Research consistently shows that students crave connection and a genuine sense of belonging - not just with their institution, but with each other.
Incoming students want to get to know each other before they arrive, but they can only do that if they know your Community exists! That's where you, and your promotional strategy, come in. Plotting an effective strategy to promote your Community ensures your students know where to go to meet classmates, roommates, and new friends.
Read on for some ideas that we've seen work really well across our university partners.
📬 Invite students more than once
Student email inboxes are busy, and they likely receive a lot of communication from your institution - and potentially other institutions, too. They might miss an invite first time, so be sure to invite them multiple ways, multiple times.
Here are some ideas:
Add a Join Your Class of 20{XX} Community CTA in orientation reminders.
Send an SMS blast with the invite URL (you can shorten this with tools like Bitly).
Add your unique invite QR code to acceptance packs, swag, and orientation signage.
Send physical bookmarks or embed virtual postcards with a Scan to meet your class CTA.
Share “Day in the Life” stories/reels that end with a “Want to connect with people like me? Join the Community" button.
If you're happy opening the Community a little wider: Add your unique Community invite URL to the university’s TikTok/Instagram bios during Admit / Clearing season.
💌 Your Community dashboard has its own built-in nurture invite campaign - doing the heavy lifting for you! If you use Unibuddy's Private invite tool, students who haven't yet joined will receive automated reminders 2, 4, and 8 days after their initial invite.
We are seeing our highest sign-up rates with this invite method.
👩🏽💻 Use your unique invite URL and QR code
Alongside using the Private invite tool for your core invites, you can cover additional bases by embedding your unique Community invite URL or downloadable QR code at touch points you have with your incoming students.
These might include:
Posters, flyers, or pull-up banners at open events.
Webinar and presentation slides.
Email communications to your offer holders/admits.
An embedded link in your offer holder portal, or QR code in your offer holder letters/packs.
Accepted student events - registration emails, follow-up emails, and check-in desks.
💌 Position your message
A lot depends on how you frame the Community when you talk about it. Try some of the following in your comms, across your social media channels, and at any other touch points with your incoming cohort:
Your first stop at {Institution Name}: underline that the Community is the official hub for questions, advice, and connection.
Highlight exclusivity: A great hook is to share something in the Community - such as a webinar link - that students can't get anywhere else. Example messaging could be: “Be on the list for our exclusive event invites before anyone else.”
Show real value: use your offer holder comms to share and emphasise FAQs answered by peers, tips for success, and that the Community is where they'll meet their housemates, classmates, and society buddies.
🌱 Engagement hooks
Community finder tools: "Find people from your country/major/course.”
First-week challenges: scavenger hunts, photo shares, Polls.
Ask Me Anything with Student Ambassadors or academics.
Exclusive resources: housing guides, move-in checklists, study tips - which are only available to members of the Community.
🤝 Build FOMO
Share stats on social media and in comms such as: "500+ of your classmates have already joined!”
Post screenshots (with permission) of fun conversations already happening.
Have Ambassadors who used Community previously share their stories, such as: “This is where I met my best friend before I even started classes.”
🚏 Your Community marketing pack
To make your life easier, we have created customisable marketing resources.
This means that you can add your institution's name, logo and your unique Community QR code to our template posters, postcards, and pull-up banners - promoting your Community at open events, around campus, and at key student touch-points. You can even edit the text and colour scheme, to make them even more on-brand.
🙋🏽♀️ Use your Ambassadors
Your Student Ambassadors are perfectly placed to drive awareness and engagement within your Community. Here are a few proven approaches:
Personal Recommendations via Unibuddy Chat:
When offer-holders or accepted students reach out with questions, Ambassadors can signpost them directly to relevant Spaces in the Community - whether that’s subject-specific discussions, housing tips, or finance advice.Ambassador-Generated Content:
Students respond well to authentic voices. Encourage Ambassadors to showcase the Community through Day in the Life clips, blog articles, or spotlights that highlight real stories and conversations happening inside.Short Explainer Videos:
A quick, 60-second video featuring an Ambassador introducing the Community and explaining how and why to join can be a game-changer. Many institutions have seen sign-up rates increase significantly after adding this simple touchpoint.
📣 Spread the word among other teams and your colleagues
What other teams and colleagues have direct touch points with your student audience?
Ensure that other teams/colleagues who have contact with your student audience know about the Community: what it is, how to direct to it, and why students should join. You could consider:
Asking your comms team to include your Community as an item in internal memos and/or newsletters.
Offering brief training / information sessions for staff about Community.
Creating a slide for other teams to use in webinars, presentations and accepted student events, promoting your Community.
🛜 Use your social media presence
If you're already engaging with incoming students on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Reddit, etc; point to your Community across these mediums. You can even treat social media as the teaser trailer for your Community.
Social media platforms shows the energy and highlights, while the Community is where students get the real value and connection.