Marketing Higher Education: Strategies for School Growth

In today’s highly competitive higher education sector, incorporating effective higher ed marketing strategies isn’t just recommended: it’s a necessity. After all, with so many higher education institutions vying for the attention of prospective students, only the ones that put together well-thought-out, modern marketing approaches can be confident that their voices are heard.

In this post, we’re going to take a closer look at what institutions need to know about marketing higher education in 2025 and beyond, including outlining some higher education marketing best practices to keep in mind.

Understanding the Basics of Marketing Higher Education

It’s the strength of the institutions’ marketing that determines not only whether a prospective student knows that the college exists, but whether they’re curious to know more. At its best, marketing helps to get the attention of the target audience, boosts enrollment, and bolsters the institution’s reputation. 

But first and foremost, it’s about getting attention. There are more than 5,000 postsecondary educational institutions in the United States, and they all want students. While marketing isn’t the only factor that influences the number of enrollments, it’s a crucial first step. With so much competition out there, it’s only the institutions that put together well-thought-out, modern marketing strategies that can be confident of reaching the right people at the right time. 

And when we say modern marketing practices, we really mean it. Due to shifting consumer expectations and technological advancements, marketing higher education to students has evolved significantly, and, today, traditional marketing approaches such as brochures and campus visit days often play a secondary role in attracting students. Instead, it’s digital marketing that takes the lead.

Key Digital Marketing Strategies for Higher Education

Digital marketing for higher education unleashes the power of the web, allowing institutions to reach their target audience in new and exciting ways.

Marketing to higher education students involves meeting them where they’re spending their time. For example:

• On Social Media
• On Search Engines
• On Streaming Platforms

Why is it important to focus on these three sectors? 

• 81% of Gen Z spend more than one hour a day on social media.
• 64% use search engines to discover brands.
• Gen Z spends an average of 1 hour and 51 minutes streaming content each day.

Focusing on these areas makes it more likely that the brand’s message will be heard. While higher education institutions need to put together high-quality, engaging content to get the attention of their target audience, understanding where to showcase that content is paramount. 

After all, simply having the most brilliant marketing content on the planet isn’t enough to get prospective students to apply. It has to be delivered in the right spaces.

The strategies used to deliver this content can include:

• SEO (Search Engine Optimization): Attract students to your website via search engines.
• PPC (Pay-Per-Click): Paid social media and search engine ads.
• CTV (Connected TV) Advertising: Reach smartphone and smart TV streamers.
• Social Media Marketing: Showcase life on campus to prospective students on your TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube channels. 

Best Practices in Higher Education Marketing

Simply investing in higher education marketing isn’t enough to get results. With competition for students greater than ever, institutions must be very intentional and deliberate for their marketing strategies to be effective.

Let’s take a look at some key rules to follow.

Understand Your Audience

You’re not trying to reach every person interested in higher education. You’re trying to reach those who are specifically interested in what you have to offer and are a good fit for your institution.

Higher ed institutions have a wealth of data available, so it’s important to use that data to identify and refine your target audience to create effective content. Some data-driven questions to ask include:

• How old are they?
• What do they want?
• Where are they located?
• Where do they spend their time online?

You’d use different marketing strategies to attract international students than you would local students, just as you’d use different strategies for self-funded students than scholarship seekers.

Consistent Brand Voice

Your marketing strategies will do more than get people’s attention. They’ll also solidify and strengthen your brand. A potential student should have a strong understanding of who you are, what you do, and what you stand for every time they view your marketing materials.  This can be tricky however. Messaging, design, and brand by committee is the norm and there’s usually a desire to change each year because, internally, the staff is bored of it.

Keep Up With Trends

A campaign is unlikely to be effective if it utilizes outdated approaches. To stay relevant, institutions must keep up with the latest marketing trends, such as video marketing, CTV marketing, and social media influencers. Taking a page from successful marketers outside of the vertical is essential for getting your voice heard in the crowded — and all-too-often similar — higher education marketing space. In a competitive landscape, differentiation and early adoption can make all the difference.

Use the Data

You might come up with the perfect campaign at the first time of asking, but it’s best not to assume. There are tons of marketing data tools you can use to measure the performance of your strategies — if things aren’t working as well as you’d like (or as well as they used to), then don’t be afraid to make adjustments. 

Highlight Outcomes

Higher ed can often function as the ‘whipping post’ of the media when they’re looking for things to talk about, and the value of a degree sometimes gets lost. But ultimately, students enroll in college as a way to invest in their future. You’ll be more likely to get their attention if you showcase the benefits of attending your institution, so look at including relevant data (“X% of graduates were employed in their field six months after graduation”) whenever possible.

Share the Student Experience

Students are more likely to apply to an institution if they buy into the whole experience, which goes well beyond academic offerings. As well as outlining the outcomes that a student can expect, look at highlighting the day-to-day campus experience. They’ll be more excited about student life if they know they’ll have plenty of opportunities for recreation, personal growth, and all-out fun. 

Tailoring Messages for Your Target Demographic

There’s a reason why it’s becoming more difficult to reach target audiences: they’re becoming savvier. Previously, taking a blanket, catch-all approach to marketing could yield results. 

Today, audiences want to feel that marketers are speaking directly to them.

For most universities, marketing hasn’t yet advanced to the point where sending a hyper-personalized message to every prospective student is feasible. However, you can still let them know that you’re speaking to people like them. Marketing technology has made incredible strides to enable the hyper-personalization that savvy consumers have come to expect. However, not every message needs to feel ‘one-to-one’ to be effective. Ensuring your messaging speaks to audience groups with which your users self-identify is important as well. 

For example:

• High School Students: Showcasing the fun of campus life.
• Post-Graduate Students: Focusing on funding/scholarship options.
• Adult Learners: Outlining the flexibility and career progression benefits.
• International Students: Showcasing the experience of current/past international students. 

Leveraging Social Media to Engage Prospective Students

The whole world loves social media, but your prospective students? They absolutely love it. While 90% of Gen Z uses social media, 35% use it more than four hours each day.

Utilized correctly, social media higher education marketing allows institutions to reach their target audience in a place where they feel comfortable, allowing for more intimate engagement. Plus, it’s rarely just a one-time thing; prospective students will be drip-fed content about the institution over many months — or perhaps even years.

As ever, it’s the quality of the social media content you post that’ll determine its effectiveness. Some key ideas to focus on include:

• Instagram Live Videos showcasing campus events
• Sharing notable alumni achievements on your Snapchat feed.
• Sharing student video testimonials on TikTok.
• Injecting fun and humor into posts. 

Analyzing the Impact of Marketing Campaigns

In this day and age, there’s no reason to simply guess whether your marketing strategies are having an impact. The data will tell you. 

Every social media platform offers insights that can tell you what posts are working (and which aren’t), while Google Analytics provides a wealth of information about the source of your website traffic and user behavior. 

When all is going well, you’ll clearly see that your marketing campaigns are having an impact. When they’re not going as well, you’ll have data-driven insights needed to action needed changes.

Implementing Continuous Improvement in Marketing Efforts

Your higher education digital marketing strategies should remain dynamic and agile, ready to shift based on performance and as marketing trends evolve. Avoiding complacency and instilling a culture of continuous improvement is paramount for remaining relevant and getting the most bang from your marketing bucks.

Let’s take a look at a few handy tips for ensuring that your higher education marketing strategies continue to deliver results.

Campaign Performance

Your marketing strategies may be effective in the first few months, but that doesn’t mean that they’ll be just as effective later on down the line. By committing to regularly reviewing marketing performance, higher education marketers can take proactive steps to make any necessary tweaks and adjustments. 

Look at Competitors

While it’s important to focus on your own marketing approaches, keeping an eye on what your competitors are doing can help inform your own strategies. 

Refining Content and Strategies

Even the best content in the world will eventually lose its impact. By keeping up with the latest content trends, and still staying on brand, higher education institutions can tailor their content, ensuring that it continues to be fresh and engaging. 

Take the Next Step: Enhance Your School’s Marketing Strategy

In an age when competition for students is more fierce than ever before, it’s imperative that higher education institutions adopt innovative, industry-leading marketing solutions. 

Here at AmbioEdu, our advanced CTV marketing strategies make it easier than ever for institutions to get their marketing message in front of their target audience. We mix the benefits of broad-reach television advertising with the precision of social media and digital marketing to create marketing campaigns that deliver results. Ready to get ahead of your competitors? Contact us to get started.