Turn more student interest into enrollment—and keep students moving forward.
Every enrollment cycle brings new challenges. Competition for prospective students is growing, expectations are changing, and the work doesn’t stop when an acceptance letter goes out.
Motimatic helps four-year colleges and universities reach students across the entire enrollment journey, from early awareness and recruitment to applications, deposits, retention, and re-enrollment. With behavioral-science-driven marketing across five channels, we help institutions turn more of their existing opportunities into measurable enrollment outcomes.
Winning a student’s interest is only the beginning.
Students have more choices, more questions, and more competing priorities throughout the college decision process.
Some never complete an application. Others receive an offer but remain uncertain about affordability or whether your institution is the right fit. Even students who submit a deposit can lose momentum before the semester begins.
And once students arrive, staying enrolled introduces an entirely new set of challenges.
That’s why enrollment marketing needs to extend beyond recruitment. Motimatic helps institutions stay connected to students at the moments that influence whether they apply, enroll, and continue their education.
- Cost
- Confidence
- Belonging
- Logistics
The four-year student journey
- 1Build awareness and consideration
Reach prospective students early, as they’re researching colleges, exploring programs, and deciding which institutions belong on their shortlist.
Awareness - 2Generate and convert inquiries
Connect with students who have demonstrated interest, and encourage them to take the next step toward applying.
RFI generation - 3Increase completed applications
Help prospective first-year and transfer students navigate application requirements, complete outstanding steps, and submit before deadlines.
Yield+229%transfer applications - 4Improve admissions yield
Reinforce the value of your institution, help admitted students navigate affordability questions, and encourage them to commit.
Yield+210%deposits - 5Reduce summer melt
Stay connected to deposited students throughout the summer, reinforcing orientation, financial aid, housing, registration, and other important steps.
Yield - 6Support student persistence
Engage students beyond their first semester, encourage continuing enrollment, and reconnect with students who have stepped away.
Retention
Give students the confidence to take the next step.
A student deciding between two universities doesn’t necessarily need another reminder about the deposit deadline. They may need reassurance about affordability, a stronger sense of belonging, or a clearer picture of what life at your institution could look like.
Our GuidePosts™ combine behavioral and motivational science with information about where students are in their journey. The result is more relevant, coordinated communications designed to address barriers and encourage action.
By reaching students across social media, streaming TV, direct mail, email, and SMS, we reinforce those messages beyond the traditional admissions inbox.
Deposits are in. Orientation sign-up closes July 15, and many deposited students haven’t picked a date.
Most of your future classmates have already picked an orientation date. Grab yours before July 15: school.edu/orientation
Enrollment results you can measure.
Motimatic partners with four-year institutions to improve application completion, increase deposits, and bring students back for future terms.
Our measurement approach uses randomized holdout testing for new campaigns, so institutions can better understand the impact of Motimatic’s marketing on actual student outcomes. UW-Whitewater is a case study.
Transfer prospects we reached applied at 4.02%, against 1.22% for a randomized holdout.
See the resultHoldout test+210%deposit rate vs. holdoutTop-100 Northeast universityAdmits we reached deposited at 11.21%, against 3.61% for the holdout: 224 deposits vs. 3 in holdout, 95% confidence.
Read the case studyHoldout test+350%submitted applications vs. holdoutTop-300 4-year institutionLeads split in half. The half we reached submitted 350% more applications than the half we didn’t, at 95% significance.
Read the case studyCase study308at-risk students registeredUniversity of Wisconsin, WhitewaterContinuing students the university saw as at risk of not returning registered within weeks.
Read the case studyWe don’t guarantee results. How we measure
Built for the teams responsible for enrollment.
We work with enrollment management, admissions, marketing, financial aid, and student success teams across regional public universities, state institutions, and private nonprofit colleges.
Whether your immediate priority is improving yield, growing transfer enrollment, or supporting first-to-second-year persistence, Motimatic brings the strategy, creative, media execution, and measurement together.
Your team brings its knowledge of your students and institution. We help you reach them more effectively.
- What we do for you
- Campaigns that move inquiries to applications, admits to deposits, deposits to day one and continuing students to next term, run for you across social media, streaming TV, direct mail, email and SMS.
- Who it’s for
- Regional and state publics and private nonprofits: enrollment management, admission, financial aid, student success and marketing teams working with first-year, transfer and continuing students.
- Where we work
- Awareness, RFI generation, yield, retention and stop-out recovery.
- How data gets in
- Send us a list: a file export from the CRM or student information system you already use. No integration project needed.
- How pricing is scoped
- By scope: the funnel stages you want covered, the size of your lists, the channel mix, how complex the work is and whether you need custom creative. A pilot starts with one list, one goal and a 5% holdout.
- How we prove it
- New campaigns hold out a random 5% of your list, so you see the lift against students who received nothing from us. At a top-100 northeast university, admitted students we reached deposited at 11.21%, against 3.61% for the holdout.
- How it fits with student support
- Campaigns point students to your advisors and support services at the moments that decide whether they come back.
Questions from four-year colleges
Do you work with transfer students?
Yes. At Northern Illinois University, transfer prospects we reached applied at 4.02%, against 1.22% for the holdout.
Can you help with summer melt?
Yes. We stay connected to deposited students through the summer steps: the housing deposit, the FAFSA, orientation, a first advising appointment and registration. How we run yield.
Our CRM already sends communication plans. What do you add?
Your CRM sends the messages your team writes to the lists your team builds. We bring the strategy and the creative: campaigns for each stage of the journey, built on behavioral and motivational science, run beyond the inbox and measured against a holdout. We start from a list you export, so nothing changes in your CRM.
How do you measure results?
New campaigns hold out a random 5% of your list, and the same people stay out the whole time. The gap between the two groups is what the campaign changed. How we measure.
What do we need to start?
A list and one goal, such as deposits by May 1 or next-term registration. We build the campaign from there.
Further reading
All yield resources
Let’s improve the outcomes that matter most to your institution.
Start with one student audience and one enrollment goal. We’ll help identify the opportunity, build the campaign, and measure its impact.