Marketing Trends for Higher Education

Marketing trends are changing at a rapid pace, and higher education is not immune to these changes.

Especially at a time when college enrollment is declining, higher education institutions must evolve, innovate, and leverage new strategies to attract and engage students.

If you want to stay ahead of the curve, look no further. Below, we’ve rounded up the top 12 current marketing trends for higher education.

Short videos are taking the social media world by storm, and higher education can (and should) get in on the action.

Short-form videos capture the attention of today’s digital learners and offer a creative outlet to showcase institutional culture, events, and news.

Consider leveraging platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and Snapchat to offer content that fits the smaller size, such as venue highlights, behind-the-scenes content, and even interviews with teachers and students.

Check out this example from the University of Utah:

Conversational marketing uses an interactive approach to engage audiences in real-time. In the context of higher education, where prospective students want personalized experiences and immediate responses, this strategy is an effective way to accomplish both.

For example, the University of Kentucky email marketing list engages with students on social media by posting polls and questions through Instagram Stories . By using these interactive features, the university engages its audience in conversations about campus life, academic preferences, and other issues.

Among the best-performing landing pages, 30% of them incorporate videos . What’s more, embedded video content can increase conversion rates by 86% .

For higher education institutions, video-enabled the golden age of newsletters: why subscribing to thematic newsletters is back in fashion landing pages can offer a virtual campus experience that static images and text can’t match. But the benefits go beyond mere aesthetics.

From a technical perspective, videos can increase dwell time on a page, indirectly benefiting SEO rankings. If you already use videos as part of your marketing strategy , incorporating them into your landing pages can also help improve user engagement and boost conversions.

Who better than your own students to talk about your institution and its greatness? This is what makes student ambassadors so appealing. You can think of this strategy as a combination of influencer marketing and word-of-mouth marketing.

Student ambassadors offer a genuine, relatable philippines numbers perspective that resonates with prospective students. They can share first-hand information about campus life, academic programs, and the overall student experience, like in this example from Quinnipiac University:

Ultimately, these authentic narratives help potential applicants see themselves as part of the community. Through their stories, student ambassadors play a critical role in attracting and engaging new students.