Cheers! You’ve made it through all 10 Higher Ed Marketing Truths, and you’re ready for multi-dimensional action. Let’s review what we’ve learned together through this blog series and make sure you’re wrapping up with some great takeaways.

TRUTH 1: Know Your People

The good news: Your college or university is already doing great work for current students, which can be the very thing that recruits more students who will thrive at your school.

Market research is foundational to identifying the needs, preferences, and motivations of students and other important stakeholders. This knowledge equips you to develop tailored marketing strategies and messages that resonate with your desired student population. 

Let’s reflect: 

• Are we wasting time and money recruiting students who are never going to enroll here?

• How do we let students—and parents—know they belong here?

• What’s one step you can take today to better Know Your People?

TRUTH 2: Define & Differentiate

The great news: When you differentiate your marketing efforts, your school will shine.

A strong brand sets your institution apart. By identifying and communicating the unique value proposition of your school, you’ll create a positive perception, attract prospective students, and foster long-term loyalty. 

Let’s reflect: 

• Do we have a positioning strategy that encapsulates our story and takes the guesswork out of team efforts?

• Do we have any uncommon academic or extracurricular programs?

• What’s one step you can take today to begin to Define & Differentiate?

TRUTH 3: Tell Your Authentic Story

The good news: Students and alumni of your institution are experiencing positive outcomes every day. You just have to capture them. 

Showcasing unique stories creates an emotional connection with prospective students. Through genuine narratives, you offer insight into the real experiences and outcomes of attending your school. 

Let’s reflect: 

• Do we have at least one meaningful personal story for each program?  

• What tone do we hope to strike in all communication with prospective families?

• What’s one step you can take today to Tell Your Authentic Story?

TRUTH 4: Create a Clear Message

The great news: By creating a clear message, you can cut through the clutter! 

An effective message is clear, concise, and memorable, conveying the school’s focus. Consistently presenting this message gets the attention of your intended audiences. 

Let’s reflect: 

• Do we have a clear, concise elevator speech? 

• Are we making our story real for prospective students by showcasing relationships?

• What’s one step you can take today to Create a Clear Message?

TRUTH 5: Speed Wins

The good news: By honing your message and streamlining your approval processes, your college or university can reach your audience at the right moment. 

Speed is not just about being first to market, it’s about timing. Making informed, timely decisions increases throughput, boosts morale, and instills confidence in your team. 

Let’s reflect: 

• How can we collaborate with other offices to streamline processes?

• What barriers do we encounter in turning ideas into action?

• What’s one step you can take today to implement a Speed Wins approach?

TRUTH 6: Use Data to Inform Decisions

The great news: The technology and support you need is a click (or tap) away.

Data can inform targeted marketing campaigns, personalize communications, and assess the effectiveness of marketing initiatives. By utilizing the right tools on audience demographics, behaviors, and preferences, you optimize marketing efforts. 

Let’s reflect: 

• How can we gather quick feedback to inform immediate marketing decisions?

• Are we making use of the data already available through existing tools?

• What’s one step you can take today to Use Data to Inform Decisions?

TRUTH 7: Investment Is Ongoing

The good news: By shifting your approach and utilizing industry benchmarks, you can refresh your marketing strategy and experience new returns.

Thriving institutions view marketing as an investment, not a cost. By investing in people, resources, strategy, and execution, you’re playing the long game. 

Let’s reflect: 

• How can I help other administrators view marketing as an investment rather than an expense?

• Does our marketing spend fluctuate greatly when times are bleak or booming? 

• What’s one step you can take today to practice the truth that Investment Is Ongoing?

TRUTH 8: Build Bridges, Tear Down Silos

The good news: Sharing information and inspiration can generate collaboration and strengthen marketing campaigns.

Working closely with admissions and other departments on campus helps to ensure a seamless audience journey and consistent messaging. As a marketing leader, you are positioned to initiate this collaboration. 

Let’s reflect: 

• Do we have a systematic way to gather student, departmental, and alumni success stories?

• How can we share good news among university employees to keep them informed and inspired?

• What’s one step you can take today to Build Bridges, Tear Down Silos?

TRUTH 9: Measure Your Effectiveness

The great news: An easy-to-use dashboard tool can empower the marketing, academic, and administrative leaders at your institution with data that drives success.

Data is the new currency. When you create a dashboard to assess KPIs, analyze perceptions, and inform marketing spend, you’ll develop clear benchmarks over time.

 Let’s reflect: 

• Are we consciously or unconsciously avoiding perception feedback?

• What metrics are most important to keep front-of-mind on our marketing dashboard?

• What’s one step you can take today to Measure Your Effectiveness?

TRUTH 10: Stay Agile

The great news: There are more people who need what you have to offer. With a spirit of experimentation and adaptability, you’ll be ready to reach them.

Marketing is constantly evolving. By staying up-to-date on the latest trends and being willing to experiment and take risks, you’ll be prepared to adapt your strategies as needed. Staying agile is the principle that empowers you to practice all the other marketing truths. 

Let’s reflect: 

• Does our office welcome and encourage experimentation?

• What technology can we employ for day-to-day efficiency and marketing innovation? 

• What’s one step you can take today to Stay Agile?

As you practice the 10 Higher Ed Marketing Truths, you take the mystery out of marketing and unlock the power to tell your school’s story. 

Interested in bringing the Truths to your campus? Learn more.

Let’s make these truths part of your institution’s unique marketing strategies. Contact us to talk about how 5° Branding can partner with your team.

This is the closing blog in our Higher Ed Marketing Truths series with 5° Senior Vice President Ryan Morabito, a veteran brand strategist who has worked with over 100 schools. These blogs are based on Ryan’s LinkedIn posts, which regularly inspire high engagement among education leaders and marketers.

Now that you’re geared up to practice Marketing Truths 1 to 9, let’s tie it all together with Truth #10—Stay Agile. This is the principle that empowers you to practice all the others.

Marketing approaches are continually evolving. And even if our best-strategized plans are in step with best practices, we all know that perfect plans don’t always result in perfect action steps or perfect outcomes. People move and projects drift. And on top of all that, the world around you can change in a flash.

Reimagine Your Approach

So we learn to flex. But we’re not only reactively flexible—we’re proactively thinking of new ways to operate. We position our roles and resources in such a way that we’re ready to gracefully adapt for optimal effectiveness.

As higher ed professionals, we often struggle with the fear factor. There are unrelenting expectations and challenges to prove our investment in marketing. But we can’t let fear paralyze us.   

Thriving marketing offices have a culture of experimentation. Staying agile includes trying new things to see what works and what doesn’t.

Are you thinking innovatively about the future of marketing? For example, as you begin to better practice Truth #7—Investment Is Ongoing—it’s vital to keep your pulse on changing dynamics.

Marketing Roles

Having the right people in the right place at the right time is crucial to success. You may consider adding new roles or adapting the responsibilities of current roles.

Try using AI to write job description drafts. Not only will you save valuable time, but you’ll likely pick up on current trends in structuring your marketing department’s accountabilities and workflow.

Marketing Processes

Being agile may mean a change of processes, too. When Chick-fil-A® reimagined the drive-thru line in the form of an elevated building, the underlying philosophy was nothing new. It was, rather, a demonstration of the agility that characterizes their operations.

As explained in a company press release, “Chick-fil-A® is always exploring new ways to serve our customers to better meet their needs and lifestyles.”

For your marketing office, you probably don’t need to construct new facilities (or maybe you do!), but could it be that rearranging office space or updating furnishings would improve productivity or creativity? Or perhaps it’s simply time for an evaluation of workflows to identify places for smoother adaptability.

Seize New Opportunities

Agile organizations think creatively and strategically about expanding a successful product to  different audiences.

What We Can Learn from Water Bottles

Take Stanley for example. William Stanley Jr. launched his successful company in 1913 when he invented the steel vacuum-insulated bottle. The product has been an icon for camping and outdoor adventures for more than a century.

Then a new opportunity surfaced. When Stanley introduced the Quencher—an oversized, attention-getting, heavy-duty water bottle that fits in a car cupholder—teen girls and their moms noticed.

And Stanley was ready. Just like that, with some trendy twists on a tried-and-true product, Stanley cups lit up a new marketplace. In 2023, the company generated $750 million in revenue—a “thousand percent increase in just three years.”

An Example from Higher Ed

For more than 100 years, Campbellsville University in Kentucky has served students through academic programs grounded in Christian faith. Recognizing broader opportunities for a tried-and-true core product, the university has adapted to tap into new audiences.

Campbellsville has gone where the people are. In addition to its main campus, CU now operates in 11 sites regionally and internationally, allowing the university to make higher ed accessible to students in a wider geographic area. By partnering with other organizations like community colleges and churches, Campbellsville didn’t need to build new campuses in every location.

Further, Campbellsville is reaching new markets for the school’s online programs. Through the “FinishFast” program, CU Online offers guaranteed admission to students in Kentucky community colleges who have completed an associate’s degree.

The results? Campbellsville has more than tripled enrollment, now serving 12,000 students. That’s Stanley-caliber growth!

What Will Staying Agile Mean for You

By setting yourself up for adaptability—like Chick-fil-A, Stanley, and Campbellsville University—your school can reimagine approaches and seize opportunities for optimal marketing outcomes. Try new ways of doing things. Take note of viral threads that open doors to new initiatives. Explore partnerships with like-minded organizations.

By staying agile, you’ll be future-proofed and positioned for action, ready to carry out all ten Marketing Truths like a pro.

The bad news: Your marketing vision and plans may get derailed by unexpected challenges, surprising trends, or inflexible institutional thinking.

The good news: Your creative thinking can extend further than marketing assets and into strategy, processes, and administrative decisions.

The great news: There are more people who need what you have to offer. With a spirit of experimentation and adaptability, you’ll be ready to reach them.

Interested in bringing the Truths to your campus? Learn more.

Let’s make these truths part of your institution’s unique marketing strategies. Contact us to chat about how 5° Branding can partner with your team.

This is the tenth blog in our Higher Ed Marketing Truths series with 5° Senior Vice President Ryan Morabito, a veteran brand strategist who has worked with over 100 schools. These blogs are based on Ryan’s LinkedIn posts, which regularly inspire high engagement among education leaders and marketers. Connect with us here to receive each blog in the series by email or bookmark our blog to check for updates!

From Fortune 500 companies to small private colleges, data is the new currency. Information not only allows organizations to make smart decisions, it enhances their opportunities to tell meaningful stories that connect with their audience. In other words, if data is the new currency, having your own is a must. 

For many colleges and universities, this fact can feel like a daunting truth as tight budgets or lack of technology constrain possibilities. A simple dashboard, though, can provide institutions with increased visibility so they can discover actionable insights into their school’s perception, performance in light of other colleges and universities, and steps toward future success.

Picturing Perception

Many colleges and universities avoid seeking specific perception feedback, thinking they have an intuitive read on their constituents. In avoiding current data, school leaders miss out on vital feedback — or risk hearing only from the small group of people who voice praise or problems.

Higher education marketing leaders can disrupt this norm with proactive feedback strategies. Digital surveys that ask specific segments of their community for perception data would be a great place to start. They might send a three-question email to parents of current students, for example, that asks them to rate their interactions with the institution, share how likely they would be to recommend that a friend’s child attend the school, and describe their perception of the institution in a few sentences. 

By analyzing these survey results, marketing leaders can identify strengths to emphasize in marketing materials (“98 percent of parents say their student is well-connected on campus.”) or areas for improvement that might inspire new projects (“Only 60 percent of parents feel that the institution keeps them informed and engaged. Let’s brainstorm an email series that welcomes them further into the community.”) By providing information on how the institution is doing in real time, perception provides a springboard for creative marketing ideas.

Developing Dashboards

In our data-rich age, having a way to hone in on the information that matters is critical for marketing leaders. One way to do this is through a marketing dashboard that provides at-a-glance insights into the university’s efforts and informs where to invest marketing dollars. 

Thriving institutions have locked-in dashboards with agreement among campus leaders and trustees of what is being tracked so that we can learn from the losses and celebrate the wins together. Collaborate with other campus leaders to choose what metrics are most useful to track, and keep them consistent over time. By developing longitudinal measurements, benchmarks will emerge, and you’ll be better positioned to learn from the information gathered. 

Of course you’ll want data reflecting enrollment and fundraising health, but also think about other indicators of future success — perception research, website usage data, and prospective student actions all are examples of more specific KPIs that could be useful.

Considering Comparison

During a meeting with a college’s leadership team, I shared that a high percentage of their alumni said they would recommend the institution. The room buzzed with excited chatter — except for the president. He looked at me and asked, “How does that compare to other schools?” 

I told him the truth: It was one of the lowest scores I had ever seen. 

Comparative data is crucial when it comes to understanding how a college or university is performing. While many leaders may have a sense of how their school is performing in terms of graduation rates or alumni employment, there’s much more to consider. Most students make their college decisions based on a list of factors, and likelihood of making it to the cap and gown is only one of them. 

Comparing data to that of other institutions can help marketing leaders understand where they need to focus their efforts — whether that’s shouting from the rooftops about their excellence or building a strategy toward better results.

Inviting Insight

The bad news: Your institution likely lacks visibility into important information.

The good news: The people who can provide you with feedback are already in your network.

The great news: An easy-to-use dashboard tool can empower the marketing, academic, and administrative leaders at your institution with data that drives success.

Interested in bringing the Truths to your campus? Learn more.

Let’s make these truths part of your institution’s unique marketing strategies. Contact us to chat about how 5° Branding can partner with your team.

This is the ninth blog in our Higher Ed Marketing Truths series with 5° Senior Vice President Ryan Morabito, a veteran brand strategist who has worked with over 100 schools. These blogs are based on Ryan’s LinkedIn posts, which regularly inspire high engagement among education leaders and marketers. Connect with us here to receive each blog in the series by email or bookmark our blog to check for updates!

I can’t say I have a favorite higher education marketing truth, but I do think this one might just be the happiest of them all. Through collaboration between marketing departments and other areas of the institution, marketing leaders have the opportunity to be the Chief Silo Busters of higher education.

The best marketing departments know that only some of their work can be accomplished behind closed doors—so much more is accomplished by working closely with admissions, academic disciplines, student affairs, and alumni relations. The work to clarify your brand starts with our faculty and staff colleagues before we communicate with our external partners.

Studies show that when departments or data are siloed, organizations inevitably suffer. Three out of four companies face hindered internal collaboration due to data silos. Similar concerns ring true in higher education—research from UCLA and MIT Press found that universities are regularly hindered by decentralized data and constrained data sharing. 

As perpetual students of their institution and those it serves, marketing leaders are uniquely positioned to tear down data silos and increase collaboration on college campuses. It all starts a new perspective on KPIs—Keep People Informed and Keep People Inspired—two separate but equally important endeavors.

Keep People Informed

Every higher education institution I have worked with has something in common: a gap in internal communication. While the gaps vary in depth and breadth, they inevitably exist, limiting the opportunity for marketers to share their vision and for their colleagues to join it. Marketing leaders can begin to fill these gaps by building a simple, systematic approach to sharing information. 

Did the marketing department recently discover that their most engaged demographic on social media is rural high school seniors who are interested in farming? The agriculture department needs to know that. 

Does the education department have a 99% placement rate for teachers upon graduation? The marketing department needs to know that. 

Whether the system is a shared dashboard or, in the early days, a “you may want to know” email chain, a method for empowering all leaders to share the story of their school can fuel positive change and collaboration.

Keep People Inspired

The chair of the science department may be the most loyal fan of your college or university, but if she doesn’t have stories of the institution to share beyond her own experiences, her ability to be an ambassador will be limited. When marketers keep their colleagues inspired, they generate and perpetuate momentum that expands their institution’s reach. 

From academics to athletics, there are inspiring accomplishments and adventures happening within your school on any given day. Creating a communication mechanism for capturing those bright spots so that they can be shared is a great place to start. Marketers might ask a few faculty members or admissions leaders for a story or two that made them smile in the past month. Perhaps there’s an opportunity for a 15-minute weekly meeting in which anyone with a positive anecdote from their department can show up and contribute.

Not sure what information or inspiration to share—or what information or inspiration to ask people to share? Consider starting with:

• Statistics

• Updated programs or courses

• New online or abroad learning opportunities

• Student or alumni achievements

• Institutional partnerships

• Test results and placement rates

Inform and Inspire

The bad news: Your college or university almost certainly has an internal communications gap.

The good news: Sharing information and inspiration can generate collaboration and strengthen marketing campaigns.

The great news: Marketing leaders are uniquely suited to become Chief Silo Busters.

Interested in bringing the Truths to your campus? Learn more.

Let’s make these truths part of your institution’s unique marketing strategies. Contact us to chat about how 5° Branding can partner with your team.

This is the eighth blog in our Higher Ed Marketing Truths series with 5° Senior Vice President Ryan Morabito, a veteran brand strategist who has worked with over 100 schools. These blogs are based on Ryan’s LinkedIn posts, which regularly inspire high engagement among education leaders and marketers. Connect with us here to receive each blog in the series by email or bookmark our blog to check for updates!

If I could ask higher education leaders to answer just one question, it would probably be this one: Do you consider marketing to be an expense or an investment? For administrators whose roles require them to keep budgets balanced, it’s easy to see marketing as an outpouring of cash that may or may not see a return—in other words, an expense. But the marketers who succeed in higher education and the marketplace know the truth: marketing is an investment, and when managed with strategy and expertise, it’s an investment that generates meaningful returns. 

Research makes clear that thriving institutions view marketing as an investment not a cost. Such institutions make an ongoing investment in people, resources, strategy, and execution. This can sound like a challenging endeavor, and it can be. Be assured, though, the hallmark of a good investment is not constant work. Instead, the investments in marketing are marked by a steady, consistent habit of making intentional deposits toward achieving a clear goal.

The Best Brands Prioritize Marketing

In a market that is simultaneously saturated and shifting, many leaders of higher education institutions may wonder if their best bet is to rein in the marketing budget and wait for brighter days. But the truth is, the opposite is what works. In peaks and valleys alike, the highest-performing brands continue to pour into marketing campaigns that both retain and recruit loyal customers. 

While schools are not in the business of recruiting customers, the truth is that, when it comes to marketing, the strategies for engaging students are not all that different. Students and their families want the same thing that someone who is trying to choose between two brands of jeans want, though, of course, with bigger stakes. 

Does this fit me? 
Will I be happy with this choice for a long time? 
If I choose this, what will I be not choosing?

Brands like Apple and Target understand that consumer decision-making is ongoing, and therefore marketing efforts must be as well. Despite their superiority in their industries, these corporations continue to pour billions of dollars into advertising, ensuring that they remain preferred brands. 

Don’t let the word “billions” discourage you. Your institution does not need to have an eye-crossing number of zeroes to spend in order to succeed in marketing. It does, however, need to work toward making significant, regular investments in advertising all that your school has to offer.

The First Step? A Data-Informed Plan

It’s likely that, as a marketer, you have already bought into the idea of marketing as an investment. If so, then you may be wondering how to empower your fellow administrators to see it similarly. Consider sharing the examples of Apple or Target with them, explaining how these preferred brands maintain and even increase their marketing efforts in times of success so that they can continue to remain competitive.

When it comes to the brass tacks of asking for a larger budget to keep the investment going, aim for 3.5-5% of your institution’s operating budget. If that sounds impossible, don’t give up yet. Consider mapping out a 5-year plan in which your team incrementally advocates for a larger piece of the pie. By showing your fellow administrators the returns your investment makes over time, it is possible that requesting more resources will become less of a challenge and more of a shared commitment.

Prepare to Thrive

The bad news: Your institution likely views marketing as an expense rather than an investment—or a drain rather than an asset.

The good news: By shifting your approach and utilizing industry benchmarks, you can refresh your marketing strategy and experience new returns.

The great news: The support you need is right here waiting for you.

Interested in bringing the Truths to your campus? Learn more.

Let’s make these truths part of your institution’s unique marketing strategies. Contact us to chat about how 5° Branding can partner with your team.

This is the seventh blog in our Higher Ed Marketing Truths series with 5° Senior Vice President Ryan Morabito, a veteran brand strategist who has worked with over 100 schools. These blogs are based on Ryan’s LinkedIn posts, which regularly inspire high engagement among education leaders and marketers. Connect with us here to receive each blog in the series by email or bookmark our blog to check for updates!

There’s a long-time trend in higher education that is so mainstream, many college and university leaders have never questioned it: competitive analysis. To differentiate their marketing strategies, higher education institutions have spent millions of dollars and countless hours of work studying their marketplace peers. 

While there’s certainly a time and place for surveying the higher education landscape, it isn’t the most important data that a school can gather. Instead, innovative marketers are discovering that the best information lives close to home: in the habits, opinions, and perceptions of existing students, donors, and alumni. 

Easy-to-use analytics tools can provide higher education marketers with information that helps them to identify their institution’s unique strengths, leading to campaigns that stand out from the crowd and strong decisions that are data-informed.

Real-Time Research

Just a few years ago, colleges and universities were spending six figures to conduct market research studies that took months to complete. While these surveys often provided meaningful data, they were limited in their scope and could only capture a moment in time. In a modern world that is powered by technology and rapidly changing from minute to minute, it’s imperative for higher education institutions to utilize analytics tools that capture immediate, actionable insights. 

Marketing is both art and science — incorporating anecdotal feedback and data to generate successful campaigns. Data analysis tools empower institutions to respond proactively to the needs of their current and prospective students rather than responding reactively to their competitors in the field. 

Thriving institutions have a systematic approach to programmatic evaluation, one that is self-aware about the fact that 70% of programs in colleges and universities fail to thrive, according to Lightcast. A data-informed evaluation process provides immediate learnings, enabling marketers and fellow leaders to assess, change, and improve programs, campaigns, and messaging.

Mastering the Micro-Survey

Gone are the days of a small group sitting around a table and deciding the academic futures of institutions, continually adding programs but struggling to evaluate them after the fact. Instead, data-informed decisions are the way of the future—not removing the need for personal touch and instinct to participate in choices, but instead framing those decisions within a useful metric.

Targeted micro-surveys provide quick, meaningful insights into key stakeholders such as students, parents, and donors. Rather than spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on competitive research, waiting for months to receive reports that may or may not end up driving their marketing, higher education marketers will find greater success if they collect specific information in a timely manner.

For example, marketers may target a small group of students and present them with three ads, asking them for feedback on which they prefer. They might also gain clarity on parental perception through a few-question survey that helps identify what excites them about their child’s education and will motivate them to promote the brand.

Taking the Pulse of Perceptions

For Geneva College, such ongoing analysis has come in the form of a 5° Branding tool known as the Global Pulse Survey, which measures audience perceptions of the university. 

“The GPS allows us to get a pulse on how our day-to-day activities in marketing and communications are interpreted by the constituents that we serve and seek to attract,” says Geneva’s VP of Enrollment and Marketing Willem M de Ruijter. “In turn, the data gives us clear direction for how to improve our marketing in the places where it can have the greatest impact.”

He explains that “The GPS is part of our annual research calendar. It allows us to triangulate our marketing activity, enrollment results, and other data to ensure we are focused on improving the right indicators.”

Such an approach allows Geneva’s marketers to prioritize experimentation. Rather than spending large amounts of money on research projects that take long periods of time, the smaller GPS provides actionable data that allows for agility. Marketers are free to try new ideas, personalize communications, and assess the effectiveness of marketing initiatives.

Drive Toward Data

The bad news: Your institution may be missing out on important information due to outdated methodologies.

The good news: By implementing data analytics tools, your college or university can glean meaningful data that empowers strategic decision-making.

The great news: The technology and support you need is a click away.

Interested in bringing the Truths to your campus? Learn more.

Let’s make these truths part of your institution’s unique marketing strategies. Contact us to chat about how 5° Branding can partner with your team.

This is the sixth blog in our Higher Ed Marketing Truths series with 5° Senior Vice President Ryan Morabito, a veteran brand strategist who has worked with over 100 schools. These blogs are based on Ryan’s LinkedIn posts, which regularly inspire high engagement among education leaders and marketers. Connect with us here to receive each blog in the series by email or bookmark our blog to check for updates!

Most of us spend plenty of time planning. Marketers, after all, are innate dreamers. Proven strategizers. Gifted communicators. We know that carefully constructed visionary plans are essential to great marketing. But ultimately, planning doesn’t move the needle. Execution does. 

So how do we make the most of both planning and execution? How do we win with speed?

Direction First

The message that “speed wins'' is true, but it isn’t true on its own. Just like sprinters can’t show up to a race having only told themselves to “run fast,” higher education institutions can’t approach their messaging strategy with “be the first to say something” as their only priority. 

Successful sprinters have honed their form and strategized a plan long before the starting gun fires. Similarly, colleges and universities need to have a concrete understanding of what they’ll be saying and how they’ll be saying it when it’s time to say something. 

In Truth #4, we highlighted the imperative “Create a Clear Message.” With a strategic narrative in place, you’ve identified the North Star—the focal point—that will lead the way. 

Identifying marketing pillars—defining qualities of your brand—will support and enliven the narrative. You’ll keep your story on track by developing a clear and consistent tone and vocabulary, along with a defined set of messages. Creating a “messaging map" will equip your marketing team and other on-campus communicators to consistently present your brand.  

With your North Star in sight and your messaging map in hand, you can then set sail with confidence.

Speed Next

Now it’s time for decisive action. But speed is not just about being fast. It’s not just about being first to market. It's about timing. Timely delivery will increase throughput, boost morale, and instill confidence in your team. 

Involve Stakeholder Engagement at the Right Time

Taking the time to identify allies, advocates, and approvers for your institution’s messages may seem cumbersome at first, but it’s worth it. You’ll save time in the future through a streamlined process that reduces frustration and further strengthens your brand identity through timely communications. 

Make Informed Decisions Quickly

A long approval process often stands between higher education marketers and their messages going public. When everyone shares a common understanding of the school’s voice and personality, though, there can be less pressure to scrutinize every post and print piece. 

Consider the current processes your institution has in place. Where do things slow down? Identify  offices that are overwhelmed or tend to take a long time to provide feedback. Think about how your department might collaborate with other administrators to reconfigure your approval process based on newfound messaging clarity.

In the marketing department, establish procedures for moving projects along. Check yourselves on the tendency to overthink every move. And know when to go into an all-out sprint.

A Case in Point

When Geneva College partnered with 5° Branding, the school had recently enlisted a new Vice President of Enrollment and a new Director of Marketing. The fall recruiting season was only six months away, so thankfully, both wise marketing leaders understood the “speed wins” principle. They set out with an aggressive timeline, but with the order of priorities in place.

Direction came first. The project was grounded in an intensive Research and Discovery phase. From this, effective collaboration led to comprehensive brand architecture, messaging, and identified design assets to facilitate the renewed brand.

A clear message gave the team a North Star to follow. The fresh campaign theme, Made for This, captured the heart of Geneva’s mission. Identified brand pillars supported the theme. Every marketing piece would follow this clear direction. Students would understand—they were created for purpose. And they would see in specific and identifiable ways how a Geneva College experience would help them discover and fulfill this purpose. 

Next, the team implemented the plan with precision and consistency. And they delivered right on time.

Read Geneva’s story here.

Set Sail with Speed

The bad news: Your institution may be communicating too slowly for a fast-paced world.

The good news: By honing your message and streamlining your approval processes, your college or university can reach your audience at the right moment.

The great news: The tools for your journey are within your reach.

Interested in bringing the Truths to your campus? Learn more.

Let’s make these truths part of your institution’s unique marketing strategies. Contact us to chat about how 5° Branding can partner with your team.

This is the fifth blog in our Higher Ed Marketing Truths series with 5° Senior Vice President Ryan Morabito, a veteran brand strategist who has worked with over 100 schools. These blogs are based on Ryan’s LinkedIn posts, which regularly inspire high engagement among education leaders and marketers. Connect with us here to receive each blog in the series by email or bookmark our blog to check for updates!

A colleague shared with me that her daughter, a high school junior, is eagerly anticipating college life. When she started receiving college mail, it was super fun. She planned to save it all. But somewhere around mailing #47, her interest began to fade. Now, as she glances through the assortment every few days, some standout pieces are keepers, but most of it goes in a stack for mom.

And then there’s the email marketing. When she asked her daughter how much email she gets from colleges in a typical week, her answer was fuzzy. Maybe 30 messages. No, maybe 40. Maybe 50.

In an extremely busy world, we have to cut through the clutter to reach our intended audience. What’s the best way to do this? Create a clear message.

Know Your Narrative

What makes your school special? In Truth #2, we introduced the importance of having a strategic narrative that brings focus to your marketing efforts. Ultimately, it’s essential to answer the question: Why would a prospective student (or donor or community partner) choose my school?

As you develop your strategic narrative, you’ll consider: What do we want to be known for, and how can we lean into that? Why are we here, and where are we going?

Today’s most recognizable brands have identified clear answers to those questions, and they’re telling their stories with clarity and consistency. They are confident about who they are and where they’re going. The stories are concrete—specific and vivid, rather than vague and general.

Google proudly proclaims its mission to “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”

Amazon has set out to be “Earth’s most customer-centric company, Earth’s best employer, and Earth’s safest place to work.”

Airbnb presents a heart-warming message: “Every day, Hosts offer unique stays and experiences that make it possible for guests to connect with communities in a more authentic way.”

As an institution of higher education, you have a distinct mission that transcends time (and executive leadership turnover). But have you tapped into this sense of purpose to create a clear message that sets you apart from the plethora of options for today’s students?

Campbellsville University has always been a place to “Find Your Calling.” The university has successfully championed this message for years but has kept the story fresh. When it’s time to update recruiting materials, marketing leaders simply put “a new twist on a trusted theme.”

The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor also understands its story. The university wants students to know: “Your purpose is our promise.” Their most recent rebranding initiative captures the school’s energetic authenticity with the rallying cry, “Live Your Purpose.”

Personalize the Narrative

Each prospective student will have unique aspirations, interests, and concerns. The more you can offer to show how your story relates to theirs, the better your chances of capturing their attention.

For example, as you tell your story, introduce students to the professors they’ll be studying with. Go beyond the institutional bio and headshot—make it real! Our research almost always confirms one of top reasons students choose a small or mid-size school is because of the personal relationships with faculty.

Finally, there’s nothing like actual outcomes to prove your point and show prospective students how your institution can directly impact their lives. No doubt, your school has countless success stories of current students and alumni in your community. Find a systematic approach for sharing these stories and statistics in terms that are as specific as possible and that support your clearly defined message.

Your Message Matters

The bad news: Your message may be lost in the clutter of marketing message. 

The good news: You have a story that will resonate with your intended audience if you can get their attention.

The great news: By creating a clear message, you can cut through the clutter! 

Interested in bringing the Truths to your campus? Learn more.

Let’s make these truths part of your institution’s unique marketing strategies. Contact us to chat about how 5° Branding can partner with your team.

This is the fourth blog in our Higher Ed Marketing Truths series with 5° Senior Vice President Ryan Morabito, a veteran brand strategist who has worked with over 100 schools. These blogs are based on Ryan’s LinkedIn posts, which regularly inspire high engagement among education leaders and marketers. Click here to receive each blog in the series by email or bookmark our blog to check for updates!

When prospective students visit your institution’s website or set foot on campus, they’re looking for proof. Every school vying for their attention likely makes relatively similar, general claims such as a positive experience, excellent degree programs, and expert faculty.

To stand out in an increasingly competitive higher education landscape, the key to creating an emotional connection with prospective students is telling them an authentic story. Genuine narratives bring to life the real experiences and outcomes associated with attending your institution. By getting specific and painting a clear picture of a student’s potential future, your institution can rise to the challenge to prove it.

Promote Particular Program Outcomes

Big statements about graduation rates and having the best professors aren’t enough to help a prospective student understand what it could feel like to be part of your institution. Instead, consider featuring specific positive outcomes by sharing stories and statistics related to individual majors. Tell educators-to-be about the innovative relationship your institution has with the local school district. Show aspiring accountants the technology infrastructure and top-tier internships they’ll access through your program.

Consider outcomes your institution could feature for various majors, such as:

• Licensing exam passing rates

• Internship and job placements

• Connections to community organizations

• Collaborations and networks

Once you’ve landed on an outcome or two to feature for a major, think about how your institution’s brand can reflect the information in a consistent, compelling way.

Feature the Future

While highlighting information on job placement immediately after graduation is important, it’s just the beginning of helping students imagine their futures as alumni of your institution. Sharing stories about alumni who are advancing in their careers and leading in industries is a great way to give prospective students insight into the ways that your institution will prepare them to meet both their short and long-term goals.

Tapping into your alumni network is a great place to start. Consider a blog series of interviews with alums who graduated ten, twenty, or even thirty years ago. Where are they now? What did they do to get there? How did their degrees prepare them for the job positions they’ve had? How did their fellow alumni participate in their career success? Who are they still friends with from college, and how do those friendships look now?

Graduation and the first job that follows are major milestones, but they’re not the end. Showing prospective students how your college or university empowers its students far beyond those achievements can help them envision how your institution will play an ongoing, positive role in their lives and careers.

Find Your Voice

One of the key markers of authentic storytelling is a voice that reflects the institution’s mission. Successful narratives present meaningful information in an engaging way—and this isn’t just the case for higher education. Take the language-learning app Duolingo, for example. The brand’s playful tone encourages users to stick with their aspiration of mastering a new language by combining research-based teaching methods with a whole lot of fun. As a result, the vast majority of Duolingo users say they are more confident speaking a new language and motivated to continue learning.

For universities, a strong brand voice can clarify opportunities to share the institution’s current character as well as its deep histories and traditions. Annie Lombardi, Director of Enrollment Marketing and Campus Communications at St. Thomas Aquinas College, made establishing a brand voice a priority when seeking to reinvigorate the college’s brand.

“We wanted to unify our brand voice so that we could share our authentic institutional narratives about what makes us so unique,” she noted. “It’s about our story. What makes us who we are.

How might your institution share your specific educational outcomes with a tone that prompts prospective students to smile at the thought of joining your community? That intersection is where you’ll find authentic storytelling that helps prospective students imagine themselves at your institution.

Prepare to Prove It

The bad news: Your marketing strategy may over-rely on generic stories and statistics.

The good news: Students and alumni of your institution are experiencing positive outcomes every day. You just have to capture them.

The great news: Successful storytelling is as simple as telling the truth in the voice that showcases your institution as the great place it is.

Interested in bringing the Truths to your campus? Learn more.

Let’s make these truths part of your institution’s unique marketing strategies. Contact us to chat about how 5° Branding can partner with your team.

This is the third blog in our Higher Ed Marketing Truths series with 5° Senior Vice President Ryan Morabito, a veteran brand strategist who has worked with over 100 schools. These blogs are based on Ryan’s LinkedIn posts, which regularly inspire high engagement among education leaders and marketers. Click here to receive each blog in the series by email or bookmark our blog to check for updates!

There’s something about your school. Something that’s not like any other school. When you define that one-of-a-kindness that sets you apart, you’ve discovered the key that unlocks the power of your brand. When you differentiate your school in the marketplace, you unleash that power.

What Is a Brand?

Your brand is not your logo. It’s not your tagline, digital strategy, or savvy promotional materials. Your brand is your story, and the stories that get told about you. Your brand is the sum total of all the associations made of your college or university—what and how people think of you.

When you define your brand, you shape the way that people think of your school. Jay Baer, marketing advisor to some of the world’s most iconic brands, says, “Branding is the art of aligning what you want people to think about your company with what people actually do think about your company.”

How Do You Go About Defining Your Brand?

Many organizations, in a rush to branding, skip the foundational step: clearly defining what makes their organization special for their targeted audiences. Arriving at this level of understanding your brand, however, requires an intentional approach.

Market Research

Combining research methods that both measure and describe attributes of your institution is an essential part of defining your brand. Quantitatively assessing awareness, opinions, and satisfaction in various areas gives insight to where you stand in the mind of your current audiences. Qualitatively evaluating the underlying reasons deepens your insight.

Ultimately in brand research, you’re looking to understand the “why.” Why would a prospective student, donor, or community partner choose your institution?

Brand Positioning

Once you’ve discovered the “why,” you’re ready to develop your positioning strategy. This brand position will become your “North Star”—a strategic narrative that brings focus to your marketing plans and takes the guesswork out of your team efforts.

Your creative execution, guided by this strategic narrative, will change over time and take on multifaceted applications. But the narrative itself—the promise that encapsulates your story—anchors your messaging through changing seasons and times. 

What Are Some Ways You Can Differentiate?

When you’ve defined your brand and established your brand positioning, then you’re equipped to differentiate. You’ll understand those stand-out qualities that attract people to your school.

We all know that today’s prospective students have many choices. And most colleges and universities look very much, well, the same. The challenge is to develop a set of core marketing messages that distinguishes you from your competitors in a sea of sameness.

Programs

In higher ed, prospective students are often driven by programs. Lift up unique majors, specializations, and qualities of your programs, and students will take notice.

Geneva College offers competitive, accredited engineering programs. But unlike most schools with engineering programs, Geneva’s engineering students learn to integrate faith in their vocations. A degree in chemical engineering, for example, prepares students to steward specialized knowledge of chemical products as they “serve God and neighbor.”

Lewis University began as an aviation school for young men, and the school’s aviation programs are still among their top offerings. As they continue to prominently feature degrees such as flight and aerospace technology, Lewis also effectively transfers concepts of innovation across the marketing of other programs, such as nursing. Ideals of “flight” run through their branding, including the “Lewis Flyers” athletic teams.

Think beyond academic programs, too. Look at those extracurriculars that are attracting attention on campus and in your surrounding community. Area sports championships. Musical performance accolades. An award-winning debate team. Highlighting these exceptional programs not only draws the students who may be interested in participating, but it builds the credibility of your school’s brand.

Location

Wherever your school is located, there’s something to brag about. What draws students to your little corner of the world? Whatever it is, tell that story!

University of Pikeville is set in the beauty of the Appalachian Mountains, and the school has a strong commitment to making an impact in their region of the country. The theme “Move Mountains” does double-duty to emphasize the geographic setting while also inspiring prospective students to imagine what they can accomplish.

Another approach is to showcase the distinct career-building opportunities nearby. Located in St. Louis, Missouri Baptist University invites students to discover a “real-life laboratory for launching careers,” where Fortune 500 companies abound with opportunities for internships and networking.  

Character

It’s also likely your school has a one-of-a-kind personality with intrinsic qualities that set you apart. Sometimes those qualities are not as easy to pinpoint as location and program distinctives may be. But capturing the essence of your character is branding gold.

When St. Thomas Aquinas College set out on a branding initiative, they were on a quest to get below the surface of their identity. Wisely, they started by asking the “Why” question—Why would a student choose St. Thomas Aquinas College?

The school’s leaders embarked on an intentional discovery process that ultimately launched a power-charged branding campaign. What did they learn about what set them apart? Here’s the crux of the findings:

Each and every day, throughout the entire experience, St. Thomas Aquinas is igniting inherent passion in the students they serve. This is why students are empowered to succeed, why they feel prepared for their careers, and why they’re happy.

Grounded in an understanding of what makes them special, St. Thomas Aquinas could differentiate based on their unique character. This is where the tagline and accompanying value proposition were born.

The “something different” about your school may be as obvious as the scenery surrounding you or the programs with skyrocketing enrollment. Or maybe your “something different” is not so apparent—yet. Discover it. Define it. And set yourself apart from the crowd. There’s your superpower. 

Pull Away from the Pack

The bad news: Your current marketing efforts may be getting overlooked in a “sea of sameness.”

The good news: With some intentionality, you can define your own brand that will set you apart.

The great news: When you differentiate your marketing efforts, your school will shine. 

Interested in bringing the Truths to your campus? Learn more.

Let’s make these truths part of your institution’s unique marketing strategies. Contact us to chat about how 5° Branding can partner with your team.

This is the second blog in our Higher Ed Marketing Truths series with 5° Senior Vice President Ryan Morabito, a veteran brand strategist who has worked with over 100 schools. These blogs are based on Ryan’s LinkedIn posts, which regularly inspire high engagement among education leaders and marketers. Click here to receive each blog in the series by email or bookmark our blog to check for updates!

This is the first blog in our Higher Ed Marketing Truths series with 5° Senior Vice President Ryan Morabito, a veteran brand strategist who has worked with over 100 schools. These blogs are based on Ryan’s LinkedIn posts, which regularly inspire high engagement among education leaders and marketers. Click here to receive each blog in the series by email or bookmark our blog to check for updates!

Picture this: you're cooking dinner when the doorbell rings. You answer it, and a salesman launches into a spiel about soundproofing for two-story homes. When he finally takes a breath, you say, "this is a one-story house." The salesman blinks and looks around, as though he's just now taking in his surroundings. Embarrassed, he leaves, and you return to your hopefully-not-burning meal in progress. 

It's easy to judge this salesman's approach as silly, careless, and even unprofessional. But the truth is: these types of mistakes happen in marketing all the time. And higher ed marketing is no exception. 

Colleges and universities too often waste time and money trying to recruit individuals who are never going to enroll at their school — or attend college at all. Rather than treating everyone the same, college and universities will see much more success when they understand exactly who their target student is and market directly to them.

Let’s take a look at three ways your college or university can achieve your recruitment and retention goals through increased focus in your outreach strategy.

Market Your Majors

“We have something for everyone!” may seem like a compelling marketing strategy at first glance. But the truth is, it doesn’t give prospective students the information they need to make a good college decision. Rather than trying to appeal to the broadest population of potential students, consider what it might look like to choose a few specific groups and market as effectively as possible to them.

In other words, don’t be scared to get specific. The Anthrozoology program at Carroll College excels at this specific approach. The first undergraduate Anthrozoology major in the nation, Carroll confidently markets the program as a unique selling point for their school. Their social media posts feature dogs from the Collar Scholars program, in which students assist in raising puppies who will eventually become assistance dogs. The campus has a state-of-the-art Canine Center, a work-study program in which students work with horses, and meaningful partnerships with zoo, conservation, wildlife, and ranch settings where students can conduct research and internships. 

The Anthrozoology program won’t be a fit for every prospective student, but it doesn’t need to be. Carroll College markets in a way that makes clear they understand the point isn’t to draw every student but to draw the best students for their programs. By heavily promoting its emphasis on equipping leaders in human-animal professions, Carroll increases their overall brand presence and memorability.

Show your prospective students how your school is the step that will get them where they want to go.

Highlight the Heart

In a culture that’s rife with post-pandemic stress, political conflict, and rapid changes in society, people are looking for a place to belong. Prospective students feel this perhaps even more deeply than others, as they are in the exciting yet vulnerable place of making a major decision that will affect both their professional and personal life. That intersection of excitement and vulnerability is a powerful place for your school to plant a flag in the ground. 

Generic messaging that indicates everyone would love your school isn’t likely to be effective, which results in wasted time, money, and effort. In order to narrow the scope for the sake of an effective marketing approach, ask yourself the question how do we let our students know they belong here? You might poll existing students or speak to alumni to develop a sense of the way your school meets (or met) their felt needs. Consider segmenting, in which you identify the personas of students who are most likely to feel as though they belong at your college or university. 

Some answers could be that your school:

• Prioritizes later-in-life learners by offering evening or online coursework

• Has a low faculty-student ratio so professors can function as true mentors

• Features dynamic student housing accommodations that cultivate community

The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (UMHB) serves as a shining example of highlighting the heart. The university’s student activities staff makes every effort to create opportunities for belonging for students on campus. Their list of activities runs a mile long, and they aren’t randomly chosen by administrators. Instead, the school surveys students to discover their interests and then provides opportunities for pursuing them on campus. When staff members noticed that the students were beginning to play pickleball on the tennis courts, for example, they built a fleet of pickleball courts. 

This devotion to on-campus engagement and support provides UMHB with remarkable marketing opportunities that show prospective students exactly what it could look like to belong there.

Whatever your school’s heartbeat might be, identifying it and finding ways to share it with prospective students who resonate is a meaningful way to focus your outreach efforts. 

If your institution is faith-based, think about the ways that commitment shapes a positive student experience. If you have a strong cultural heritage, that could be a meaningful aspect to put in the spotlight. In doing so, your brand awareness can increase and prospective students can begin to think of your school as a place where they could belong not simply as academic students, but as whole people.

Pursue Powerful Partnerships

In our personal lives, one of the most common and enjoyable ways to get to know someone is through a mutual friend. This is often the same in the professional context, where networking leads to greater connections and possibilities than a cold call ever could. 

The same can be said for reaching prospective students. By building relationships with people and institutions who are important to your school’s recruitment base, your school can catch the attention — and earn the trust — of college decision-makers. For example, if your institution offers a strong art education major, consider how you might form connections with high school art teachers who are likely identifying and advising students interested in pursuing art professionally.

Additionally, When it comes to individuals who have just graduated from high school, parents tend to have a profound influence in their children’s college decisions. In fact, a recent EAB (formerly Education Advisory Board) study found that 48 percent of 2021 high school seniors named parents or guardians in their type five sources of information on the admissions process. That’s up from 37 percent in 2020 and 34 percent in 2019.  

This high degree of influence makes parents a key partner in identifying and attracting the best students for your school. How might your school tailor your marketing approach to reach parents — especially mothers, who tend to have the greatest influence — with a clear message that helps them ask (and answer) the question could my student thrive there?

When it comes to later-in-life learners, think about building and marketing institutional partnerships with employers and access to professional networks. 

Whether you’re marketing to high school seniors or professionals years into their careers, building relationships with the people and places they value can go a long way in your marketing strategy, saving you time and money as you market in ways that are much more likely to see returns in the form of recruitment and retention. 

The bad news: your school may be spending money unnecessarily in order to recruit students who aren’t the right fit. 

The good news: your college or university is already doing great work for existing students, which can be the very thing that recruits more students who will thrive at your school. 

The great news: by marketing your majors, highlighting the heart, and pursuing powerful partnerships, you can hone in on effective strategies that help students and your school reach their goals. 

Interested in bringing the Truths to your campus? Learn more.

Let’s make these truths part of your institution’s unique marketing strategies. Contact us to chat about how 5° Branding can partner with your team.

The concept of marketing too often feels like a mystery that can’t be solved or a mathematical formula that must be applied perfectly in order to produce the right outcome. But the fact of the matter is: it’s neither. Instead, marketing is a comprehensive approach to telling a brand’s story with creativity and clarity. 

Enter Ryan Morabito, Senior Advisor and Strategist at 5° Branding. A veteran higher education leader, Ryan has worked with over 100 schools to understand their markets and hone their messages. His LinkedIn posts featuring succinct, incisive truths about marketing in higher education have caught fire with thousands of followers. Ryan’s posts regularly lead to robust, ongoing discussions with education leaders, marketing executives, and communications experts. 

In this new blog series, Ryan will expand on the truths he has already shared in tip form. If his LinkedIn posts are Higher Ed Marketing 101, then consider this series the 201 course, empowering you to take a deeper look at effective brand principles while equipping you with accessible action steps. 

You won’t want to miss Ryan’s first blog (teaser: it’s going to help your marketing department save money!) coming up next week. Subscribe to receive each blog in the series by email or bookmark our blog to check for updates!

Interested in bringing the Truths to your campus? Learn more.

Let’s make these truths part of your institution’s unique marketing strategies. Contact us to chat about how 5° Branding can partner with your team.

This is the opening blog in our Higher Ed Marketing Truths series with 5° Senior Vice President Ryan Morabito, a veteran brand strategist who has worked with over 100 schools. These blogs are based on Ryan’s LinkedIn posts, which regularly inspire high engagement among education leaders and marketers. Connect with us here to receive each blog in the series by email or bookmark our blog to check for updates!