🖥 1. Website: Polish Your School’s Digital Front Door
Your website often gives prospective students and faculty the first impression of your institution, so make sure it’s an exceptional one!
✅ Update Your Homepage.Is your messaging still relevant to your academic programs? Replace outdated course listings, admissions deadlines, and news updates.
✅ Check for Broken Links. A broken link is like leading a student to a locked classroom. Don’t let that happen. 🧱
✅ Speed Things Up. No one wants to wait for a slow-loading website to learn about your programs. Compress images, update plugins, and give your site a speed boost! 🚀
✅ Mobile-Friendly Check. Prospective students and parents will visit your site from their phones. Ensure it looks great on any device.📱
📣 2. Ad Campaigns: Refresh Your Paid Strategies
Give your ad campaigns the 2025 glow-up they deserve.
✅ Check Your Targeting. Are you still reaching the right prospective students, alumni, and faculty? Update your targeting based on new enrollment data. 🎯
✅ Audit Ad Creatives. Swap out generic stock photos for campus shots, student testimonials, or faculty highlights.
✅ Review Your Budget. Are you getting a good return on your ad spend? If not, it’s time to tweak your strategy. 💸
✅ Track Those Metrics. Make sure you’re tracking the right KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) like application conversions, event sign-ups, and engagement rates.📈
📧 3. Email Lists: Declutter Your Insituton’s Inbox
Your school’s email list is marketing gold — but only if it’s healthy. Here’s how to clean it up!
✅ Scrub Your List. Remove inactive subscribers. It’s better to have a smaller, engaged audience than a big, ghost-town list. 👻
✅ Segment Your Audience. Group subscribers by interests, departments, or enrollment status to personalize your outreach. Personalized emails = happy subscribers. 💌
✅ Review Your Automation. Are your welcome emails for prospective students or alumni still relevant? Update any automated campaigns with fresh content. 🤖
✅ Test Your Subject Lines. Make sure your emails are actually getting opened! Experiment with catchy, relevant subject lines and emojis to get noticed and see what’s working. 📬⭐ Bonus Tip: Refresh Your Marketing Toolkit ⭐
Take a moment to review your tools and platforms. Are they still the best fit for your institution’s needs? Maybe it’s time to upgrade your copy or transition to a better CRM—we’d love to help with that!
🎊 What’s In, What’s Out: Higher Ed Copywriting Trends for the New Year 🎊
🖼️ IN: Storytelling > Selling
People are done with pushy, hard-sell tactics. Prospective students want more than just facts — they want to see themselves thriving at your institution. In 2025, it’s all about weaving stories that create an emotional connection. Show, don’t tell — and your audience will follow.
Example: ✅ IN: “Meet Mia, a first-generation college student who found her future at our university.” ❌ OUT: “We offer programs that help students succeed.”
🎨 OUT: Generic Stock Phrases
“We’re passionate about educational excellence.” Well, is anyone really passionate about educational mediocrity? 😬 Phrases like this are overused and outdated. The 2025 trend? Be specific. Be bold. Be YOUR institution.
Example: ✅ IN: “Empowering future leaders in engineering, one innovative project at a time.” ❌ OUT: “Providing quality education for all.”
🧩 IN: Microcopy Magic
Microcopy — the text in buttons, tooltips, and error messages — is becoming a key part of brand personality. Clever microcopy can make your institution stand out.
Example: ✅ IN: A button that says “Your Future Starts Here - Apply Today 🚀” ❌ OUT: A button that says “Submit.”
🕵️ OUT: Overstuffed Keywords
Keyword stuffing is so 2010. In 2025, search engines favour quality, natural content that feels human (and prospective students will, too). Write for your audience first and search engines second.
Example: ✅ IN: “Helping students discover their potential through innovative programs.” ❌ OUT: “Grow student potential with student-focused educational programs.” 🤖
5️⃣ Higher Ed Marketing Resolutions Your Institution Should Make in 2025 🥂
Ready to make this your institution’s best marketing year yet? Here are 5 practical resolutions to adopt — and yes, you can keep these ones past January! 😉
🙌 Resolution 1: “We will ensure our institution’s brand voice is authentic.”
If your copy sounds like it was written by ChatGPT circa 2019 🤖, it’s time to start rethinking and restrategizing. Your institution’s voice should be relatable, approachable, and resonate with prospective students.
Add humour, warmth, or storytelling to your social media posts.
Use language that connects — don’t force in the jargon and buzzwords.
✨ Pro Tip: Think of your institution as a mentor. How would they sound at an open house? Friendly? Inspiring? Bring that energy to your copy!
🙌 Resolution 2: “We will nurture our email lists with valuable content.”
Email isn’t dead — but sending random ones once every six months? That’s a ghosting move. 👻 Make prospective and current students and alumni feel seen with consistent, engaging emails.
Personalize your emails — no more “Dear Applicant.”
Test your subject lines to boost open rates.
✨ Pro Tip: Make your emails conversational and approachable. Prospects love emails that sound like a friend, not a corporate memo. 💌
🙌 Resolution 3: “We will create social media content that connects — not just promotes.”
Your audience wants to see authentic stories and behind-the-scenes moments from campus life. The days of perfectly polished, overly curated posts are out.
📸 Quick Wins:
Share student and faculty stories.
Post user-generated content (UGC).
Engage with comments and messages — don’t just broadcast.
✨ Pro Tip: Remember, social media is about building community, not just promoting programs. 🤝
🙌 Resolution 4: “We will track what works — and ditch what doesn’t.”
Gone are the days of throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks. 🍝 In 2025, data-driven marketing is the way to go — and it should definitely be what’s leading your decisions!
📈 Quick Wins:
Identify your top-performing channels.
Track meaningful metrics (think applications, not just vanity likes).
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