messages, limiting it to housing contract renewal reminders and similar messages related to housing contracts, such as roommate selections, etc. We also use it for other essential notices before holiday breaks, move-out procedures at the end of the semester, etc. 

Third, like most other universities, our emergency management team can text out emergency alerts relating to weather and incidents regarding public safety. This third option is never used for marketing purposes. 

Original Message:
Sent: 02-27-2025 15:58
From: Lauren Hohls
Subject: Exploring Text Message Marketing for Student Engagement ? Insights & Best Practices?

Hi everyone,

I’m exploring the possibility of implementing text message marketing at Associated Students of San Francisco State University (AS SFSU) as a way to improve event attendance and keep students informed about key programs, services, and deadlines. Right now, we primarily use Instagram, print flyers & our website for event promotion, but we recognize that students may not always see our posts or flyers, so we’re looking for an additional way to reach students quickly and effectively.

A few key things we’re considering:

• Keeping messages minimal and focused on big-ticket items (e.g., major events like concerts and elections, scholarship deadlines, food pantry updates).
• Ensuring an easy opt-in process while remaining compliant with TCPA regulations.
• Avoiding overuse to prevent students from opting out.
• Finding an affordable and easy-to-manage platform, ideally one that integrates with email marketing (we’re currently exploring Mailchimp).
• Training our student Social Media Outreach Coordinators to manage the effort.

I’d love to hear from anyone who has experience with text message marketing for student engagement. Have you tried this at your campus? What platforms have worked well (or not)? What challenges did you face, and how did students respond? Any pros/cons or lessons learned?

If you have insights to share, I’d really appreciate your thoughts! I’m also open to setting up calls with folks who’ve implemented this to dive deeper into best practices.

Thanks in advance for your help!

——————————
Lauren Hohls
Assistant Executive Director of Marketing & Communications
Associated Students of San Francisco State University
San Francisco CA
(415) 338-2771
——————————

[Susan Lechtanski]

They respond to text messages by picking up their mail or packages, so we know they are reading them. But we also have something they want, like their Amazon deliveries. So they are motivated. We can only assume they are also reading the other texts about housing contracts and meal plans. Of course, there is always that group of students who come back after the fact and say, “I didn’t know.” But we haven’t done a formal survey.?

——————————
Susan Lechtanski
Marketing Director
Pennsylvania State University University Park
University Park PA
(814) 863-6146
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 03-04-2025 16:24
From: Lauren Hohls
Subject: Exploring Text Message Marketing for Student Engagement ? Insights & Best Practices?

Hi Susan,

This is really insightful – thank you for sharing! It makes sense that the app has been successful since it consolidates so many essential tools. While we’re not looking to develop our own app, it would be interesting to explore ways to collaborate with the university to leverage their existing platform for event promotion.

I also appreciate your perspective on keeping text messages minimal and focused on more administrative or high-priority updates. That balance is something we’re keeping in mind as we explore our own approach. Have you found that students respond well to the once-per-month marketing texts, or do you ever get feedback about them?

Thanks again for all this helpful info!

——————————
Lauren Hohls
Assistant Executive Director of Marketing & Communications
Associated Students of San Francisco State University
San Francisco CA
(415) 338-2771
——————————

Original Message:
Sent: 03-04-2025 15:48
From: Susan Lechtanski
Subject: Exploring Text Message Marketing for Student Engagement ? Insights & Best Practices?

Hi Lauren,

The app gained widespread popularity from the beginning. It is a “one-stop shop” for all your online Penn State needs, making it super helpful. It contains everything from real-time shuttle/bus schedules to ordering food online from our eateries to our course management system, including grades, campus maps, etc. The app is pushed during orientation and then becomes an invaluable asset during your time on campus. The messages appear in the “header” of the app when you open it. Of course, you can ignore them, but they are “in your face” when you open the app. You can dismiss the messages but have to open the message to mark it as read to make it disappear. We use the app for more campus event-related messages such as Homecoming week, THON (dance marathon) weekend, student leader government voting, parents weekend, and other campus-wide events.

We use text messages for more “administrative” marketing, such as housing contracts and meal plans. Aside from texting them individually about mail and packages or building texts for maintenance issues, we sparingly use “marketing” texts, sending them out maybe once per month. Text messages are a valuable resource that we don’t want to abuse and annoy them. Of course, these differ from the required emergency text alerts relating to the Clery Act and Emergency Management for safety-related text messages. 

——————————
Susan Lechtanski
Marketing Director
Pennsylvania State University University Park
University Park PA
(814) 863-6146

Original Message:
Sent: 02-28-2025 19:11
From: Lauren Hohls
Subject: Exploring Text Message Marketing for Student Engagement ? Insights & Best Practices?

Hi Susan,

Thank you so much for sharing Penn State’s approach to messaging services! It’s really helpful to see how y’all differentiate between the campus app, housing-related messages, and emergency alerts. I love the idea of using an existing app that students already have on their phones – has Penn State seen good engagement rates with event-related notifications through the app?

Also, do you find that students prefer app notifications over traditional text messages, or is it more of a complementary tool alongside other marketing efforts?

I really appreciate your insights – this gives us a lot to think about!

——————————
Lauren Hohls
Assistant Executive Director of Marketing & Communications
Associated Students of San Francisco State University
San Francisco CA
(415) 338-2771

Original Message:
Sent: 02-27-2025 16:21
From: Susan Lechtanski
Subject: Exploring Text Message Marketing for Student Engagement ? Insights & Best Practices?

Hi Lauren! 

Penn State uses three different types of messaging services. The first is through our campus app, Penn State Go: Penn State Go | The all-in-one mobile app for Penn State. Almost every student, faculty, and staff member has this app on their phones. We can target by campus location and type of audience (student or staff). As you mentioned, it is selective regarding the kinds of messages: Keeping messages minimal and focused on big-ticket items or high-priority messages. Student organizations and departments can request marketing messages to be sent out through this format. But we still limit the messages to one or two per week to avoid overuse. 

The second service we use is for the on-campus residential students. We can text them individually regarding mail or packages. We can text specific floors or buildings regarding maintenance issues, for example. We use this sparingly for marketing messages, limiting it to housing contract renewal reminders and similar messages related to housing contracts, such as roommate selections, etc. We also use it for other essential notices before holiday breaks, move-out procedures at the end of the semester, etc. 

Third, like most other universities, our emergency management team can text out emergency alerts relating to weather and incidents regarding public safety. This third option is never used for marketing purposes. 

Original Message:
Sent: 02-27-2025 15:58
From: Lauren Hohls
Subject: Exploring Text Message Marketing for Student Engagement ? Insights & Best Practices?

Hi everyone,

I’m exploring the possibility of implementing text message marketing at Associated Students of San Francisco State University (AS SFSU) as a way to improve event attendance and keep students informed about key programs, services, and deadlines. Right now, we primarily use Instagram, print flyers & our website for event promotion, but we recognize that students may not always see our posts or flyers, so we’re looking for an additional way to reach students quickly and effectively.

A few key things we’re considering:

• Keeping messages minimal and focused on big-ticket items (e.g., major events like concerts and elections, scholarship deadlines, food pantry updates).
• Ensuring an easy opt-in process while remaining compliant with TCPA regulations.
• Avoiding overuse to prevent students from opting out.
• Finding an affordable and easy-to-manage platform, ideally one that integrates with email marketing (we’re currently exploring Mailchimp).
• Training our student Social Media Outreach Coordinators to manage the effort.

I’d love to hear from anyone who has experience with text message marketing for student engagement. Have you tried this at your campus? What platforms have worked well (or not)? What challenges did you face, and how did students respond? Any pros/cons or lessons learned?

If you have insights to share, I’d really appreciate your thoughts! I’m also open to setting up calls with folks who’ve implemented this to dive deeper into best practices.

Thanks in advance for your help!

——————————
Lauren Hohls
Assistant Executive Director of Marketing & Communications
Associated Students of San Francisco State University
San Francisco CA
(415) 338-2771
——————————

[Susan Lechtanski]

PS – regarding the Penn State Go app – we modeled ours after the University of Central Florida called UCF Mobile. The Penn State Go app and the UCF Mobile app are available in the app store for download if you want to explore them. Of course, some icons will be limited without being able to log in to their respective systems. But the apps themselves are available for download.?

——————————
Susan Lechtanski
Marketing Director
Pennsylvania State University University Park
University Park PA
(814) 863-6146
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 03-04-2025 16:38
From: Susan Lechtanski
Subject: Exploring Text Message Marketing for Student Engagement ? Insights & Best Practices?

They respond to text messages by picking up their mail or packages, so we know they are reading them. But we also have something they want, like their Amazon deliveries. So they are motivated. We can only assume they are also reading the other texts about housing contracts and meal plans. Of course, there is always that group of students who come back after the fact and say, “I didn’t know.” But we haven’t done a formal survey. 

——————————
Susan Lechtanski
Marketing Director
Pennsylvania State University University Park
University Park PA
(814) 863-6146
——————————

Original Message:
Sent: 03-04-2025 16:24
From: Lauren Hohls
Subject: Exploring Text Message Marketing for Student Engagement ? Insights & Best Practices?

Hi Susan,

This is really insightful – thank you for sharing! It makes sense that the app has been successful since it consolidates so many essential tools. While we’re not looking to develop our own app, it would be interesting to explore ways to collaborate with the university to leverage their existing platform for event promotion.

I also appreciate your perspective on keeping text messages minimal and focused on more administrative or high-priority updates. That balance is something we’re keeping in mind as we explore our own approach. Have you found that students respond well to the once-per-month marketing texts, or do you ever get feedback about them?

Thanks again for all this helpful info!

——————————
Lauren Hohls
Assistant Executive Director of Marketing & Communications
Associated Students of San Francisco State University
San Francisco CA
(415) 338-2771

Original Message:
Sent: 03-04-2025 15:48
From: Susan Lechtanski
Subject: Exploring Text Message Marketing for Student Engagement ? Insights & Best Practices?

Hi Lauren,

The app gained widespread popularity from the beginning. It is a “one-stop shop” for all your online Penn State needs, making it super helpful. It contains everything from real-time shuttle/bus schedules to ordering food online from our eateries to our course management system, including grades, campus maps, etc. The app is pushed during orientation and then becomes an invaluable asset during your time on campus. The messages appear in the “header” of the app when you open it. Of course, you can ignore them, but they are “in your face” when you open the app. You can dismiss the messages but have to open the message to mark it as read to make it disappear. We use the app for more campus event-related messages such as Homecoming week, THON (dance marathon) weekend, student leader government voting, parents weekend, and other campus-wide events.

We use text messages for more “administrative” marketing, such as housing contracts and meal plans. Aside from texting them individually about mail and packages or building texts for maintenance issues, we sparingly use “marketing” texts, sending them out maybe once per month. Text messages are a valuable resource that we don’t want to abuse and annoy them. Of course, these differ from the required emergency text alerts relating to the Clery Act and Emergency Management for safety-related text messages. 

——————————
Susan Lechtanski
Marketing Director
Pennsylvania State University University Park
University Park PA
(814) 863-6146

Original Message:
Sent: 02-28-2025 19:11
From: Lauren Hohls
Subject: Exploring Text Message Marketing for Student Engagement ? Insights & Best Practices?

Hi Susan,

Thank you so much for sharing Penn State’s approach to messaging services! It’s really helpful to see how y’all differentiate between the campus app, housing-related messages, and emergency alerts. I love the idea of using an existing app that students already have on their phones – has Penn State seen good engagement rates with event-related notifications through the app?

Also, do you find that students prefer app notifications over traditional text messages, or is it more of a complementary tool alongside other marketing efforts?

I really appreciate your insights – this gives us a lot to think about!

——————————
Lauren Hohls
Assistant Executive Director of Marketing & Communications
Associated Students of San Francisco State University
San Francisco CA
(415) 338-2771

Original Message:
Sent: 02-27-2025 16:21
From: Susan Lechtanski
Subject: Exploring Text Message Marketing for Student Engagement ? Insights & Best Practices?

Hi Lauren! 

Penn State uses three different types of messaging services. The first is through our campus app, Penn State Go: Penn State Go | The all-in-one mobile app for Penn State. Almost every student, faculty, and staff member has this app on their phones. We can target by campus location and type of audience (student or staff). As you mentioned, it is selective regarding the kinds of messages: Keeping messages minimal and focused on big-ticket items or high-priority messages. Student organizations and departments can request marketing messages to be sent out through this format. But we still limit the messages to one or two per week to avoid overuse. 

The second service we use is for the on-campus residential students. We can text them individually regarding mail or packages. We can text specific floors or buildings regarding maintenance issues, for example. We use this sparingly for marketing messages, limiting it to housing contract renewal reminders and similar messages related to housing contracts, such as roommate selections, etc. We also use it for other essential notices before holiday breaks, move-out procedures at the end of the semester, etc. 

Third, like most other universities, our emergency management team can text out emergency alerts relating to weather and incidents regarding public safety. This third option is never used for marketing purposes. 

Original Message:
Sent: 02-27-2025 15:58
From: Lauren Hohls
Subject: Exploring Text Message Marketing for Student Engagement ? Insights & Best Practices?

Hi everyone,

I’m exploring the possibility of implementing text message marketing at Associated Students of San Francisco State University (AS SFSU) as a way to improve event attendance and keep students informed about key programs, services, and deadlines. Right now, we primarily use Instagram, print flyers & our website for event promotion, but we recognize that students may not always see our posts or flyers, so we’re looking for an additional way to reach students quickly and effectively.

A few key things we’re considering:

• Keeping messages minimal and focused on big-ticket items (e.g., major events like concerts and elections, scholarship deadlines, food pantry updates).
• Ensuring an easy opt-in process while remaining compliant with TCPA regulations.
• Avoiding overuse to prevent students from opting out.
• Finding an affordable and easy-to-manage platform, ideally one that integrates with email marketing (we’re currently exploring Mailchimp).
• Training our student Social Media Outreach Coordinators to manage the effort.

I’d love to hear from anyone who has experience with text message marketing for student engagement. Have you tried this at your campus? What platforms have worked well (or not)? What challenges did you face, and how did students respond? Any pros/cons or lessons learned?

If you have insights to share, I’d really appreciate your thoughts! I’m also open to setting up calls with folks who’ve implemented this to dive deeper into best practices.

Thanks in advance for your help!

——————————
Lauren Hohls
Assistant Executive Director of Marketing & Communications
Associated Students of San Francisco State University
San Francisco CA
(415) 338-2771
——————————

[wtourville]

Good day Lauren!?

At Minnesota State the Student Events Team has a opt in only texting service for larger events and some services since 2015. We manage it directly and do send texts for other department events, but do not allow RSOs to use the service. This keeps the volume down and cost down.

Since our time here are a few tricks, we have learned.

1. OPT IN

1. Have them opt in during orientation. We offer a bookstore gift card giveaway for a survey to collect feedback, involvement interest, and texting opts. This is the primary way we get opt ins.
2. We offer incentives during Welcome Week, Homecoming Etc. to people to opt in. IE second bingo card, LED foam wand, etc. They have to self-opt in and can opt out at any time.

[laurenhohls@asi.sfsu.edu]

Hi William,

Thank you for this detailed breakdown – this is exactly the kind of insight I was hoping for! Your opt-in strategies and retention tactics are especially interesting, and I love that you prioritize value-added texts to keep engagement high.

I’m curious – how do you manage sign-ups after the initial orientation/welcome week period? Do you continue promoting opt-ins throughout the year, or is most of your audience gathered at the start of the semester?

Also, with oncampustext.com, do you find any limitations that make you consider switching platforms, or has it been reliable enough for your needs despite the lack of CRM/email integration?

Thanks again!

——————————
Lauren Hohls
Assistant Executive Director of Marketing & Communications
Associated Students of San Francisco State University
San Francisco CA
(415) 338-2771
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 02-28-2025 12:20
From: William Tourville
Subject: Exploring Text Message Marketing for Student Engagement ? Insights & Best Practices?

Good day Lauren! 

At Minnesota State the Student Events Team has a opt in only texting service for larger events and some services since 2015. We manage it directly and do send texts for other department events, but do not allow RSOs to use the service. This keeps the volume down and cost down.

Since our time here are a few tricks, we have learned.

1. OPT IN

1. Have them opt in during orientation. We offer a bookstore gift card giveaway for a survey to collect feedback, involvement interest, and texting opts. This is the primary way we get opt ins.
2. We offer incentives during Welcome Week, Homecoming Etc. to people to opt in. IE second bingo card, LED foam wand, etc. They have to self-opt in and can opt out at any time.