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Higher Ed Pulse

Higher Ed Pulse is your weekly no-fluff guide to AI in higher ed. Higher ed leaders are expected to master AI overnight. But let’s be real — no one has time to sift through every headline, hot take, or research report. That’s why every Monday, we break down what actually matters — fast, clear, and to the point. Want to sound like the smartest person in the room? You’re in the right place. Higher Ed Pulse is hosted by Mallory Willsea and is a proud member of the Enrollify Podcast Network.
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Episodes

Episode 63: A Recruitment-Centered Approach to Enrollment Planning and Financial Aid in the Era of COVID-19

In a recent Inside Higher Ed piece co-written by leaders at Huron Consulting and Whiteboard Higher Education, the authors noted that “as a rising chorus of higher education leaders and commentators is observing, now may be the time for a great many institutions to set aside hope as the foundation of their strategies going forward and fundamentally reimagine their business models.” On this week's episode, Zach is joined by Rob Bielby, the Vice President of Analytics & Insights at Whiteboard H...

Oct 01, 202054 minEp. 63

Higher Education Needs to Redefine Itself — Here's How It Can Start Doing So

COVID-19 has dramatically accelerated the adoption of online education across the education spectrum...but the disruption of higher education has only just begun. On this week's episode of the podcast, Zach is joined by not one, not two, but by three higher education thought leaders. Tune in for a riveting conversation with Clayton Dean from Circa Interactive, Malika Clinkscales from InsideTrack, and Laurie Pulido from Ease Learning on how to fundamentally reimagine the student experience to ali...

Sep 24, 20201 hr 9 minEp. 64

Fanatical Fridays Episode 16 — How to Best Use Your Travel and Professional Development Budget in a Year Without Fairs, Roadshows, or Conferences

On this week's episode, Zach and Mickey brainstorm a number of new, creative ideas for how best to use the travel and professional development dollars during this travel-less fall. Tune in for an exciting dialogue around video SMS texting, program-specific power phrase development, and tactic-specific cohorts for your entire enrollment management team. - - - - Connect With Our Host: Mallory Willsea https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallorywillsea/ https://twitter.com/mallorywillsea About The Enrollify...

Sep 18, 202030 min

How to Use the Rigor of Academia, the Technology of Silicon Valley, and the Magic of Hollywood to Teach In-Demand Tech Skills

Podium Education partners with universities to launch and run for-credit tech skills programs, delivered 100% online. They help schools provide all students, regardless of major, with skills for a great career in the modern workforce. While many ed tech startups like Lambda School and General Assembly are growing into real competitors to higher ed, Podium is trying to bring these sorts of offerings INTO traditional institutions. On this week's episode, Zach sits down with Chris Parrish, Podium's...

Sep 17, 202055 minEp. 63

Fanatical Fridays #15: 3 Fresh — and Somewhat Controversial — Ideas for Enrollment Marketing Campaigns

One of the greatest challenges for enrollment marketers with small budgets and limited team resources is to effectively A/B/C/D/E/F test their copy and creative across social and display networks. The good news? You can do some (relatively simple) digging to uncover the lessons your competitors have learned along the way so you don’t need to recreate the wheel. Tools like Facebook Ads Library and Moat.com allow you to look up the digital ads that various organizations (including educational inst...

Sep 11, 202028 minEp. 62

Episode 60: Six Trends and Developments in Higher Ed Marketing That Are Worth Keeping Tabs On

Matthew Fall is a Marketing Technologist at DD Agency — an enrollment marketing technology firm. In addition to his day job, Matt is the Managing Editor of Enrollify's weekly newsletter, The Minute. Matt spends hours every week scouring the latest trends in marketing and brings subscribers a summary of the most meaningful developments. On this week's episode, Matt shares six of the most noteworthy trends that are worth keeping tabs on as we enter a fall recruitment season like no other. - - - - ...

Sep 10, 202033 minEp. 61

Fanatical Fridays Episode 14: How to Run Great Meetings in a Virtual/Hybrid Meeting World

How do you run great meetings in a mostly virtual/hybrid meeting world? On this week's episode of Fanatical Fridays, Zach and Mickey discuss strategies for how to run fantastic brainstorms, weekly stand-ups, and one-on-one's when your team isn't all in the same the room. Fresh ideas coming in hot! - - - - Connect With Our Host: Mallory Willsea https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallorywillsea/ https://twitter.com/mallorywillsea About The Enrollify Podcast Network: The Higher Ed Pulse is a part of the E...

Sep 04, 202029 min

Episode 59: What Higher Ed Marketers Need to Know About the ROI of Prevention — And How to Reimagine Enrollment Management Through a Social Impact Lens

The ROI of Prevention: Setting the Tone for the Future of Your Institution - new EVERFI white paper demonstrating the impact of prevention on all facets of the student lifecycle Prevention Is an Investment, Not an Expense - a blog post Rob wrote for the Association of Governing Boards of Colleges and Universities, repositioning the way campus leaders should view prevention work A recent blog blog Rob authored announcing the Seal of Prevention, a mark of distinction for campuses committed to stud...

Sep 03, 20201 hr 4 minEp. 60

Fanatical Fridays Episode 13: "Personalization" — It's the Key to University Brand Differentiation this Fall

Differentiation — it's more important this fall than ever before for enrollment managers to consider as they craft their recruitment strategies and digital communications. On this week's episode of Fanatical Fridays, Zach Busekrus and Mickey Baines discuss ideas for how enrollment teams can up their "personalization game" in order to stand out in a sea of sameness. - - - - Connect With Our Host: Mallory Willsea https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallorywillsea/ https://twitter.com/mallorywillsea About ...

Aug 28, 202025 min

Episode 58: How to Transform Random Acts of Marketing into Intentional Marketing: A Conversation with the CMO of Purdue University

R. Ethan Braden, the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Chief Marketing Officer at Purdue University chats with Zach Busekrus about how he led the university through a massive rebrand...and what lessons he learned about the power of brand, intentional marketing, and community along the way. - - - - Connect With Our Host: Mallory Willsea https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallorywillsea/ https://twitter.com/mallorywillsea About The Enrollify Podcast Network: The Higher Ed Pulse is a part of the Enro...

Aug 26, 202047 minEp. 59

Fanatical Fridays Episode 12: What Will The Future Enrollment Management Team Look Like?

How has COVID changed the makeup of enrollment management teams? Does marketing and recruitment in a virtual world require higher education leadership to find different talent? If so, what new skillsets should VPs of Enrollment and Marketing be looking for as they seek to hire admissions counselors and directors? Find out on this week's episode of Fanatical Fridays with Mickey Baines! - - - - Connect With Our Host: Mallory Willsea https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallorywillsea/ https://twitter.com/m...

Aug 21, 202030 min

Episode 57: 10 Creative(ish) Ideas for Email Marketing A/B Tests

On this week's episode of the podcast, Zach shares 10 ideas for creative email marketing A/B test that enrollment marketers can, and should, test in their search campaigns and email communication flows in fall of 2020. - - - - Connect With Our Host: Mallory Willsea https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallorywillsea/ https://twitter.com/mallorywillsea About The Enrollify Podcast Network: The Higher Ed Pulse is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like othe...

Aug 20, 202029 minEp. 58

Fanatical Fridays Episode 11: How to Focus Right Now, The Power of Higher Ed Site Search, and Lessons from Trader Joe's

How do enrollment managers best split their "thinking" time between getting the class of 2020 on campus and starting to recruit the class of 2021? What lessons can higher ed marketers learn from Trader Joe's to improve the performance of their digital campaigns? And does Gen Z navigate websites differently than Gen X and Gen Y? Get answers to these questions and more on this week's episode of Fanatical Fridays with Mickey Baines! - - - - Connect With Our Host: Mallory Willsea https://www.linkedi...

Aug 14, 202035 min

What Does It Actually Mean to Be an Enrollment Marketer?

Why can't admissions operate more like Trader Joe's? What would happen if every enrollment management team had a marketer-in-residence? And what does it actually mean to be an "enrollment marketer"? On this week's episode of the podcast Zach and Will Gribble, Director of Enrollment Marketing at Presbyterian College, wrestle with these questions and many others. Will shares incredible insight into the convergence happening between higher ed admissions and marketing teams and offers a multitude of...

Aug 13, 202055 minEp. 56

Fanatical Fridays Episode 10: How to Work from an RV & Why Your Website Needs a Culture Audit

Digital brand personality matters more today than ever before. We know that the culture and “feel” of a college/university has a huge impact on a prospective student's decision on whether or not to enroll at said school. In a world where campus visits and recruitment events are not happening, schools need to communicate their brand’s voice…their differentiators…in digital formats. And few are standing out right now. What does digital personality look like? How does differentiation happen when st...

Aug 07, 202027 min

If Rand Fishkin Was an Enrollment Marketer: A Conversation on SEO, Brand Building, and Market Research in Higher Ed

A special thanks to Mongoose for making today's conversation possible. Check out their new guide to help you determine what kind of chatbot your school needs at www.mongoooseresearch.com/enrollify He dropped out of college in 2000 to work full-time at his mother’s small business marketing firm... In 2004, he created the SEOmoz blog, which, over the next decade, became the world’s most popular community and content resource for search marketers. Today, he is one of the most respected voices in th...

Aug 06, 202054 minEp. 55

Fanatical Fridays — Episode 9: This Week in Enrollment Marketing

There's a lot going on right now...but it's important to stay focused on the strategies, tools, and tactics necessary to pivot, creatively, as we enter this next recruitment cycle. On this week's episode, Zach and Mickey discuss how to stay focused on the "big rocks", ZeeMee — the social app for prospective students disrupting the admissions space, and a new ad offering from Pandora that might change audio advertising as we know it...forever. - - - - Connect With Our Host: Mallory Willsea https:...

Jul 31, 202032 min

Leveraging the Power of Digital Word-of-Mouth: How ZeeMee is Reinventing the College-Application Process

“Stories over scores." This notion was one of the foundational pillars behind the creation of ZeeMee — the #1 social media platform for real-time student engagement. ZeeMee helps colleges and universities reduce melt and increase yield through its chat, college communities, roommate match quiz and other powerful engagement tools — it's safe to say they're true disruptors in the #EdTech space. On this week's episode of the podcast, Zach sits down with Vanessa Didyk, ZeeMee's CEO, for a riveting c...

Jul 30, 202040 minEp. 54

Fanatical Fridays — Episode 8

This fall will be like no fall before for enrollment marketers. On this week's episode of Fanatical Fridays, Zach and Mickey chat about new strategies for student recruitment in a travel-less and campus visit-less reality. - - - - Connect With Our Host: Mallory Willsea https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallorywillsea/ https://twitter.com/mallorywillsea About The Enrollify Podcast Network: The Higher Ed Pulse is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like ...

Jul 24, 202022 min

Episode 53: Why Your Current Students Are Your Best Recruiters: How to Leverage the Power of Peer-to-Peer Influence in Admissions

We’re living through a moment where peer-to-peer influence is more powerful than ever before. In fact, eMarketer just published some research stating that 70% of Gen Z trusts what their peers say about a brand vs. what a brand says about itself. Yet colleges and universities still struggle to lace their enrollment marketing strategies with authentic student voices. Why is that? Especially when anyone who has worked in admissions knows how crucial student stories are at influencing prospects thro...

Jul 22, 20201 hr 1 minEp. 53

Fanatical Fridays - Episode 7

On this week’s episode of Fanatical Fridays, Zach and Mickey discuss what schools who are facing low numbers ahead of the fall term should do to get back on track. The conversation moves into a discussion about "Cadillac" vs "Kia" schools, and how higher cost schools can tweak brand, value proposition, and communications to beat competition.- - - - Connect With Our Host: Mallory Willsea https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallorywillsea/ https://twitter.com/mallorywillsea About The Enrollify Podcast Net...

Jul 17, 202039 min

Episode 52: Understanding The Role UX Design Plays In Enrollment Marketing And Student Recruitment

You know your website is hugely influential in a student's journey to enrollment... And chances are you've heard of user experience (UX) design... But perhaps you're not entirely sure what it is or why great UX design matters? On this week's episode of the podcast , Zach sits down with Ben Bilow and Kaycee Woodford from mStoner for a riveting conversation on the future of higher education website design. Ben and Kaycee discuss what a recipe for great UX looks like, what specific strategies and t...

Jul 16, 202057 minEp. 52

SecondLook: A Look Inside #StopHateForProfit and How to Address Racial Inequality in Your Marketing Efforts

What is #StopHateForProfit and who's taking part? Should schools stop their advertising on Facebook? What tactics can admissions teams take to address racial inequality? And how does YouTube change to ad length impact supply and demand on the platform for advertisers? Find out on this week's edition of SecondLook. Did you know? SecondLook by Enrollify is moving shows in just a few weeks! To continue streaming the show and get updates when new episodes are published, please subscribe to SecondLoo...

Jul 15, 202010 min

Fanatical Fridays - Episode 6

On this week’s episode of Fanatical Fridays, Zach and Mickey chat about everything enrollment managers need to know before selecting a new CRM. Mickey outlines the do’s and don’ts of crafting a good RFP, discusses how to make the most of the demo component of the selection process, and shares great insight into the questions that enrollment teams must have answers to BEFORE making a purchasing decision. - - - - Connect With Our Host: Mallory Willsea https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallorywillsea/ ht...

Jul 10, 202033 min

Episode 51: Why Higher Ed Needs Conversational Marketing Now: An Interview with Mark Kilens — VP of Content and Community at Drift

There’s a problem with the way we’ve been taught to market and sell—it no longer matches how buyers actually buy things. Think about it—when you’re not talking to someone face-to-face, where do most of your conversations happen? Yup, that's right—they happen over messaging channels like iMessage, Messenger, Slack, WhatsApp, etc. People love communicating with messaging because it’s fast, easy, and actually feels like a conversation—but most business (and enrollment teams!) are still forcing peop...

Jul 09, 202049 minEp. 51

Episode 50: Becoming Intelligent Admissions Officers

Enrollment management teams spend tens of thousands of dollars a year on software to collect data on how prospects move through the applicant journey. But how often is this data actually leveraged to its full potential? And how often are admissions and marketing teams consulting these insights in realtime to better the performance of their recruitment campaigns? On this week's episode of the podcast, Zach sits down with JC Bonilla, Chief Analytics Officer at Element451, to discuss the lack of da...

Jul 02, 202047 minEp. 50

Fanatical Fridays - Episode 5

A Renewed Focus and a Moment of Truth for MarComm Teams - Rob Zinkan - - - - Connect With Our Host: Mallory Willsea https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallorywillsea/ https://twitter.com/mallorywillsea About The Enrollify Podcast Network: The Higher Ed Pulse is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network . If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too! Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — the next-generation AI student engagement platform helping institutions create mean...

Jun 26, 202042 min

Episode 49: A Moment of Truth for University Marketing and Communication Teams

For years, marketing teams at colleges and universities have been output focused. Their primary goal has been to serve enrollment management, advancement, student services, etc., by taking work orders and producing deliverables like videos, email templates, and billboards with little-to-no accountability surrounding the ROI of their efforts. But Rob Zinkan, a Vice-President at RHB (a higher education consultancy), believes that COVID-19 will bring about the end of this era. On this week's episod...

Jun 25, 202052 minEp. 49

Fanatical Fridays - Episode 4

Colleges and universities spend a lot of time and money thinking about website user experience design, but what about the user’s experience beyond the website? How can enrollment management teams design brand consistent, compelling experiences and communications in email, phone calls, texts, and campus visits? Find out on today’s episode of Fanatical Fridays with Mickey Baines!- - - - Connect With Our Host: Mallory Willsea https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallorywillsea/ https://twitter.com/mallorywi...

Jun 19, 202036 min

Episode 48: How High School Students Are Consuming — And Being Influenced by — Marketing Materials from Colleges and Universities

Over the last year, ad recall on social media increased by 15% amongst all high school grades — according to Glacier's 2020 Gen Z Media Report. Gen Zs are not just using social media to communicate with friends or for entertainment; they’re using it to rapidly access meaningful information. What's more interesting? Based on the results of college and university ad recall surveys conducted by Glacier, the three most expensive advertising channels (music streaming, television, and billboards) repo...

Jun 18, 202050 minEp. 48
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