AlertU Best Practices: Increase Subscriber Adoption
Proactive mobile subscriber list building is an essential component to every college emergency alert notification system. Communicating the availability of AlertU to your college campus community will increase subscriber adoption. The following are recommendations on effectively promoting and marketing emergency alert notification sign up.
Online Sign Up Widgets
Online sign up widgets provide a quick and easy opportunity for students, faculty and staff to subscribe to AlertU. Place an online sign up widget on the school website home page. Also, widgets should be placed on school registration, student services, campus security and the student activity websites.
Here are a few examples of schools effectively integrating online sign up widgets:
Cuesta College
Hancock College
Napa Valley College
Hartnell College
Las Positas College
Orange Coast College
Copper Mountain College
If you have questions regarding online flash widgets, AlertU can provide branded flash widgets for school websites. For more information, please contact AlertU sales.
School Faculty Assistance
School administrators should communicate the importance of AlertU and send an email to the faculty, instructing them to have students sign up in class on specific days and monitor progress. For example, the school faculty instructs students at the beginning of class to take a few minutes and sign up for AlertU.
Below is a sample faculty email:
“101 people signed up yesterday, a direct result of your efforts. As you may already know, San Jose had a 5.6 earthquake last night. Had the earthquake hit in Napa, we could have used AlertU to notify students and staff on campus closure status.”
Thank you for your support and time spent on this important subscriber adoption campaign.
Please take the first few minutes of every class today to remind and educate students about this free emergency service. It takes less then 30 seconds sign up and each student you encourage helps get us closer to our goal of 100% enrollment.
Sign Up Instructions:
1) On your cell phone, text XYZ to 253788 (ALERTU).
2) You will receive a welcome text message:
Welcome to the XYZ emergency SMS system. Reply Y to sign up.
Txt STOP to 253788 to unsubscribe. Your std rates apply.
More: alertu.com
3) Reply Y to the message.
4) Complete!
On-Campus Subscriber Adoption Promotion and Marketing
Incorporate AlertU electronic flyers into as many school publications as possible. These publications include college and student newspapers, online bulletins, school student emails, local and regional publications and student registration packets. City College of San Francisco’s student fall 2008 registration booklet incorporated the AlertU electronic flyer template on a full-page ad adjacent to its student registration page. The CCSF printed over 300,000 registration booklets for student enrollment.
1. Print banners from the AlertU flyer templates provided and promote the AlertU sign up instructions around campus, at student unions, student dormitories, emergency centers, libraries, cafeterias, hallway bulletin boards, sporting events and lecture halls.
2. Offer sign up incentives to increase subscriber adoption. For example, “Enter to win a free iPod, parking permit or gift certificate for subscribing to AlertU. To be eligible, sign up by November 20.”
3. Work with additional local media outlets and create periodic public relations campaigns to educate the college campus community and encourage subscriber adoption.
4. Include information to users that they can unsubscribe at anytime and mobile numbers will not be shared with third party marketers and they will not receive SPAM.
If you have questions or would like additional information on text emergency alert notification systems, please visit AlertU or contact sales.
