New partnership connects peer-to-peer conversations with smart automation, helping universities create personalised campaigns that students actually want to receive
14 July 2025
Gecko, creators of the leading student engagement platform for higher education, and Unibuddy, the leading peer-to-peer and community student recruitment specialist, have announced a strategic partnership that seamlessly connects their platforms to transform how universities engage with prospective students.
The integration eliminates data silos between the two systems, allowing contact information captured through Unibuddy to automatically flow into Gecko’s powerful workflow automation tools. This enables universities to create highly personalised, data-driven campaigns that leverage both peer-to-peer engagement insights and multi-channel communication capabilities.
“This partnership represents exactly what modern universities need – the ability to create meaningful connections with students across multiple touchpoints without the complexity of managing disconnected systems,” says Matt Lanham, Founder & CEO of Gecko. “By combining Unibuddy’s authentic peer engagement with Gecko’s automation capabilities, institutions can now deliver truly personalised experiences at scale.”
“This integration is a big step toward making student engagement more human and more effective,” explains Diego Fanara, CEO of Unibuddy. “By combining Unibuddy’s authentic peer conversations with Gecko’s automation and communication tools, universities can now guide students with the right message, at the right time, from the right person. It’s about building trust at scale – and helping institutions meet students where they are.”
“At its core, this integration, it’s all about connection, and not just between our systems, but better connection and communication between you and your students as well,” adds Johnny Atkinson-White, Customer Success Executive at Gecko. “This is going to open up that real time-saving opportunity. You can automate a lot of your Unibuddy community invites, or trigger bespoke comms based on Unibuddy engagement.”
The integration addresses a critical challenge facing higher education institutions: the difficulty of maintaining consistent, personalised engagement with prospective students across different platforms and stages of the recruitment journey. Universities can now automatically trigger targeted communications, event invitations, and follow-up campaigns based on students’ peer-to-peer interactions and engagement levels within Unibuddy communities.
Here’s what the integration does:
- Smart data sync – Contact records and engagement insights update in real-time between platforms
- Intelligent automation – Personalised communications trigger based on community participation and engagement scores
- Automatic community invites – Students get invited to relevant peer communities based on application status or interests
- Embedded event promotion – Relevant Gecko-managed events appear directly in Unibuddy communities
- Combined reporting – Peer engagement data merges with communication metrics for deeper insights
The setup takes just 15 minutes and requires only a few key details. Universities can access step-by-step instructions through Gecko Academy or watch the full demo of the integration in action.
“It becomes easier to see what’s working. We’ll see increased traffic and conversations in your communities, plus greater volume of peer-to-peer interactions,” notes Jonny Atkinson-White. “You can track your peer-to-peer designed emails, calls, and texts through custom reports too.”
Universities using both platforms can now create sophisticated engagement strategies combining authentic peer conversations with automated, personalised institutional communications. “We’ve separated out the Unibuddy fields to avoid any risk of overriding your existing Gecko contact data,” explains Cheryl Sloan, VP of Product at Gecko. “But they behave like contact fields across Gecko.”
The partnership extends to Gecko’s Student Portal module, where universities can embed Unibuddy’s peer-to-peer support directly within students’ personalised portals. Students stay engaged without jumping between platforms.
“This is just the beginning. It’s a brand new opportunity in its infancy, but both systems are incredibly flexible,” adds Jonny Atkinson-White. “With Gecko’s flexibility and Unibuddy’s brilliant reach, there’s loads of room for experimentation.”
The integration is available now to existing customers of both platforms, with comprehensive setup guides and support included. Universities interested in implementing the integration can contact their customer success teams to get started.
About Gecko
Gecko provides the leading student engagement platform for higher education, empowering institutions to create meaningful connections with students throughout their educational journey. Our innovative solution combines AI-powered technology with deep higher education expertise to help institutions attract, engage, and retain more students. Serving over 100 institutions worldwide, Gecko’s modular platform includes AI chatbots, event management, communication automation, and comprehensive analytics.
About Unibuddy
Unibuddy is the leading peer-to-peer and community student recruitment specialist, connecting prospective students with current students and recent graduates to provide authentic insights into university life. The platform enables universities to showcase their communities through genuine student voices, helping prospective students make informed decisions about their educational journey.
Learn more at unibuddy.com
