AI-fueled personalization driven. AI is enabling one-to-one dialogue at scale
SMS messaging has 98% open rates compared to hardly more than a quarter for email
Mobile-first platforms are merging previously separate systems
Moreover, Campus communication is revolutionized through the adoption of AI, mobile attitudes and behavior.
Days of leaving notes on bulletin boards hoping students will check their email are behind us. Campus communication is much different now than it was a few years ago. Digital native expectations are finally changing the way institutions communicate with their constituency.
Higher education is still changing to meet rising student and teacher needs and maintain practices. It is time to rethink how we build connections with students from beginning to end.
Students seek dialogue, not dumping of information. Gen Z is on their devices for over 7 hours per day, so such technology tools are at the heart of their existence. As education consumers, they're paying for an experience that must cut across all areas of their learning and social existence.
How Is Campus Communication Changing in 2025?
The transformation that is taking place on campuses all over the nation is more than enhancing technology. We are experiencing a complete revolution in how we conceptualize remaining connected in an educational context.
From Broadcast to Conversation: The Shift to Two-Way Communication
University communication used to function like the radio. Universities would broadcast a message and pray that someone was tuned in. But today's students require dialogue. They require questions answered, immediate feedback and to be heard by their universities.
Generation Z interacts with institutions differently than past generations. 69% of the students would value it if their university understood their unique needs through each means of communication. Higher education has enrollment problems and changing demographics, and institutions are forced to adjust their mode of communication. Students want to be addressed as individuals, not as a database entry.
The most successful institutions are moving away from mass email programs towards creating real conversation opportunities. When students can text questions about financial aid deadlines and get minutes-long responses that are tailored to their needs, they engage more deeply with their campus community.
Mobile-First Goes Mobile-Only for Gen Z Students
Your students aren't checking email on computers. They're checking it on their phones between class sessions, between shifts at work and in the evening. When 98% of Americans own cellphones, cellphones become the first doorway to campus life information.
This reality demands more than websites that are mobile friendly. It demands that communications systems play within their existing mobile behavior. They must receive vital updates from the same device they're already using for all other things, without the need to download a couple of applications or retain a dozen login names.
Camp communications strategies that don't account for this mobile-first world are, in effect, opting to be invisible to their students. Those who embrace a mobile-native communications approach have exponentially greater engagement levels and more personal student relationships.
AI Integration: Personal Touch at Scale
Artificial intelligence is finally living up to its promise in higher education. We're talking about scaling communication. The most effective AI deployments balance automated effectiveness with real human conversation.
