Insights from the Inside: 7 Immediate Actions for Enrollment Marketers

By Jenny Petty 

Enrollment marketing is changing rapidly, and The End of Formulaic Enrollment Marketing is here. In this post, we’ll unpack how to implement the strategies I shared in my previous article, so you can put your school’s best foot forward. 

1. Brand-Led Enrollment Marketing

What to do right now: Your brand has a voice and personality. That’s great! Don’t dumb down your language or aim for the middle. Write for your smallest viable audience. Don’t worry about making it weird or different. In a sea of content that is easy to overlook, your brand’s personality can and will shine through. Looking for inspiration? Swarthmore College has some of the best and most creative prospective student writing out there.  Take these action steps to infuse the real you into your enrollment marketing materials: 

• Audit your current enrollment materials for brand alignment — check tone, visuals, and values.
• Rewrite one high-traffic email or landing page using your institution’s authentic voice. Make it unmistakably you.
• Test message resonance with a small group of prospective students or current student ambassadors.
• Build a micro-campaign around a distinctive brand trait (e.g., “radically welcoming” or “wildly ambitious”).

2. Smarter Segmentation

What to do right now: Marketers are no strangers to personas, but today’s consumers expect a personalized experience that goes beyond general characterization. Look to existing tools like Halda or ZeeMee that help drive personalization based on behavioral data sets. No time or budget to implement a new tool right now? That’s ok. Here’s some steps you can take until new tools become a reality: 

• Create segments based on behavior, not just demographics — e.g., pages visited, forms filled, or time spent on specific content.
• Update email journeys to reflect intent signals — e.g., interest in a major, event attendance, or financial aid exploration.
• Use your CRM to build engagement scores and personalize outreach accordingly.
• Develop lightweight personas based on psychographics or motivation: “First-gen trailblazers,” “Career switchers,” “Adventure-seeking scholars.”

3. Authentic, Connection-Driven Content

What to do right now: Stop worrying about control and start focusing on who and what your audience is. Student-generated content gives prospective students an authentic, and often fun, perspective of what campus life is really like. Influencers are the new word of mouth and at the University of Montana, our highest performing piece of social content last year was 100% produced and created by one of our students. 

• Feature a student story in your next email or Instagram post — voice memos, vertical video clips, or student-takeovers work great.
• Replace a stock photo with real student photography on a high-traffic page.
• Start a “day in the life” series with real students on TikTok or Instagram Reels.
• Create short videos or carousels where students answer real questions from prospective students.

4. Owned Media > Rented Media

What to do right now: Rely less on large-scale name buys and more on building your own channels: email lists, parent engagement platforms, organic social media communities, and purpose-built content ecosystems.

• Start a segmented email newsletter for prospective students, parents or high school counselors — curated, branded, and consistent.
• Launch or revive a parent community and tap into some of the biggest influencers in the college search process. 
• Audit your social media channels for gaps in storytelling, engagement, or visual consistency.
• Develop a resource hub or blog to house evergreen content (e.g., “What it’s like to apply test-optional” or “How we help students find purpose”).
• Evaluate your community-building platforms for engagement, longevity and size. What’s your community strategy? 

5. Internal Alignment & Activation

What to do right now: The relationship between admissions and marketing is a lot like a marriage. You get what you put into it and it needs to be tended to. As admissions season ramps up, it’s a good time to check on alignment between the two groups. Here’s some ideas on how to not only get in alignment, but take action: 

• Host a 30-minute internal huddle with admissions and marketing to share this article and identify one tactic to try.
• Ask current student workers to review messaging for authenticity and resonance.
• Meet with your brand or communications lead to align campaign voice and messaging priorities.
• Choose one vendor-dependent tactic (e.g., generic email drip) to replace with an in-house, brand-forward version.

6. Evaluate Your Tech Stack

What to do right now: Perform an inventory of your existing tech stack and do a gap analysis. What is the purpose of your current tech choices? What are you missing? Do you have redundant vendors that are serving the same purpose? What emerging tech could replace current manual processes or functions? Are you over reliant on one channel or tool? 

• Don’t waste a second longer on old, outdated tools. The time to experiment with new, emerging technology is now. 
• Explore trends in generative AI, community, and vendors that offer behavioral data sets that make the latest advancements in personalization a reality. 
• Is your marketing team prepared to help admissions with lead generation? Do you have the in-house expertise to build an inbound marketing program? 

7. Stay Agile

What to do right now: Everything from social media to AI tools to the federal landscape is changing rapidly, meaning higher ed enrollment marketing teams must be ready to adapt quickly. Since we all know that’s not the typical, ahem, style of higher ed, we’ll need to get creative so we don’t miss opportunities to embrace the latest advancements. Here’s some tips: 

• Familiarize yourself with your school’s procurement processes. 
• Do demos of new products now and start crafting your wish list. That way when budget season comes around again or you have an unexpected windfall of budget money, you’ll know where and how you’ll want to deploy it.