The Higher Ed Marketer

Peer-to-peer marketing may be one of the most underutilized strategies for American colleges and universities today. Several studies show that current students are Gen Z’s most preferred source of information about prospective colleges and universities after school websites. Many students are ready and willing to answer their fellow Gen Z’s questions through peer-to-peer marketing, and the barrier...

As regenerative AI takes the marketing world by storm, enrollment marketing teams continue to look for ways to boost engagement with prospective students. David Tal , Co-founder and CEO of Verse.io , suggests there’s a straightforward solution to getting your school’s message to student leads — and it’s already sitting in their pocket. David talks to us about the positive results colleges and univ...

Higher ed marketers often get so caught up in promotion that they take a backseat in developing the other core components of their school’s brand. But as Carrie Phillips , Chief Communications and Marketing Officer at the University of Arkansas - Little Rock , pointed out, marketers have the power to be change agents for their schools. As the enrollment cliff approaches, they’re going to need all...

Enrollment marketing teams face new challenges every day as they work tirelessly to attract prospective students. Despite those obstacles, Teresa MacGregor , VP of Enrollment Management at Jacksonville University , and her colleagues are celebrating increased first-time enrollment at their school. And it’s not just because of the campus’s beachfront view. They did it by actively engaging with thei...

The compounding effects of the pandemic and the Great Resignation have left a lot of schools looking for answers. Design planning may be just the solution colleges and universities need to get a broad perspective of their marketing constraints in 2023 and beyond. That’s because, as Errol Wint , Founder of Mara Bridge Consulting Solutions , pointed out, your school is a business, and your marketing...

DEI — diversity, equity, and inclusion — is top-of-mind across marketing channels, not just higher education. That’s because as Gen Z starts to leave school and filter into the workforce, they’re leading the charge of reshaping our culture through a lens of empathy. As Gabrielle Gambrell , adjunct professor at NYU and Columbia University and founder of Gift of Gabrielle , suggested, higher ed mark...

The proof is in the data pudding: higher education is racing towards a demographic enrollment cliff over the next few decades. Be it due to ethnic, lifestyle, or regional indicators, hundreds of colleges and universities could be facing a long-term enrollment crisis. Tim Fuller , Founder of Fuller Higher Ed Solutions , thinks schools need to get back to the basics and be intentional in their recru...

Higher ed marketing teams often tout content as an asset, but does content that falls on deaf ears still make a sound? Without a consistent pipeline for their content, creators will suffer depreciating value in what is truly their most significant asset: their target audience. Kyle Campbell , Founder and Managing Director of Education Marketer , believes audience-first marketing can revolutionize...

As higher ed marketing teams look towards an unpredictable future injected with AI technology, one question is now on everyone’s mind: what qualifies as quality written content? Ann Handley , Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs and best-selling author of Everybody Writes , believes it’s writing that inspires your reader and makes them the hero of the story. Ann shares insights from the latest...

Higher ed marketers all know the struggle of reaching target audiences, but real audience-centric content is in the eye of the beholder. With so many digital mediums to choose from, how can schools know that their brand messaging is what their audience is looking for? Jerra Toms , Director of Marketing and Communications at the University of Arkansas ­- Sam M. Walton College of Business , has a si...

We’re all still students of social media content creation, but some schools are bringing their A-game when generating content that speaks to Gen Z. Owen Knight , Director of Admission Engagement at Tulane University , shares how he and his team reach their target audience by leaning on their peers - current students within Tulane’s walls. By building a team filled with bright, young interns who gr...

Alumni and students have so many incredible authentic stories to tell about their colleges and universities. But higher ed marketing teams can sometimes get in their own way by curating those stories till they’re just another batch of overly processed advertisements. People want to hear about real experiences. But if schools want to share those stories, they first have to find them. Chris Miano ,...

How much should colleges and universities lean on legacy branding? Advancement departments undoubtedly love promoting the “glory days” to their school alums, but should legacy be a major factor in your enrollment marketing strategy?    In the late 1970s, Indiana State University produced one of the most famous basketball players in NCAA and NBA history - Larry Bird. Jason Trainer , Vice Provost fo...

Short-form video content has exploded on social media platforms over the last few years. Colleges and universities are scrambling to take advantage of these content marketing goldmines, but some are still missing the mark. But as Rob Clark , social media influencer and creator of That Tall Family , told us - it’s not rocket science. You just have to put yourself out there. Rob shared the work he’s...

Working in higher ed advancement can be discouraging when you hear the word “No” from potential donors. But by imprinting philanthropy on your student culture, you can encourage them to pay it forward to their future fellow alums the second they set foot on campus.      In this episode, the University of Findlay ’s Director Of Annual Giving, Amanda Nicol , and Assistant Director of Annual Giving a...

Search engine marketing is top-of-mind for most higher ed marketers, but it’s still a drastically underutilized marketing mechanism. In fact, according to our guest, Faton Sopa , co-founder and CEO of Manaferra , only three of the top ten websites that commonly show up from higher ed search terms are school websites. In Part Two of our discussion around search engine marketing, we address some com...

Search engine marketing is still considered a 21st-century mystery to many higher ed marketers. But the fact is that, with a solid content marketing strategy, any college or university can turn its website into an SEO darling. In part one of our interview with Faton Sopa , Cofounder and CEO of Manaferra , we discuss the sub-disciplines of search engine marketing and how to establish authority thro...

Despite fifteen percent of the world’s population having a physical disability, the disability community of students is often an afterthought in DEI-focused higher ed marketing. While some schools have made massive strides in telling these students’ stories, many others could do so much more - and it starts with building relationships. Ryan Wilson , CEO of Team Trust Productions , tells us how col...

Imagine a personalized website experience that adapts in real-time to the home region of prospective students who visit your homepage. We’ve seen the potential of geocaching with popular mobile applications like Pokemon Go . What if you could employ similar technology to customize your school website’s visitor experience? Kyle Pucko , Owner of Geofli , tells us how colleges and universities can ha...

Too often, colleges and universities put themselves on a pedestal on their school website’s homepage. Be it celebratory news stories, sporting events, or faculty profiles, higher ed institutions sometimes neglect the most important patrons of their website: prospective students. Bob Johnson, Ph. D. , Founder of Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC , tells us why every school should focus their website on e...

Technology-driven solutions in branding are remarkable tools. But shiny gadgets can make it easy to lose sight of your higher ed marketing team’s ultimate goal: giving prospective students a quality value proposition. William Faust , Senior Partner and Chief Strategy Officer at Ologie , shares his insights on brand management and how smaller schools can raise the stakes in their branding game thro...

In higher ed marketing, it can be a struggle to understand who our target audience is and what their needs are. Sometimes, that means pausing and stepping back to make space so we can meet them where they are through empathic storytelling. Cutler Andrews , Senior Associate Vice President for Engagement, Communications, and Marketing at Emory University , shares how his team elevates Emory’s brand...

As Generations Z and Alpha transition into the college student ranks, it is multi-generational marketing’s time to shine. Yet, as Jennifer McChord , Vice President of Enrollment & Marketing at Asbury University , tells us, traditional institutions tend to drag their feet when making big albeit necessary changes. Jennifer shares how corporate culture is helping speed up decision-making in her u...

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is top-of-mind for many colleges and universities today. Marketing inclusive content in a respectful manner requires a unique perspective, one that marketers who don’t come from an underrepresented group can fully understand and appreciate. Katie Jensen , Associate VP of Insights & Analytics at University of St. Thomas , talks to us about the DEI Viewfind...

Marketing can be a difficult proposition for small institutions in higher ed, but intentional collaboration with vendors and other schools can add incredible value to their brand. Dr. Nathan Long , President of Saybrook University , gave us the secret sauce on how they found partners who helped double their enrollment in less than a decade. By coming together as collaborators rather than competito...