| | | Hi , here's your monthly Dose of Noetic! |
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| | | Rebranding in the Age of 8-Second Attention Spans 👩💻👨💻
In a digital world where your prospective students decide whether to care (or click) in under 8 seconds, a rebrand can’t just look good. It has to build trust, drive engagement, and feel authentic to your academic mission. 🌟
👉 With this in mind, let’s take a look at a few real-world rebrand lessons and how they translate into the higher ed space:
🍊 Case Study: Tropicana’s Rebrand Fail
Tropicana learned their lesson in poor rebranding the hard way. 😵
In 2009, they rolled out a new minimalist look: clean font, no orange with a straw, and it instantly lost $30 million in sales in just 2 months.
Why? Consumers didn’t recognize it on the shelves. It was bold, yes, but not rooted in brand familiarity.
✅ Takeaway: You can modernize your look, but don’t erase what makes your school familiar or credible. Retain visual anchors like colour, crest shapes, or tone of voice, especially for alumni and mature learners who value continuity.
📱 Case Study: Instagram’s Logo Glow-Up
📷 Instagram’s 2016 rebrand was hotly debated, the skeuomorphic camera icon being replaced by a vibrant gradient.
The difference was, they kept everything else consistent: app function, name, UX tone.
The logo became bolder and more modern, but the experience remained intuitive.
✅ Takeaway: Want to change your program landing pages, campaign tone, or digital ads? Great. Just ensure your core mission and brand experience stay intact across the student journey.
💬 Case Study: Duolingo’s Tone-Driven Rebrand
Duolingo’s 2022 refresh didn’t change the logo much, but the tone took center stage. 🎤
With bold, Gen Z-friendly copywriting and their now-iconic unhinged owl memes, they evolved their brand voice to match audience humour without losing sight of their educational mission.
✅ Takeaway: If you’re marketing to Millennials, Gen Z, or even Gen Alpha, tone might matter more than graphics. 💬Human, conversational copy can spark a connection faster than aesthetics alone.
⚖️ Balancing Act: What to Keep vs. What to Change
✔️ KEEP: Core values, recognizable visual elements, emotional tone.
🔄 CHANGE: Outdated phrasing, forgettable visuals, disconnected messaging.
💡 TEST: A/B test headlines, ad creative, and landing pages with student leads before full rollout. |
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| | | 🎓 Noetic Marketer partners with higher education institutions across North America. If you’re considering a brand refresh or digital overhaul, we can help you modernize without losing trust or credibility.
Let’s chat about branding that connects. 👇
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| | | Marketing Psychology You’re (Probably) Not Using Yet 🧠
Most higher education marketers are already using social proof and urgency. But if you really want more leads, higher conversion rates, and greater ROI, try tapping into these lesser-used psychological tactics:
💭 Cognitive Fluency: Make It Easy, Make It Memorable
The brain prefers what’s simple. The easier something is to understand, the more likely someone is to trust it and take the next step.
If your landing page or ad copy is filled with academic jargon or unclear outcomes, you’re likely losing conversions.
✅ Try This: Swap “Obtain a postsecondary credential in a cross-disciplinary framework” for “Earn your degree in a program built for real-world careers.”
🧪 Bonus Tip: Rounded fonts, clear buttons, and short sentences all increase fluency and lead to higher conversion rates. Even your font choice affects action!
🎯 Temporal Landmarks: Time It Right
Temporal landmarks are moments that feel like “fresh starts.” Think Mondays, birthdays, or the first day of spring. People are more likely to make big decisions or start new habits during these moments.
In higher ed, aligning campaigns with these mental reset points gives your messaging extra momentum and increases the chance of a lead turning into an applicant.
✅ Examples: “Start your new chapter this fall! Apply by August 15.”
“Summer’s a great time to prep for your next career move. Let’s talk about graduate programs.”
🧪 Bonus Tip: Add countdowns or soft urgency cues near deadlines. On landing pages, they prompt immediate action. ⌛
🤕 The Pratfall Effect: Flaws Make You More Likeable
Being too perfect can backfire. Showing a small, harmless flaw (like admitting your team isn’t trendy but they’re highly effective at what they do) makes you more relatable and trustworthy.
In higher ed, relatability often drives response. It also helps prospective students feel comfortable and welcomed, which can help with conversions.
✅ More Examples: “We’re not TikTok pros, but we are experts in experiential learning.”
“Not every student here loves statistics, but our data analytics grads love their careers.”
🧪 Bonus Tip: This works best if trust has already been earned. Trustworthiness + imperfection = 💥 |
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| | At Noetic Marketer, we help higher ed institutions turn behavioural psychology into high-converting marketing campaigns that turn prospects into enrollees. 📊
👉 Let’s talk about increasing your student conversion rate! |
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| | | | 📬 InMail in 2025: Still Worth Your Budget? (Yes! If You Do It Right ✅)
Let’s be honest: LinkedIn InMail has a bit of a reputation. 😶🌫️ If your message starts with “I came across your impressive profile…” it’s probably getting ghosted. 👻
But InMail can still be a conversion machine! You just need to ditch the templates and lean into digital strategy, personalization, and the platform’s newest tools.
🔑 Best Practices That Actually Work
✅ Open strong (and skip the fluff). “I noticed you’ve been leading digital projects and was wondering if you’ve looked into our AI & UX Design Certificate” hits harder than “Hope you’re doing well!”
✅ Personal > personalized. Refer to their job title, a recent LinkedIn post, or industry trend. Show you did more than skim their headline.
✅ Keep it skimmable. Use line breaks. Get to the point fast. And aim for under 300 words as a general rule of thumb.
✅ Add value immediately. Instead of pitching the program, try: “We just published a guide to choosing between a microcredential and a master’s, and thought you might find it useful.”
🆕 What’s New
✨ InMail A/B testing tools. You can finally test subject lines and CTA styles natively, so take advantage!
✨ Conversation starters (AI-generated). These now pull from real-time updates and shared interests, but don’t just copy/paste them. Make sure to add your human touch, or else you’ll get penalized by the algorithm.
✨ Profile activity insights. New visibility into a recipient’s recent activity (posts, comments, job changes) makes it easier to personalize outreach. Use these insights to craft messages that connect.
🚫 How to Not Get Ignored
❌ Don’t lead with a sales pitch
❌ Don’t attach PDFs that no one asked for.
❌ Don’t treat InMail like cold email, because it’s not. Treat it like the start of a hallway chat at a professional conference. Short. Sincere. Specific. |
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| | 📈 We help higher education marketers craft high-performing InMail sequences that get read and responded to.
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| | | | | Thank you for reading!
We hope you enjoyed your Dose of Noetic. |
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