7 Tips for Crafting Great Text Messages (From a Year of Secret Shopping)

Every year, I “secret shop” the college search process.

I (or my daughter, husband, cat, etc.) pose as a prospective student, filling out inquiry forms. I use a separate email as the parent, too. I watch what shows up in my inbox, my mailbox, and my feed, all to see the process from both the student and parent perspective.

Up until now, my focus was mostly on email and print. But this year, I decided to add something new: I gave my cell number for both my “student” and “parent” personas. I wanted to see: what does to mean to craft great text messages?

As the student, my phone lit up with texts from schools across the country — warm welcomes, deadline reminders, event invites, application nudges.

As the parent? Silence. Not one SMS.

That contrast was fascinating on its own. But the real story came from the student messages, dozens of them, each a little glimpse into how schools are using (and sometimes struggling with) using texts in their comm flows.

This exercise always gives me perspective as a consultant. I get to see the best practices happening across higher ed, the creative approaches schools are testing, and the moments where a little more training or strategy could turn a one-way message into a genuine conversation. Some of the texts I received felt personal and inviting. Others left me unsure who they were from or why they were texting me at that moment, they seemed to have little purpose or goal.

And a few? They were a reminder that while it’s easy to send a text, it’s just as easy for a student to ignore one.

The Breakdown

This year, I signed up to receive text messages from 26 different colleges:

• 10 private liberal arts colleges

• 9 private colleges

• 7 public colleges

Colleges spanned the United States. I posed as both a junior inquiry (14 schools) and a senior inquiry (12 schools) to see if communication strategies varied by stage.

And here’s the headline:

• 20 out of 26 colleges (77%) sent me texts as the student.

• 0 out of 26 colleges (0%) sent me texts as the parent.

And here's the second:

• As a junior I received more text messages, but nearly all of them were event-related.

• Seniors received fewer, but content was better diversified.

That’s the experiment in a nutshell — and what unfolded from there revealed some great insights into how higher ed is using texting in 2025.

A Peek Inside the Texts

Let’s look at some real anonymized examples from my “student” phone — and what they reveal about how we can make SMS a more effective part of the enrollment journey.

1. The Power of First Impressions: Always identify yourself clearly and personalize

All texts came from generic 10-digit phone numbers. If the message didn’t lead with the sender’s name and institution, I would have had no idea who it was from.

Real example:

The tone is friendly — but as a student juggling multiple schools, I wouldn’t know who sent it unless I memorized every mascot.

On top of that, it is impersonal. There is no student name, no counselor name (“Who is sending this?”) and no institution name (“I do not recognize this number”). Clicking the link should not be the only way to figure it out.

Stronger version:

Name + school instantly builds context and trust. (And as a side note, signing off as " - X Admissions" is not enough.)

Even mascots and abbreviations aren’t enough. With six ASUs and forty-three Bulldog mascots out there, students are unlikely to know which one is you.

With students today applying or inquiring at an average of six or more schools, personalizing and identifying who you are is a must.

This text was the first I ever received from this institution. However, if you are months into texting and have already received a response, and you feel confident the student knows you, shortening the “from” line is completely appropriate.

Quick Tip: If you are a Slate school and each member of your counseling team has a dedicated text number, make sure they put that number in their email signature line. Most smartphones, if the email is connected to the phone, will connect the dots and suggest who the text is from. That means when the message arrives, the phone can recommend the sender’s name, giving even more clarity to “who is this?”

2. Texting Should Start Conversations: Engage by Asking a Direct Question

One of the most common missed opportunities I see in higher ed texting is when a message is sent with no clear question or call for a reply. The text might be informative or even exciting, but it lands as a one-way announcement rather than an opening to a conversation.

Real example:

The incentive is fun, but the message ends with a link and no reason for me to respond. This is one of my biggest pet peeves in college texting.

Think about your own texting habits. Do you ever text a friend, family member, or colleague with no expectation that they will respond? Probably not. Texting is inherently conversational. When you send a message to a student, you should be thinking about how to spark a reply and ideally start a dialogue.

If the only goal is to push information, an email or a web page might be a better channel. The unique power of SMS is its immediacy and interactivity. Use that to your advantage.

The goal of texting is not just to inform. It is to invite a reply.

Stronger version:

The difference here is subtle but powerful. By ending with a direct yes/no question, you make it easy for the student to take the next step. It also feels more personal, as if Sam is waiting on their response before sending the link. We expect a reply before we take action, which naturally keeps the conversation going.

How cool would it be if the counselor even added an image of the t-shirt to entice the student to say yes? That's going the extra mile.

3. Avoiding the Spam Trap: Give Context for Why You’re Reaching Out

A surprising number of texts I received fell into what I call the “sinkhole phrases.” These are lines like “just letting you know,” or “reach out if you have any questions". They sound polite, but they stop the conversation before it starts. Without context or a clear next step, they leave the student wondering why the message was sent at all.

Real example:

This message assumes I remember who you are (no name or school) and why you’re sending me this link. If I don’t, the connection is lost.

Stronger version:

One sentence of context makes the text feel intentional and relevant. And that brings me to another pattern I saw: texts that looked like mass blasts instead of true value adds.

4. Build Value, Refrain from Announcements

Real example:

This is meant to feel flattering, but I think it leans far more "this is a mass text".

Stronger version:

The promise of a real benefit — not just “priority consideration” — makes the text worth reading now.

5. Identify Your Compliance & Opt-In Best Practices

   
   

One institution texted me more often than any other, and every single message ended with “STOP to quit” or “Reply STOP to quit."

When every text ends with STOP TO QUIT, it signals bulk automation instead of personal outreach.

Real message:

Besides the grammatical hiccup, this was the fifth or sixth message I’d received from this institution, all with the same opt-out line tacked on. It was already missing several best practices we’ve discussed (clear sender ID, a direct question, personalization), but even if those had been perfect, that repetitive “STOP to quit” would still pull me out of the illusion that this was a personal text.

Let me say, clarity around opt-in/opt-out builds trust and avoids compliance issues. I think it's very important to consider how your institution wants to manage SMS compliance. I'll get to this shortly.

Best practice: Include opt-out language in the first message, then only repeat it if required by law after a long lapse in communication. Texting has been around long enough, and most consumers have opted into enough brand texts, that we know how to unsubscribe. There is no need to remind us every single time.

6. Building a Texting Strategy (Not Just One-Offs)

A good text message is not just about what you say. It is about how it fits into the bigger picture of your outreach. Too often, texts are treated as one-off blasts, but students experience them as part of a single, continuous conversation. Without a strategy for timing, sequencing, and context, even well-written messages can miss the mark.

Three common pitfalls stand out:

1. Asking for too much, too soon. Jumping straight into a “Schedule your campus visit” call-to-action as the very first text can feel pushy and sales-driven, especially for seniors who are just starting their search. Early in the relationship, the goal should be to learn more about the student and show genuine interest. Ask about their academic or extracurricular interests, or what they are looking for in a college experience. That conversation builds trust and makes later invitations to visit feel natural instead of rushed.

2. Repeating the same message. I had one college send me the exact same invitation three times verbatim, each from a different counselor. In the student’s text thread, those duplicates stack up, making it obvious the outreach is automated. Instead of feeling personal, it starts to feel like spam.

Better approach:

• First send: Invite to event with a direct question (“Want me to save you a spot?”)

• Second send: Share a quick, relevant reason to attend (“One of our alums is speaking about career opportunities in your major”)

• Third send: Personal check-in (“Saw you haven’t registered yet — is the date the challenge, or just need more details?”)
  

If you feel this is absolutely necessary (I would question it, but...), make sure each touchpoint adds something new.

3. Using text for the wrong type of content. Some of the messages I received were so long they could have been emails. SMS is meant for quick, concise, actionable communication. Long-form updates, detailed event descriptions, or multi-paragraph announcements are better suited for email, where students can scan and refer back later. Overloading a text with too much information makes it harder for the student to digest and respond.

Make sure each text:

• Builds on the one before it

• Matches the student’s stage in the process

• Brings something new to the conversation

• Fits the medium — brief, clear, and actionable

Texting should feel like a well-paced, two-way dialogue, not a series of disconnected announcements or miniature essays.

7. Remember the Parents!

As you may remember, during this experiment, my parent phone number stayed silent. No event reminders, no application updates, no scholarship alerts. That’s a huge missed opportunity.

Parents play a critical role in a student’s decision, especially around deadlines, finances, and visit planning. And, they actually want this communication.

• 68% of parents say they want texts from colleges (Niche)

• RNL reports 27% of parents prefer text as a communication channel

• 41% of students text parents daily; 95% of those communications are text messages PMC

An intentional parent text might look like this:

What This All Tells Me

Secret shopping each year is my way of staying connected to the student and parent experience — and this year’s SMS experiment confirmed a few things:

• Texting works best when it feels personal, relevant, and easy to respond to.

• Small changes in structure can dramatically increase engagement.

• Parents are an untapped audience in SMS communication for most schools.

If you’re an enrollment leader, now’s the time to audit your texting flows. A few tweaks can move you from being ignored to being remembered.