As enrollment pressures intensify and budgets face increasing scrutiny, many colleges and universities are prioritizing channels that can demonstrate immediate results. Paid search often becomes one of the largest line items in an institution's recruitment media budget because it reaches prospective students actively researching programs and institutions. But focusing exclusively on lower-funnel tactics can limit an institution's ability to influence the much larger audience still exploring their options.  

So, why do digital marketers love paid search so much? Few tactics can drive such engaged traffic to a website, quickly convert actions (like inquiries, applications, or campus visits), and demonstrate ROI like paid search. Paid search is effective because it reaches prospective students who have already demonstrated intent. Rather than creating awareness from scratch, it captures existing demand from students actively researching institutions and programs. Few channels reach prospective students or their parents and caregivers as close to an enrollment decision as paid search.   

It makes a lot of sense. And it works. In most cases, it demonstrably affects inquiry generation, application growth, and enrollment outcomes. So why do anything else?  

To answer that question, let’s look at the numbers. Who is your paid search converting? For starters, it’s prospects who are willing to click a paid search ad. Who is your paid search not converting? That’s the 85-95% of people who never click your ad. They're actively researching colleges, universities, academic programs, or career pathways, but unless your institution has strong visibility in both traditional search results and AI-generated search experiences, they’re probably not finding you. So how do you reach them? 

The answer? Use other channels to capture these missed opportunities. Too often, display and video are omitted from conversion-focused plans because they are considered “too high in the conversion funnel” to drive inquiries, applications, campus visits, or enrollments.  

Prospective students rarely follow a linear decision process. They discover institutions through multiple channels, revisit options over time, and often need repeated exposure before taking action. Every prospective student is at a different stage of their decision-making journey. Not clicking a paid search ad doesn’t make someone less valuable to your institution. Most searchers never click on paid ads, so institutions may miss significant opportunities if paid search is their only strategy. In addition to reaching more unique prospects, complementing paid search campaigns with smartly targeted higher-funnel tactics can drive stronger paid search performance.  

Many students don't start their search with a specific institution in mind. Video, display, social media, streaming audio, and connected TV can introduce an institution to prospective students long before they conduct a branded search. When those students later begin researching programs, institutions that have already built awareness and familiarity are often better positioned to earn consideration.  

Think of it as a multiplier “halo” effect. When students encounter your institution through video, social media, streaming audio, or display advertising, they're more likely to recognize your name when they later see your paid search ad or to conduct searches of their own.  

As institutions evaluate their media investments, it's worth asking whether your strategy has funnel-vision. Are you focused solely on students who are already searching—or also on those who have not yet reached that stage? Paid search remains one of the most effective tools for capturing existing demand, but sustainable enrollment growth requires creating demand as well. By syncing lower-funnel tactics with awareness-building channels, institutions can expand their reach, capture missed opportunities, strengthen consideration, and influence prospective students throughout the decision journey. And that’s something we can all get behind.