Increase Your Alumni Network’s Engagement with Online Communities

Although a lot of students have very pleasant memories of their time in school or university, the majority of alumni are likely to be less engaged once they have graduated. However, things don't have to be that way!

People are now bombarded with more commercial emails, advertisements, and social media spam than ever since there are so many simultaneous events. It seems impossible to compete for your alumni network's attention.

Before we discuss some strategies to increase alumni network engagement, let's first define what that term means.

What is alumni engagement?

The term "alumni engagement" refers to your alumni community's interest in and engagement in your institution. This can be participating in your events, interacting with your brand online, financially supporting your institution, sharing content to encourage others to join the network, or raising awareness of your institution.

The purpose of alumni engagement is to build relationships between your institution and its alumni. Alumni engagement promotes interaction between your organization and its alumni rather than just providing them with information in a one-way flow.

Why should you host virtual alumni networking events?

There are several benefits of hosting virtual alumni networking events. Here are just a few:

• Greet new alumni

A smart method to ease new graduates into your alumni network is to host an annual alumni networking event. To make the transition seamless, you might schedule the event right after their graduation ceremony.

Share all the advantages of being a member of your alumni network, such as the special offers and discounts you receive from different businesses and professional networks.

• Foster long-lasting connections

A committed alumni base is essential for building a vibrant community. Providing innovative content and events to your network is crucial to building a community and forming new relationships. Alumni programs also heavily depend on alumni engagement.

Ultimately, it implies that organizations can continuously benefit from their graduates' expertise, experiences, and networking relationships.

The more active your alumni network is, the more alumni objectives you will be able to accomplish. Let’s see some strategies on how to increase your alumni network’s engagement.

1. Employ new technology

Using a powerful hybrid or virtual event networking platform is, without a doubt, one of the best methods to maintain high levels of alumni engagement. This platform should make it simple for alumni to interact with your institution, connect with other participants, and communicate with other alumni.

All the different event networking softwares available in today's market come with all sorts of networking features to enhance event communication. The most basic ones should have functions like a simple membership directory and communication tools like video calls or chat.

The b2match event matchmaking software offers you all the features you need to successfully organize an event.

The platform includes participant profiles, which let recent alumni create and customize their profiles to appeal to potential employers, and company pages, which allow businesses to create their pages and attract alumni and job boards, where companies can post searchable job postings enhanced with files, images, and videos.

2. Leverage ambassadors

You probably know some of your most engaged former students, who consistently attend events, participate in most of your content, and seem to have a genuine connection to the institution. Ask a group of your most active alumni to serve as "ambassadors" in your community or assist with mentoring existing students offering them informative career guidance and opportunities.

Ambassadors can help people get more comfortable participating in community discussions and events by serving as a link between the big organization and the individual. They'll be your go-to sources for user-generated material (such as photos from past events). You'll notice they're the most engaged on your forums and community posts. Additionally, they'll probably serve as the group's "voice" when participation is poor.

3. Post interesting content

The content you post shows what you find interesting and relevant, but that doesn’t always align with your alumni’s interests. Sharing news and updates about the institution might feel interesting to you, but you need to elaborate on why this is important to your alumni.

Maybe you need keynote speakers for an event you're hosting. Who would make a better keynote speaker than one of your old alumni sharing his success story? Or perhaps you're hosting a career workshop for recent graduates. Your older graduates won't be interested in this, but you can ask them to submit stories about their professional experiences and offer guidance to the younger audience. These are just a few techniques to enhance your content and make it more pertinent, captivating, and engaging for your entire audience.

Every event is an awesome opportunity to generate content, right? That covers things like alumni-focused events, videos, and blog postings.

Being a member of your alumni network becomes significantly more exclusive by sharing this alumni engagement content through an alumni portal.

4. Be consistent with engagement

Consistency is key. Too many organizations create an alumni network and then neglect it for an extended period.

Send regular updates, post news, and newsletters, conduct events frequently, and continually share stuff that your alumni will find interesting if you want to keep them involved. This will encourage your alumni network to engage with you constantly.

5. Get valuable feedback

Ensure you regularly seek feedback from your community members on what will keep them interested in your network. There are several strategies you can use for this:

• Ask your community about trending issues or projects you'd like to explore through polls, surveys, and questions.
• Check the posts made by members of your community and leave comments. If there is something you want to know more about, try to ask for further details.
• Sending direct messages to more active community members will allow you to speak with them more in-depth about your experiences and goals.

The main takeaway is that if your networks are constantly online, it's advised you do the same. Be sure to invest the necessary time into learning about their priorities and their expectations of your organization.

6. Connect alumni to help further career prospects

Alumni will be much more involved in your online event community if they believe they have an opportunity to get something from it as well.

Take the time to connect recent alumni with more experienced ones. That can open up job possibilities for younger alumni. Alternatively, your more senior graduates can serve as mentors, which will encourage them to stay in your alumni network and participate in your future projects.

When it comes to networking during an event, there is no other b2b event matchmaking app better than b2match! b2match uses AI event matchmaking features to ensure that each participant's needs are satisfied and that they connect with the right people. This artificial intelligence event-matching technique enhances user engagement and match quality.

Engagement is a vital factor in creating and enhancing a powerful alumni network. It's not just about how many people are members of your alumni community; it's also about how engaged and interactive they are. The more engaged your alumni network is, the more you both can benefit from it.

Create the best alumni network possible for your institution with these few simple methods mentioned above. If you want to learn more about AI-powered matchmaking technology that easier connects your alumni, contact our sales team!