ROI University: A Higher Ed Marketing Show

Episode Overview In this episode, Rustam Irani sits down with Will McDonald, Executive Vice President of Admissions at Academy of Art University, to explore what effective admissions leadership looks like in today's higher education landscape. Drawing on more than two decades of enrollment experience, Will shares why the strongest institutions treat marketing and admissions as one unified student...

In this episode, Rustam Irani explores a growing challenge facing higher-ed enrollment teams: declining contact rates despite steady inquiry volume. Drawing from conversations with multiple institutions across different program types and regions, he unpacks why traditional explanations like lead quality and staffing may no longer tell the full story. Rustam examines how changing communication pref...

In this episode, Rustam Irani breaks down the concept of a university’s “brand signal zone” — the geographic radius where a school’s reputation, awareness, and trust actually influence enrollment behavior. Using years of campaign data and real-world examples, he explains why most institutions dramatically overestimate how far their brand reaches, and how enrollment marketers can use geographic ins...

In this episode, Rustam Irani explores how AI-powered search tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity are fundamentally changing how prospective students research colleges and programs. He breaks down why traditional website traffic may be declining while enrollment quality improves, and explains the four critical metrics institutions must track to understand their visibility in AI-generated sea...

In this episode, Rustam Irani sits down with SEO expert Julian Hooks to unpack the growing confusion around declining traffic, AI’s impact on search, and what higher-ed marketers should actually focus on right now. Together, they cut through the hype around AEO, GEO, and LLMs, revealing that while the discovery landscape is shifting, the fundamentals of SEO—and great marketing—are still the founda...

In this episode, Rustam Irani shares a pivotal early-career moment that reshaped how he presents data, and breaks down four essential rules for delivering clear, credible, and impactful insights that drive action.  Resources Mentioned ChatGPT — https://chat.openai.com/ Google Gemini — https://gemini.google.com/ Timestamps 00:00 – The CEO Meeting That Changed Everything : A high-stakes present...

In this episode, Rustam Irani sits down with Chris Shepard to unpack what it really takes to build performance-driven marketing systems that create trust, align teams, and generate measurable results. Chris shares his path from early email marketing and agency ownership to leading digital strategy in higher education, along with the lessons he’s learned about vendor collaboration, data visibility,...

In this episode, Rustam Irani sits down with longtime colleague Charlie (Vice Chancellor of Enrollment Management & CMO at Kaiser University) to unpack what it means to be a “modern CMO” in higher ed. They trace the shift from old-school, performance-first tactics to a brand-and-trust-led approach where authenticity, earned media, and mid-funnel experience matter more than ever. Along the way,...

In this episode, Rustam Irani challenges the assumption that affiliate partners are low-quality, fraudulent, or ineffective for higher-ed marketing. Drawing from firsthand attribution analysis, he reveals how more than 20% of prospective students engaged with a school through affiliate or directory sites before ever landing on the institution’s website. Rustam breaks down five key factors for eval...

In this episode, Rustam Irani welcomes AI marketing consultant and podcast host Dan Sanchez to dive deep into the role of AI in higher ed marketing. Together, they unpack the difference between AI hype and real, actionable strategies marketers can use today. Dan shares his journey into marketing, why AI has become his favorite tool, and how it empowers teams to move faster and smarter. From addres...

In this episode, Rustam Irani shares a powerful personal experience from his time as a higher ed CMO, highlighting the hidden dangers of over communication in student marketing and admissions. He walks through a pivotal project where his team audited every piece of communication sent to students from inquiry to graduation and uncovered an overwhelming and chaotic messaging environment. Through thi...

In this episode, Rustam Irani unpacks a leadership moment that blindsided him—a silent, frustrated team member and two words on a whiteboard that changed his entire approach to leading marketers. Through this story, Rustam breaks down how purpose, identity, and challenge drive performance, and why conversations always beat assumptions. Resources Mentioned AdRoll — https://www.adroll.com Timestamps...

In this episode, Rustam Irani unpacks one of the biggest wake-up calls in his marketing career—the campaign that looked flawless on every dashboard but failed to deliver real-world results. He shares the story of a “perfect” set of ads that hit every metric yet missed a critical human insight: students couldn’t physically get to class. Through the now-famous Bus Route Story , Rustam shows how coll...

In this episode, Rustam Irani introduces the FAM framework—Finance, Admissions, and Marketing—and explains how aligning these three departments can dramatically improve enrollment outcomes for higher education institutions. Drawing from his extensive experience in higher ed marketing and leadership, Rustam shares real-world examples, practical tips, and insights on how to dismantle silos, streamli...

In this episode, Rustam Irani challenges higher-ed marketers to stop “playing it safe,” sharing how an early-career DIY innovation project sparked a career-long commitment to testing, multi-channel strategy, and culture change. He connects lessons from building a waterproof GPS rig to the realities of rising CPCs, AI-driven shifts in search, and the internal politics of getting buy-in for new idea...

In this episode, Rustam Irani unpacks one of the biggest misconceptions in higher-ed marketing: most schools don’t have a lead problem, they have a leak problem . He explains how institutions can identify hidden leaks in their enrollment funnel, why “speed to lead” matters, and how data modeling can transform student engagement. Along the way, Rustam shares personal stories about standing firm wit...

In this episode, Rustam Irani introduces the “5% Rule”—a simple but powerful approach to enrollment growth that leverages small, consistent improvements across every step of the student journey. He shares a real story about how sending branded scrubs to healthcare students reduced melt, boosted retention, and set the stage for his compound growth formula. Rustam then walks through the funnel step...

In this episode, Rustam Irani shares his personal journey from engineering to marketing, and how pivotal moments shaped his passion for higher education marketing. Dan Sanchez interviews Rustam to uncover his origin story, exploring how early career experiences, family influences, and meaningful professional shifts led him to dedicate his work to transforming student lives through education market...