By KW2

Nontraditional students = nontraditional marketing

There’s no cheat sheet when it comes to marketing to potential college students — and there’s no single reason behind that fact. Historically, 4-year colleges would simply advertise or leverage alumni networks to fill their ranks with traditional students: high school juniors seeking their bachelor’s degrees. Two-year institutions had a similar direct path, targeting sub-sections of high school students. However, in recent decades, the population of potential students has fragmented into multiple mini-audiences. And the traditional student? No single definition fits anymore because the traditional student doesn’t exist in the same way they once did.

From sophomores taking college-level courses in high school to mid-career (and older) adults seeking new job opportunities, the age range, degree appeal and desired skill combinations broadens with every year. Facing that, higher education organizations need to reevaluate their marketing plans and how they define and message to their potential student audiences. And it must happen quickly; we are currently teetering on a significant enrollment cliff due to a youth population decline. Meaning there will be fewer and fewer traditionally aged Gen Z students in the classroom to fill those seats.

Add a mental shift to the population shift

The solution is to think outside what was once normal recruitment and enrollment funnels, and to start considering nontraditional students as the norm. Lisa Maiers, Director of Higher Education at KW2 offers her perspective: “We’ve always helped higher education institutions in their efforts to reach the traditional 2- or 4-year student. They used to be — and still may be — the largest desired audience group. But you're now competing with a bombardment of messages across many channels, in a highly competitive space. How can your institution rise above the clutter? You may have more success and lower competition by trying nontraditional approaches to more-precise segments of potential students.”

The way forward, in Maiers’s mind? “Think differently about prospective audiences to message differently. You can find subsections in audiences that are not being marketed to effectively or even overlooked entirely — with their own different motivations and barriers or friction points — and own the conversation with those unique subsections.”

The first step: Message to clear the path forward

The dream of pursuing a degree is complicated. Completing a higher education program satisfies a range of goals, including a deep-dive into a specific major, reaching a level of achievement, social mobility via a career, and also, personal accomplishment. Within the industry, the process seems obvious, but to a student entering the system, not understanding or feeling overwhelmed by the steps toward a degree can stop a potential student in their tracks.

Among the blockers to keep in mind as you’re crafting messaging:

No two paths will be the same. The education system is not always straightforward, especially for first-generation college students, who don’t have the built-in family expertise that helps navigate research, application, and finding financial aid.
- So: Assure potential students of resources and hand-holding when needed — plus a streamlined, designed-for-them way forward toward their goals.
There’s skepticism of the value of a degree. Whether their education is being funded by loans or working their way through, students are feeling the pain of paying tuition, especially as day-to-day living expenses rise.
- So: Prove your institution’s value — and that may mean through unexpected channels, such as partnering with human resources departments or alumni testimonials.
Every student — fresh from high school or older — needs some sort of support to succeed. They may even need the same support but for dramatically different reasons — for instance, one student might need child care because they’re attending evening classes and are on a career track all day; another may be a young parent finding difficulty balancing raising a child and participating in classroom learning. Other needs to consider: students experiencing food insecurity, transportation issues, and other day-to-day life challenges.
- So: Highlight the support available, but do a deep-dive to understand the different ways and why students will utilize it.
Look for the overlooked. There are obvious challenges you may already be addressing, such as language barriers. But there are also overlooked opportunities, such as low completion rates for students of color and men. The dual win of changing historically-low success rates and building enrollment is too good to pass up.
- So: Expand opportunity by focusing marketing to where you can make the biggest gains.

“Studies have shown that a higher education credential offers upward social and economic mobility. That benefit is getting lost as the conversation has shifted to people questioning the value of higher education. We need to highlight that institutions are equipping graduates with the tools to navigate and meaningfully contribute in an increasingly complex world. By understanding how this conversation influences potential students — and what else is holding potential graduates back — we can provide the motivation they need to propel forward. There are ways for institutions to prove they're offering a package that checks all the boxes, providing help for students to take care of current needs and work toward future goals.”

-Lisa Maiers | Director of Higher Education at KW2

Pro tips from higher education marketing experts

Faced with increasing both student support systems and marketing efforts, higher education institutions may feel too stretched to invest in micro-audience segmentation that would identify barriers, motivators and successful paths forward.

However, Maiers emphasizes that the research and targeting phase of a marketing campaign is essential, making the most of every media dollar spent afterwards: “We tell our clients: Stop starting at the end. Too many institutions focus their big spend on a broad blast of marketing efforts. But you don’t need a big budget to do upfront strategic research work to guide the placements that will generate more qualified leads and in the end, better enrollment success.”

Based on decades of campaign development and follow-up, Maiers finds four elements to be crucial to a successful recruitment campaign: Segmentation, Specificity, Support, and Strategic Media.

1. Segmentation. Thinking about audiences differently lets you message them differently. With the right primary research, your organization can identify the subsections that provide a high probability of success. With pinpointed campaign elements in the correct media placement, your messaging can address friction points and create smart wins.

Case study: Madison College Apply Yourself Campaign

Local and labor market research was merged with enrollment and digital data to drive an omnichannel strategy
The resulting persona-driven targeting resulted in a 30% jump in leads between semesters, as well as a new-application increase of 50%

2. Specificity. Armed with accurate, insightful segmentation, you can better understand your audiences and tweak your messaging to regional, cultural, generational or other nuances. Now that the Covid era has opened all the possibilities in terms of education access — in-person, virtual, asynchronous and more — you can fine-tune your targeting to match a potential student with precise offerings for them.

Case study: UW-River Falls Rebrand

Through research, a messaging opportunity was identified in providing students with a heroic, high-energy and aspirational way forward
A reimagined recruitment approach included successfully targeting out-of-state students as well as building ongoing loyalty with existing students — important for word-of-mouth recruitment

3. Support. Of course you need to raise awareness of your institution’s educational programs and degree possibilities. But as you learn about a student’s blockers and friction points, you can also leverage your research to match prospects to support that can be game-changers for them. In addition, finding ways to express that you understand what that support means to them is key to standing out.

Case Study: University of Wisconsin-Superior Website Redesign

User research with prospect and current students identified areas of friction on the site – primarily, that most core tasks had three or more success pages, so students were getting lost on their way to critical content
In-depth analysis of content led to the reduction of total pages by more than 50% and paired with a modernized UW-S brand, users now had an efficient, effective, and visual way to navigate the site

4. Strategic Media. The right research allows you to be ultra-specific, not just in your messaging, but in showing up at the right touchpoints. A highly strategic recruitment campaign using targeted, carefully placed tactics can deliver higher rates of success than an expensive, broad-blast campaign. And since you will have fine-tuned messages for specific audiences to break through the noise, you’ll have the most direct route to connection, possibly prompting many different paths forward — directing all to your admissions door.

Case study: Northcentral Technical College Digital Advertising

A continuous-optimization approach revitalized this college’s digital media efforts
The resulting more-for-less success rate was dramatic, with apply button clicks costing 46% less than 2 years ago, and conversions boosted by 75%

Catch the fence-sitters early

To a potential student, choosing a degree program is a bit like shopping for a car: they’re not simply shopping for the cheapest car, because it won’t necessarily be the best long-term investment. A school selection is made based on what individuals value and need most — whether it’s reputation, flexibility, potential earnings, holistic support or, most likely, all of the above in differing amounts.

By catching the right audiences at the right time in their search, and demonstrating a full understanding of their hopes, challenges, and path forward, you can spark engagement and interest. Done right, it’s the start of a relationship with audiences that are a fit for your organization, and a way to broaden your reach beyond obvious students to the ones who provide — and deserve — even greater opportunity.

Partnering with experts who can parse the subsets of student audiences (and even the subsets within them) is key. To talk more about ways to optimize your recruitment and enrollment efforts, reach out to Lisa Maiers or Tim Christian at KW2.