Higher Ed Marketing Lab

Explore the "Performance Marketing Trap" with Jarrett as he discusses the pitfalls colleges experience when they over-rely on so-called performance marketing channels to advertise. Learn why brand marketing is crucial for long-term success and get actionable steps you can take to create a more balanced strategy. 

TikTok is the platform of choice for many of today’s prospective students, but consistently executing relevant and engaging content is a challenge many colleges and universities are still trying to overcome.  In this episode, you’ll hear from Morgan Goodwill, social media manager and producer at Flagler College, and someone who has seemingly cracked the code on TikTok content.  We discuss: Details on how Flagler College’s marketing team works with student creators to generate 80% of their TikTok content Why quality over quantity and audience over platform is a critical social media success Morgan’s favorite tactic for increasing the reach of important but less engaging institutional content, and   Some of Flagler’s TikTok home runs, surprising flops, and the lessons she learned from them.  

Geoff Baird, CEO of EnrollML, shares pragmatic insights on how to evolve enrollment management. Discover how understanding market share, addressing foundational weaknesses, and leveraging data and technology can transform student recruitment higher education.

In this episode, we dig into the results of a fresh survey from Niche, exploring the campus visit from the perspective of students and parents. Joining the conversation is Will Patch, Senior Enrollment Insights leader at Niche, and Jeff Kallay, SVP of Enrollment Consulting at Echo Delta and leading campus visit expert. We explore: The experiences students want to have most and least during their campus visit Expectations parents have for the visit, and Practical ideas on how to lower barriers so that more students can participate in your visit program. 

Analytics expert Chris Sietsema of Teach to Fish Digital gives us an update on the current state of Google Analytics 4 (GA4). We discuss some of the most important differences between Universal Analytics and GA4, and some of the ways the switch to GA4 has already impacted higher ed marketers. We wrap up with some of Chris’s favorite GA4 resources.

We talk with Rod Guajardo, Senior Director for Integrated Media Communications at the University of Georgia about how the university has been using Reddit to reach new audiences with science and research content.

Many institutions include brand building in their strategic plans, but making those aspirations and reality is often challenging. Brand development expert, Jennifer Holland, argues the best way to build an enduring brand is to create strong alignment between organizational, marketing, and people strategies. We discuss: the vital importance of having deep internal buy-in on what your brand stands for. the right way to balance inside out versus outside in thinking when developing a brand. Jennifer's approach to hardwiring a brand into an organization so that frontline employees stay engaged and focused on the brand.

The campus visit is a make-or-break moment for traditional undergrads, but as campuses have emerged from the pandemic, the return to campus tours has been anything but business as usual. In this episode, we talk with leading campus visit consultant, Jeff Kallay, about the current state of the campus visit and what's on his mind for the road ahead.  We discuss:  How pandemic fatigue has impacted students and the way they view the residential experience Strategies for recruiting and retaining campus tour guides What prospective families are most eager to learn about on your tour (it's academics) The trend towards fewer pre-app visits.        

Diversity, equity, and inclusion is top of mind for many higher ed marketers, but figuring out the practical side of applying DEI concepts to the actual creative work marketing teams produce is often easier said than done. In this episode, we'll hear from two marketing leaders at the University of St. Thomas - Minnesota who have a unique perspective on how to make it less intimidating and more actionable.

Marketing leaders at the University of Texas-San Antonio share how innovations they made during COVID ended up transforming the way their university's decentralized marketing teams work.

We talk with Dr. Chuck Bamford about crafting smart competitive strategies to differentiate your school in a crowded marketplace. 

In the fourth and final episode of our VP Summer Series, we talk with Kevin Kropf, EVP of Enrollment at Drury University, about generational theory and managing teams that span multiple generations.

In part three of our VP Summer Series, we talk with Brad Pochard, AVP for Enrollment and Dean of Admissions at Furman University, about building collaborative relationships with colleagues across the campus. 

As a senior leader, you need a strong working relationship with your board. Unfortunately, there’s no manual for how to do that. As a result, most leaders end up learning through experience (read: observation, hard work, and some painful mistakes). In our latest VP Summer Series podcast, we sit down with Joel Bauman, SVP of Enrollment at Duquesne University, and Karen Foust, former EVP of Enrollment at Hendrix College, to talk about the finer points of building collaborative, productive relationships with board members. We discuss: Important ways board members can differ in their approach to the role Tips for effectively communicating the complexities of your work Why trying to be the smartest person in the room can backfire with board members The right way to go about delivering bad news How to respectfully nudge a board member back into their lane when they start to overreach.

This is the first installment in our VP Summer Series, a podcast mini-series focusing on the unique challenges facing senior enrollment and marketing leaders. In this episode, we’ll be discussing the role of the Vice President--how it differs from other roles someone would occupy on the way to a VP-level position and what it takes to be a strong candidate if you’ve got your sights set on a VP-level job. Joining us in the conversation is Mary Napier, Principal Consultant at Napier Executive Search. We're also joined by Echo Delta’s own Laura Martin Fedich, who will be co-hosting each of our VP Summer Series podcasts.

In this episode, we talk about financial aid leveraging—the common, but sometimes controversial, practice of using data-driven approaches to inform how schools award financial aid. Joining us in the conversation is Echo Delta data scientist and consultant, Dr. Jimmy Jung. As a higher ed veteran with over 20 years of experience, Jimmy has successfully led enrollment management at multiple institutions around the country and has consulted internationally in the areas of marketing, program evaluation, data analytics, and student success.  We start by covering the basics of financial aid leveraging—what it is, how it works, and the kinds of data schools use to inform their financial aid models. Then, we dig deeper into the impact of financial aid leveraging, including improving net tuition revenue, controlling discount rates, and how it can help schools uncover hidden insights about their institution and the students they hope to attract. We wrap up by talking about some of the criticisms of the practice and hear Jimmy’s thoughts on the ethical and responsible use of financial aid leveraging.  This was a fascinating conversation full of essential information for anyone looking to understand more about financial aid leveraging.

The quality of input you deliver on creative work can be a make or break factor that helps your team reach new creative heights or sends them spiraling into uncertain territory. Echo Delta's Creative Director, Rachel Newell, joins us to talk about how to deliver the kind of feedback your team needs to reach the full potential. 

Tracking and attributing marketing activities in the real world is far from straightforward. In this episode, analytics consultant and agency vet, Chris Sietsema, explains how analytics-savvy organizations get it right.

We sit down with Will Patch, Enrollment Marketing Leader, at Niche.com to talk about strategies for more effectively engaging parents during the college search process. We start our conversation with a review of some key findings from a recent survey the Niche team conducted with parents, then we dive into concrete steps schools can take to engage parents more effectively.

Liz Gross, CEO of social listening agency Campus Sonar joins us to talk about all things higher ed social media and her new book, Fundamentals of Social Media Strategy: A Guide for College Campuses.