Confessions of a Higher Ed CMO — with Jaime Hunt

The challenges of managing social media in higher education are often underestimated by people in leadership, leaving these talented, always-on professionals facing often overwhelming responsibilities while being under-resourced and undervalued. On top of that are the known mental health impacts of spending significant time on social platforms. As a result, social media managers often struggle wit...

The pandemic forced higher education teams to rethink how they approached collaboration, communication, and leadership. The future of work has changed forever, but managing in a remote-first world is among the top challenges for leaders. In this episode, Jaime talks with Joshua Charles, who has been leading remote and hybrid teams long before it became a necessity. Takeaways from this episode incl...

Seth Odell was part of the team that took Southern New Hampshire University’s online enrollment from 7,000 to 70,000, which makes him the perfect guest for Jaime to talk to about recruiting non-traditional – or, perhaps more aptly named “post-traditional” – students. As the demographics of the United States change, attracting these students into our programs can help our institutions survive – and...

Story drives emotion. Emotion drives action. Marcomm pros understand the power of storytelling and are using storytelling to drive change and to achieve organizational outcomes. Carefully crafted narratives can also help address reputational issues and crisis communications. In this episode, Jaime talks to Katie Angstadt, partner at CRA / Admired Leadership, about designing compelling narratives t...

In this episode, Jaime talks to Josie Ahlquist, author of Digital Leadership in Higher Education about the importance of a digital presence for senior leaders. Takeaways include: How to decide what digital platforms make sense  How to incorporate your own values into your online presence  Why empathy is so important in leadership  How today’s hybrid work environment lends itself to digital leaders...

Jaime gets real with guest Tracy Playle in this in-depth conversation about imposter Syndrome – something that plagues professionals from all backgrounds. Tackling the symptoms of imposter syndrome – feeling like a fraud, experiencing self-doubt and subjecting oneself to negative self talk – is a journey. Takeaways from this episode include: How to identify how you are feeling as imposter syndrome...

In this episode of Confessions of a Higher Ed CMO, Jaime talks with Renee Seltzer, Marketing Growth Agency Owner (Ellison Ellery) and Fractional CMO, about creating customer journey maps. Creating a journey map can help your institution understand the steps a student takes as they enroll and matriculate. They can be incredibly valuable in identifying – and ultimately fixing – friction points that...

Amid the Great Resignation, many higher education marketers are considering leaving higher education for roles in other industries. In this episode, Jaime talks to Jodi Phelps, chief of staff for the City of Fayetteville, North Carolina, about her transition from Chief Communications and Marketing Officer at a public university in North Carolina to a chief of staff role in local government.  Takea...

Student workers, interns and ambassadors are often the face and voice of your institution, but does your program reflect your student population? Are you unconsciously creating barriers to recruiting a diverse pool of students to serve in these roles? In this episode, Jaime talks with Anice Barbosa, director of digital marketing at Wheaton College about how she overhauled her student ambassador pr...

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly 1 out of 5 Americans is Hispanic or Latinx – a number that has quadrupled in the last four decades and is expected to continue to grow. As the demographics of the country shift, it is becoming increasingly important for higher ed marketers to understand how to reach this audience. In this episode, Jaime talks with multicultural marketing expert and highe...

We have all heard about the enrollment cliff and its potential impact on higher education – especially regional institutions and those who are highly dependent on tuition revenue. In this episode, Jaime talks to Carrie Phillips, CMO at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, about her dissertation research into the looming enrollment cliff and ways that institutions can prepare for it. In this...

In this episode, Jaime talks with Kevin McClure, associate professor of higher education at UNC Wilmington, about how The Great Resignation has hit higher education. Problems around morale pre-exist the pandemic, but the pressures of COVID-19 have caused many people to reconsider their careers and their work-life balance. Retaining talented team staff while competing with fully remote jobs is one...

The job of a CMO can be high-pressure and high-stress. Avoiding burnout and stagnation can be a challenge – especially amid the steady drum beat of national and international crises. In this episode, Jaime talks to Alan Stein, author of Sustain Your Game :  High Performance Keys to Manage Stress, Avoid Stagnation, and Beat Burnout. In the course of their conversation, Alan and Jaime discuss: What...

Achieving institutional goals on NTR (net tuition revenue) is often a top priority for universities – especially at the most tuition-dependent institutions. The strategy for reaching those goals requires collaboration between Admissions and Marketing; however, at many universities, those relationships are fraught. And at some – they are nonexistent. In this episode Jaime talks with her colleague a...

There has never been a better time to be a higher ed CMO. Perception of the value you provide and the importance of our work continues to improve. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t still have a lot of work to do. In this episode Jaime talks with Jamie Ceman of Chapman University about transitioning from a transactional and reactive model of marketing to a high-performing, data-driven model that...

As a first-year student – and a first-generation student – Jaime envisioned a life spent researching turtles and cracking the secret to their longevity. From a working class background, she had no idea what marketing was or that it was a field that perfectly blended both art and science. In this episode, Jaime talks with Kin Sejpal, the newly appointed CMO for University of Redlands and a fellow f...

As marketing higher education matures, measuring the return on investment is one of the most important things a CMO can do, but tackling that can be really challenging. In this episode, analytics and measuring guru Josh Dodson gives practical tips for measuring ROI in a way that helps determine the effectiveness of tactics but also helps justify marketing spend.  Takeaways from this episode includ...

In this wide-ranging conversation, Jaime talks with Jason Simon, CEO of higher ed marcomm agency SimpsonScarborough , about everything from labor shortages to budgets to martech and more. Learn more about the universality of the challenges we face, tips for the new CMO, ideas for recruiting and retaining staff – and much, much more. Learn more about this episode in our show notes .  - - - - Connec...

Join host Jaime Hunt in her premier episode as she talks with Terry Flannery, author of “How to Market a University: Building Value in a Competitive Environment,” about the evolution of the role of CMOs in higher education. The two discuss how marketing is a value driver, how to help other senior leaders understand how and why CMOs should contribute to conversations about the strategic direction o...

Unpacking the tips, tricks, tools, and tactics that separate the best higher ed CMOs from the rest of the pack. - - - - Connect With Our Host: Jaime Hunt https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaimehunt/ https://twitter.com/JaimeHuntIMC About The Enrollify Podcast Network: Confessions of a Higher Ed CMO is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enroll...