The Power of Personalisation: How Tailored Content Builds Alumni Engagement

In today’s digital world, attention is scarce and alumni expectations are higher than ever. They don’t just want to be remembered; they want to feel like they matter.

Generic emails and one-size-fits-all social posts no longer cut it. If your alumni communications feel impersonal or irrelevant, they’re likely being ignored.

Personalisation is now essential, not optional, for effective alumni engagement.

This post explores why personalisation matters, what it looks like in practice, the pitfalls of relying too heavily on social media, and how your own archive and email list could be your most powerful tools.

Why Personalisation Matters in Alumni Engagement

Your alumni community isn’t one audience, it’s thousands of unique individuals with different interests, experiences and in different stages of life. The 1998 graduate who was in the rowing team, the 2018 head girl pursuing medicine, and the retired teacher turned regular donor all have vastly different relationships with your institution.

So… why send them all the same newsletter?

Here’s what recent research tells us:

• 58% of alumni report that they rarely read communications from their alma mater, perceiving them as irrelevant

• Emails with personalised subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened.

• Universities that segment their alumni email lists by graduation year, location, or interests see open rates improve by 22% compared to non-segmented lists.

Personalised communications are more likely to drive alumni engagement, including donations, event attendance, and content sharing. If you want to cut through the noise, your messages must feel personal, even at scale.

The Problem with Social Media

Social media platforms are often seen as the go-to channel for alumni engagement. But are they really working?

Here’s why you may be investing time in a space with limited return:

• Minimal reach: The average organic reach of Facebook posts is around 5.2%. That means up to 95% of your followers aren’t even seeing your updates.

• Lack of targeting: You can’t deliver personalised content easily. There is no way to send different posts to alumni from different decades or interests.

• Platform ownership: Your audience is ultimately not yours. You're building engagement on rented land. As X (Twitter) has shown recently, that audience can easily go elsewhere.

And the biggest issue? Social content disappears quickly. That wonderful throwback photo or alumni story is gone in 24 hours on Instagram. That’s not meaningful engagement; it’s a fleeting moment.

Why Your Email List Matters

While social media visibility declines, email remains one of the most effective tools for direct, measurable alumni engagement. When done well, email allows:

• Segmentation: Tailor messages to different groups (e.g. decades, activities, locations)

• Tracking: Know who opened, clicked, or ignored

• Ownership: You control the audience, no algorithms or restrictions

Think of your email list as the foundation of your alumni strategy. Paired with personalisation, it becomes an incredibly powerful tool for connection and action.

What Personalisation Looks Like in Practice

Personalisation goes far beyond inserting someone’s first name. It’s about relevance, nostalgia, and shared experience.

Here’s how alumni teams are doing it:

1. Segmented Newsletters

   Tailor your communications based on graduation decade, location, former activities, or giving history.
   Examples:

   A “1990s Throwback” newsletter with stories and photos from that era.

   A regional meetup invite for London-based alumni.

   A message to former athletes about a new sports centre campaign.

2. Targeted Content Recommendations

   Use data on what users are viewing and interacting with, to recommend events, campaigns, or stories that resonate.
   Example: A former drama student receives a campaign update about the theatre renovation.

3. Facial Recognition and Tagged Memories

   Use facial recognition to tag alumni in archival photos and generate galleries like “Look who we found!”
   Creating personalised, emotional hooks that spark conversations and interaction.

4. Tailored Fundraising Appeals

   Forget generic asks. Send targeted appeals that align with personal interests: supporting the library, a scholarship, or a club that alumni have shown an active interest in.

5. Event Invitations That Make Sense

   Instead of a blanket “Join Us,” segment by interest or age.
   E.g.

• Invite recent grads to a careers fair.

• Ask those who’ve shown an interest in music to attend a concert reunion.

Common Challenges (and How to Overcome Them)

Even with the best intentions, many teams struggle with personalisation. Here’s why, and how to fix it:

📉 “We don’t have enough data.”

Start with what you do have (e.g. name, grad year, location). Then gradually build more through surveys and engagement insights.

🧩 “Our systems don’t talk to each other.”

You’re not alone. Many schools and universities use a patchwork of CRM, email, archive, and social platforms. Consider platforms like SocialArchive that unify archive, content delivery, CRM tools, and engagement into one ecosystem.

⏳ “We don’t have time to personalise everything.”

Automation is key. Use smart filters and dynamic content tools that adjust messages based on user data. That way one campaign or newsletter can feel personal to many audiences.

How SocialArchive Supports Personalisation at Scale

SocialArchive is designed to help schools, colleges, and universities personalise engagement through the stories, content, and data they already have with as little effort as possible.

Here’s how it works:

1. Facial Recognition & Tagging

   Identify individuals in archived photos. Automatically generate “That’s Me” galleries and notify users when new content featuring them is added.

2. Smart Segmentation

   Target content by decade, activity, location, or any custom field. Want to find photos of a particular sports team from 2002? Easy.

3. Dynamic Galleries

   Alumni can see personalised content feeds based on their connection to your institution. This could include old class photos, favourite places on campus, or tagged friends.

4. Automated Notifications

   Let alumni know when something new is added, like a photo they’re in, a story related to their dorm, or a comment on a memory they shared.

Going Further: How to Build a Personalised Strategy

Even without a sophisticated toolset, there’s plenty you can do to get started:

Run a Tagging Campaign

Encourage alumni to help identify people, places, or events in old photos. It builds a more complete history of your school and participation at the same time.

Use Testimonials

Feature stories that speak directly to specific alumni groups, like international students, scholarship recipients, or those working in healthcare.

Track, Learn, and Improve

Test different segmentation models, subjects, and formats. Look at open rates, clicks, and interactions to learn what’s resonating, and refine your approach.

The Future Is Personal

Your alumni want to feel remembered and connected, not just reached. By delivering content that resonates with who they are and what they care about, you deepen connections, increase loyalty and build a community that’s excited to stay in touch.

In a world where 90% of digital content is ignored, personalisation is how you stand out.

You already have the stories. You already have the data. Now it’s time to put them together.

How SocialArchive Can Help
SocialArchive is the engagement platform built for schools, colleges, and universities. It gives you the tools to turn your archive into a personalised content engine, bringing together stories, people, and history to drive lasting engagement.

Want to see how it works? Book a demo and discover the power of personalised alumni engagement.

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