Embracing AI in Higher Education Marketing: Balancing Innovation with Authenticity
Recently, my team and I were finalists for an RFP at a prestigious university. We had progressed so far that they were asking for references, and we were working closely with their procurement department to finalize the quote. Just when we thought we were in the clear, a new senior leader joined the conversation—someone we hadn’t met before. He was curious about how we leverage AI in our work, asserting that they needed to select a vendor who is future-oriented.
During that meeting, I enthusiastically explained the various ways we utilize AI, from LinkedIn conversation ads to AI-powered chatbots and dynamic email nurture streams. In the midst of my pitch, I made an off-the-cuff remark: that much of our work is still driven by good old human beings. In retrospect, that might have been my misstep. We didn’t end up securing the contract, and while I can’t be certain, I believe that conversation about AI with this new stakeholder may have played a crucial role.
Since then, I’ve reflected on how a small boutique agency like ours can future-proof itself by emphasizing AI without losing sight of authenticity. I’ve come to realize that the magic truly lies in achieving a balance.
Valuable Applications of AI in Higher Education Marketing
- Inform Marketing and Messaging Strategy
- Try feeding AI different demographics, geographics, and psychographics to help with the development of personas, customer journey maps, and messaging. Remember that whatever AI gives you is just a starting point and will need to be built out by you and your team.
- Understand Admissions Patterns
- Sure, using AI to analyze data about which students to admit is already happening, but where we think there is room for interesting work is in using AI to analyze why and where students fall off during the application process to encourage them all the way through the funnel.
- AI Chatbots on Program Pages
- Implementing AI chatbots on program pages and throughout your website can tremendously improve user experience. These chatbots provide immediate answers to prospective students’ inquiries, facilitating genuine interaction and enhancing satisfaction.
Creating Additional Value to AI (Less Higher Ed specific)
- AI as an Intern:
- Think of AI as a helpful intern. By offloading smaller, repetitive tasks to AI, marketing teams can focus on the bigger picture. These could include data analysis, managing social media schedules, and collating research.
- Editorial Partnerships:
- AI can also serve as an editorial partner. Use it to brainstorm new content ideas or refine messaging. For instance, generating topic ideas based on trending searches or tailoring content suggestions based on audience interests can spark more genuine connections with your audience.
- Project Planning Support:
- AI can assist with project management by drafting project plans, setting deadlines, and outlining review phases. This helps teams stay organized and remember critical tasks throughout campaigns, freeing up time for creative strategy sessions.
- Meeting Summaries and Action Lists:
- After meetings, AI can generate summaries and lists of action items, helping teams stay aligned on goals and responsibilities while minimizing the risk of misunderstandings.
- Social Listening:
- Leverage AI tools for social listening. This allows institutions to monitor sentiments and trends around their brand, providing invaluable insights into how they’re perceived and areas for improvement.
Bonus: Experimentation: Our team members regularly experiment with AI and share their insights. We recently held an internal AI summit, where all of us brought concrete use cases for others to learn from and get inspiration.
The Way Forward
Higher education marketing must adapt and innovate, but we must be vigilant not to compromise the authenticity that prospective students seek. By thoughtfully integrating AI into our marketing strategies, we can streamline processes while maintaining a foundation of genuine interaction and differentiation.
Ultimately, the goal should be to use AI as a complement—not a replacement—for human creativity and insight. As institutions navigate this new landscape, embracing both technology and authenticity will be key to successful engagement with future students.
Need Help?
If you’re looking to dive into marketing your alternative credentials but aren’t sure where to begin, we’re here to help! Send us an email or schedule a call for more strategies to get the ball rolling.