After two years and 55 episodes packed with practical, joyful, and wildly clever ideas, Talking Tactics comes to a close. In this final episode, host Dayana Kibilds reflects on the “why” behind the show, shares her personal favorite tactics from past guests, and celebrates the everyday enrollment pros doing exceptional work in higher ed. From transforming request forms and hacking Reddit to AI-powered emails and fundraising squirrels, this send-off is full of bite-sized brilliance you can still ...
Jul 22, 2025•26 min•Ep. 56
On this episode of Talking Tactics, host Day chats with Stormie Harless and Reggie Hayes of Ball State University about one of the quirkiest—and most successful—Giving Day campaigns we've ever seen: letting donors name a goose. Yes, you read that right. This creative, low-cost tactic more than tripled gifts to the Ball State Fund, turning a fun gimmick into a strategic fundraising win. Learn how a "goose gang," Canva templates, and clever messaging made all the difference—and why sometimes a lit...
Jul 08, 2025•31 min•Ep. 55
What if a few strategic email decisions could boost your click-through rates by 73% and gifts by 26% on your giving day? On this episode of Talking Tactics , Day sits down with Veronica Jones and Zack Schmidt from the University of Iowa Center for Advancement to unpack how they moved from a time-consuming email process to a smart, automated strategy that actually improved the donor experience. If you're looking for better ways to connect with alumni and donors during your next giving day — and d...
Jun 24, 2025•24 min•Ep. 54
What do planners, quizzes, and pumpkin stencils have in common? At Cornell, they’re powering growth in alumni engagement. In this episode of Talking Tactics, Sarina Alexander, lead graphic designer for Cornell’s advancement team, shares how her team grew digital downloads fivefold — sparking a 40% increase in email clicks and doubling alumni engagement in just three years. From ideation to execution, Sarina breaks down what’s working (and what’s not), and how you can steal a page from Cornell’s ...
Jun 10, 2025•24 min•Ep. 53
In this special compilation episode of Talking Tactics, host Day sifts through the archives to bring you a trio of field-tested summer strategies that actually move the needle. From boosting post-deposit engagement with 90% email open rates to winning back withdrawn students with a creative goodbye message, these stories from real enrollment pros are packed with actionable ideas for reducing summer melt. Guest Names: Darcy Porter, Director of Content Strategy, SUNY Brockport Kristin Miller, Comm...
May 27, 2025•25 min•Ep. 52
What if the key to supporting students with payments isn’t a new policy, but a new tone? In this episode of Talking Tactics, host Dayana Kibilds chats with Karen Sorrell, Senior Business Operations Manager at Carroll Community College, about how one simple change—revamping payment reminder emails—led to big results. By shifting the tone from transactional to supportive, Karen’s team boosted student outreach by 16%, resolved 95% of payment issues for those who responded, and dropped outstanding p...
May 13, 2025•25 min•Ep. 51
In this episode of Talking Tactics, Dayana Kibilds is joined by former Hidden Gem host and current CMO at Carroll Community College, Maya Demishkevich. Maya shares how she tripled enrollment in a continuing education course by creating a more personalized email sequence—and how that tactic has since shaped how her the team approaches course promotion across the board. You’ll get the inside scoop on the structure, strategy, and psychology behind the emails that got real results. Guest Name: Maya ...
Apr 29, 2025•22 min•Ep. 50
Frostburg State University ran a game-changing billing and financial aid texting campaign that engaged 73% of admitted students and their parents—resulting in a 7% reduction in summer melt. In this episode, Kristin Miller, Recruitment Communication Manager at Frostburg State, shares how her team leveraged texting to create personal, stress-reducing conversations with students and families. She walks us through the steps to run a texting campaign, the unexpected benefits, and how texting is shapi...
Apr 15, 2025•24 min•Ep. 49
Most fundraisers accept a 1.5% response rate from direct mail as standard. But Brenda Turner? She used cold calls to push that number to a staggering 20%, securing four major donors from just 37 letters. Brenda, a certified fundraising executive with 16+ years of experience and nearly $1 billion raised, shares the exact tactic that made her outreach so effective. She breaks down her approach—from writing an “audacious” letter to making fearless follow-up calls—and explains why phone calls are an...
Apr 01, 2025•20 min•Ep. 48
Graduate programs often focus on outbound marketing, but what about capturing students who are deciding whether to go back to school in the first place? Purdue Business found a solution that works—blogging. Shannon Hess, Director of Content and Communications at the Mitch Daniels School of Business, shares how launching a prospective graduate student blog led to a 425-keyword increase in non-branded organic search rankings, 680 additional website sessions per month, and 400+ new website visitors...
Mar 18, 2025•25 min•Ep. 47
In this episode of Talking Tactics, John Azoni, owner and executive producer at UNVEILD, unpacks how to capture impactful video testimonials while saving on cost. John reveals his go-to tactic: using “fill-in-the-blank” questions to draw out strong, structured responses that deliver memorable intros and outros. This simple tactic can cut editing time by up to 10% while guaranteeing your videos start and end with impact. From thinking like an editor to using AI to craft better questions, this epi...
Mar 04, 2025•23 min•Ep. 46
In this special episode, Enrollify’s Marketing Manager, Erin Fields steps into the guest host role to interview Day Kibilds. Day shares an innovative tactic she spearheaded while at Western University: a two-way texting initiative that connected admitted students to professors, current students, and alumni during the chaos of 2020. With over 4,000 personalized conversations, this approach led to a surprising boost in yield at a time when higher ed faced unprecedented challenges . Get ready to be...
Feb 18, 2025•23 min•Ep. 45
Sean Whitten, Senior Director of Enrollment Services at Southern Methodist University, is redefining how admission counselors handle one of the toughest parts of their job: letting go of students who choose another path. With empathy at the forefront, Sean created a clever, heartfelt tactic to celebrate the relationships built with students and families—a simple yet impactful goodbye video. Not only does this video leave a positive impression, but it’s also driving surprising results, with about...
Feb 04, 2025•23 min•Ep. 44
What information do you hope a student finds when they search for “why do faculty relationships matter?” or “what does success mean?” Toni-Marie Critelli’s blog post at St. John’s University doesn’t hope for the best, she makes sure her institution’s content is ranking as a response. Tune in to this episode to figure out how as a team of two, they manage to produce 10-14 blog posts a month, ranking no. 1 in keywords such as “career mentoring,” “define success,” and “healthy snacks for college st...
Jan 21, 2025•29 min•Ep. 43
Summer camps are an incredibly effective way to attract and engage students in your community to your institution, from a very early age. Typically, summer camps are hosted by academic departments, and the relationship building ends after the camp is done. Not at Siena College. Brianna Brown, Assistant Director of Marketing, shares how they launched a new career-focused summer camp called Aspire Camp to build engagement within their community — and ended up with an early action admitted student ...
Jan 07, 2025•26 min•Ep. 42
In this episode Laura Rudolph of Square One Consulting shares how she transformed a holiday gift guide into a powerful admissions yield predictor. Hit play to learn all about the creative holiday gift guide email to parents that discreetly pinpointed high-likelihood deposits—with 70% of those who clicked ultimately enrolling. Guest Name: Laura Rudolph, CEO, Square One Consulting Guest Social: LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/laurakrudolph Website: www.squareoneky.com Guest Bio: As a seasoned higher...
Dec 24, 2024•32 min•Ep. 41
This episode of Talking Tactics is all about empathy. Allie Bear and Madelin Thompson from Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada share how they came up with a very successful Admissions Top Questions video series to support their prospective students through their university decision. The tactic was grounded and born from a robust student journey mapping project, and ended up getting 15,000 views (with half coming from email!) over the 2023 admission cycle. Check out Wilfrid Laurier University's ...
Dec 10, 2024•41 min•Ep. 40
High school students are inundated by our emails — just go to r/ApplyingToCollege and search for “emails” and you’ll see just how bad it is. Cory Glover at the University of Michigan - Dearborn and his small email team have figured out how to break through the noise. It’s simple: Adding empathy. First, by meeting the students where they are and not just talking about the institution. And second, by respecting their time and inbox, making copy easier to scan, actions clear to understand, and the ...
Nov 26, 2024•28 min•Ep. 39
If you could officially name a squirrel at your alma mater (or turtle, or goose, or whatever critters roamed your campus when you did), would you? The only correct answer is yes. And that’s that Caty Allgood and Brooke Preston were counting on when they implemented a Squirrel Naming campaign for Ohio University’s Giving Day. After hearing about this idea from colleagues at Ole Miss, they figured out how to implement it themselves without any extra technology or investment. And the results were i...
Nov 12, 2024•38 min•Ep. 38
Imagine a college where 80-90% of the current student body opens your weekly email every single week. And not only that, but they attend the events you send them and take the actions you ask them to take. Well, this is not a dream for Alixandra Nozzolillo and her team at Harvard College. Alix transformed the college’s communication from way too many emails to one weekly email with all the important news. This effort has garnered them open rates between 80% and 90% consistently for over four year...
Oct 29, 2024•42 min•Ep. 37
What if all you needed to boost your organic traffic was just a little collaboration? Jessica Creech, Web Content Marketing Specialist at Purdue University Northwest, shares how she worked with professors to build 6 program-specific blog posts with big results. These posts have over 80% organic search traffic to the site, resulting in 4,079 page views and 3,049 unique users. Plus, about 23% of all page clicks lead to program or application pages — supporting students taking the next step in thei...
Oct 15, 2024•26 min•Ep. 36
Miami University's toddler campus tour reel saw 33% more engagement than other admissions content on their main channels and won a Gold Case Circle of Excellence Award. How can we show our campus with the actual joy and excitement a prospect might feel visiting for the first time? Through the eyes of a toddler, of course. The reel featured Gerod Harder's two and a half year old son, Wesley, exploring key campus spots, attending a class, and taking snack breaks. The reel received over 100,000 imp...
Oct 01, 2024•20 min•Ep. 35
For many institutions, increasing access is a strategic priority. With this tactic, you can do just that. Melody Ferguson, Dean of Admissions at Pacific Lutheran University, discusses the success of their Automatic Admission Partnership Program (AAP) in increasing enrollment, and with it, the percentage of first-generation and students of color admitted to PLU. In fact, 60.7% of this year’s incoming class admitted through the AAP is first generation, and 63.2% are students of color. Listen to th...
Sep 17, 2024•29 min•Ep. 34
Jess Frazier from Notre Dame University shares how they used custom LEGO figurines to increase engagement on the university's admissions Instagram. They rebranded their admitted student days as 'The Rally' and created a dedicated space where students could build Lego replicas of themselves wearing Notre Dame gear. The goal was to make students feel immediately welcomed into the Notre Dame family. This tactic was highly successful, with a 102% increase in engagement compared to the same admitted ...
Sep 03, 2024•26 min•Ep. 33
Meaghan Milliorn, Director of Digital Strategy at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, reached attendees of local high school graduations hosted on their campus with geotargeted ads. The goal was to take advantage of this captive audience and promote the university's affordability and scholarships. The ads were motion ads displayed on Facebook and Display during the graduation ceremonies. The initial campaign had 32,000 impressions and 306 clicks, while the follow-up campaign had 85,000 im...
Aug 20, 2024•21 min•Ep. 32
Keeping your social media accounts active and engaging is challenging, particularly for small colleges or teams. Sarah’s student ambassador approach (giving ambassador separate accounts connected to your college’s account) can significantly boost your content output and engagement. Schools working with Sarah have seen their student ambassador posts outperform all others, and gain the algorithm benefits of video views rising from almost nothing. Check out the ambassador program in action at: Whit...
Aug 06, 2024•29 min•Ep. 31
Dr. Courtney Skiles, the director of recruiting and admissions at Trinity Valley Community College, shares an unexpected tactic her team uses to engage students and increase college applications: dressing down. By wearing jeans, a T-shirt, and cool shoes, TVCC recruiters aim to be relatable and break down barriers between college representatives and high school students. This tactic has resulted in one in five students applying to their college after a visit. Courtney emphasizes the importance o...
Jul 23, 2024•28 min•Ep. 30
In this engaging episode of Talking Tactics, Dayana Kibilds delves into a unique marketing tactic with Dave Tyler, highlighting RIT's innovative use of GIFs on Giphy to drive traffic to their admissions page. Dave shares how a simple yet unexpected approach turned GIFs into a powerful tool for awareness and conversion, resulting in over 1,000,000 GIF view per week and 122 people visiting RIT's admissions page from Giphy in the last 6 months. Check out RIT’s Giphy page: https://giphy.com/rit_tige...
Jul 09, 2024•27 min•Ep. 29
If you’re looking at your paid media campaign performance and have a feeling something’s not quite right… trust your gut. That’s Jeff Holeman’s advice, and the same instinct he followed for UF’s Warrington College of Business paid media efforts. After asking questions and working closely with his vendor and platform partners, he uncovered using first-party data and in-platform lead forms on LinkedIn could make a big difference. And it did: After using first-party data to target his audiences and...
Jun 25, 2024•27 min•Ep. 28
In this Bonus announcement, join Mallory, Chief Strategist of Enrollify, as she introduces the newly relaunched Enrollify.org . This episode highlights the fresh features and content now available on the site, emphasizing Enrollify’s commitment to revolutionizing higher education. Learn about the variety of resources—from podcasts to ourses to webinars—that can help professionals make impactful changes in their careers and institutions. - - - - Connect With Our Host: Dayana Kibilds https://www.l...
Jun 13, 2024•2 min
