Campaign Show & Tell: Three Universities, Three Ways to Build Student Community

How do you turn an offer into a sense of belonging? From more personal email invitations to results-day SMS campaigns and live student Q&As, three universities shared how they’re helping students connect, ask questions and feel more prepared for university life.

In our latest Campaign Show & Tell session, we heard from the University of Glasgow, London South Bank University (LSBU) and  University of Warwick about the campaigns behind their results, the lessons they’ve learned and the ideas other institutions can take away.

University of Glasgow: Making every invitation count

Glasgow wanted students to understand the value of joining its Unibuddy Community, so it went back to the people who mattered most: students themselves.

Feedback revealed that students were opening invitation emails but not always understanding why they should join. The team moved the sign-up link higher, made the benefits clearer, highlighted how many peers were already involved and embedded a student testimonial video.

The results? Undergraduate email click-through rates increased by 2.48 percentage points, while postgraduate rates rose by 1.32 percentage points.

The takeaway: Small changes to messaging can make a real difference, especially when they’re shaped by student feedback.

London South Bank University: Making results day the start of a conversation

Results day is a big moment for incoming students, and LSBU saw an opportunity to turn it into the start of their community experience.

Rather than sending a separate invitation, the team included a community call to action in its existing congratulatory results-day SMS. They also connected online engagement with an in-person summer social, giving students another opportunity to meet their future peers.

The approach helped build momentum around community engagement beyond those first few days, with more students requesting spaces and connecting with one another.

The takeaway: Meet students at the moments that matter, and give them a clear next step to keep the conversation going.

University of Warwick: 

What do students want to know before arriving at university? Sometimes, it’s the questions they might feel awkward asking.

Warwick tackled this with its first Ask Me Anything week in Community, running 35 sessions across 18 themes over five days. Topics ranged from accommodation, visas and wellbeing to the everyday realities of university life.

With sessions at different times, daily email reminders and staff and ambassadors on hand to answer questions, the campaign gave incoming students plenty of opportunities to get involved. Warwick’s survey responses also showed increased confidence among those who took part.

The takeaway: Creating space for the questions students might not think to ask can help them feel more confident about what comes next.

Watch the full session

Three universities, three different approaches, and plenty of practical ideas to take away. Watch the full Campaign Show & Tell session to hear directly from the teams about what they tried, what they learned and what they’d do next.