Enrollment – Full-Funnel Strategies

Every spring, social media fills with proud parents and excited high school seniors celebrating college commitments in creative and colorful ways. Students pose with their acceptance letters, hang yard signs, and wear new collegiate gear. One celebration that continues to gain momentum is the bed party. The trend started during the pandemic and has only grown in size and creativity. Families surprise their student by decorating their bedroom in the school’s colors, complete with balloons, streamers, snacks, and merch. The family then captures the big reveal for social media. It’s

In a time when financial, political, and AI pressures on higher education seem to be at an all-time high, it makes sense for colleges to be cautious. When the future is uncertain, it is natural to approach marketing with caution.   During uncertain times, colleges naturally want to be cautious. But being overly careful with revenue-driving departments like admissions and advancement can be a penny-wise/pound-foolish strategy (one of my favorite phrases from a previous boss). Cutting marketing resources for areas that generate revenue can backfire, potentially creating a downward spiral. Of

yard signs outperform billboard advertising Often, the best ideas aren’t about spending more. They’re about spending smarter. That’s especially true when it comes to student recruitment. Colleges often ask us how to get their name in front of prospective students and families in a more effective way.  Many institutions invest heavily into billboards, and while they may offer high visibility, they also come with high costs, limited targeting, and short lifespans.  Our take is simple. Invest in a yard sign campaign.   Yard signs do exactly what billboards can’t. They generate

Parent engagement in college admissions I just lived the experience of being a parent through the college recruitment process. With our company’s collegiate focus, my antenna was up as I paid attention to communication to my son and my wife and me. I have a few takeaways that I wanted to share for colleges to consider as they plan for the next cycle.  For context, my son applied to four colleges and we visited all of them his junior year. Since none of them were local, we did not attend

College Recruitment Branded Merch Slate Integration Over the past few years we have been growing our capabilities with integrating branded merch within Slate. One key focus area has been how to make it easy for colleges to create the custom queries. Since this may be new for colleges to create queries to send mailing lists to an SFTP, we wanted to provide guidance. Through a strategic collaboration with Magellan Promotions and RHB, a higher ed consultancy, we have made exciting progress!   Magellan Promotions now has a Slate Integration Portal. This

When incoming students commit to a college, from a marketing perspective, this presents an amazing opportunity to take advantage of their pride and excitement.   Let me explain.   With increasing competition in higher education, colleges invest heavily in marketing. Billboards, digital ads, print pieces, and more, create awareness but often lack personal connection. Why Personal Connections Matter Society’s trust in authentic endorsements are coveted. We are more skeptical of ads than ever before. People trust influencers, peers and authentic reviews.  Thus when awareness campaigns are combined with personal and authentic recommendations,