Messaging

“What’s the one actionable thing that you want someone to do when they’re reading your communication? Do you want them to go to a website? Do you want them to sign up for a service?”—Interviewee at Civilla, a nonprofit focused on improving the user experience for government programs

Even after ED, its servicers, other government agencies, and community-based partners put in place effective outreach strategies, they should ensure the wording of their messages works for student loan borrowers by using the following three strategies.

Tailor Messages to the Target Audience.

Before launching an outreach campaign, ED, servicers, other government agencies, and community-based organizations should identify the target audience so they can tailor their messages more effectively. For instance, several interviewees working at nonprofits agreed that reaching a Spanish-speaking community is about more than translation; it requires adapting the message to fit the groups’ cultural context and communication preferences.

Write Short and Action-Oriented Messages.

Interviewees stressed the importance of highlighting just one key takeaway when crafting messages, which is usually the next step the recipient should take. The message should be short, written in plain language, and use design and color to highlight the key point.¹ Interviewees also noted that messengers must remember to double-check the basics, including the presence of up-to-date information, key dates, and a list of any paperwork needed to verify eligibility. Messages should also always identify the sender in order to establish credibility.

Beyond crafting a clear, accurate, and action-oriented message, several framing techniques may increase message effectiveness. Recipients may be more likely to take the prompted action when the stakes are highlighted and explained in concrete and personalized terms. For example, government researchers who partnered with the Department of Education in 2016 found that emphasizing the consequences of student loan default is particularly effective in encouraging borrowers to sign up for plans to get out of default.² Another 2016 experiment by the same group found borrowers were more likely to reapply to an IDR plan when shown how much their monthly payments would increase if they did not reapply.³

Test Messages with Recipients.

Even if ED, servicers, government agencies, or community-based organizations believe that the messages they are sending are clear and motivating, those receiving them may feel differently. As several outreach experts explained, the only way to confirm how a message will land is to test it with its intended recipients.

The typical communications process at Civilla, a nonprofit that helps public institutions design better experiences for people using their services, lends insight into an effective user testing strategy.⁴ After crafting a message internally, Civilla team members conduct one-on-one interviews with potential message recipients. They ask recipients to explain the message in their own words, which helps Civilla identify any areas of confusion. Civilla staff members edit their message to incorporate feedback from the interviews. They then repeat the process until it is clear that interviewees understand the message. Civilla officials said that they put so much emphasis on message testing because they “do not want to rely on our own assumptions of what we think is understandable.”

People working at other organizations, including servicing companies and Code for America, said that once they refine the wording, they send out slightly different messages to randomized groups of recipients. The messages may vary in the details of framing, word choice, design, or message cadence. The organizations then evaluate the effectiveness of each message by comparing differences in key performance indicators, such as email open rates, the number of applications submitted, or website traffic from a unique URL code. Some interviewees told us that they also keep an eye on analytics outside the context of experiments, such as the amount of time readers spend on sections of forms and websites.

ED and student loan servicers, who are borrowers’ main sources of information on the loan program, should devote significant time and resources to message targeting, design, and testing.⁵ Servicers and FSA should use their data on borrowers to give targeted, personalized advice on handling loans. For example, when interest rates are low, servicers could email borrowers with variable rate loans about the benefits of refinancing their loans through the consolidation program. Servicers should also send messages to borrowers nearing the end of their eligibility for payment pauses about IDR enrollment.

Ideally, both servicers and ED would test the messaging on all of their communications, including mass text messages, advertising campaigns, call center messaging, website wording, and application form instructions. By making such testing routine and iterative, servicers and ED would ensure each communication is vetted for effectiveness while accruing a body of knowledge about best practices.

ED and servicers already conduct some message testing, but both could do more. Several people familiar with operations at ED said FSA has only a small user design team.⁶ The team, which covers the design of all FSA products from the financial aid application form to the guidance FSA provides colleges, does not have the capacity to test all student loan communications. Interviewees who are familiar with servicers and FSA agreed that, compared to ED, servicers more often tested their messages with their audience. But servicers have historically been more focused on encouraging monthly payments than on conducting outreach for relief programs. Misaligned compensation structures and unclear guidance from ED, rather than a lack of messaging skill, may explain why servicers have failed to screen struggling borrowers for loan forgiveness or to direct them to IDR plans.