Insights from the Higher Ed Experts

BY Anthony Campisi | January 30th, 2025

Top Higher Education Marketing Trends to Watch in 2025

As the landscape of higher education continues to evolve, 2025 brings new challenges and opportunities for institutions to connect with prospective students in meaningful ways. To remain competitive and relevant, colleges and universities must stay ahead of the curve by embracing key trends in marketing. Here are the top higher education marketing trends to watch in 2025:

AI-Driven Personalization in Student Engagement

Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping how institutions interact with prospective students. From AI-powered chatbots that answer questions in real-time to predictive algorithms that tailor communications based on a student’s behavior and interests – personalization has reached new heights.

Why It Matters: Students now expect the same level of personalization they experience with brands in other industries. Customized email campaigns, targeted digital ads, and dynamic website content create a more engaging and seamless journey.

How GPRS Can Help: We can help implement AI tools that enhance personalization and integrate seamlessly into your enrollment strategy. From conversational AI to predictive analytics, we consult on strategies and options to help institutions build connections that convert.

Increased Focus on Micro-Credentials and Alternative Pathways

The demand for micro-credentials, certificates, and alternative learning pathways continues to grow as students prioritize flexible, career-focused education. These offerings appeal to diverse groups, including adult learners and those looking to upskill in rapidly changing industries.

Why It Matters: Institutions that market these programs effectively can tap into a growing audience seeking education that delivers a clear return on investment.

How GPRS Can Help: Our targeted marketing strategies ensure your micro-credentials and alternative program options reach the right audiences. We highlight the unique value of these pathways, aligning messaging with prospective students’ goals and aspirations.

Enhanced Use of Data Analytics for Enrollment Forecasting

Data analytics is no longer optional in higher education marketing. Institutions are using advanced analytics to predict enrollment trends, identify at-risk students, and measure campaign performance in real-time.

Why It Matters: Data-driven decisions enable institutions to allocate resources more effectively, optimize marketing campaigns, and improve student outcomes.

How GPRS Can Help: With years of expertise in enrollment analytics, we provide insights that help institutions refine their strategies. From lead scoring to campaign performance tracking, we ensure your marketing efforts are both efficient and impactful.

Addressing Student Concerns About ROI and Career Readiness

Today’s students are increasingly concerned about the return on investment (ROI) of their education. Questions about affordability, job placement rates, and career readiness are top of mind for prospective students and their families.

Why It Matters: Institutions that proactively address these concerns in their marketing materials build trust and credibility, making them more attractive to discerning students.

How GPRS Can Help: We craft messaging that emphasizes your institution’s career outcomes, alumni success stories, and unique value propositions. Our strategies are designed to resonate with students seeking tangible benefits from their education.

Looking Ahead: Embracing Change in 2025

The higher education sector is at a pivotal moment, where innovation and adaptability are key to success. By leveraging AI-driven personalization, promoting alternative pathways, utilizing data analytics, and addressing ROI concerns, institutions can position themselves for long-term growth.

Contact GPRS today to develop a strategy that drives real results.

Insights from the Higher Ed Experts

BY Anthony Campisi | September 19th, 2024

The Future of College Admissions: Trends to Watch

Staying ahead of trends is crucial if you want to attract and retain the best prospects. As we look to the future of college admissions, several key trends are shaping the way colleges and universities engage with prospective students. Let’s dive into the strategies that are proving most effective in today’s competitive enrollment environment.

Highly Personalized Messaging

Today’s prospects expect tailored experiences in every aspect of their lives, and the admissions process is no exception. Institutions that consistently leverage data analytics create more successful personalized communication journeys that resonate on an individual level.

Put It into Practice: Implement a robust CRM system that allows you to segment your audience and deliver highly targeted content based on interests, finances, academic pursuits, and engagement history.

Dynamic Video Content

With attention spans shrinking and video consumption skyrocketing, dynamic visual content is more important than ever in capturing the interest of potential applicants and portraying the unique value proposition of your academic programs.

Put It into Practice: Invest in developing videos for virtual campus tours, student testimonials, internship experiences, and program highlights. Utilize platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels to showcase authentic campus life moments.

Virtual and Augmented Reality Experiences

As technology advances, VR and AR are providing immersive ways for prospects to explore campuses and academic programs from the comfort of their own homes.

Put It into Practice: Develop VR campus tours or AR-enhanced viewbooks that bring your institution to life for distant or international students.

Flexible and Stackable Programs

The rising demand for flexible, career-focused postgraduate education is driving interest in shorter-term credential options that can be combined or “stacked” into full degrees.

Put It into Practice: Highlight micro-credential offerings in your marketing materials and clearly communicate how these programs can lead to full degrees or enhance career prospects.

Emphasis on Outcomes and ROI

With the cost of higher education under scrutiny, prospective students are increasingly focused on the tangible returns of their investment, especially when pursuing graduate programs.

Put It into Practice: Prominently feature career outcome data, alumni success stories, and comparable salary information for graduates across your marketing channels.

AI-Powered Chatbots and Virtual Assistants

24/7 availability and instant responses are becoming the norm in customer service, and higher education is no exception.

Put It into Practice: Implement AI chatbots on your website to provide immediate answers to common questions and guide prospects through the application process.

Inclusive Marketing and Representation

Diversity and inclusion are non-negotiable for today’s students, who expect to see themselves represented in an institution’s marketing materials and campus community.

Put It into Practice: Ensure your marketing materials authentically represent the diversity of your student body and highlight your institution’s commitment to fostering an inclusive environment.

Data Privacy and Transparency

As data collection becomes more sophisticated, students are increasingly concerned about how their information is used and protected.

Put It into Practice: Clearly communicate your data privacy policies and give students control over their information. Be transparent about how data is used to enhance their educational experience.

By preparing for the future of college admissions and incorporating them into your undergraduate or graduate admissions strategy, your institution can create more meaningful connections with prospective students and stand out in a crowded marketplace. Ready to talk about how we can help? Let’s chat!

Insights from the Higher Ed Experts

BY Anthony Campisi | July 31st, 2024

From Likes to Enrollments: Maximizing Social Media for College Admissions

For most of us – and especially for prospective students – social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, X, and LinkedIn are integral parts of daily life. These platforms are not only tools for personal connection but also powerful channels for building your brand and sharing critical information about your programs. Integrating a robust social media strategy into your enrollment plan provides an irreplaceable opportunity for your team to engage with students with authenticity in spaces they use every day. Here are some ways maximizing social media for college admissions can boost your brand, build excitement, increase prospect engagement, and help you meet your enrollment goals.

Organic Storytelling

Social media is a powerful way to vividly portray your campus life, academic programs, student success stories, and faculty expertise in an organic and authentic setting. Through videos, photos, and written posts, you can uniquely showcase diverse campus experiences and bring to life your programs, campus culture, and alumni outcomes. When prospective students visit your platforms and see unfiltered, real-life student experiences, it helps them envision themselves as part of the community, makes your institution seem relatable and authentic, and motivates them to further engage with the enrollment process.

Put it into practice: Integrate regular student and alumni social media takeovers into your strategy. Select enthusiastic and engaged hosts to share their day-to-day program activities on your official social media channels. Provide clear guidelines on theme, brand, posting frequency, and rules of engagement.

Interaction and Engagement

A robust social media strategy can significantly increase prospect engagement by providing a dynamic and interactive place for both parties to communicate and connect. Real-time interaction allows prospective students to ask questions, build connections with current students and alumni, and even meet future peers in the program. Leveraging the power of social media helps build meaningful relationships and foster a sense of community before they even set foot in a classroom, which drives higher levels of interest and commitment.

Put it into practice: Create a strategic content calendar highlighting exciting student outcomes or faculty achievements. Partnering with current students, ambassadors, or campus micro influencers (link to previous article 128) to encourage user-generated content can be especially effective in helping prospective students see an authentic campus experience.

Institutional Brand Awareness and Loyalty

A robust social media presence allows your institution to build on its brand, increases your visibility, and boosts your overall online presence. Posting consistently and strategically is an organic approach to keeping your program and institution top-of-mind during a prospect’s wildly competitive college search process. Live events, engaging videos, and authentic campus stories showcase your institution’s unique value proposition and help prospective students develop brand loyalty when they may be torn between their top choices.

Put it into practice: Hosting regular Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook Lives featuring your most on-brand students, alumni, or faculty. This gives prospects a unique opportunity to interact directly with your program’s best brand representatives. Providing this chance to ask direct questions builds trust, highlights your institution’s authenticity, and creates brand loyalty. Promote these live streams in advance through your social media channels to maximize participation and reach a broader audience

Maximizing social media for college admissions provides endless opportunities to connect with your prospects – and GPRS can help you find the approaches that work best for your team and enrollment goals. Let’s talk!

Insights from the Higher Ed Experts

BY Anthony Campisi | March 19th, 2024

Customer Experience strategies for higher education institutions

Customer experience (CX) is a sometimes overlooked but crucial strategy for higher education institutions. In many ways, customer Experience strategies for higher education can mean the difference between success and failure when it comes to the recruitment and retention of graduate students.

To ensure the best customer experience possible for students, higher education institutions need to understand exactly who their audience is, embrace the latest technology, and focus on creating a personalized, seamless experience for its students (customers). Here’s a closer look at how to do just that.

Know your audience

First and foremost, it’s crucial to understand your core audience.

Look at the data for your prospects, new students, and the existing graduate student body very closely. What are their demographics? What are they currently studying or looking to study? Are they local or from across the country or even the world? By having a strong grasp of your audience, you can better hone your CX strategy specifically to them.

Create a seamless experience

Creating a seamless, intuitive, and simplified customer experience is also very important.

This is especially critical when it comes to technology. All too often, schools design their online services with themselves in mind, as opposed to their prospects and students. Instead, embrace digital transformation and a customer-centric approach by creating user-friendly, seamless customer portals where students can find all of the information they need in a single, unified location and conduct a website audit to ensure your site is intuitive, easy to navigate, and has all of the key information that students and prospects need clearly stated.

Leverage the latest technology

Technology can also go a long way towards improving your CX.

Embrace it as a way to boost your customer service and provide a more seamless, user-friendly experience for your students and prospects. This can be done by leveraging chatbots to resolve simple questions and issues quickly and successfully, customer relationship management (CRM) tools to track every conversation and keep important data in a single location, and various social media channels to convey critical information and boost engagement.

Focus on personalization

Personalization is also key.

Today’s graduate students are increasingly diverse. Rather than treating them as a whole, personalize your communications and interactions with them to better suit who they are, which can lead to improved metrics like conversions and retention. To accomplish this, use personalized emails, custom videos, and tailored social media communications.

Create a guided experience

Finally, focus on creating a tailored, curated experience for your students and prospects.

Navigating the graduate school process can be very stressful and intimidating for both prospects and students. However, by creating a guided, personalized experience, you can reduce this stress and improve your customer satisfaction. Embracing technology and tools like screen sharing, video chat, co-browsing, and tailored email communications can help create a guided experience that will improve your overall CX greatly.

Improve your customer experience strategies for higher education institutions

CX should be a top priority for any higher education institution looking to boost student recruitment and retention. By implementing these strategies and best practices, you can ensure you are delivering world-class customer service to your audience, increasing recruitment and boosting retention all at once.

Insights from the Higher Ed Experts

BY Anthony Campisi | December 28th, 2023

Improve your university’s brand awareness

The way higher education institutions market themselves to prospects has changed dramatically in a short amount of time. The rise of social media and the growing importance of content marketing, especially video marketing, has forced colleges to grapple with new ways to improve their university’s brand awareness and reach prospects effectively.

So, how should schools go about building brand awareness in a more complex and multifaceted digital world? The key is actually to embrace it. By using effective digital marketing strategies, you’ll be able to increase your brand awareness quickly and cost-effectively.

Let’s take a quick look at a few ways to do just that:

Create a detailed brand awareness strategy

First and foremost, don’t fly blind with your brand awareness strategy. Instead, draw up a detailed roadmap that includes timelines, metrics, types of content, and next steps to stay accountable and execute your strategy thoughtfully.

Be sure to conduct thorough research and develop detailed personas when crafting your brand awareness strategy too. It’s also a good idea to set measurable goals for content production, such as publishing two blog posts per week, and for metrics, such as increasing conversions by 50 percent within a year.

Create and share engaging and compelling content

Once you’ve done your research, created personas, and mapped out a detailed strategy, it’s time to start creating and sharing compelling content. This is at the crux of any successful brand awareness strategy.

Focus on creating engaging and useful content tailored to your target audience in the form of blog posts, eBooks, social media posts, email newsletters, videos, infographics, podcasts, and more. With a healthy mix of content published on a steady cadence, your institution can boost its inbound marketing and grow its brand awareness very effectively.

Focus on SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial for building brand awareness over the long term.

You can boost your site’s SEO by blogging and creating quality content more frequently, targeting valuable keywords and topics with your content, optimizing your metatags, building outbound links, and ensuring your site is fast, mobile-friendly, and free of any major technical errors. By consistently doing SEO, your institution’s website will climb higher in the search results, ultimately boosting your brand awareness.

Leverage social media channels

Social media marketing is critical for building brand awareness.

Strive to post on channels like X (formerly known as Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok regularly and use relevant hashtags where appropriate. Content that works well on social media includes everything from blog posts to video testimonials to longform guides. Finally, don’t forget to actively engage with social media users rather than just post content. Answer questions, post polls, and in general try to engage with your target audience to humanize your school’s brand.

Use paid advertising effectively

Paid ads are another great way to build brand awareness, working alongside SEO to boost your content’s visibility.

Paid advertising on both search engines like Google and social media channels, particularly LinkedIn, can help you reach your audience very quickly and effectively and should be a key part of your brand awareness strategy. Another good idea is boosting content such as blog posts, videos, and longform guides on LinkedIn, which can greatly expand their reach to your target audience.

Improve your university’s brand awareness today

With a detailed strategy and engaging content, you can improve your university’s brand awareness today quickly and cost-effectively. Need a hand doing it? GPRS has the expertise and resources to increase your institution’s brand awareness so you can ultimately boost enrollments and revenue. Contact us today to find out more.

Insights from the Higher Ed Experts

BY Anthony Campisi | December 14th, 2023

Higher Education Trends to Watch in 2024

Higher education is constantly changing, with each year ushering in new challenges – but also new opportunities. The COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath both sparked, as well as accelerated many notable trends. Following are higher education trends to watch in 2024 that are likely to impact undergraduate and graduate programs.

Institutions need to stay ahead of the curve and keep tabs on these fast-changing developments to ensure that their marketing and recruitment efforts remain effective. Here, we take a closer look at some of the higher education trends to watch in 2024 so that you can plan, and adapt, for success.

Online and hybrid classes

The COVID-19 pandemic saw the explosive growth of online and later hybrid learning virtually overnight. In the wake of the pandemic, these options remain popular among prospective students thanks to their flexibility.

When marketing your programs to prospects, be sure to highlight your modalities and the benefits. Doing so can position your institution as a place where students have the flexibility and freedom to learn on their own terms.

Rising costs present a challenge

It’s no secret that rising costs have put a damper on the public’s enthusiasm for higher education in recent years.

The solution? Stress the value that your programs offer to students over the long term. By shifting to this messaging in your marketing campaigns, you can help prospects understand that their continued education is an investment that can reap rewards for many years to come.

Upskilling and reskilling remain important

The Great Resignation in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic saw millions of Americans rethink their careers and everyday lives to follow their passions and achieve better work-life balance and more meaningful, engaging careers.

Although the Great Resignation has largely ended in recent months, its impact on the mindset of both students and professionals remains. Not surprisingly, upskilling and reskilling has become very important and will likely remain so in 2024 and beyond. Higher education institutions should embrace this trend and highlight how undergraduate and graduate degree or certificate programs are an effective way to shift careers/industries, gain new marketable skills, and ultimately create a more fulfilling life.

The rise of AI

Talk about AI has been everywhere in 2023 and certainly will be in 2024 as well.

There’s no doubt that this powerful technology movement has instilled a lot of trepidation in people, including in higher education. However, it can also be harnessed and used to boost marketing, recruitment, and administrative efforts in many ways. For example, chatbots can give fast, personalized answers to prospects online while advanced analytics can help narrow down applications quickly, letting staff focus on more productive tasks.

Although AI technology is still in its infancy, its potential should be embraced by schools as a way to make life easier and simpler overall due to its many useful applications.

Stay ahead of the higher education trends to watch in 2024

These are just some of the key higher education trends to watch in 2024. However, by having a better understanding of what to expect, you can position your marketing and recruitment efforts for success well into the new year.

Insights from the Higher Ed Experts

BY Anthony Campisi | November 30th, 2023

What you need to know about higher education content marketing

Content is king when it comes to promoting a university to a target audience – but just how do you go about higher education content marketing effectively?

By creating and distributing engaging and useful content tailored to your target audience, you can do everything from building brand awareness to boosting conversions to educating prospects about the key details of your programs. Ultimately, all of this can play a crucial role in increasing enrollment, but the trick is doing it effectively. As prospects are bombarded with content online, via social media, email, and other channels, creating content that really stands out and reaches them is imperative.

To that end, here are a few strategies and ideas for creating content that truly stands out and engages with your target audience!

Optimize your blog

Blogging is a crucial tool at your disposal for effective higher education content marketing. Topics could include your program’s history, campus culture, the benefits of enrolling, interviews with professors and alumni, and much more.

To optimize your blog, be sure to take search engine optimization (SEO) into account and conduct thorough keyword and topic research beforehand. Establishing a content calendar to publish content on a steady cadence is another good idea to stay accountable and keep tabs on key metrics like views, dwell time, and conversions.

Create valuable longform content

Longform content like eBooks, guides, and whitepapers are great for bringing more in-depth information to your target audience efficiently and effectively.

Topics for longform content could include campus life, your school’s local community, career options, and the like. Another advantage of longform content is that it’s easy to distribute via email or social media and can also be gated, making it useful for lead capturing.

Leverage case studies and testimonials

Case studies and testimonials from students and alumni are an excellent way to humanize your school’s programs and add a more personalized touch. By highlighting real-life examples of students and alumni, schools can help prospects imagine themselves in your program and boost the odds of their enrollment.

When creating case studies and testimonials, focus on the success stories of students and alumni profiled and relate them directly back to your program. Also, remember to share this content on social media and email to increase its reach to prospective students.

Create engaging videos

Given the popularity of social media channels like YouTube and TikTok and the changing nature of how content is consumed, video marketing has never been more important than right now.

Embrace this trend and leverage video marketing to its fullest potential. Some ideas include video case studies and testimonials, campus tours, interviews with faculty, campus events, and more. Keep in mind that shorter videos tend to convert at a higher rate and that sharing on social media is crucial.

Share useful infographics on social media

Finally, don’t overlook the power of infographics.

They’re a great way to communicate key information in a visual, simple, and engaging way. Before creating them, create an outline for each one that focuses on telling a relevant story, and be sure to make it visually appealing with the right colors and fonts. After creating an infographic, share it on social media channels like X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram to ensure it reaches as wide an audience as possible.

Boost your higher education content marketing strategy today

The bottom line is that content marketing is crucial for promoting your school, and its programs. Interested in optimizing your content strategy? Contact GPRS today to leverage our resources and experience in this area.

Insights from the Higher Ed Experts

BY Anthony Campisi | November 14th, 2023

Why Your Local Marketing Agency Won’t Help You Meet Your Higher Education Enrollment Goals

Your local marketing agency might seem like a tempting choice to fulfill your higher education enrollment goals, but is it the right fit? Let’s explore the reasons why relying on a local, generalist agency may not be the best strategy for your higher education institution.

Specialized Needs of Higher Education

The higher education enrollment landscape is unique, with distinct challenges and goals. Higher education marketing and recruitment require a deep understanding of the education sector. Generalist agencies might not possess the industry-specific knowledge needed to navigate the complexities of higher education marketing.

Complex Target Audiences

Reaching prospective students can be challenging. Higher education enrollment marketing often involves targeting specific personas, such as veterans, stay-at-home moms returning to the workforce, future entrepreneurs, career changers, and professionals seeking career advancement. Crafting messages that resonate with these diverse groups is a specialized skill that local agencies might lack.

Lead Generation Expertise

Successful higher education enrollment campaigns hinge on effective lead generation. Local agencies might lack the mastery of lead generation channels necessary to attract and nurture qualified leads for your programs.

Measurement and ROI Optimization

To ensure the best return on investment, you need robust measurement platforms and the ability to track results accurately. Some agencies might not have the capability to provide data-driven insights, which are vital for optimizing your marketing efforts.

The Cost of Experimentation

Higher education institutions can’t afford to gamble with their marketing budgets. The stakes are high, and you need a partner who can deliver results consistently. A local agency may not offer the level of certainty that higher education marketing demands.

Meet Your Higher Education Enrollment Goals

In higher education marketing, it’s not about locality; it’s about specialization. To navigate the unique challenges of higher education enrollment marketing and achieve your goals, seek a higher education marketing agency with industry expertise, lead generation proficiency, measurement capabilities, and a proven track record of success.

Don’t let a misguided choice jeopardize your institution’s future. Contact GPRS today to leverage our expertise for your institution!

Insights from the Higher Ed Experts

BY Anthony Campisi | October 31st, 2023

Grad school demand generation best practices and strategies

You’ve launched brand awareness and lead generation marketing campaigns in the past for your institution, but something still seems a bit off in your marketing strategy. Are you taking grad school demand generation best practices and strategies into account?

As graduate schools face an increasingly complex marketing landscape trying to reach, engage, and ultimately recruit prospective students, it’s important to take demand generation into account, not just traditional metrics like brand awareness and lead generation. Let’s examine what demand generation is and take a closer look at some demand strategies and best practices to keep in mind for your recruitment marketing campaigns.

What is demand generation?

Demand generation is a marketing strategy that educates and informs consumers about products and services with the ultimate goal of creating demand for them.

It’s similar to both brand awareness and lead generation, but differs in some key ways. While brand awareness focuses on establishing a brand’s presence and lead generation attracts prospects, demand generation centers on creating measurable demand. You might want to think of it as filling in the gap between brand awareness and lead generation, serving as a bridge to generate demand for products and services that consumers are aware of. Ultimately, using all three approaches for an integrated marketing strategy is typically your best bet for success.

Boosting grad school demand: Focus on the “why?”

At the core of demand generation is answering “why?”

Why should consumers buy a product, use a service or, in this case, attend your graduate school? To determine this, take a step back and ask some high-level questions about your institution itself. What are the main reasons why a prospect would want to attend? How would attending your institution advance the career of a prospect? What’s its history and culture?

Once you have the answers to these questions and can better articulate your value proposition to prospects, you’ll be in a better position to create demand generation content.

Create educational content that engages

Educational content to spark consumer demand is a key pillar of any demand generation strategy. Specifically, the content you produce should focus on conveying your value proposition clearly and concisely to educate consumers about your institution’s selling points and ultimately turn them into leads.

Many formats are effective at doing this, including blog posts, videos, case studies, landing pages, newsletters, and more. Be sure to also leverage email marketing and social media channels, especially LinkedIn, to distribute your educational content quickly and effectively to your target audience.

Personalizing communications is an important demand generation strategy

Personalized communications are another important demand generation strategy to keep in mind. Make sure that all of your email communications, newsletters, flyers, and other marketing collateral address prospects by their first name to create a more humanized, personal touch.

Create lead scoring models to boost grad school demand

Creating a lead scoring model can be an effective way to gauge where prospects are in your sales and marketing cycle and tailor the next phase of your messaging and marketing channels specifically to them. For demand generation specifically, they’re often a great way to measure the success of your efforts so far, gauge what’s working and what’s not, and craft a more personalized, bespoke form of messaging for individuals in your funnel.

Use these grad school demand generation best practices today for success

Understanding what demand generation is and some strategies to employ it can help supercharge your recruitment marketing efforts, filling in the missing link between brand awareness and lead generation.

Are you looking to boost your demand generation efforts and overall recruitment marketing strategy? Contact GPRS today to leverage our expertise for your institution!

Insights from the Higher Ed Experts

BY Anthony Campisi | October 19th, 2023

How Specialized Institutions Can Compete

Specialized colleges and graduate schools have a number of advantages, particularly when it comes to attracting and recruiting students in their unique niche. However, they’re often at a competitive disadvantage compared with other, better-known schools for a number of reasons. How can specialized institutions compete with all of these larger schools out there?

The good news is that gaining a competitive edge is easier than you might think. Let’s examine some of the challenges that smaller and more specialized schools face, some strategies for staying competitive, and how GPRS can potentially help.

The challenges facing specialized schools

Specialized institutions face a number of unique challenges when it comes to attracting and retaining students. Compared to larger and more well-known institutions, they often have limited brand awareness and name recognition. Compounding these issues is the fact that they often operate with smaller budgets compared to larger institutions, hampering their marketing and student recruitment efforts. In addition, their specialized focus leaves a smaller pool of prospective students compared to larger schools, meaning that they have to compete especially hard for every enrollment.

Taken all together, these issues make it difficult for specialized institutions to compete with larger schools and grow their enrollment. Fortunately, by implementing some innovative strategies and messaging, smaller institutions can gain a key competitive advantage.

How specialized institutions can compete with larger ones

Smaller, specialized schools need to be nimble and forward-thinking when it comes to staying competitive with larger academic institutions. Just a few ways to do that include:

Focusing on their unique story and selling points in their marketing campaigns and messaging. Conveying your institution’s unique history, culture, and specializations as a way to stand out against your larger competitors.
Taking pride in your institution’s smaller size and scope and sell its benefits to students. A few advantages typically include smaller class sizes, less bureaucracy, more innovative and flexible curriculums, greater collaboration, and a more personalized service.
Sharpening your marketing and messaging to prospective students with personalization. Making sure that all forms of communications – emails, text messages, phone messages, and the like – are addressed to them specifically.
Getting active on social media. While it’s true that larger institutions naturally have better name recognition and hence a larger following, posting engaging content consistently, interacting with prospective students, and telling your unique story on social media can be a great way to build brand awareness and increase engagement quickly and cost-effectively.
Personalizing your school’s story, mission, and achievements with student testimonials, alumni success stories, and even case studies of individual or small groups of alumni. This content can be produced in many different formats, including blogs, whitepapers, videos, landing pages, and more. It can also be repurposed into multiple formats and easily shared on social media, creating a virtuous cycle of greater brand awareness and engagement with your target audience.

How GPRS can help

At the end of the day, specialized schools often need a helping hand staying competitive with larger ones – and that’s exactly where a dedicated and experienced partner like GPRS comes in.

Since 2001, we’ve delivered enrollment results for schools of all sizes and specialties through our advanced marketing and recruiting expertise, unmatched experience, and extensive knowledge of the higher education recruitment industry. We leverage our deep knowledge of all facets of recruitment marketing to ensure that higher education institutions, no matter their size, meet the enrollment challenges of today with our array of professional services.

Want to learn more? Contact us today to see how our experience and expertise can help your specialized school overtake the goliaths.