Category: Higher Education Marketing

Higher Education Marketing Strategies: Align SEO & Paid Ads for Smarter Results
Key Insights
- The modern student journey is multi-channel: Your marketing efforts must span search engines, social platforms, and AI tools.
- SEO builds long-term visibility: SEO is a key strategy for sustaining awareness and reducing overall acquisition costs over time.
- Digital ads deliver speed and precision: Paid ad placements boost visibility during critical enrollment windows and for time-sensitive offers.
- Together, SEO and ads drive better results: Aligning both helps you maintain visibility and adapt to changing search behaviors.
Today’s prospective students are intentional researchers in their college search.

They explore degree programs, admissions requirements, and career outcomes on platforms like Google, ChatGPT, TikTok, and YouTube, often before visiting your website. To reach them during these early moments of consideration, your higher education marketing strategies must prioritize visibility across search engines, social platforms, and AI-driven tools.

This is where SEO and digital ads work in tandem to keep your institution present, credible, and competitive.

When aligned well, these tactics guide prospective students from first search to final enrollment with greater efficiency and impact.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) at a Glance

What is SEO?

SEO stands for search engine optimization. It’s a long-term strategy that improves your website’s visibility in organic (non-paid) search results. This involves refining your content, technical structure, and site authority so your pages appear more prominently when prospective students search on platforms like Google, ChatGPT, and other AI-driven tools.

In higher education, visibility at key points in the decision-making process directly impacts who finds your programs and who doesn’t. SEO helps your institution show up across the enrollment journey, from early awareness to application. When your site is optimized effectively, it becomes easier for students to find the information they need and easier for you to convert interest into action.

Why is SEO important for higher education institutions?

SEO is important for higher education institutions because it helps your programs appear where student intent begins. Research shows that 68% of online experiences start with a search engine, making visibility in those early interactions critical for attracting qualified prospects.

Today’s students are self-directed and often explore degree options, admissions requirements, and tuition costs on their own, sometimes weeks or months before they ever reach out to an academic institution. If your content doesn’t surface during that initial research phase, your school may never make the shortlist.

By investing in SEO, higher ed institutions build lasting authority, credibility, and trust. It reinforces your brand presence without relying entirely on paid channels and sets the foundation for long-term enrollment growth.

What are the benefits of higher education SEO?

A strong SEO strategy does more than drive traffic. It brings the right traffic. In aligning your content with what prospective students search, you improve visibility and engagement at every stage of the recruitment pipeline.

Some of the leading benefits of higher education SEO include:
- Capturing high-intent search traffic from students actively searching for programs like yours
- Supporting content marketing by making blogs, guides, and admission web pages more discoverable
- Improving user experience through technical SEO that enhances site speed and mobile responsiveness
- Boosting credibility with higher rankings, rich snippets, and inclusion in AI Overviews and other AI-powered search features
- Enabling smarter decisions through keyword research and user behavior analytics
- Strengthening long-term visibility as ad costs rise and search algorithms evolve
SEO is not just a marketing add-on. It’s a strategic asset that improves performance across digital channels. When done well, it strengthens your institution’s credibility and reaches students where they’re actively searching.

What does higher education SEO entail?

Higher education SEO requires a strategic approach that reflects how 1) students search and 2) how modern search engines and AI platforms process content. It focuses on clarity, structure, and alignment with user intent.

Key elements of a higher education SEO strategy include:
- Conducting keyword research based on student goals, questions, and decision-making stages
- Using entity-based and semantic SEO to match how AI systems interpret and connect information
- Optimizing on-page elements like meta tags, headers, and image alt text
- Creating evergreen content such as program pages, tuition details, and frequently asked questions
- Improving technical performance through mobile-friendly design, fast load times, and structured data
- Strengthening internal linking and earning high-quality citations from trusted sources
- Monitoring performance metrics and adjusting tactics to respond to algorithm changes and user behavior
This ongoing work creates a structured foundation that helps your institution remain relevant across traditional and AI-driven search platforms.

Digital Advertising (Paid Ads/Pay-Per-Click) at a Glance

What are digital paid ads/PPC?

Digital paid advertising refers to any online campaign where you pay to promote your content, programs, or brand across platforms where prospective students spend time. These ads can appear in search results, on social media feeds, within videos, or across websites through display networks.

PPC, or pay-per-click, is one of the most common payment models used in digital advertising. Instead of paying for impressions, you’re charged only when someone clicks your ad. In this way, paid advertising describes the strategy, while PPC refers to how you’re billed.

Common platforms include Google Ads for search and display, Meta (Facebook and Instagram) for interest-based targeting, YouTube for video promotion, and programmatic networks for broader reach. Each offers a different way to connect with prospective students based on their behaviors, demographics, and intent.

Why should digital advertising be part of your higher ed marketing strategy?

Digital advertising is a vital tool for reaching students during critical decision-making windows. Unlike organic strategies, which take time to gain traction, paid ads offer “immediate” visibility in high-traffic environments like search results and social feeds. This immediacy is especially valuable during application pushes, event promotions, or when organic rankings fluctuate.

For colleges and universities competing for attention in crowded markets, digital ads offer the agility to respond to shifting trends and student behavior in real time. They also create a clear path to visibility when SEO alone can’t secure top placement, especially for high-volume, high-competition keywords.

When time-sensitive goals are at stake, paid ads allow you to act quickly, focus your message, and precisely reach your target audience.

What are the benefits of digital ads?

Digital ads offer a level of control, speed, and insight that is difficult to achieve through other channels. With the right setup, you can run targeted campaigns that respond to real-time behavior and performance data.

Benefits of digital ads include:
- Fast results, bringing qualified traffic to your site shortly after a campaign launches
- Trackable performance that allows you to connect ad spend to inquiries and applications
- Targeting precision based on factors like location, age, device, interests, or behavior
- Budget efficiency through dynamic allocation based on campaign performance
- Seasonal flexibility to scale campaigns up or down as enrollment cycles shift
- Campaign testing to compare messages, creative formats, and calls to action
- Retargeting power to re-engage visitors who left your site without taking the next step
Well-executed campaigns go beyond visibility gains. They deliver measurable insight into which messages and channels are driving potential students to act.

What does a digital advertising strategy entail?

A strong digital advertising strategy involves setting clear goals, targeting a well-defined audience, and choosing ideal platforms for delivery. This helps your institution stay adaptable while reaching students where they spend their time online.

Key elements of a digital advertising strategy include:
- Identifying high-intent keywords and audience segments by program, location, age, and behavior
- Choosing platforms that align with campaign goals, such as Google, YouTube, Meta, LinkedIn, or display networks
- Writing ad copy, headlines, and landing pages tailored to each platform and audience
- Designing creative assets that reflect your brand and support campaign objectives
- Setting budgets, bids, and targeting rules by geography, demographics, or device
- Launching campaigns with tracking to measure clicks, inquiries, and conversions
- Adjusting creative, targeting, and spend based on performance
- Retargeting visitors who viewed your site but didn’t convert
This coordinated approach helps higher ed marketers reach the right students at the right time while maintaining full visibility into campaign success.

Why SEO and Digital Paid Ads Work Better Together

When used together, SEO and digital ads give you better control over how and when students discover your programs. They serve different purposes but share the same goal: helping your institution show up, build trust, and guide prospective students toward taking the next step.

Maximize visibility in search results

Running both SEO and paid search campaigns lets your institution appear in multiple positions on a single results page. This increases your visibility, reinforces brand credibility, and reduces the likelihood of competitors taking that spot instead.

Drive traffic while SEO gains traction

SEO is a long-term, yet sustainable, investment. Paid ads help you stay visible in the meantime, especially when launching a new program or entering a competitive market. While your organic rankings build, ads keep inquiries flowing.

Test messaging before you commit

Digital ads allow you to quickly test headlines, descriptions, and offers. The best-performing messages can then be applied to SEO page titles, meta descriptions, and even on-page content, improving both click-through rates and relevance.

Validate keywords with real results

Paid search shows you which keywords actually drive clicks and conversions. This data can guide your SEO strategy by helping you focus on the terms students search most often and respond to rather than relying solely on keyword tools.

Retarget prospects who leave

SEO may attract the initial visit, but not every student is ready to apply right away. With paid ads, you can retarget those visitors and keep your institution top of mind, especially during high-stakes decision windows.

Lower CPC with better landing pages

SEO principles like clear structure, fast load times, and relevant content can improve your ad landing pages. This often leads to higher Quality Scores in Google Ads, which reduces your cost-per-click and increases return on ad spend.

Share data to make smarter decisions

When SEO and paid ad teams work together, both channels benefit. Search terms, audience behavior, and performance metrics from one can shape strategy for the other, leading to stronger messaging, better targeting, and higher conversion rates.

How to Align Your Strategy and Budget with Goals

A thoughtful, comprehensive marketing plan considers how SEO and paid ads contribute at different points in the recruitment cycle. While both digital marketing strategies play a unique role, aligning your investment with your institutional goals (rather than dividing tactics by default) helps you make more strategic, data-informed decisions.

Use SEO for:

Building visibility for evergreen content

Program pages, admissions FAQs, and degree outcomes are high-interest assets that students search for year-round. SEO ensures these pages consistently rank and remain discoverable across enrollment cycles.

Answering long-tail, high-intent questions

Students often search with specific phrases like “best online MPH programs for working adults.” Optimizing for these longer queries helps your content meet students at key decision-making moments.

Strengthening authority over time

Search engines and AI platforms reward content that demonstrates expertise and trust. By publishing helpful, on-topic SEO content regularly — and earning backlinks and citations from reputable sources — you signal authority over time and improve your chances of ranking across high-impact search terms.

Supporting decision-making after inquiry

SEO helps prospective and admitted students find the content they need after expressing interest, such as financial aid resources, enrollment steps, and orientation details. Optimizing this type of content ensures your institution remains visible and helpful beyond the initial click.

Reducing long-term CPI

Unlike paid ads, organic traffic doesn’t require a cost per click. A strong SEO foundation lowers dependency on paid placements over time, driving qualified leads while keeping cost per inquiry (CPI) in check.

Use digital ads for:

Accelerating time-sensitive goals

Campaigns tied to deadlines, events, or scholarships need instant visibility to drive action. Paid ads allow you to deliver focused, high-priority messages exactly when timing matters most.

Launching new programs or locations

New academic offerings or secondary campuses often lack the organic search authority to rank well early on. Paid ads help you build awareness and attract early interest while SEO efforts gradually take hold.

Competing on high-volume search terms

For highly competitive keywords where top rankings are difficult to secure, paid ads keep your institution visible. This ensures you’re not missing out on critical traffic during peak search activity.

Testing and refining your message

Digital campaigns offer a fast, low-risk way to test headlines, offers, and positioning statements. Use this performance data to gain insights, inform future updates, and shape messaging across other channels.

Reaching segmented or niche audiences

With detailed targeting options, paid ads let you focus on specific groups, like adult learners, out-of-state students, or those interested in a particular program. This helps extend your reach beyond what organic search alone can deliver.

Questions to help allocate budget

Before deciding how much to invest in SEO or digital ads, it’s important to clarify the goals, timeline, and audience of each initiative. Use the following questions to guide a smarter, more intentional allocation of resources:
- Is this a short-term campaign or a long-term visibility play?
- Do you already rank organically for target keywords, or are you starting from scratch?
- Are you trying to increase awareness, generate inquiries, or drive completed applications?
- What is the lifetime value of the program or student audience you’re targeting?
- Do you need geographic or behavioral targeting that SEO alone can’t deliver effectively?
- What insights from past campaigns can inform your channel mix for this initiative?
Think of SEO as the groundwork for sustained visibility and trust, while paid campaigns offer speed and flexibility. By evaluating timing, audience intent, and program priorities, you can allocate budget where it makes the most impact.

Create a Stronger Higher Education Marketing Strategy

The most effective higher education marketing strategies don’t rely on a single channel. They align tactics to meet student expectations at every stage of their search journey.

By pairing long-term organic visibility through SEO with the immediacy and precision of digital advertising, your institution will reach more prospective students, guide them through complex decisions, and support better outcomes from first search to final enrollment.

If you’re looking for a more intentional way to prioritize your marketing efforts and budget, we’d be honored to help. Download “Solve Your Higher Ed Marketing Puzzle With SEO and Paid Digital Ads” to learn how to:
Focus on the tactics that make the biggest enrollment impact
Reduce wasted spend and improve lead quality
Increase conversions with personalization, testing, and retargeting
Tie campaign performance to ROI metrics that matter to leadership

See how you can integrate SEO and paid advertising to power your enrollment pipeline today.

Image Credits:

July 24, 2025

UPCEA Guest Blog: Alison Zeringue on Using SEO + PPC in Higher Ed Marketing

Search Influence’s Director of Account Management, Alison Zeringue, is helping higher education marketers rethink their digital strategies in her latest UPCEA guest post: “Digital Marketing Strategy for Higher Education: Drive Enrollment With SEO and PPC.”

In the blog, Alison highlights why schools can no longer rely on SEO or paid ads alone.

Today’s student search behavior is fragmented across AI Overviews, social media platforms, and traditional search engines.

To compete, institutions must build integrated campaigns that engage prospective students, wherever discovery happens.

Reaching Students in a Fragmented Search Landscape

The modern student search journey is no longer linear. Students may watch a TikTok video, ask ChatGPT for degree comparisons, browse Google AI Overviews, or click a retargeted Instagram ad, all within the same day.

Without a unified digital strategy, schools risk losing visibility at critical touchpoints. Alison explains how aligning SEO and PPC helps institutions close those gaps.

SEO builds brand authority and improves organic visibility in both traditional search results and AI-generated summaries. Paid ads provide guaranteed placement in high-intent moments, supporting awareness, lead generation, and enrollment conversion.

When combined, these tactics ensure your institution shows up consistently, guiding prospective students through every stage of their decision-making process.

Building an Integrated Strategy That Drives Results

In her guest post, Alison offers actionable advice for bringing SEO and paid efforts into alignment. She covers how to:

Structure SEO content for AI-driven search
Build funnel-specific paid campaigns that match student intent
Use cross-channel insights to refine targeting and messaging

As she emphasizes, schools that take a siloed approach will struggle to compete as AI-powered search and social search reshape how prospective students explore their options.

Build a Smarter Enrollment Funnel

If your team is ready to bring its marketing strategy in line with today’s search behavior, Alison’s blog is a valuable starting point.

To go deeper, download our white paper: 7 Strategies to Create a Successful Education Marketing Campaign. It expands on many of the same themes, offering a practical, student-centered framework to help you:

Map the full enrollment funnel based on how students actually search
Align website content, paid media, and email nurturing to engage prospects at each stage
Build a cross-channel marketing strategy that drives more inquiries and conversions

The white paper is built for higher ed marketers looking to drive measurable enrollment outcomes, not just traffic. If you’re ready to rethink your strategy, this is the resource to guide your next steps.

Download the white paper to start building a stronger enrollment marketing foundation.

Images:
Unsplash
Unsplash

July 10, 2025

How to Market Microcredentials for Maximum Program Visibility

Key Insights

Microcredentials are on the rise as adult learners, career changers, and working professionals seek faster, more affordable ways to gain in-demand skills.
Unlike traditional degrees, microcredential enrollment funnels are short, fast-moving, and often self-directed. Learners may enroll within days, not months.
Messaging that resonates with microcredential audiences emphasizes job relevance, flexibility, and immediate outcomes, rather than campus life or long-term learning.
A strong cross-channel strategy, spanning SEO, paid ads, social, and email, is essential to reach today’s learners where they are and convert interest into action.

If your institution is offering microcredentials but struggling to fill seats, the issue might not be the program. It may be the marketing.

Microcredentials are short, skills-based credentials built for speed, flexibility, and career impact. They appeal to learners seeking advancement without the commitment of a full degree. To meet rising market demand, many institutions have expanded non-degree offerings to accommodate microcredentials and stay competitive.

According to Coursera’s 2024 Micro-Credentials Impact Report, 51% of higher ed leaders globally now offer microcredentials as part of their curricula.

Yet many are still applying degree-style marketing to a very different kind of learner.

Microcredential audiences move quickly. They prioritize outcomes over campus life and expect easy, immediate access to information. Reaching them requires a distinct, streamlined strategy that reflects how they search, decide, and enroll.

To boost your visibility and connect with these learners, follow these best practices for marketing your microcredentials.

Why Are Microcredentials Gaining Popularity?

Shifting demographics are reshaping higher ed

The traditional college-aged population is declining, creating enrollment challenges for institutions that have long relied on recent high school graduates. As the demographic cliff approaches, colleges and universities are looking to expand their reach to a new target audience, especially adult learners, career changers, and working professionals seeking practical options.

Millions are seeking an accessible path forward

According to UPCEA, more than 40 million adults in the U.S. have some college credit but no credential. Many of these individuals face external pressures (full-time employment status, financial strain, and family responsibilities) that make returning for a traditional bachelor’s degree difficult. Microcredentials, especially affordable and stackable ones, offer a flexible alternative for advancing professionally.

Economic pressures are driving new priorities

Over the past few years, rising education costs and mounting student debt have changed how people evaluate their learning investments. Many learners now prioritize programs that are affordable, low-risk, and lead to near-term career benefits. Microcredentials check all three boxes, offering focused, skill-based continuing education without the long-term commitment of a degree.

Employers are hiring for skills, not just degrees

Employers are increasingly prioritizing job-ready skills over traditional credentials. Microcredentials allow learners to gain and showcase specific, in-demand abilities that align with job market needs. Morning Consult research found that 81% of employers believe they should consider skills versus degrees when hiring. In many industries, demonstrable competencies are more valuable than academic transcripts.

Marketing Microcredentials vs Traditional Degrees

Marketing funnel differences

Microcredentials attract a different kind of learner, which means the path to enrollment also looks different. While traditional degrees involve extended timelines and multiple stages of engagement, microcredentials often require quick, outcome-driven decisions.

Traditional degree funnels typically involve:

Long consideration periods, often spanning several months to a year
Fixed application windows and admissions cycles
Emphasis on relationship-building, exploration, and multiple touchpoints before enrollment
Decisions influenced by long-term academic or personal goals

Microcredential funnels, by contrast, are defined by:

Short decision-making windows — learners may enroll within days of discovering a program
Rolling or frequent start dates that demand consistent promotion
Higher expectations for fast outcomes, affordability, and convenience
Learners motivated by immediate career needs, not long-term campus experiences

The enrollment process also plays a role. Some microcredential offerings are self-serve, allowing learners to register and start immediately without applying. Others still involve an application or review process. Knowing which type you’re marketing, application-based or on-demand, will shape how you message urgency, availability, and next steps.

Marketing messaging differences

Microcredential learners are goal-oriented, and your messaging needs to match that mindset. Unlike traditional students who may be drawn in by campus culture or the promise of a four-year journey, microcredential prospects are focused on immediate, practical learning outcomes.

Traditional degree marketing often emphasizes:

Institutional reputation and academic prestige
Campus life, student community, and support services
Long-term growth and personal development
Deep subject immersion over multiple years

This messaging supports a slower decision cycle where students take time to explore, attend events, and speak with admissions counselors.

Microcredential marketing requires a different focus. Your content should highlight:

Clear career relevance and targeted skill development
Fast, flexible online learning formats that fit into real life
Tangible ROI, like job advancement, new credentials, or salary increases
Social proof and real-world outcomes through testimonials or employer partnerships

Concise, career-focused messaging is key to building trust and driving action, especially when your audience is ready to move.

Since many microcredential learners bypass traditional touchpoints like info sessions or one-on-one meetings, your digital content must do more heavy lifting. Messaging across your website, ads, and email campaigns needs to quickly answer core questions such as: Is this relevant to my goals? How quickly can I start? What will this do for my career?

Aligning Your Microcredential and Graduate Program Marketing

To market microcredentials effectively, you need to understand how they relate to your existing graduate programs. Are they meant to stand alone, or are they part of a larger academic pathway?

Start by defining the relationship

Clarifying the purpose of each offering helps avoid mixed messaging and ensures that your marketing reflects the learner’s intent.

Microcredentials often appeal to learners exploring a field, building targeted skills, or seeking quick career advancement. These are typically short-term career goals. Graduate programs, by contrast, attract those ready to invest in long-term academic or professional growth.

Connect the path when it makes sense

If both options fall under the same subject area, consider framing your marketing around the learner’s goals rather than the credential type.

Positioning microcredentials as an on-ramp, not just an alternative, helps fuel engagement across all your program types. It reinforces long-term value while meeting learners where they are now.

For example: Instead of promoting a “Digital Marketing Microcredential” and an “MS in Marketing” as separate tracks, position them together as “Marketing Programs for Every Stage of Your Career.” This approach helps prospective students understand how various educational programs fit into a broader professional path.

There’s still value in marketing each program individually, but building cross-awareness can strengthen both funnels. If your microcredentials are stackable, make that progression clear in your messaging and visuals. Show how learners can move from a single course to a certificate or a digital badge, and eventually to a master’s degree if they choose.

How to Market Microcredentials With a Cross-Channel Approach

To reach today’s fast-moving, outcome-driven students, you need a coordinated presence across search, social, and email. Microcredential learners don’t follow a single path to enrollment, so your marketing strategy shouldn’t rely on a single channel.

SEO

Roughly 68% of online experiences begin with a search engine, according to Ahrefs. For prospective learners, that makes SEO the natural first touchpoint, and a critical one. Whether they’re comparing options, looking for a specific skill, or exploring career next steps, your program pages need to rank and resonate.

Start by creating dedicated pages for each microcredential, and structure them around what your audience cares about most:

What new skills they’ll gain
How the program is delivered (online, hybrid, self-paced)
How long it takes and how much it costs
Who’s teaching it and what kind of outcomes students can expect

Include strong, clear CTAs and support your value proposition with testimonials, employer recognition, or career placement stats when available.

To improve visibility, optimize for long-tail keywords that reflect specific intent, such as:

“How to earn a microcredential in [topic]”
“[Topic] online course for working professionals”
“Affordable short-term certificate programs in [industry]”

You should also support your SEO efforts with blog content that answers common questions and reflects search intent. Topics like career outcomes, comparisons to bootcamps, or time and cost advantages can help draw in qualified traffic while positioning your institution as a helpful resource.

Paid search

While SEO builds long-term visibility, paid search helps you capture demand in the moment, especially from learners who are ready to take the next step. By targeting high-intent keywords, you can reach prospective students actively searching for fast, flexible learning options.

Focus your campaigns on search terms that reflect urgency and career motivation, such as:

“[Topic] certificate online”
“Short course in [field]”
“Learn [skill] online”
“Career-focused [topic] course”

Ad copy should speak directly to what matters most to microcredential learners:

Career outcomes: What can they do or achieve after completing the course?
Time to completion: Use specifics like “Gain skills in 6 weeks” to set clear expectations
Cost transparency: Highlight affordability with phrases like “Only $399” or “Job-ready training for less”
Learning format: Reinforce convenience with “100% online education,” “Self-paced,” or “Evening-friendly” messaging

When done well, paid search drives more than traffic. It drives action. Use your landing pages to reinforce the value promised in your ad, making it easy for learners to take the next step without unnecessary friction.

Paid social & display

Paid social and display advertising are powerful tools for expanding your reach and reinforcing program awareness. These channels connect you with prospective learners where they’re already spending time, whether they’re scrolling LinkedIn during a work break or browsing Facebook after hours.

Use platforms like LinkedIn and Meta to deliver tailored messaging that reflects where someone might be in their decision process:

Awareness

Target by job title, industry, or interests to reach learners who may not yet know about your program
Focus on big-picture benefits like career change, flexibility, or upskilling
Use headlines like “Break into tech without a degree” or “Get ahead in healthcare. No long-term commitment required.”

Consideration

Highlight program features: length, cost, format, and career outcomes
Use short videos or carousels to showcase what learners can expect
Highlight learning from experienced faculty who double as industry leaders
Keep messaging focused and benefit-oriented: “Gain job-ready skills in just 8 weeks” or “Fully online, on your schedule, courses”

Decision

Reinforce urgency with enrollment deadlines, limited-time offers, or next steps
Use testimonials, student quotes, or employer recognition to build trust
Retarget those who’ve visited your website or interacted with earlier ads but haven’t yet enrolled

Well-timed, well-targeted social and display ads help keep your microcredential programs visible and relevant, especially for learners who need a few reminders before they’re ready to commit.

Organic social

Organic social media marketing plays a long game. It helps your institution stay present, build credibility, and create meaningful connections with prospective learners over time.

With social search on the rise, platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook are becoming key discovery tools for those exploring career paths and educational opportunities. A strong presence here highlights the real value of your microcredential programs through authentic, relatable content.

Share content that reflects learner goals, outcomes, and lived experiences:

Career wins: “How I landed a new job three months after earning my certificate”
Industry insights: “Top 3 skills employers want in [field] right now”
Behind the scenes: “What it’s like to take this course as a working adult”

Short-form videos, alumni spotlights, and faculty features give your program dimension and authenticity. Focus on flexibility, support, and real-world impact, all core themes that resonate with busy professionals looking to level up.

A thoughtful organic social presence reinforces the credibility of your program and helps prospective learners see themselves in the experience you offer.

Email nurture campaigns

Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to keep prospective learners engaged after their initial inquiry. With the right segmentation and sequencing, email nurture campaigns guide students from interest to enrollment, while reinforcing the value of your microcredential programs along the way.

Start by segmenting your audience based on what matters most: program interest, learner intent, or stage in the decision-making process. Then build a sequence that delivers timely, relevant content with a clear next step.

A sample 3-email sequence might look like this:

Email 1: Welcome + program overview: Introduce the microcredential, who it’s for, how long it takes, and how it’s delivered. Reinforce accessibility and flexibility.
Email 2: Career outcomes + student story: Focus on the real-world value. Share a testimonial or brief case study that shows how past learners applied the credential to advance their careers.
Email 3: FAQs + next steps: Address common questions about cost, deadlines, or course requirements. End with a strong, direct CTA that encourages action.

Calls to action like “Start now,” “View your course options,” or “Get your questions answered” can make a big difference when timed right. The goal is to stay helpful, human, and focused, offering just enough information to move learners forward without overwhelming them.

Turn Microcredential Interest Into Enrollment

A successful microcredential marketing strategy doesn’t exist in a silo. It works best when it’s part of a larger, student-centered, cross-channel approach.

From SEO and paid search to social and email, your campaigns should reflect how today’s learners search, engage, and ultimately make decisions.

Search Influence is a higher education digital marketing agency that helps institutions market everything from short-term certificates to full degree programs. We know how to tailor strategies based on learning format, audience intent, and funnel stage, so you can meet prospective students with the right message at the right moment.

Not sure where to begin? Let’s start by evaluating what you’re already doing.

See where your microcredential marketing stands

Our Self-Assessment for Higher Education Marketers includes seven proven strategies to strengthen your campaigns, covering everything from program pages and CTAs to video, lead generation, and remarketing.

It’s designed to help your team build full-funnel, cross-channel campaigns that turn awareness into enrollment and position your institution for long-term success.

Download the self-assessment and start identifying your next best opportunities today.

Images:
Unsplash
Unsplash

May 19, 2025

How to Reduce CPI in Higher Ed Without Sacrificing Lead Quality

Key Insights

Not all inquiries are equal. Tracking lead quality ensures your budget supports those most likely to enroll.
Lowering cost per inquiry only works if you maintain your focus on lead quality.
When your targeting, messaging, and landing pages work together, you eliminate waste that inflates CPI.
Setting clear conversion goals and refining keyword strategies helps ad platforms deliver stronger leads at lower costs.
With a higher education marketing agency, you gain the strategic support needed to reduce CPI without compromising results.

If you’re a higher education marketer already tracking and measuring cost per inquiry (CPI), you know the goal isn’t just spending less. It’s making every dollar count toward the right prospective students.

However, the challenge is lowering CPI without losing the quality leads that fuel your enrollment pipeline. That means looking beyond quick fixes and closely examining lead quality, campaign performance, audience targeting, landing page experience, and how well your marketing efforts are aligned with student intent.

Here’s how to reduce CPI with intention, while keeping your pipeline strong and your recruitment goals on track.

The State of Higher Ed Cost Per Inquiry

Driving down CPI starts with context. Without a clear understanding of where your institution stands, it’s impossible to know whether you’re optimizing effectively — or leaving budget on the table.

Do your campaigns match student intent? Are your landing pages converting efficiently? Are you capturing qualified leads, or just cheaper ones?

Search Influence and UPCEA’s 2024 Higher Ed Marketing Metrics Research Report: What Gets Measured Gets Managed offers valuable insight into typical performance across program types.

According to the report, professional and online education programs spend an average of $800,970 annually on digital advertising, representing about 3.6% of total revenue. The average CPI varies by program:

$140 for online and professional education
$128 for undergraduate programs
$157 for graduate programs
$51 for noncredit programs

These benchmarks give higher education institutions a practical frame of reference. If your CPI is significantly above these figures, it’s worth digging deeper.

Once you have a clear baseline, the next step is knowing where to focus. Below, we break down how to reduce CPI without sacrificing the quality of your inquiries.

How to Reduce CPI at Your University

Refine your conversion goals to capture more leads

Defining success from the start helps your campaigns target the right audiences, improve efficiency, and generate quality leads that convert — setting the stage for a lower, more effective CPI. Ad platforms work best when they know exactly which action to optimize for, so setting the right conversion goals is essential.

If your campaigns aren’t clearly aligned with inquiries, applications, or enrollments, you risk wasting spend on leads that look good on paper but don’t move the needle.

Tips for refining your conversion goals

Align internally and with your agency on primary KPIs

Start by building alignment across internal teams and agency partners on the key performance indicators (KPIs) that matter most in your current campaigns. Whether you’re focused on inquiries, applications, or enrollments, having shared goals ensures everyone is working toward the same outcomes. This clarity sets the foundation for smarter decision-making, more focused reporting, and campaigns that support institutional priorities.

Define what counts as a true lead for your institution

Once your KPIs are established, determine which actions reflect meaningful progress in your enrollment funnel. Brochure downloads, event registrations, contact forms, and applications each signal different levels of intent. While all have value, not all carry the same weight when it comes to lead quality. By identifying which actions qualify as a true lead, you can set smarter conversion goals and ensure your campaigns focus on attracting the prospects most likely to take the next step.

Set and map conversion goals across the funnel

With lead definitions in place, assign clear conversion objectives that align with each campaign’s role in the funnel. Awareness-stage campaigns might focus on brochure downloads or event sign-ups, while decision-stage efforts should optimize for inquiries or applications. Matching your goals to user intent gives ad platforms better direction and allows you to measure ROI more accurately across each stage of the enrollment journey.

Help platforms optimize with consistent signals

Focus on a small set of high-value conversion actions to give ad platforms the data they need to optimize effectively. When too many different actions (like clicks, page views, or form fills) are tracked as conversions, platforms like Google and Meta struggle to prioritize what matters the most. Their machine learning systems rely on clear, consistent signals to identify patterns, refine targeting, and improve delivery over time. The more reliable the inputs, the stronger your marketing performance and the more optimized your ad spend.

Restructure campaigns to support focused goals

As your conversion goals and targeting strategies evolve, make sure your campaign structure reflects those priorities. Grouping campaigns by funnel stage, audience segment, or program type gives platforms cleaner signals and helps you more easily evaluate performance. Taking the time to restructure upfront creates a more efficient optimization process and a clearer path to lowering costs without compromising lead quality.

Track lead quality to reach the right students

Tracking and acting on lead quality ensures your marketing budget is spent generating meaningful conversions, not just a higher volume of them. Fine-tuning your conversion objectives can increase volume, but without insight into lead quality, you risk filling the funnel with prospects who are unlikely to enroll.

When you monitor how inquiries perform beyond the first click, you can make data-driven decisions about targeting, messaging, and spending, ultimately improving efficiency and enrollment outcomes.

Tips for tracking and leveraging qualified leads

Start with a manual lead review

Begin by manually reviewing individual lead submissions to evaluate quality up close. Ask yourself, “Is this the type of prospective student we want more of?” This quick exercise helps you spot patterns in form fills, like missing information, off-target program interest, or low engagement signals. It also gives you immediate feedback to refine targeting, messaging, or creative in real time, long before more complex attribution models kick in.

Measure lead quality by campaign or platform

Once you understand what makes a lead valuable, evaluate how each campaign or platform contributes. Go beyond volume and calculate the percentage of leads from each source that meet your quality criteria. Comparing cost per qualified lead (CPQL) gives you a more accurate picture of performance and helps you identify which channels drive meaningful inquiries — and which may inflate your numbers without adding enrollment value.

Monitor enrollment outcomes, not just form fills

An inquiry is only part of the story. To truly evaluate performance, track how leads progress through key stages like application submission and enrollment. This helps separate campaigns that generate lasting impact from those that attract surface-level interest. By focusing on outcomes that reflect your enrolled student goals, you can make more informed decisions about where to invest and where to pull back.

Score and automate lead qualification in your CRM

Manage, score, and qualify leads directly in your CRM software to make lead quality measurable. Start by assigning values based on criteria like program interest, verified contact details, or secondary engagement. This will help your team prioritize follow-up and identify which inquiries are most likely to convert.

Whenever possible, automate this process. Set up rules that flag high-quality leads in real time, reduce manual review, and ensure your best prospects don’t fall through the cracks. A smart qualification system speeds up decision-making and gives you a consistent framework for evaluating performance across campaigns.

Use CRM insights to guide optimization

After your leads have been scored and stored in your CRM, use that data to inform campaign decisions. Look for patterns among your most qualified inquiries. Where did they come from? What messaging resonated? Which programs attracted the strongest potential students? These insights allow you to refine your targeting and creative strategies with a focus on what’s working, not just what’s getting clicks.

Feed qualified lead data back into ad platforms

Take your insights one step further by feeding qualified lead data back into platforms like Google and Meta. By sharing first-party CRM data through tools like Google Offline Conversions or Meta Conversions API, you give platforms the signals they need to optimize for leads that match your enrollment goals, instead of just low-cost conversions. This can significantly improve targeting and reduce wasted spend.

Build a closed-loop optimization system

Integrate your CRM, lead scoring, and ad platforms to build a feedback loop that improves campaign performance over time. When qualified lead data flows both ways — from your campaigns into the CRM, and the CRM back into platforms like Google and Meta — you enable smarter targeting, faster optimization, and better use of your budget.

This closed-loop system requires effort to set up, but it’s one of the most effective ways to consistently lower CPI while improving lead quality.

Identify where your Google Ads spend is going to waste

Refining your keyword strategy avoids wasted spend in Google Search campaigns. Even well-targeted ads can lose efficiency if they’re triggered by irrelevant or low-intent queries. Fortunately, Google Ads shows you the exact terms users searched before clicking, giving you the insight needed to spot misalignment and adjust your targeting before your budget goes off track.

Tips for finding and fixing wasted Google Ads spend

Review the Search Terms Report regularly

Take time to review the search terms triggering your ads to ensure your spend is aligned with your goals. The Search Terms Report reveals what users are typing, not just the keywords you’ve selected, making it easier to catch off-topic or low-intent traffic early. Regular checks help you identify patterns, remove distractions, and keep your campaigns focused on reaching the right target audiences.

Spot irrelevant search matches

Not every click is a good one. Look for queries that fall outside the scope of your programs or audience, especially those that suggest confusion about your offerings. For example, if you’re promoting a “sports management degree” and your ad shows for “sports chiropractic school,” that’s a mismatch worth correcting. Flag these terms and add them as negative keywords to prevent further waste.

Watch for keyword match type issues

Your keyword match types directly influence how precisely your ads are served. Broad match keywords can open the door to a wide range of loosely related queries, some of which may not reflect your intent. If you’re seeing too many irrelevant impressions or clicks, consider tightening your targeting with phrase or exact match. This change gives you more control over how and when your ads appear.

Refine your keyword targeting

Use performance data to expand and adjust your keyword list based on what’s working. Test new terms that better reflect how your prospective students search and remove those that consistently underperform. This kind of proactive refinement helps you reach more qualified users and improves the efficiency of your marketing campaigns over time.

Double down on high-performing terms

When certain keywords consistently drive qualified inquiries, treat them as strategic assets. Increase budget allocation, build dedicated ad groups, and explore related variations to expand your reach. Prioritizing high-performing terms helps you scale what’s working and maximize impact without adding unnecessary spend.

Prune your campaigns consistently

Keyword lists can grow stale or bloated over time, pulling your campaigns away from their original focus. Set aside time for regular cleanup — removing underperformers, eliminating overlap, and tightening targeting to stay efficient. Campaign pruning helps you avoid wasted impressions, reduce spend on low-value clicks, and keep your strategy aligned with enrollment goals.

Optimize and test landing pages to boost performance

Testing and refining your landing pages allows you to pinpoint what drives action, whether you’re using existing site content or building standalone pages tailored to campaign goals. A well-placed ad is only effective if the landing experience meets the user’s expectations.

If the page doesn’t match the intent behind the click, whether in content, clarity, or design, you risk losing prospective student engagement and driving up your CPI.

Tips for optimizing and testing landing pages

Match message and intent across ads and landing pages

Landing pages should deliver exactly what your ad promised. When the headline, tone, and call to action on the page reflect the user’s expectations, you’re more likely to keep them engaged and guide them toward conversion. This landing page best practice doesn’t just improve performance. It can also boost your Google Ads Quality Score, helping your campaigns become more cost-effective over time.

Focus on a single, clear conversion goal

Each landing page should revolve around one primary action. Make the path obvious, whether you want users to schedule a tour, download a brochure, or start an application. Avoid cluttering the page with competing links or mixed messages that can distract from your main objective. A clear, focused call to action (CTA) keeps users moving in the right direction and increases your chances of conversion.

Limit form fields to essentials only

Asking for too much information too early can discourage prospective students from completing your form. Stick to the essentials — only ask for what’s needed to qualify the lead or move them forward in the funnel. In a study of over 40,000 landing pages, HubSpot found that the use of complex form fields like drop-downs and multi-line text areas significantly decreased performance. To keep conversions high, simplify your forms and save additional questions for later.

Incorporate social proof and trust signals

Confidence plays a major role in whether users take action. Reinforce your message by adding elements like student testimonials, graduation rates, job placement stats, or recognizable affiliations. These trust signals help validate your offering and reassure prospective students that your programs deliver real value.

Tailor the experience to the campaign type

Not all campaigns serve the same purpose, and your landing page should reflect that. For Google Search, ensure the page aligns with the keyword’s intent and delivers immediate relevance. For Display campaigns, match the tone and content to the audience’s funnel stage, offering helpful next steps rather than a hard sell. Aligning page content with campaign context improves user experience and overall campaign performance.

Consider creating dedicated landing pages when possible

If your institutional website is difficult to update or shared across departments, standalone landing pages can give you the control and flexibility needed for campaign success. Dedicated pages make it easier to test messaging, customize layout, and iterate quickly, all without disrupting other parts of your site. When built with purpose, these pages can dramatically improve engagement and conversion rates.

Audit and update regularly

Even well-built landing pages need regular attention. Over time, content can become outdated, or changes made by other teams can unintentionally affect page performance. Set a schedule to revisit your campaign landing pages to check for accuracy, brand alignment, and effectiveness. Ongoing audits ensure your pages stay relevant, consistent, and ready to convert.

Dedicated landing page success story

At Search Influence, we’ve seen the impact that dedicated landing pages have on campaign performance metrics.

With our support, one client, leveraging HubSpot, implemented ad-specific landing pages designed to align closely with each campaign’s messaging and intent. Within just over two weeks, they generated 56 qualified submissions and saw their CPI decrease by nearly 50% compared to similar campaigns using standard website pages.

The ability to tailor content, streamline the user experience, and iterate quickly played a key role in achieving these results.

Why Should You Hire an Advertising Agency to Help Reduce Your CPI?

Reducing CPI is a complex process that requires a coordinated effort across campaign structure, targeting, tracking, and landing page performance. Even with the best intentions, it’s easy to get bogged down in the details, especially without dedicated resources or specialized expertise.

Our Marketing Metrics Report shows that only 47% of higher ed marketers in online and professional education are satisfied with campaign performance.

Just 29% are confident in their ability to track results.

The link between the two is clear: 92% of those who are satisfied with tracking also report satisfaction with performance.

If your internal team is stretched thin or struggling to connect strategy with outcomes, a higher ed-focused advertising agency can help fill the gap. With access to advanced tools, deep platform knowledge, and the capacity to focus solely on improving results, the right partner can bring clarity and control to complex campaigns and help you lower your marketing expenses with precision.

Let’s Make Your Higher Education Marketing Dollars Work Smarter

At Search Influence, we’ve spent nearly two decades helping colleges and universities improve campaign performance while optimizing their marketing budget.

Our team has actively shaped how the higher education sector defines and measures cost per inquiry. From benchmarking results to uncovering inefficiencies and implementing data-backed digital marketing strategies, we work alongside educational institutions to lower CPI without sacrificing lead quality.

Ready to see where your campaigns stand?

Download our free CPI Worksheet to calculate your current CPI, evaluate your ROI, and pinpoint where your resources will go furthest. This resource offers actionable instructions for calculating your CPI for all your programs, by program type, and even assessing your cost per enrolled student.

With the right insights, you won’t just spend smarter — you’ll recruit smarter.

Images:
Unsplash
Unsplash

May 12, 2025

Overlooked Higher Education Marketing Strategies To Maximize Your Budget

Key Inights

Track Key Metrics to Justify Budget Increases: Monitoring cost per inquiry (CPI) and cost per enrolled student (CPES) helps institutions prove ROI and secure additional marketing budget.
Align Campaign Priorities With Institutional Goals: Universities that connect their marketing strategies to enrollment objectives see better results and more efficient spending.
Leverage a Full-Funnel Marketing Approach: A blend of SEO, paid search, content marketing, and social media engagement ensures that institutions reach prospective students at every stage of their journey.

Are you using the right higher education marketing strategies to maximize your budget?

If your budgeting methods don’t reflect today’s digital-first student journey, you probably aren’t.

This blog will provide actionable steps to refine your marketing strategy and optimize your budget.

Backed by industry benchmarks and real-world case studies, these insights will help you develop a comprehensive digital advertising strategy that maximizes enrollment impact while keeping costs in check.

7 Things You Aren’t Considering in Your Higher Education Marketing Plan and Budget

All the data in this blog is from our Higher Ed Marketing Metrics Research Report: What Gets Measured Gets Managed, which we conducted in collaboration with UPCEA.

This study established the sector’s first benchmarks for higher education cost per inquiry (CPI) and cost per enrolled student (CPES) and explored whether online and professional education units track critical metrics that better inform outcomes.

1. Ensure upfront buy-in from key stakeholders on goals and objectives

For a higher education marketing strategy to be effective, marketing teams and institutional leadership must align on the right goals and success metrics from the start.

Higher education marketing teams that secure upfront buy-in from stakeholders see more satisfaction, stronger support, and greater budget flexibility. By aligning early on the right success metrics, institutions can make smarter marketing investments, increase efficiency, and ultimately drive better enrollment outcomes.

A strong higher education marketing strategy:

Clearly defines what success looks like based on measurable, data-driven insights
Compromises with leadership by setting achievable goals alongside stretch goals that challenge the team while remaining realistic
Proactively communicates marketing’s impact on enrollment to ensure continued stakeholder support

2. Track relevant metrics

Higher Ed Marketing Metrics Research Study

Nearly one-third (31%) of higher ed marketing professionals report that they cannot directly correlate their marketing success to enrollment because they lack proper metric tracking.

Without these insights, institutions risk inefficient spending, missed enrollment targets, and a weakened ability to compete in an increasingly crowded market.

While most higher education marketing teams track the source of inquiries, many fail to track the cost of generating those inquiries, leaving a critical gap in understanding marketing efficiency.

Our research shows:

73% of marketing units track the source of inquiries for online and professional education programs
Only 46% track CPI
Only 43% track CPES
Nearly 17% do not track any of these three key metrics

To gain leadership’s trust and approval, marketing teams must advocate for tracking relevant content performance, targeted advertising success, and CPI benchmarks while aligning expectations around achievable enrollment growth.

3. Create a reliable benchmark for your campaign performance

Institutions must have clear benchmarks for evaluating the efficiency of their marketing expenditures to ensure effective higher education marketing.

Tracking these benchmarks improves marketing efficiency and helps institutions advocate for additional budgets, refine student recruitment strategies, and boost enrollment.

CPI and CPES provide precisely that. CPI is one of the most critical metrics in student recruitment, as it helps determine the effectiveness of digital marketing and traditional marketing efforts. Institutions commonly track CPI for specific channels like paid search, organic search, and web pages, allowing them to measure the success of campaigns across multiple platforms.

Among higher ed institutions offering online and professional education programs, the average CPI is $140.

However, CPI varies widely, ranging from $29.03 to $450, depending on factors like audience targeting, advertising platforms, and campaign type.

Pro tip: See how your marketing efforts compare to industry benchmarks using our CPI Calculator.

While CPI measures the cost of generating leads, CPES provides a deeper look into the student enrollment process by calculating the cost of acquiring each student who officially enrolls. This metric is critical for institutions looking to:

Evaluate the efficiency of marketing expenditures
Optimize digital and traditional marketing strategies
Align marketing spend with student recruitment goals

Higher education institutions that track CPES gain valuable insights into which strategies and campaigns contribute the most to actual enrollments. This allows marketing teams to refine their approach, ensuring they target the right prospective students while minimizing wasted budget.

4. Align your campaign priorities with institutional goals

For higher education marketers, success is about supporting priorities, not just inquiries. Aligning digital marketing campaigns with institutional goals is key to driving meaningful results and maximizing available resources. This helps support budget efficiency, enhance institutional reputation, and drive stronger engagement with prospective students.

Each year, educational institutions set strategic goals that impact everything from recruitment to retention. Whether the focus is on increasing applications for specific programs, expanding online offerings, or strengthening engagement with alumni, marketing must be in sync with these objectives.

Budgeting plays a crucial role in this alignment. While foundational initiatives — such as search engine optimization, digital advertising, and content marketing — remain essential, institutions also need flexibility to support emerging priorities. For example, if a university is launching a new degree program, marketing must be prepared to adjust strategies to reach the target audience and attract prospective students effectively.

Collaboration between marketing and academic departments is also key. When marketing teams work closely with department leaders, they gain deeper insights into program strengths, career outcomes, and differentiators that resonate with students. This partnership ensures that marketing technology and messaging are optimized to highlight what makes the institution unique.

5. Create channels to reach your audience at every stage of the funnel

Reaching prospective students at every stage of the enrollment funnel requires a mix of traditional and digital methods that work together to create a seamless experience. Many higher education institutions leverage a combination of search engine marketing, email marketing, paid advertising, and content marketing, but even those actively investing in these strategies often have opportunities to refine their approach for better results.

According to our Higher Ed Marketing Metrics Research Study, email marketing and search engine optimization are most often managed in-house, while Google paid search advertising, Meta paid advertising, digital display advertising, and LinkedIn advertising are typically outsourced.

This can lead to many institutions running campaigns in silos, missing out on the opportunity to create a seamless experience across multiple touchpoints. Running full-funnel campaigns with different objectives — such as brand awareness, lead generation, and retargeting — ensures that ads and content engage students at different decision-making stages.

While these are foundational higher education marketing strategies, success depends on how well these channels are optimized and integrated.

For SEO, institutions must take a more strategic approach, embracing evolving trends like Google AI Overviews and social search to ensure content remains visible to students searching for programs and schools. A well-optimized website with high-performing landing pages and strong student success stories helps improve organic reach and conversion rates.

With paid ads, incorporating CRM data into campaigns can enhance targeting, allowing universities to reach students who are more likely to enroll. An example of this may be uploading qualified lead data and optimizing for those conversions in the platform, instead of all inquiries, making better use of your budget.

Optimizing nurture campaigns can significantly impact the conversion rates from inquiry to application. Many institutions still rely on generic follow-up emails rather than implementing personalized, automated sequences that guide students through the decision-making process. Experimenting with new email marketing tactics, such as interactive emails or dynamic content based on student interests, can improve engagement.

Video marketing and social media engagement also continue to grow in importance, helping universities connect with students in more authentic and compelling ways. For example, showcasing student success stories through video content can build trust and encourage prospective students to take the next step.

When planning your marketing strategy for the year, consider what new tactics you want to explore and what budget you might need for testing. Allocating resources for research and development in new marketing tools and techniques gives your institution a competitive edge in an increasingly crowded digital space.

6. Ask for more budget to drive better results

If leadership expects an increase in enrollment, marketing teams need the financial resources to support those goals. Leveraging valuable insights from key performance metrics can help you make a strong case for increasing your marketing budget to maximize impact.

When asking stakeholders for more budget, it helps to show them how much your competitors are spending.

Marketing budgets vary widely, but data from the 2022–2023 fiscal year provides a clear picture of industry benchmarks.

Among professional and online education units:

25% spent between $200,000 and $500,000 on marketing efforts
23% spent $50,000 to $200,000 on marketing expenses
On average, professional and online education units spent $848,712

Higher ed institutions increasingly prioritize digital technology to attract prospective students, with a significant portion of marketing spend on digital advertising.

In the same fiscal year:

40% of professional and online education units allocated $100,000 to $500,000 to digital advertising
19% spent over $1 million on digital ad campaigns
The average digital ad spend was $800,970

If you need more budget to drive better results, tracking key metrics like CPI can support your case to key stakeholders. For example, if your higher ed institution has a CPI of $100 for a specific program, you have the building blocks to make the case that an additional $10,000 investment could generate 100 more inquiries. By understanding your enrollment funnel, you can estimate how many of those inquiries will convert into enrolled students — providing leadership with a data-backed projection of revenue impact.

7. Use a blend of agency and in-house support

Balancing in-house and agency support is crucial for higher education marketing teams looking to maximize their impact.

Finding the right mix ensures that universities can optimize resources, effectively engage students, and improve overall marketing performance.

But how do you find that perfect balance for your higher ed institution?

Start by asking:

How many full-time employees work in our marketing department?

A successful marketing strategy demands significant time, expertise, and resources.

Smaller teams of 1-3 people are unlikely to have the time and skills required to handle marketing demands fully in-house.

4-5 member teams would be suited to do some aspects of marketing, like content writing and SEO-related website updates, while more complex tactics like strategy, off-site SEO, and evaluation of results would be better handled by agency. At this size of a team, a tight-knit partnership will drive strong results.

Looking at teams of 8-14 — this is where you can begin to take on more in-house, as long as you have a dedicated marketing strategist to plan, guide execution, and evaluate. With just one team member fully focused on strategy, an agency can back up your team with up-to-date expertise and insight through audits or consulting.

Large teams of 15 or more are likely well-equipped to handle marketing in-house, depending on what other priorities you have.

What strategies does our university already have in place for SEO?

Consider what tactics and work you already have in place for SEO. Is it a robust or piecemeal strategy? How often do you work on these tactics?

Some questions to ask are:

Do you have identified target keywords for top programs?
Are you updating content with SEO goals in mind?
Do you have a link-building strategy or are you just taking what comes naturally?
Are you using tools like Semrush or Moz and Google Search Console?
Does your team stay up to date on SEO trends and changes? For example, are you exploring and testing tactics for AI search?
Finally, are you diagnosing performance?

How strongly do you agree with this statement?

“My important programs or degrees show up in search results.”

How well you rank today is a pretty good indicator of how well-equipped your team is to handle SEO internally.

If they are ranking well today, you may be set with your current strategy and team.

If they are not ranking well and driving traffic and quality leads, then you should consider an agency.

Which capabilities exist on our team?

The skills needed to conduct SEO are varied and not typically found in one person. For example, a team member may be great at writing content and PR outreach but may not have data analysis or technical SEO skills.

If you have all these skills in-house or can foster them, then you can set yourself up for SEO success internally:

SEO strategy development
Creating SEO-optimized content
Technical SEO expertise
Access to and knowledge of SEO tools
Website development and management
PR outreach for link-building
Data analysis

If you can’t, relying on a credible agency gives you access to these capabilities immediately without having to recruit, retain, and train staff.

How much time does our team have available for our SEO priorities?

Managing SEO in-house demands significantly more time than working with an agency.

Successful in-house teams handle everything from keyword research and content creation to technical updates and performance monitoring.

So, how much time are we talking about?

If your team has less than 8 hours/month, that’s about enough time to manage an agency partnership.

If they have 8-20 hours/month, they have time to do some SEO basics within typical marketing work.

If they have 21-40 hours/month, they can be a little more strategic, do some basics, and spend some time monitoring results. They may also have some time to give tips to other team members on how to incorporate SEO into their work.

If they have over 40 hours/month to dedicate to SEO, they should be able to strategize, do some basics themselves, direct other team members, and evaluate results.

Ultimately, it’s up to you to consider whether your university has the internal DNA and capacity to succeed independently. If not, an agency will help shoulder the effort to meet your goals and drive consistent SEO performance.

Search Influence’s SEO Quiz is designed to help you evaluate whether building an in-house team, outsourcing fully to an agency, or blending both approaches will best support your institution’s goals. By clarifying your staffing options in just a few minutes, the quiz enables smarter decisions that strengthen your SEO strategy and enhance student recruitment outcomes.

Analyzing Effective Higher Education Marketing Strategies

Palo Alto University increased monthly inquiries by 49%

When Palo Alto University wanted to increase prospective student inquiries, they partnered with us to refine their digital marketing efforts and expand their reach.

Initially, Palo Alto University ran Google, Facebook, and SEO campaigns, but their results fell short of their enrollment goals. Our team identified a key opportunity: Their budget was limiting audience reach, meaning they weren’t fully capitalizing on their potential student base. By implementing a strategic, multi-channel approach, we significantly boosted inquiries.

We focused on:

Expanding campaign targeting to promote four key degree programs
Increasing investment in paid advertising to engage a broader target audience
Optimizing on-site content to improve organic search visibility
A/B testing refreshed messaging to better resonate with prospective students

The results spoke for themselves. Within two quarters, monthly inquiries increased by 49%, exceeding their goal and reinforcing the power of a comprehensive higher education marketing strategy.

Tulane SoPA surpassed their inquiry goal by 58%

For the Tulane School of Professional Advancement (SoPA), meeting enrollment goals meant more than just increasing inquiries — it required a strategic, data-driven approach to connect with the right prospective students at the right time.

With the launch of three new programs, Tulane SoPA set a target of 500 inquiries per month and partnered with Search Influence to refine their marketing efforts. Recognizing that paid advertising would deliver the quickest impact, we optimized their campaigns for maximum efficiency while improving the overall student recruitment experience.

To help Tulane SoPA reach their goal, we:

Designed a distinct creative concept with custom illustrations to strengthen brand identity
Enhanced landing pages to boost conversion rates and guide students through the enrollment process
Launched Facebook Lead Generation and Google Smart Display campaigns to increase engagement at multiple touchpoints
Expanded geographic targeting to reach a broader audience aligned with Tulane SoPA’s growth objectives

The impact was immediate. Tulane SoPA exceeded their inquiry goal by 58%, with 80% of all inquiries driven by paid advertising. This success reinforced the value of a well-rounded digital marketing strategy in helping higher education institutions effectively engage students and convert interest into enrollment.

Higher Education Marketing Strategies FAQs

What are the best marketing strategies for higher education?

A strong higher education marketing strategy starts with SEO, ensuring your programs appear early in a prospective student’s search journey. A well-executed SEO strategy drives long-term organic traffic and enhances visibility across digital marketing channels.

However, digital advertising is equally important for reaching the right students at the right time, providing immediate visibility, and amplifying organic efforts.

By combining SEO with targeted digital advertising, academic institutions can maximize engagement, increase inquiries, and drive more applications.

How does a university increase its visibility?

Universities attract students best by utilizing a mix of SEO and digital advertising.

From optimizing for high-intent keywords and writing engaging blog posts to running targeted Google and social media advertising campaigns, these digital marketing strategies are some of the most efficient ways to attract prospective students.

What are the biggest marketing challenges for universities?

The rise of AI Overviews and social search is changing how students find information, requiring universities to adapt their marketing strategies.

Additionally, cookie deprecation and reduced tracking capabilities make it harder to measure campaign success across digital marketing channels.

To stay competitive, universities must refine their education marketing approach to navigate these evolving challenges.

Optimize Your Higher Education Marketing Strategy With Search Influence

Make every marketing dollar count with data-driven strategies designed to boost enrollment and engagement.

At Search Influence, we specialize in SEO, paid advertising, and analytics-backed marketing strategies tailored for higher education institutions.

Our advanced dashboards consolidate all your marketing metrics in one place, giving you the insights needed to refine your approach and maximize results. We help institutions align marketing efforts with enrollment goals to drive measurable success.

Get exclusive insights into your higher ed marketing performance — download our Marketing Metrics Research Study today.

April 28, 2025

UPCEA Guest Blog: Paula French Analyzes the Latest SEO Trends in Higher Ed

Search is evolving fast. Is your institution keeping up?

In her latest guest blog for UPCEA, “Higher Ed SEO Trends to Stay Competitive,” Search Influence’s Director of Sales and Marketing, Paula French, breaks down four key trends redefining SEO in higher education.

She explores how AI Overviews are lowering organic results, why platforms like TikTok and YouTube are becoming primary search tools, and how Google’s “People Also Ask” and E-E-A-T signals are raising the bar for ranking.

If you’re seeing organic traffic drop or struggling to reach qualified prospects, Paula’s blog is your guide to what’s happening and what to do next.

The Latest SEO Trends in Higher Education, Unpacked

AI Overviews are reshaping search results

Google’s AI Overviews now provide quick, synthesized answers from multiple sources and display them at the top of many search results. While this shift can reduce organic traffic, Paula explains how universities can optimize for these summaries by writing detailed, concise content that invites clicks — and still positions the institution as a trusted resource.

Social search is gaining ground

Today’s students are just as likely to search on TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, or even YouTube as on Google. That means institutions must think beyond traditional SEO to social search. Paula shares how repurposing website content and leveraging student-generated media can help schools appear where generations like Gen Z are already searching.

“People Also Ask” is a missed opportunity

Google’s “People Also Ask” section remains a powerful place to earn exposure, yet many institutions overlook it. Paula explains how answering common student questions — and structuring content with search in mind — can help universities appear in these high-traffic dropdowns, even as traditional rankings fluctuate.

E-E-A-T matters more than ever

With so much information being summarized or reinterpreted by AI, Google’s emphasis on trustworthy sources is only increasing. Paula reinforces why meeting Google’s quality standards, E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness), must remain central to any SEO and AI search strategy for better visibility.

Across all four trends, Paula offers a strategic lens on what matters most right now: earning attention, trust, and action from the students who are most likely to apply. For more in-depth insights into each trend and how to make them work for you, check out Paula’s full blog post on UPCEA’s page.

From Insight to Action: The SEO Workbook

Reading about the latest SEO trends is one thing. Acting on them is another.

To support higher ed marketing teams in building a competitive SEO foundation, Search Influence created the SEO Workbook, an easily accessible resource packed with hands-on exercises and strategy planning tools.

Inside the workbook, you’ll find guidance on how to:

Evaluate your site’s authority and visibility
Build a content strategy around high-value academic programs
Strengthen your site’s technical foundation for search
Improve discoverability across search results so your organization ranks better in AI summaries, social platforms, and traditional search

Completing the exercises will give you a prioritized action plan and three months of SEO techniques you can start using immediately.

SEO Workbook for Higher Education Websites

If your institution is ready to compete for attention in today’s search environment, this workbook will help you focus your efforts and start seeing real results. Download our SEO Workbook today to bridge the gap between what’s changing in search and what your team does next.

April 25, 2025

AI in Higher Education: UPCEA Conference Takeaways to Improve Your SEO Strategy

This post was updated by Ren Horst on April 16, 2025 following this year’s conference. It was originally published on March 18, 2025.

Key Insights

At the 2025 UPCEA Annual Conference, speakers emphasized that higher ed marketers need to adapt their strategies to keep up with changing search behaviors, rising student expectations, and evolving enrollment trends.
With more students relying on AI and social platforms to answer queries, strategic SEO keeps institutions searchable, relevant, and competitive.
Whether institutions decide to manage SEO in-house or work with an agency depends on the team’s size, skills, and available time, especially if SEO isn’t a core focus.
To create better student onboarding, institutions must use retention data to understand early disengagement and support lasting learner success.

This past March, Search Influence headed to Denver, Colorado, for the 2025 UPCEA Annual Conference.

Paula French (Director of Sales and Marketing), Jeanne Lobman (Director of Operations), and Will Scott (CEO and Co-Founder) hosted a booth and discussed the state of higher education marketing, with a focus on AI’s impact on SEO and student recruitment.

Paula also led two speaking sessions on emerging SEO trends, while Jeanne moderated a panel on using retention data to improve onboarding. Each presentation explored the most pressing marketing insights institutions need to stay ahead in 2025 and beyond.

In case you missed it, here’s your recap of our high-impact sessions at the AI in higher education conference.

“2025 Recruitment SEO Trends: Strategic Solutions to Emerging Challenges”

Presenters:

Paula French, Search Influence
Liz Turchin, University of Minnesota College of Continuing and Professional Studies

During this roundtable session, Paula and Liz discussed how changing search behaviors are reshaping recruitment strategies in higher ed. With Google’s AI Overviews and social platforms playing a growing role in how students research institutions, many schools must rethink how (and where) they show up online.

The conversational format allowed marketers to share challenges, exchange ideas, and dig into what’s actually working. Paula highlighted emerging SEO trends and shared guidance for leading internal conversations that help marketing teams adapt.

She also emphasized the importance of aligning SEO, paid search, and social efforts to increase visibility and keep prospective students engaged.

To support continued SEO planning beyond the session, Paula introduced our SEO Workbook. This hands-on resource is designed to help higher ed teams assess their current strategy and prioritize tactics that support enrollment in today’s AI-influenced search world.

“SEO: In-House or Outsource? That Is the Question.”

Presenter: Paula French, Search Influence

In this Industry Insights session, Paula addressed one of today’s most common challenges in higher ed marketing: deciding whether to manage SEO internally, bring in outside expertise, or go for a hybrid team.

As search trends continue to disrupt how prospects discover and evaluate colleges, SEO is no longer a “nice to have.” It’s foundational. Effective SEO ensures your content ranks well, nurtures interest, and guides students toward the next step.

Paula explained why every marketing touchpoint — ads, social media, email, and conferences — ultimately leads prospects back to your website. If your site isn’t well-optimized, you risk losing them before they even make it into your funnel.

To help teams choose between an in-house, outsourced, or hybrid SEO team, Paula shared a straightforward framework for evaluating capacity, skill sets, and goals. The session challenged institutions to be realistic about their resources and commit to an approach that ensures SEO isn’t just happening but actually making an impact.

Not sure which SEO staffing model fits your team best? Take our SEO Quiz for quick, personalized recommendations to guide your in-house vs. outsource decision.

“Is It Enough? Using Retention Data to Inform New Student Onboarding Practices”

Presenters:

Jennifer Murray, Fitchburg State University
Peter August, Fitchburg State University

Moderator: Jeanne Lobman, Search Influence

With more mid-career professionals entering graduate and continuing education programs, the question isn’t just how to recruit them, but how to truly support them from day one.

This session offered actionable ideas for using data to improve communication, set clearer expectations, and create more effective onboarding experiences that support engagement and retention.

The discussion asked institutions to take a hard look at their onboarding processes: Are they assuming too much about new students’ familiarity with academic expectations, technology platforms, and graduate-level demands? Are current onboarding practices truly preparing students for success?

With our Director of Operations, Jeanne, leading the discussion, the conversation focused on how retention data can, and should, inform onboarding strategies. The presenters emphasized that while retention is often viewed as a long-term outcome, it begins with a student’s earliest interactions. How well they’re welcomed, informed, and supported during onboarding directly impacts whether they stay and succeed.

Drive more students with a personalized SEO strategy

Top FAQs from the Higher Education Conference

How will AI influence higher ed in 2025?

AI is quickly changing how prospective students search for college information. Tools like Google’s AI Overviews (AIOs), Perplexity, Gemini, and ChatGPT are becoming common starting points for researching programs, requirements, and outcomes.

These platforms generate quick summaries by pulling from multiple sources to answer user questions directly. While traditional rankings still matter, institutions may see reduced click-through rates if key information surfaces before a user ever reaches the organic listings. While this shift introduces new challenges, it offers new opportunities to stand out.

AIOs and other AI search platforms often cite the sources they pull from. By creating clear, well-structured content that directly addresses common student questions, your institution can increase its chances of being referenced. Optimizing for AI search builds on your existing SEO efforts and positions your content to appear where students now begin their decision-making process.

Is traditional SEO still important in the age of AI?

Yes, traditional SEO is still important, and it also plays a direct role in how your content performs in AI-driven search experiences.

AI platforms and tools don’t operate in a vacuum — they pull from existing content across the web and often favor sources that already rank well in organic search. In other words, the stronger your SEO, the more likely your content is to be cited in AI-generated summaries.

Many strategies that support strong SEO also position your content for AI visibility. That includes writing clear, structured content, using descriptive headers and FAQs, and following E-E-A-T best practices. Optimizing for entities — such as specific programs, degrees, and locations — also helps AI tools understand how your content aligns with user queries.

When paired with technical fundamentals like schema markup and clean metadata, these tactics help ensure your content remains visible across both traditional and AI-powered search experiences.

How do I decide between in-house vs. agency SEO?

The right approach depends on your team’s size, skill set, available time, and current SEO strategy’s performance.

In her Industry Insights session at the AI higher education conference, Paula shared five key factors to help you evaluate the best approach for your institution:

Team size: Small teams often need full external support, mid-sized teams may benefit from a hybrid model, and larger teams with dedicated SEO roles can often manage more internally.
Search visibility: If your top programs don’t rank, or you’re unsure, that’s a sign your current approach needs attention.
What’s in place: Consider whether you have key SEO elements like target keywords, specialized tools, updated content, and performance tracking.
Specialized skills: Strong SEO requires technical, content, and analytical expertise, not typically found in just one role.
Time investment: In-house SEO takes time. Without 40 or more hours of internal capacity available per month, it may be more efficient to outsource.

Still unsure? Our 5-question SEO Quiz takes the guesswork out of the decision. In just a few minutes, you’ll get personalized insights to help you optimize your resources and choose the path that best supports your university’s goals.

What is a social search marketing strategy?

A social search marketing strategy involves optimizing content to appear in search results on social platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.

An increasing number of prospects use these platforms as search engines, looking up programs, career advice, and campus experiences directly through social apps rather than Google. That shift makes it all the more important to create content that’s discoverable beyond traditional search.

At the same time, social media content can also appear in Google search results, giving your institution even more visibility across platforms.

Some tips for optimizing for social search include:

Creating engaging, keyword-friendly content native to each platform
Repurposing existing site content into short, shareable posts
Prioritizing video content, especially formats like Reels, TikToks, and YouTube Shorts

The goal is to meet students where they’re searching and make sure your content is part of what they find.

How are adult and online student recruitment strategies different than marketing to college-aged prospects?

Adult and online learners often need more flexibility, clearer communication, and stronger onboarding support than traditional college-aged students.

Unlike traditional students, they’re often managing full-time jobs, families, and other responsibilities. Many are returning to school after time away, which means onboarding plays a critical role in helping them navigate systems, build confidence, and stay engaged early on.

This focus has become even more critical as the demographic cliff reduces the number of college-aged applicants. To attract and retain adult learners, institutions must communicate clearly, offer accessible support services, and deliver learning options that fit their lives.

Retention data can reveal where existing students struggle or disengage, whether due to unclear expectations, lack of support, or program inflexibility. By identifying those trends, colleges can adjust their recruitment messaging and onboarding strategies to better meet the needs of adult learners from the start.

Build a Stronger Higher Ed Marketing Strategy to Drive Enrollment

The 2025 UPCEA Conference highlighted just how quickly student behavior and the search environment are evolving. To stay competitive, institutions need marketing strategies that align with how today’s prospects search, engage, and make decisions.

At Search Influence, we work with colleges and universities nationwide to navigate this shift with strategies rooted in data, clarity, and long-term impact. A great starting point is our SEO Roadmap — an actionable plan designed to help you strengthen search performance for one of your most important academic programs.

The roadmap delivers tailored recommendations for traditional search, AI-generated results, and emerging social search behaviors. It’s a strategic resource built to elevate your authority and visibility, refine your content, and drive meaningful enrollment outcomes.

See how the SEO Roadmap can help focus your efforts and reach more students today.

April 16, 2025

Paula French Talks SEO for Higher Education on The Enrollment Clinic Podcast

Higher education SEO can drive enrollment growth at your university.

Listen to Search Influence’s Director of Sales and Marketing, Paula French, on The Enrollment Clinic Podcast to learn how.

In her episode,“Higher Ed SEO & Digital Strategy: What Universities Get Wrong (and How to Fix It)”, Paula covers:

Why 51% of universities lack an SEO strategy (despite 84% of leaders saying it’s crucial)
The biggest SEO mistakes in higher education and how to fix them
How prospective students search for online and professional education programs
Google, AI, and the future of university search marketing
The role of SEO in university enrollment strategy

Below is an overview of Paula’s actionable SEO strategies that will help your university increase visibility, boost applications, and optimize digital recruitment.

About The Enrollment Clinic Podcast

The Enrollment Clinic Podcast explores the challenges and opportunities in higher education admissions, marketing, and enrollment management.

Hosted by industry professional Gjergj Dollani, the podcast features discussions with higher ed leaders, marketing experts, and admissions professionals from universities and organizations worldwide.

Recent episodes covered topics like international student recruitment, the impact of generational shifts on higher education, and strategies for optimizing enrollment efforts.

By bringing together insights from experienced professionals, the podcast provides valuable perspectives for those working to attract and engage students.

An Overview of Paula’s Enrollment Clinic Episode

On The Enrollment Clinic Podcast, Paula shared her expertise on higher education SEO, discussing the challenges universities face and the opportunities they may miss regarding organic search.

She highlighted key findings from Search Influence and UPCEA’s Higher Ed SEO Research Study, providing valuable insights into the current state of SEO in higher education marketing.

The importance of SEO in higher education

Paula emphasized how search engines significantly influence student recruitment, with 67% of prospective students beginning their education research online. Despite this, many institutions focus heavily on paid digital advertising — spending an average of $800,000 per year — without a strong organic search strategy.

She pointed out that higher education SEO is about ensuring the right students find the right programs at the right time, not just t ranking on Google.

Many PCO units lack a clear SEO strategy

Online and professional education is widely recognized as a growing area in higher ed, but Paula revealed that 51% of institutions lack an established SEO strategy.

While universities engage in activities that resemble SEO — such as publishing content and public relations — they often fail to approach these efforts with a strategic, long-term SEO mindset.

How AI is changing SEO

Paula explored the impact of AI on SEO, explaining how large language models and AI-driven search features influence content creation and discoverability.

She noted that AI-generated content often favors clear, conversational language, encouraging marketers to simplify their messaging for better engagement.

The importance of backlinks and SEO authority

Paula also discussed one critical aspect of higher education SEO: the role of backlinks in establishing authority. She explained that backlinks signal credibility to search engines, much like citations in academic research.

However, many universities struggle to secure these links strategically, limiting their potential to rank for key search terms.

Learn More About SEO for Higher Education With Search Influence

This blog only scratches the surface of Paula’s insights on The Enrollment Clinic Podcast.

To see the full picture of how your university can improve its SEO strategy, listen to the podcast episode and hear Paula’s expert take on the challenges and opportunities in higher education SEO.

Download Search Influence and UPCEA’s Higher Ed SEO Research Study for a deeper dive into the data behind these insights.

This comprehensive, three-part study examines:

How institutional and marketing leaders perceive SEO
The SEO readiness of professional and online education units
Actionable opportunities to improve search visibility

Download the study today and start making search work for you.

March 21, 2025

AI in Higher Education: Insights From Paula French on the Filling Seats Podcast

Artificial intelligence is reshaping the way students search for and engage with higher education institutions. From AI-generated search results to evolving SEO strategies, higher ed marketers must stay ahead of these changes to ensure their programs remain visible and competitive.

That’s why Filling Seats, a podcast dedicated to helping higher ed professionals attract and enroll more students, invited Search Influence Director of Sales and Marketing Paula French to share her expertise.

In AI’s Impact on Search and Higher Ed, Paula discussed the rise of AI in search, what it means for higher education SEO, and what institutions can do to adapt.

Follow along as we break down key takeaways from Paula’s conversation and how your institution can navigate AI’s growing influence on search and student recruitment.

About the Filling Seats Podcast

Hosted by Jonathan Clues, the Filling Seats podcast is a go-to resource for higher education professionals looking to grow, shape, and sustain enrollment at colleges and universities.

Each episode features conversations with enrollment marketers, thought leaders, and edtech innovators, offering firsthand insights into what’s working in student recruitment today.

Past guests have included Dr. Carey Dukes from North Greenville University, Amber Fitzgerald from Suffolk University, and Jonathan Clues from StudentBridge.

By sharing real-world strategies and success stories, Filling Seats equips educators with the knowledge they need to keep up with the evolving enrollment landscape with confidence.

Paula on the Impact of AI in Higher Education

Artificial intelligence is changing how students search for and engage with higher education institutions.

Here are key insights from Paula’s appearance on the Filling Seats podcast to help you navigate this higher education SEO trend.

The rise of AI-powered search

In May 2024, Google introduced AI Overviews as part of its Search Generative Experience (SGE). This feature, powered by Google’s Gemini AI model, generates quick, AI-written snippets that appear at the top of the search engine results page (SERP).

While these overviews offer users immediate answers, they present new challenges for universities: Organic search results appear lower down the page, leading to universities receiving fewer organic clicks to their websites.

When AI Overviews are present, click-through rates (CTR) drop significantly:

No AI Overview: CTR is 2.94%
With AI Overview: CTR plummets to 0.84%

For higher ed marketers, this means traditional SEO tactics must evolve to ensure university content remains visible and engaging, and is optimized to appear in AI-driven search results.

The rise of social search & AI tools

AI Overviews aren’t the only thing disrupting traditional search.

Social search is gaining momentum, particularly among Gen Z and Millennials, who use platforms like TikTok and Instagram as search engines. Instead of relying on Google, many prospective students turn to social media for recommendations, reviews, and insights about universities.

This shift is significant — Google now ranks social media content in search results, further blurring the line between traditional and social search. Universities that don’t address social search as part of their marketing strategy are missing out on potential students.

Universities that create high-quality, engaging social content are more likely to appear in both social media searches and Google results pages, giving them an additional opportunity to connect with prospective students.

Adapting to a changing higher ed SEO landscape

So, what can universities do to adapt to AI’s growing role in search and recruitment?

Paula shared these essential strategies:

Optimize for AI-Powered SERPs: Understand which keywords trigger AI Overviews and adjust content strategies accordingly. Informational intent keywords, such as admissions, online degree programs, and scholarships, are most likely to generate AI summaries.
Double Down on In-Depth, Engaging Content: AI Overviews scrape the web for information, often summarizing surface-level content. Universities can stand out by providing deep, engaging resources that go beyond what AI can summarize.
Leverage Social Search: With more students searching directly on TikTok, Instagram, and other platforms, higher ed institutions need a stronger social presence to engage students where they are already searching.

Adapt to AI in Higher Education With Search Influence

There’s no denying it — AI is changing the game.

At Search Influence, we help higher ed marketers navigate these changes and build SEO strategies that boost visibility in traditional, AI, and social search.

Listen to Paula’s full Filling Seats podcast episode to gain even more in-depth insights into AI for higher education.

Ready to strengthen your AI SEO strategy? Contact Search Influence to learn more about our SEO expertise and commitment to evolving with the industry.

February 28, 2025

Digital Marketing Trends 2025: Essential Higher Ed Strategies [WEBINAR]

Key Insights

SEO is the foundation of higher ed marketing: Most institutions recognize SEO’s importance but lack a solid strategy. Strong SEO supports all marketing efforts and drives conversions.
AI Overviews are changing search visibility: Google’s AI-generated summaries are pushing down traditional search results, reducing organic traffic, and demanding new content strategies.
Social search is expanding beyond platforms: Social media content is influencing in-app searches and Google rankings, offering new ways to boost visibility.
Cookie deprecation is reshaping digital advertising: With third-party cookies being phased out, marketers must prioritize first-party data and new tracking methods to maintain targeting and performance.
Tracking cost per inquiry (CPI) is critical: CPI is the most important metric for marketing efficiency, yet less than half of institutions track it.

In a guest webinar for The Leading Edge Thinking in Higher Education Series hosted by Bay Path University’s Center for Higher Education Leadership & Innovative Practice (CHELIP), Search Influence Director of Sales and Marketing Paula French shed light on the key digital marketing trends shaping higher education in 2025.

Colleges and universities face an increasingly competitive environment. To attract and engage prospective students, it is critical for marketing teams to stay ahead of these trends.

Higher education institutions are grappling with challenges like evolving search engines, changes in how prospective students search, and a shifting digital advertising landscape.

To remain competitive, institutions need to adopt innovative strategies that leverage AI tools, optimize for emerging search results formats, and refine targeted advertising techniques.

In her webinar, Digital Marketing in 2025: Best Practices for Higher Education, Paula explained how marketing teams can adapt to these changes. Paula also highlighted findings from Search Influence’s Marketing Metrics Research Report, emphasizing the importance of tracking cost metrics to enhance marketing performance and ROI.

The Importance of SEO for Higher Ed Institutions

According to the Higher Ed SEO Research Study by Search Influence and UPCEA, 84% of marketing departments recognize SEO as a core part of their strategy.

Yet, 51% of those departments admit they don’t have an established SEO plan.

This gap highlights a critical opportunity for higher education institutions to strengthen their marketing efforts by making SEO the foundation of their strategies.

Think of your higher ed marketing strategy as a house.

Advertising is the front door — it grabs attention and gets prospective students into the funnel.

Social media platforms are the living room, where you engage in meaningful conversations and build relationships with your audience.

Email marketing acts as the stairs, guiding prospective students down the funnel toward conversion.

But SEO is the foundation — it supports every marketing effort by ensuring your website, the core of your digital presence, is optimized for discovery and user experience.

No matter how prospective learners hear about your institution — whether through an ad, an email campaign, social media, a conference, or a Google search — you will lead them to your website to learn more or take action.

A strong SEO strategy ensures visitors easily find the information they need when they arrive, resulting in a better user experience and higher conversion rates.

Higher Education Digital Marketing Trends in 2025

AI Overviews: how generative AI is reshaping search in higher ed marketing

While much of the conversation around AI in marketing focuses on how it helps create content — writing, graphics, videos — less attention is given to how AI search results are changing how prospective students find information about schools and programs.

AI search will change the traditional structure of SERPs and the strategies digital marketers use to climb them.

As search engines evolve, higher ed marketers must embrace optimizing for AI search, or, what some are more formally referring to “Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)” to maintain visibility.

Understanding AI Overviews is the first step.

In May 2024, Google introduced AI Overviews as part of its Search Generative Experience, powered by the generative AI model Gemini. These AI-generated summaries provide quick answers to user queries, pulling from content across the web and including links for deeper exploration.

However, AI Overviews dominate search results pages, pushing traditional organic listings down. Even top-five rankings now require more scrolling, leading to less traffic. This means even if your certificate program ranks top five on the SERPs, it still might not get all the eyes it deserves.

A Seer Interactive study shows that organic click-through rates (CTR) drop by nearly 70% when AI Overviews are present, highlighting the need to adapt your content marketing strategy.

So, how can digital marketers adapt to AI Overviews?

Target commercial and transactional keywords: One of the most immediate steps your team can take is to focus on optimizing for commercial and transactional keywords. These types of searches — like “coding certification online” or “online MBA programs ranked” — are less likely to trigger AI Overviews. This means higher organic click-through rates and more traffic to your site. Aligning your content marketing efforts with these keywords can help you capture prospective students actively looking to enroll.
Evaluate keyword competition: Consider how competitive specific search phrases are and where your institution currently ranks. If you’re already performing well for less competitive keywords, you may have a better chance of becoming a source for AI Overviews. Like traditional SEO, start with the low-hanging fruit — targeting terms where you can realistically break through.
Align content with search intent: When developing your content strategy, aligning your content with the searcher’s intent is essential. For example, someone searching “how to become a CFO” has informational intent — they’re looking for guidance or advice. Google highlights articles, videos, and guides for these types of searches. By tailoring your content to fit this intent, you improve your chances of being featured in AI Overviews.
Create question-based content: Search engines like Google and AI platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity are designed to provide direct answers to user questions. Creating question-based content that addresses specific queries — such as “What are the admission requirements for an online MBA?” or “How long does it take to complete a coding certification?” — increases the likelihood that your content will be featured in AI-generated responses.
Make content digestible: AI models and search algorithms favor content that’s easy to understand and well-structured. Use clear headings, subheadings, bullet points, and short paragraphs to make your content more accessible. Incorporating internal links and using Schema markup can also improve your chances of being featured in AI Overviews.

Social search: expanding your visibility beyond traditional SEO

When people talk about social search, they typically mean how learners use platforms like TikTok, Instagram, or LinkedIn to find information and discover content.

But social search extends beyond social platforms. Social content is increasingly appearing in Google search results, offering new ways to enhance your digital marketing strategy.

For example, searching “best project management courses” on TikTok brings up typical video content like “Top 3 Project Management Courses.” But you’ll also see an AI-driven search highlighting what TikTok’s generative AI detects in those videos.

Similar social content often ranks prominently on Google. Thanks to their large audiences and dynamic content, platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Reddit, Quora, and YouTube appear more frequently in Google search results.

To capitalize on this, start by repurposing existing website content for social media. Share videos from your site on platforms like YouTube and TikTok, turn blogs into LinkedIn articles, and create short videos summarizing your program pages.

This approach boosts engagement on social platforms while increasing your visibility on Google. Learners prefer social searches because they find information presented in engaging, authentic formats — so meeting them there makes your marketing campaigns more effective.

You should also engage in relevant discussions on Reddit and Quora and optimize video content for YouTube — both of which can rank well in Google search results.

This dual strategy strengthens both your social presence and your search visibility.

Cookie deprecation: navigating the shift in digital advertising for higher ed.

The deprecation of third-party cookies is reshaping the digital marketing landscape, significantly impacting how higher education institutions target and track prospective students.

Without third-party cookies, it’s harder to tailor ads based on consumer behavior. It also limits how accurately you can measure the success of your digital advertising campaigns, often leading to sampled or underreported conversions.

In the past few years, browsers like Firefox (2019) and Safari (2020) blocked third-party cookies entirely. Although Google Chrome, which holds nearly 60% of the U.S. desktop search market, delayed full deprecation, users have more control over data privacy, making it easier to opt out of tracking.

Alternatives to cookie-based targeting include:

Contextual targeting, which places ads alongside relevant content (e.g., showing your online MBA program ad next to an article on “Best Online MBA Programs”), and leveraging first-party data collected through forms, applications, or interactions on your site.
Addressable geo-fencing allows you to target specific locations without relying on third-party cookies, layering in your own CRM data for added precision.

Integrating your CRM data with platforms like Google Enhanced Conversions and Meta
Conversions API is key for tracking. This approach offers more accurate reporting and allows platforms to optimize campaigns based on qualified leads. Your CRM can also create custom audiences for retargeting and help build lookalike audiences to expand your reach.

As third-party cookies disappear, the focus shifts toward using data-driven insights from first-party data to refine targeting and improve performance across digital channels.

By embracing these changes, higher education marketers can continue to effectively engage prospective students while navigating new data privacy norms.

New standards of measurement: why tracking the right metrics matters

When it comes to higher ed marketing, generating student inquiries is the first and most crucial step toward enrollment. That’s why cost per inquiry (CPI) is the single most important metric for evaluating marketing efficiency — yet too few institutions are tracking it.

According to our 2024 Higher Ed Marketing Metrics Research Report: What Gets Measured Gets Managed, co-authored with UPCEA, only 46% of marketing teams track CPI, and just 43% measure cost per enrolled student.

Without this data, institutions are missing key insights into how effectively their marketing spend drives prospective students into the funnel.

The good news?

Those who do track CPI are more likely to be satisfied with their campaign performance.

Why?

Because having clear, data-driven insights allows marketers to optimize strategies, allocate budgets more effectively, and ultimately drive better enrollment outcomes.

Our higher ed marketing metrics study found that the average CPI across institutions is $140, with variations by program type:

Graduate programs: $157 per inquiry
Undergraduate programs: $128 per inquiry
Non-credit programs: $51 per inquiry

With enrollment marketing evolving rapidly, tracking CPI is no longer optional — it’s essential.

Optimizing for CPI ensures your marketing dollars work smarter, helping you attract more students and maximize ROI.

About Bay Path University’s CHELIP and Leading Edge Series

Bay Path University’s Center for Higher Education Leadership & Innovative Practice (CHELIP) drives innovation in higher education. Since its founding in 2019, CHELIP has built on Bay Path’s 120-year legacy of teaching excellence to promote bold ideas and collaborative solutions that address the evolving needs of both students and institutions.

One of its key initiatives, the Leading Edge Thinking in Higher Education Series, invites thought leaders from across the country to share insights on advancements in the field. This series tackles topics like top marketing trends, marketing effectiveness, and the increasingly important role of digital strategies in student engagement.

Prepare for Digital Marketing Trends in 2025 With Search Influence

In her guest presentation for Bay Path University’s Leading Edge Thinking in Higher Education Series, Paula highlighted key trends — like AI Overviews, social search, and cookie deprecation — having a major impact on higher ed marketing.

As marketing leaders, it’s essential to prepare for these shifts. From machine learning in search to evolving data privacy standards, staying ahead ensures you get the most value from your campaigns.

At Search Influence, we help higher ed institutions thrive by integrating data-driven strategies into their marketing.

Download our Higher Ed Marketing Metrics Research Report to gain insights that keep your marketing effective and future-ready.

February 21, 2025

Category: Higher Education Marketing

Key Insights

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) at a Glance

What is SEO?

Why is SEO important for higher education institutions?

What are the benefits of higher education SEO?

What does higher education SEO entail?

Digital Advertising (Paid Ads/Pay-Per-Click) at a Glance

What are digital paid ads/PPC?

Why should digital advertising be part of your higher ed marketing strategy?

What are the benefits of digital ads?

What does a digital advertising strategy entail?

Why SEO and Digital Paid Ads Work Better Together

Maximize visibility in search results

Drive traffic while SEO gains traction

Test messaging before you commit

Validate keywords with real results

Retarget prospects who leave

Lower CPC with better landing pages

Share data to make smarter decisions

How to Align Your Strategy and Budget with Goals

Use SEO for:

Building visibility for evergreen content

Answering long-tail, high-intent questions

Strengthening authority over time

Supporting decision-making after inquiry

Reducing long-term CPI

Use digital ads for:

Accelerating time-sensitive goals

Launching new programs or locations

Competing on high-volume search terms

Testing and refining your message

Reaching segmented or niche audiences

Questions to help allocate budget

Create a Stronger Higher Education Marketing Strategy

Image Credits:

Table of Contents

Reaching Students in a Fragmented Search Landscape

Building an Integrated Strategy That Drives Results

Build a Smarter Enrollment Funnel

Key Insights

Why Are Microcredentials Gaining Popularity?

Shifting demographics are reshaping higher ed

Millions are seeking an accessible path forward

Economic pressures are driving new priorities

Employers are hiring for skills, not just degrees

Marketing Microcredentials vs Traditional Degrees

Marketing funnel differences

Marketing messaging differences

Aligning Your Microcredential and Graduate Program Marketing

Start by defining the relationship

Connect the path when it makes sense

How to Market Microcredentials With a Cross-Channel Approach

SEO

Paid search

Paid social & display

Organic social

Email nurture campaigns

Turn Microcredential Interest Into Enrollment

See where your microcredential marketing stands

Key Insights

The State of Higher Ed Cost Per Inquiry

How to Reduce CPI at Your University

Refine your conversion goals to capture more leads

Tips for refining your conversion goals

Track lead quality to reach the right students

Tips for tracking and leveraging qualified leads

Identify where your Google Ads spend is going to waste

Tips for finding and fixing wasted Google Ads spend

Optimize and test landing pages to boost performance

Tips for optimizing and testing landing pages

Dedicated landing page success story

At Search Influence, we’ve seen the impact that dedicated landing pages have on campaign performance metrics.

Why Should You Hire an Advertising Agency to Help Reduce Your CPI?

Let’s Make Your Higher Education Marketing Dollars Work Smarter

Key Inights

7 Things You Aren’t Considering in Your Higher Education Marketing Plan and Budget

1. Ensure upfront buy-in from key stakeholders on goals and objectives

2. Track relevant metrics

3. Create a reliable benchmark for your campaign performance