Higher Voltage

Whether you personally own a voice assistant or not, you’ve certainly heard about their growing popularity. One in six US adults (or around 39 million people) now own a voice-activated smart speaker, and 50% of all searches are projected to be voice searches by 2020. But can voice assistants work on campus? Do we need them to? In this episode of the Hashtag Higher Ed Podcast, David Hakanson, Vice...

A CRM, or Customer Relationship Management platform, has gone from a nice to have to a need to have in higher education. But implementing this technology isn’t as simple as flipping a switch. In this episode of the Hashtag Higher Ed Podcast, Jay Murray, Associate Vice President of Enrollment Services at Western Connecticut State University, discusses WCSU’s decision to adopt TargetX, the process f...

When it comes to social media, it's easy to focus on the fun and funny. A clever .gif here, a cat meme there, rinse and repeat. But in February 2018, the social media team at BYU adopted a much more serious tone on their Instagram Story. In a series of videos and text updates, featuring students, staff, and faculty, BYU proactively talked about sexual assault on campus. In this episode of the Hash...

You’ve undoubtedly heard the word “authenticity” thrown around recently. Perhaps at a conference, in a webinar, or even in your own conversations. But while the word itself has become a bit of a buzzword, the meaning behind it is everything to today’s prospective college students. In episode 29 of the Hashtag Higher Ed Podcast, Jason Boucher, Manager of Social Media at the University of New Hampsh...

Last spring, Butler University made headlines when they sent care packages from their mascot, Butler Blue III, to the dogs and cats of admitted students. In this episode of the Hashtag Higher Ed Podcast, Kristi Smith, Associate Director of Enrollment Marketing at Butler University, and Michael Kaltenmark, Director of External Relations at Butler University, discuss this innovative approach to yiel...

Back in the 1980s, higher education institutions discovered a new way to reach student households at a fraction of the cost of television ads: name buys. Since then, name buys have morphed into a multi-million dollar industry, with colleges and universities across the country investing in the practice. But are name buys really the best we can do? In this episode of the Hashtag Higher Ed Podcast, J...

For most marketing professionals, producing an institutional podcast is something that has recently become a professional goal. Tim Cigelske is not like most marketing professionals. On this episode of the Hashtag Higher Ed Podcast, Tim Cigelske shares the ins and outs of his years-long run of producing three podcasts for three distinct audiences at Marquette University. We chat about the various...

You undoubtedly deal with myths about your institution. From assumptions about student loans, tuition, and acceptance rates, your audience can easily take rumor as gospel, to the detriment of your admissions and marketing efforts. But how you are addressing those myths? In Wisconsin, one support foundation is dishing out facts and ice cream, one scoop at a time. In this episode of the Hashtag High...

Have you ever heard someone say “don’t read the comments”? Across the web, the comments section is often affiliated with trolls, who incite others through polarizing opinions and offensive language. But on the University of Georgia’s Undergraduate Admissions blog, the comments section is a treasure trove of prospective student insight, with blog posts that occasionally receive more than 300 commen...

Ahh, the website. At once an essential element of your marketing strategy and a massive resource hog. Jason Buzzell, Director of Digital Communications at the University of Nebraska Omaha, knows the conundrum well. Five years ago, he was tasked with updating a website that desperately needed an upgrade. But at an organization that prides itself on lean operations, devoting resources to a full-blow...

You know your way around Facebook, Linkedin, and Google. But are you using their business platforms to their full potential? In this episode of the Hashtag Higher Ed podcast, higher ed marketer extraordinaire Matt Hames joins the show to talk about the business platforms offered by Google, Facebook, and Linkedin and why your institution should be using them. We also discuss Google’s new product an...

On campuses across the country, content strategists and creators are sharing new and exciting ways to communicate with key online constituents. And yet, those ideas often fall on deaf ears when working with internal campus stakeholders, who just want to do the same thing they've done for the past 10 years. Why won't they listen to you? In this episode of the Hashtag Higher Ed Podcast, Michael Powe...

Andy Fuller, Director of Strategic Content, and Liz Harter, Social Media Manager, join the Hashtag Higher Ed Podcast to discuss Stories at Notre Dame, a strategic storytelling endeavor that shares long-form content through a variety of mediums, raising awareness for the lesser-known aspects of a University famous for faith and football.

Is your next website redesign project about new features and functionality? Or is it more about an internal culture shift in how and why you create content? In this episode of the Hashtag Higher Ed podcast, Harvard University Director of Content Strategy Mike Petroff shares insights behind the decision to redesign Harvard’s digital newsroom, the Harvard Gazette. We also discuss the challenges of s...

What does airport security have to do with application requirements? What can prospective college students and their parents learn from head lice? For Georgia Tech’s Director of Undergraduate Admissions, Rick Clark, blogging has been a consistent part of his job since 2015, and each week is a new opportunity to use personal anecdotes to share valuable insights into the college admissions process....

If you work on the web for your institution, you've undoubtedly fielded a request to "put this on the website" or been asked "when the website will be done." In this episode of the Hashtag Higher Ed Podcast, Amanda Costello, Lead Content Strategist and Editor at the University of Minnesota College of Education and Human Development, stops by to share how she views the role of a content strategist,...

In 2015, Sweet Briar College was on the brink. In March, its board of directors announced that the school would close its doors in August, citing overarching and insurmountable challenges. But the college's alumnae famously saved the school, and in the time since, Sweet Briar has roared back to life. In this episode of the Hashtag Higher Ed podcast, Vice President for Communications and Enrollment...

When University of Wyoming Director of Enrollment Marketing Jenny Petty arrived on campus, she realized that UW's website functioned more like an internal tool than a marketing machine. Admissions pages were hard to find, the site was not mobile friendly, and the only call-to-action on the entire site was "apply." In the season two premiere of Hashtag Higher Ed, Petty shares how the University of...

Shortly after joining Cabrini University, Vice President for Marketing and Communications Celia Cameron was given a clear directive: lead a school rebrand in 11 months with a small internal team and minimal budget. In the season finale of the Hashtag Higher Ed podcast, Celia Cameron details her organizational priorities for the rebrand, how her team gathered stakeholder buy-in throughout the proce...

Jackie Vetrano, Social Media Coordinator at Skidmore College, joins the Hashtag Higher Ed Podcast to discuss the story behind Skidmore College's podcast series, "This is Skidmore." Jackie shares insights into how she develops topics for the show, the logistics of recording audio, and what she's learned after three seasons and 34 podcast episodes.

JP Rains, Director of Digital Strategy at Laurentian University, joins the Hashtag Higher Ed Podcast and explains why your institution needs a student journey map. Plus, JP offers a step-by-step guide to creating journey maps that lead to tangible improvements in the customer experience.

Back in 2011, George Washington University embarked on a long journey with a lofty goal. Its “Making History” campaign would be the school’s third major comprehensive campaign and its first campaign to raise one billion (yes, with a b) dollars. Six years later, and one year earlier than expected, George Washington University successfully closed the “Making History” campaign. At its conclusion, it...

Purdue University's Day of Giving is widely considered the gold standard in social media fundraising within the higher education space. In this episode of the Hashtag Higher Ed Podcast, Kate Jolly, Director of Digital Fundraising, and Amber Turner, Senior Director of Annual Giving and Stewardship, take a break from planning for their fifth Day of Giving to share five key takeaways from their 24-ho...

Andy Fuller, Director of Strategic Content, and Liz Harter, Social Media Manager, join the Hashtag Higher Ed Podcast to discuss Stories at Notre Dame, a strategic storytelling endeavor that shares long-form content through a variety of mediums, raising awareness for the lesser-known aspects of a University famous for faith and football.

On this episode of the Hashtag Higher Ed Podcast, we explore the benefits, logistics, and best practices for social media takeovers, with panelists from Wheaton College, University of Tennessee, University of Surrey, and the University of Warwick.