Chapter 1Make Experiences Hyper-Personalized and Collaborative
The first group of Gen Alpha entered high school in the fall of 2024. While you’ve likely been paying close attention to this rising generation, its purchasing power, and brand affinities, are you preparing to recruit them?
While students born at the tail end of Gen Z likely have more in common with the oldest Gen Alpha members than they do with early Gen Z members (born in the late 1990s), there are some differences to note as future Gen Alpha students hit high school and beyond.
To stand out in Gen Z’s and Gen Alpha’s feeds online, personalizing experiences while also encouraging collaboration with tools like AI, gamification, social media, and more, is key.
What We Know
Hyper-Personalized Content Helps Cut Through the Noise
More than any other generation, Gen Alpha likes to create and collaborate. These students don’t know a life before screens and expect more personalization than even their Gen Z predecessors.
Knowing this, it’s no surprise that Gen Alpha is helping shape the future of AI by using it for anything and everything—school, personalized messaging, image creation, and so much more.
Just as companies like Amazon are using AI to suggest products that align with browsing and purchase history, your institution can incorporate AI to provide prospective students with content related to their individual interests. We’ll dive into that more in Trend 5, but let’s talk about personalization first.
We know that younger generations are connecting with messaging that resonates most with them. If your institution isn’t thinking about ways to learn more about your admitted and prospective students to personalize messaging, now’s the time.
Our persona-driven Eduventures Prospective Student Mindsets™ messaging has resulted in 25% more engagement for our partners.
With this persona-based marketing, institutions are able to better understand what students want most from their college experiences, allowing you to speak directly to their desired academic, career, and experiential outcomes to improve your engagement.
For a deeper look into this student messaging tactic, check out our Student Mindsets™ Action Plan.
Students Want To Be Active Participants in the Digital Space
Gen Alpha is known to be more collaborative than the more passively content-consuming Gen Z. These students engage more on social platforms and seek connections with colleges they have interest in – either through college reps, current students, or alumni. In addition, Gen Alpha students use gaming to interact and build connections with people and brands.
What Our Research Says
The Eduventures 2024 Student Sentiment Report uncovered just how college search is becoming more interactive. Gen Alpha is known to be more collaborative than Gen Z; this visual shows a more even consumption (when compared to 2022 findings) of web and video-based content as we approach this college-bound generation.
2024 research showed an increase in students who posted questions to current students and college representatives on social platforms, tweeted with a specific hashtag, or talked to a chatbot on a school’s website.
Examples
Non-Industry Inspiration
Sephora Beauty Insider is an example of how an interactive loyalty program platform can make users feel seen, ultimately directing them to specific products that feel personalized to their needs.
Industry Inspiration
California State University, Northridge, uses an AI chatbot named CSUNny that provides 24/7 support, along with the option for personal follow-up from someone from the university.
Applying This at Your Institution
Finding ways to personalize your messaging to prospective students will set your institution apart. To do this, you need to understand who these students are and what they value, along with where they spend their time online.
To appeal to incoming student populations, make interactions a two-way conversation whenever possible. Using AI can help institutions deliver personalized, relevant content in a timely manner. AI chatbots on your website can answer prospective students’ desires for quick, relevant information.
Furthermore, including interactive gamified elements in outreach – and even within the more tedious processes like application forms – can build brand connection.
Get Our Additional Four 2025 Digital Trends
Fill out the form below to receive the entire action plan, which covers four additional trends to consider as we dive into 2025. Also included is a checklist to help your team get started with implementing these trends at your institution to stay top of mind with Gen Z and Gen Alpha.
