Make Your Outreach Smarter (and Still Human)

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About the Episode:

In this episode of The Melt Season Playbook series, Allison explores how AI can help enrollment marketers communicate with more empathy, creativity, and strategic intent during melt season. From writing warmer nudges to supporting nervous parents, this episode is packed with practical ways to improve your student and family outreach—without losing your human touch.

Whether you're staring at a blank screen or editing your fifth orientation reminder, these prompts and strategies will help you engage smarter.

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Key “How Tos” You’ll Hear in This Episode:

• Use AI to brainstorm student-centered messaging ideas quickly
• Pressure-test texts and emails for warmth, urgency, and clarity
• Personalize messages for different student segments (like first-gen commuters or pre-med prospects)
• Support parents by anticipating their concerns—and creating helpful content without extra workload
• Revise checklist-style comms into more welcoming, anxiety-reducing experiences

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Episode Summary

How can AI support more human communication with students and families?
Allison opens this episode by challenging the assumption that AI is just a way to write faster. Instead, she positions tools like ChatGPT as thinking partners—great for generating ideas, pressure-testing tone, and segmenting messaging based on specific student personas. From commuter students to first-gens, Allison explains how simple prompts can yield powerful insights that inspire more thoughtful, personalized communication. The goal isn’t automation—it’s augmentation.

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What kinds of student messages benefit most from AI-enhanced refinement?
During melt season, many institutions bombard students with checklist-style reminders—emails and texts that often feel robotic or cold. Allison encourages enrollment marketers to inject warmth, empathy, and urgency into these messages using AI as a tone filter. She suggests prompts like, “Make this sound warmer but still urgent,” or “How would a stressed student read this?” The result? Communications that feel like nudges from a trusted guide rather than demands from a distant office.

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How should institutions include parents in AI-augmented communication strategies?
Despite students switching to college emails, parents remain a vital audience. Allison spotlights a creative prompt: “What questions might a parent of a first-gen student have in July?” This simple input can produce content for FAQ pages, email series, call scripts, and more—all tailored to the real concerns of families navigating college for the first time. It's not about writing more content; it's about writing smarter, more empathetic content.

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What’s the final mindset shift institutions need to make with their communications?
In her closing insight, Allison talks about using AI to perform a communications audit. She recommends dropping a current message (like an orientation checklist email) into an AI tool with a prompt that asks if it feels welcoming to an overwhelmed student. These small tone adjustments can create a big impact, helping institutions move from transactional to transformational messaging. AI becomes your communication coach, allowing you to see your outreach through the eyes of your students—and make it better.

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Connect With Our Host:

Allison Turcio

https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonturcio/

https://twitter.com/allisonturcio

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About The Enrollify Podcast Network: The Application with Allison Turcio is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows, too!  

Some of our favorites include Mission Admissions.

Enrollify is made possible by Element451 —  the next-generation AI student engagement platform helping institutions create meaningful and personalized interactions with students. Learn more at element451.com.

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