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We recently published our 2012 Online Social Calendar Report to see what users want from their online calendars. We learned a lot about online calendar usage and needs in higher education, but one particular statistic stuck out to us: 58% of students want to learn about events via email newsletters.

Sound strange? Well, it seems that weekly campus email blasts don’t always get automatically skipped over—which is what we hear from many administrators. What’s more, emails our customers send have a 9% average click through rate, almost three times higher than the higher education industry average of 3.41%.

If your calendar isn’t for a higher ed institution, don’t worry—these tips work for any community using an online calendar.

So now that we know that students still like getting information this way, what can your school do about it?

1. Send a weekly top events email

If your school doesn’t do this already, sending an automated weekly top events email is an easy way to let students know what’s going on. You’re guaranteed it will reach the inbox of all the students on your campus, and a majority of them want to receive such an email, even if they may not have the time to open it and click through every week. This is a great way to give students a rundown of events they might want to attend that week.

2. Send a reminder email for students who’ve marked “I’m Going”

One way to link your calendar and email together is to send automated reminder emails to students who have indicated that they will attend an event by clicking “I’m Going.” This way, students who may not regularly check the calendar will still get a reminder in their inboxes.

3. Send an email to ask for reviews

Email can be a great way to get feedback about your events. Send an automated email after the event to ask those who’ve marked “I’m Going” on your calendar how the event was. Event organizers can get feedback, and your students will feel engaged and empowered by the ability to share their opinion.

4. Email students just to let them know the calendar exists

Although many students find their school calendar through the main website, others may not have explored the website’s features. There’s no harm in reminding students about your calendar the “old fashioned” way—why not send an email telling students to check out your calendar? Once students see that the calendar is a useful tool, they’ll start checking it out on their own.

Using email to connect with students can be a simple way to increase awareness of your school’s calendar and rich events programming.  Students are likely to see the information you send via email either on their computers or on their phones, so it’s a reliable way to get news to the vast majority of your student body.

To find out more results from our surveys about how school calendars are being used, check out our full findings here.

Check out this step-by-step video detailing Localist’s newsletter capabilities.

Or head to our main site to learn more about Localist’s newsletter capabilities.