By sending a direct invite to your prospective students to your Chat platform widget, you are providing a clear and concise call to action to start chatting with your Student and/or Staff Ambassadors. This allows you to run your own - very simple - outreach campaign parallel to other marketing initiatives, that doesn't require multiple levels of sign-off.
We're seeing great engagement with them already, and they are quick and easy to send directly from your dashboard.
How do I send direct invites to my Chat platform?
To send your direct private Chat invites, follow these simple steps.
Log into your University Dashboard.
Navigate to the Prospects tab in the left-hand side panel.
Under the sub-menu, click Invite.
You now have two options - you can either share a unique invite URL with your prospects (or paste/embed this wherever you like), or upload a list of email addresses you'd like to invite.
More on those two options, including example screenshots:
The Invite via Link option means you can embed your URL into event registration/follow-up comms, paste it into emails to specific students, or share at any other touch points where you're hoping to reach prospects.
The Invite via email address option means you can paste a list of prospect emails - whether they are event or open day attendees, sign-ups for a brochure or further information, or recipients of local school outreach campaigns.
If you share the Invite Link, prospects that receive it will be taken straight to your Unibuddy Chat platform to chat with your Ambassadors.
If you upload prospect email addresses (Invite via email address), they will receive an email invite to your Chat platform (you can see this in the screenshot below). This method also enters the prospect into a nurture reminder campaign, with timely reminders if they haven't yet signed up.
đ¨ Before you email prospects a direct Chat invite, you should ensure you have permission to contact them via email. Read more here.
What else do I need to know?
Private invites sent via email address automatically send reminder emails in the following cadence:
2 days after the initial invite is sent
4 days after the initial invite is sent
8 days after the initial invite is sent
This means you don't need to remember to chase up, your prospects are already entered into a nurture sequence that drives far greater sign up rates.
(Prospects are opted out of this reminder flow automatically as soon as they sign up to your Chat platform).
You can resend the Private invite as many times as you like. In fact, we would recommend that you do this every 2-3 weeks, to remind prospective students who have not yet signed up to chat with an Ambassador that the option is there!
Who should I send Private Invites to?
Good question - and you do have lots of options!
Prospective student groups
Open day attendees (in-person or virtual)
Offer holders who may need reassurance before accepting
Applicants who havenât completed their application (e.g. started but not submitted UCAS or direct applications)
Leads captured from enquiry forms on your website
Prospects from school visits or fairs (e.g. UCAS fairs, international recruitment events)
Students who downloaded a prospectus
Students who attended webinars or subject-specific information sessions
Students in your CRM marked as âwarm leadsâ
International prospects who asked questions via email but havenât engaged further
Special categories or niche groups
Mature learners requesting course-change or career-change information
Feeder school/college pupils from partner institutions
Students who signed up to mailing lists at outreach events
Students exploring specific departments (e.g. nursing interviews, portfolio courses, etc.)
Postgraduate prospects who have downloaded course PDFs or attended PG fairs
Follow-up opportunities
Event no-shows (e.g. registered for an open day but didnât attend)
Students who asked a question but havenât replied
Students coming up to key decision points (e.g. UCAS or accommodation deadlines)
Prospects who clicked links in marketing emails but havenât converted
How can I track who has signed up?
Underneath your invite options, you'll see Prospects invited - with three columns: E-Mail, Status, and Date Invited. This allows you to track who you have invited, whether they have joined or not (under Status), and the date that you last invited them.
