How to Actually “Meet Students Where They're At” During Melt Season
By John Azoni, founder of Unveild— a video production company for higher education.
TL;DR:
A vendor lost my business by making me hunt for basic info instead of just telling me what I needed. Your deposited students are about to do the same thing when they reach out with questions. Answer them fully, right there, in the channel they used. Friction increases melt.
A Cold Email Taught Me Something About Melt Season
I got a cold email yesterday from a vendor. I get dozens of these every day as I'm sure you do.
Most of them I leave unread. Some I report as SPAM if I feel like they are trying to look like they're personalizing their outreach to me but its clear they known nothing about my company.
But this one was actually for something I might use. So I did something I almost never do — I wrote back and asked for more info.
What Happened Next
She responded fast, which I appreciated. One sentence about what they do, and then a link to their website. Upon clicking to their website I couldn't quickly figure out if this thing solved my problem or not (I spent about 10 seconds trying). So I moved on with my day and stopped considering it.
What she should've done was provided me the basic info that she sent me digging for on the website. Tell me who you help, what you do, and why it matters for someone in my situation. Keep it in the email. Don't make me work for it.
Sound Familiar?
Are your melt comms doing this? Higher ed loves to talk about "meeting students where they're at." Everything I just mentioned above is what that DOES NOT look like. Your deposited students are about to become that person in my inbox. They've said yes — but that yes might still be fragile. And some of them are gonna reach out with a question about housing or about financial aid, or move-in day.
And the easiest thing in the world, especially when you're slammed, is to fire back a link to the FAQ page or the housing portal and call it done.
You may think you're helping, but what you're actually serving them is friction. And for a student who still could bail and go with another school, these small moments of friction add up.
They're probably not gonna call and complain. They're just gonna start reconsidering and ghost you. Like I did to that vendor yesterday.
Two Things Worth Keeping in Mind as You Head Into Summer
Answer the question fully, right there, in the reply.
Stay in the format they reached you in. A student who texts their admissions counselor doesn't want an email. A parent who DMs your Instagram doesn't want to be invited onto a call to get their question answered. The channel they chose tells you something about where they're at and how much effort they're willing to spend. Meet them there.
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