In this special episode of the Education Marketing Leader Podcast, we revisit highlights from our May book club meeting with Jamie Hunt, founder of Solver Higher Ed, former CMO of Old Dominion, host of Confessions of a Higher Ed CMO, and author of Heart Over Hype.

This session was an exchange between higher ed marketers, strategists, and creatives reflecting on the real-world impact of empathy-driven communication.

Together, we explored the themes, challenges, and opportunities from Jamie’s book, and the insights from the group made this one of our most powerful meetings yet.

Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:

✅ What empathy really means, and why it’s more than just being nice

✅ How to balance empathy with metrics when leadership demands results

✅ Why storytelling must include the struggle, not just the success

✅ How to engage faculty in marketing without losing your mind (or your message)

✅ What it takes to implement a student communication digest, and get campus buy-in

✅ Tactical ways to reduce email chaos, improve messaging, and focus on what students actually need

✅ How to defend empathy as a strategic approach, especially in rooms where it’s dismissed as “soft” or “too touchy-feely”

💬 Members shared reflections that resonated:

– The emotional weight of the book’s dedication

– Journey mapping fatigue—and why it’s still worth it

– Navigating internal pushback when telling authentic, vulnerable student stories

– Reframing “best” to reflect each student’s reality

– Using empathy not just for student messaging, but for internal communication with faculty, staff, and employees

🎤 Jamie didn’t hold back during Q&A:

She shared lessons from her time at Winston-Salem State and Old Dominion, how she pushed for digest-style emails, navigated political resistance, and convinced leadership to prioritize empathy not just in messaging, but in operational change.

She offered honest advice on how middle managers can influence systems beyond their control, and how to build meaningful relationships to break down silos for good.

📚 Heart Over Hype is a toolkit for anyone trying to build trust in a noisy world.

🎙️ Listen now wherever you get your podcasts.

👉 Want in on the book club?

Join us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13140172/

Until next time. ✌️

On this episode of the Education Marketing Leader podcast, I sat down with Mariah Tang, Chief Content Marketing Officer at Stamats.

We unpack why niche content is the most underrated growth strategy in higher ed marketing right now, and how to actually make it work for you.

This isn’t another talk about SEO basics. It’s a roadmap for building search-visible, AI-resilient, and student-relevant content using the tools and team you already have.

Here’s what higher ed marketers need to know 👇

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝

🔎 Search has changed. Long-tail questions now dominate. “Do you have my program?” has become “Will this get me to my next step?”

✏️ Generic content is invisible. Focused, answer-driven content is what AI surfaces in snippets and summaries.

🍕 You’re not pizza. Trying to please everyone will tank your strategy and confuse your audience.

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰: 𝐒𝐌𝐄, 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐛𝐨

👉 Every campaign doesn’t need a star academic. Use flexible content types like testimonials, timelines, and FAQs.

👉 Don’t box your content team in. Establish a reliable structure and grow from there.

👉 Predictability wins in SEO and human engagement.

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐈 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬

🤖 Use ChatGPT/Gemini to test assumptions, spot blind spots, and map decision-stage questions

🫶 Don’t fear feedback, prompt your tools like you would a junior team member

✔️ Good input = better AI output. Then validate every claim and source.

𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐝

🏥 University of New Mexico Health Sciences CenterTurned a neuroscience program into a “Day in the Life” story. No paid ads. Won awards. Still outranks bigger institutions.

🚗 Harper College’s Lyft Pass PostBeat major universities in organic search by being first, relevant, and student-centered.

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐪𝐮𝐨𝐭𝐞:

“Start with one SME. Set them up for success. Give them structure. Then scale.” — Mariah Tang

🎧 Listen to the full episode wherever you get your podcasts.

✅ Follow Mariah for expert takes on content strategy, AI, and enrollment marketing.

✅ Follow Stamats for proven frameworks and case studies on what’s actually working in higher-ed.

✅ And follow Education Marketing Leader for real conversations with zero fluff.

Until next time. ✌

In this episode of the Education Marketing Leader podcast, I sat down with Seth Odell, Founder & CEO of Kanahoma, to unpack the brutal truths facing higher ed marketers.

From the enrollment cliff to vanishing name buys, Seth doesn’t sugarcoat what’s ahead, and why speed, focus, and fundamentals matter now more than ever.

What You Need to Know

• The cliffs are real. Enrollment. Search. Perception. Different challenges depending on your market, but all converging fast.
• If you’re not doubling down on your best-yielding zip codes and events (like campus visits), you’re wasting budget.
• The list-buy era is over. Diversify your sources, retarget your site visitors, and prioritize parent-specific digital campaigns.
• ROI matters more than ever. Use outcome data (even LinkedIn alumni tabs) and focus on telling relatable alumni stories, not just outliers.

Practical Moves to Make This Month

• Swap your homepage video for a program finder.
• Add a CTA to your thank-you page to “start your app now.”
• Use plain-text emails with subject lines like “Chris, quick question” to re-engage admits.
• Refresh your creative. Go from 15 ads to 250. It matters.
• Rethink microcredentials—dual enrollment and B2B are the best bets.

What’s Coming

• More closures. More pressure. Less time.
• Avoid M&A unless you really know what you’re doing.
• AI isn’t a silver bullet, but it’s getting real—especially in admissions.
• Fix your fundamentals first before chasing anything shiny.

Follow Seth on LinkedIn and check out Kanahoma.

Like what you heard?

Follow and subscribe to the Education Marketing Leader podcast for real conversations with the sharpest minds in higher ed.

On this episode of Education Marketing Leader podcast, Jennifer Lonchar , co-founder of AmbioEdu, breaks down what higher ed marketers need to know about Performance TV, and why it's becoming an essential part of the enrollment marketing mix.

What is performance TV and why it matters

Performance TV refers to unskippable streaming commercials on platforms like Hulu, Roku, Peacock, and Pluto, except with trackable results.

Unlike traditional TV, it enables ROI measurement tied directly to inquiries, applications, event registrations, and enrollment.

Targeting strategies that work in higher-ed

• Use first-party data for yield campaigns
• Target households of specific high school students using device ID data
• Create lookalike audiences based on enrolled student profiles and discretionary income
• Run demographic-based targeting by job title, geography, or household composition
• Retarget based on admissions page visitors or commercial exposure

Measuring ROI and lift across channels

Ambio’s partnership with TVScientific allows institutions to:

• Track site behavior after ad exposure
• Match conversions back to exposure timestamps
• See halo effects across Google Search, Meta ads, and organic traffic
• Report on average exposure-to-action timelines and lift by campaign type

Creative that converts

• Avoid passive flyover branding ads
• Deliver a clear, actionable message in 30 seconds
• Use graphic overlays for muted viewers and voiceovers for mobile audiences
• Repurpose video assets for Meta, TikTok, and Snapchat to extend reach

Budget flexibility and real-world results

Campaigns can start small, some as low as $10K.

Institutions like Arizona State University tested campaigns before expanding.

Others saw application increases and yield improvements by integrating Performance TV as the only major change to their strategy.

Future of performance TV in higher-ed

• Interactive ad experiences are in development
• Granular channel-level targeting on platforms like Roku is coming
• CRM integrations allow student ID-level attribution

Key Quote

“This is where digital was 14 years ago. Early adopters will win. The rest will spend the next five years playing catch-up.” — Jennifer Lonchar

Connect with Jennifer

Website: ambioedu.com

Email: jlonchar@ambioedu.com

Follow and subscribe to the Education Marketing Leader podcast for weekly conversations with real practitioners, breaking down what’s working in higher ed marketing, without the fluff.

#HigherEdMarketing #PerformanceTV #StreamingAds #EdMarketing #EnrollmentMarketing #CTV #EducationMarketingLeader #JenniferLonchar #AmbioEdu

In this special episode of the Education Marketing Leader Podcast, we’re diving into highlights from our latest Education Marketing Leader Book Club session

We were joined by Jenny Fowler, award-winning social media manager at MIT and author of the breakout hit Organic Social Media: How to Build a Flourishing Online Community.

Jenny, fresh off her Harvey Chute Award win for Best Nonfiction in Business & Enterprise, shared her candid insights on leading social media strategy in higher ed, using data to influence leadership, and creating intentional content that truly connects.

Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:

✅ How Jenny’s 6 M Framework is reshaping social strategies in higher education

✅ Why “data-informed creativity” is the secret weapon for social media managers

✅ Stories from book club members—including one who earned a promotion after applying lessons from the book

✅ Why it's OK to quit platforms that no longer serve your goals

✅ Tips for simplifying technical research into audience-friendly content

✅ The power of vertical video, managing up, and redefining what “strategy” really means in social

👥 Want to Join the Book Club?

If you're in higher education and marketing, the Education Marketing Leader Book Club is where strategy meets support. We read, we discuss, we grow—together.

👉 Join the Book Club on LinkedIn

🎙️ Listen now on the Education Marketing Leader Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.

Until next time. ✌️

In this episode of the Education Marketing Leader podcast, I sat down with Dane Dewbre, Executive Director of Marketing and Communications at South Plains College.

We talked about shifting public perception around community colleges and why the old narratives need to go.

Dane’s been with SPC for 29 years, and he’s seen firsthand how students of all ages, backgrounds, and ambitions thrive when they have access to quality, affordable education.Key

Takeaways for Higher Ed Marketers:

✅ Community colleges aren’t a “second choice”

SPC regularly enrolls valedictorians and salutatorians. Their students succeed at four-year schools and in the workforce, and universities love transfer students from community colleges.

✅ Affordability is more than low tuition

South Plains is leading the way with OER (open educational resources) and zero-cost textbook options. Dane also pointed to new legislation in Texas that makes dual-credit courses free (including tuition, fees, and textbooks) for qualifying high school students.

✅ Authenticity in messaging matters

SPC’s campaign “SPC is here” reminds students across their 14-county rural service area that the college is local, supportive, and ready to meet them where they are, whether they’re 18 or 38.

✅ Your mobile homepage is everything

More prospective students access SPC’s website from mobile than desktop. If you had to show them one page, Dane says: “Show them your mobile homepage.”

✅ Lead with career outcomes

Welding grads heading to SpaceX, diesel tech students hired before graduation, these stories are the message. Tell them often and everywhere.

🎧 Listen to the full episode wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow and subscribe to Education Marketing Leader to hear real conversations with the leaders shaping higher-ed marketing today.

Until next time. ✌

In this episode of the Education Marketing Leader podcast, I sat down with Yane Nemeroff, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies at Miami Dade College and host of the Non-Traditional Scholar Podcast to talk about how to market to non-traditional students without the fluff.

Yane joined me to break down what higher ed marketers need to know about this growing audience.

⚡ Key takeaways:

• “Non-traditional” doesn’t mean just parents or veterans. It’s anyone who didn’t go straight from high school to college.
• Relevance is everything. Don’t sell the experience — show the outcome.
• Collaborate with faculty. Their insight can refine your message.
• Real stories convert. Highlight students like Gloria, who went from running a pizza shop to earning her degree and becoming a teacher.
• Offer options, not ultimatums — trades and 4-year degrees aren’t enemies.
• Platforms matter: Spotify for younger students, Facebook for older ones.
• Be honest. Don’t lead with a benefit they may not qualify for. It backfires.

This one’s packed with insights for anyone targeting adult learners, career changers, or returning students.

To close the episode, Yane said something that stuck with me:

“We can’t dangle the carrot and lock it in a cage. Be honest. Be human. These students have been through enough.”

📲 Listen to the full convo today.

Follow the Education Marketing Leader podcast and subscribe to catch every new episode.

Until next time. ✌️

In this episode of the Education Marketing Leader podcast, I sat down with Jaime Hunt, Founder and President at Solve Higher Ed Marketing and author of the new book Heart over Hype.

We covered the real work behind building an authentic brand in higher ed.

No fluff.

Just strategy, leadership, and lessons you can actually use.

Here's what we covered in the episode:

✅ What's behind the title "Heart over Hype"

Jaime breaks down why emotional connection and trust matter more than flashy campaigns, especially in higher ed.

✅ How to lead change inside your institution

She talks about aligning leadership, building coalitions, and how to gain internal buy-in when everyone has an opinion on marketing.

✅ Why higher ed marketing needs a reality check

Jaime explains how the pressure to drive enrollment can lead to hype-driven tactics, and how to avoid that trap.

✅ The risks of inauthentic messaging

Misalignment between brand promise and student experience? Jaime's been there. She shares how to fix it.

✅ Practical advice for marketers trying to do better work

We talk about knowing your audience, measuring what matters, and leading with empathy.

This episode is a must-listen if you're juggling leadership expectations, branding constraints, and the pressure to deliver ROI.

Listen now and grab a copy of the book today.

Follow and subscribe to the Education Marketing Leader podcast with Chris Rapozo for more real conversations with the people shaping higher ed marketing.