Webinar Series

Answer Engine Optimization: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How Higher Ed Teams Should Respond Now

Viv Higher Education recently hosted Answer Engine Optimization (AEO): What It Is, Why It Matters, and How Higher Ed Teams Should Respond Now, a timely conversation exploring how AI-driven search tools are reshaping how prospective students discover and evaluate colleges and universities.

As platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI-powered search experiences begin delivering direct answers instead of traditional search results, institutions face a new challenge: prospective students are forming impressions and gathering information through systems they do not fully control.

During this session, the Viv team examined how answer engines are influencing the enrollment journey and what marketing and enrollment teams can do to adapt. The discussion focused on helping institutions understand emerging patterns, avoid common pitfalls, and begin preparing for a future where visibility depends not just on ranking in search results, but on being included in the answers themselves.

Key Takeaways:

• How AI-driven search is reshaping the enrollment process

• What answer engine optimization (AEO) means for higher education

• Where institutions are experimenting and where caution remains

• Risks and pitfalls institutions should watch for

• Practical actions teams can take in the next 30, 60, and 90 days

As AI continues to influence how prospective students gather information and make decisions, understanding answer engine optimization will become an important part of enrollment strategy. This session provided a clear starting point for institutions seeking to respond thoughtfully and stay ahead of the next evolution of search.

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Radically Human Storytelling: How to Connect and Convert Prospective Students

Viv Higher Education recently hosted Radically Human Storytelling, an encore webinar first presented to a standing-room-only audience at the American Marketing Association’s 2025 Symposium for Higher Education.

As higher ed marketing becomes increasingly driven by AI and automation, this session explored how a radically human approach helps institutions stand out and improve performance across the funnel by turning data into empathy and messaging into trust.

Key Takeaways:

• Why “flexible,” “affordable,” and “ranked” messaging no longer differentiates

• A practical framework for human-centered storytelling

• How emotion drives engagement and conversion

• Real campaign examples, including a 40% increase in domestic deposits

• Simple ways to start and scale, even with lean teams

Designed for enrollment marketing, admissions, and enrollment leaders seeking stronger connection and better results.

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Catholic Identity & Enrollment: Practical Insights to Align Mission, Messaging, and Market Demand

Viv Higher Education recently hosted Catholic Identity and Enrollment: Practical Insights to Align Mission, Messaging, and Market Demand, a data-driven conversation on how Catholic colleges and universities can strengthen enrollment while staying grounded in mission.

As demographics shift and expectations change, institutions are asking new questions about how Catholic identity shows up in student life, marketing, and leadership decisions. During this session, the Viv team shared early findings from the 2025 Catholic Identity & Enrollment study, including insights from president interviews, a national prospective student survey, and a comprehensive mission and enrollment map.

Key Takeaways:

• What students are actually asking for
  Plain-language insights into the needs, hopes, and concerns shaping their decision-making.
• Which messages resonate across audiences
  Themes that matter most to prospective students, families, and institutional leaders, and the outcomes that drive interest.
• How presidents are framing Catholic identity today
  Perspectives on navigating political, social, and market pressures while keeping mission at the center.
• Ways leaders are sustaining Catholic identity with fewer vowed religious
  Practical steps institutions are taking to uphold tradition, strengthen community life, and support mission formation.
• How to better connect mission, enrollment strategy, and brand clarity
  Approaches to ensure that what institutions say about Catholic identity aligns with what students experience.
• The data trends that matter right now
  Signals from the study that point to opportunities for differentiation and long-term stability.

The webinar brought together presidents, board leaders, chiefs of staff, and leaders in marketing, enrollment, advancement, finance, and mission. Each gained a clearer view of how Catholic identity can be communicated in ways that support enrollment, sustain mission, and stand out in a competitive market.

Download the full 24-page Catholic Identity & Enrollment Study

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The Great Grad Pivot: How to Drive Domestic Graduate Program Applications and Deposits

With international enrollment trends shifting due to policy changes, institutions across the country are feeling increased pressure to grow domestic graduate enrollment. Viv Higher Education recently hosted The Great Grad Pivot: How to Drive Domestic Graduate Program Applications and Deposits — a fast-paced, practical webinar focused on what’s working in 2025 to boost applications and deposits from domestic students.

Key Takeaways:
The Viv team shared a proven playbook that has helped institutions increase domestic graduate deposits by up to 40%, all while working within the same, or even tighter budgets.

Attendees learned how to:

• Identify high-potential domestic audience segments using data they already have access to

• Develop psychographic messaging that connects and converts

• Leverage digital marketing and lead nurturing to move prospects from lead to application to enrollment

As institutions continue to adapt to an evolving landscape, this data-informed, action-oriented approach is helping graduate programs stay competitive and drive meaningful enrollment growth.

Download: 10 Things You Can Do Right Now to Increase Graduate Leads (PDF)

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When List Buys Aren’t Enough Webinar

The recent webinar from Viv Higher Education and Halda offered a fresh take on how to break free from outdated, one-size-fits-all student search strategies. With test-optional admissions, declining high school graduate numbers, and increasingly crowded marketing channels, traditional tactics just aren’t cutting it.

This fast-paced, strategy-driven session tackled the most pressing challenges in undergraduate enrollment and laid out a smarter approach, one rooted in personalization, smarter data use, and integrated outreach.

Key Takeaways:

• Why the traditional model is broken, and what to do about it

• How to use better data to drive targeting and improve name buys

• Ways to leverage AI for deep personalization at every stage

• Tactics for true integration of digital media, direct mail, and beyond

• How to stand out in a sea of identical communications

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Integrated Growth Planning Webinar

Missed the conversation on smarter, more efficient collaboration in higher ed? Now’s your chance to catch the replay.

In this session, Suzan Brinker, Lauren Wamelink, and Audra DeLaney-Hall introduce the Integrated Growth Planning Model—a practical approach helping institutions:

• Connect strategy to execution for measurable results

• Optimize resources across teams

• Take immediate action with seven proven steps

If your campus is ready to break down silos and drive real, sustainable growth, this webinar is worth your time.

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Navigating Institutional Transitions: A Ten-Step Framework for Higher Education Mergers or Closures Webinar

When tough decisions are on the table, a clear framework can make all the difference.

In this webinar, guest expert Melissa Richards, APR, introduced a practical and thoughtful 10-Step Institutional Transitions Framework to help higher education leaders navigate complex moments—whether exploring strategic partnerships, mergers, acquisitions, or responsible closures.

With so many stakeholders and variables in play, this session offered a structured approach to evaluating options, making informed decisions, and leading with clarity during times of uncertainty.

If your institution is facing difficult crossroads, these ten steps provide a valuable roadmap to move forward with confidence and purpose.

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Ten Things You Can Do Right Now: Maintaining Focus and Momentum in Higher Education During Uncertain Times Webinar

In a time of disruption and uncertainty, taking action can bring clarity. This webinar offered ten practical steps for higher education leaders seeking to maintain focus, stay grounded, and move their institutions forward, even when the path ahead feels unclear.

Led by Suzan Brinker, PhD, Audra DeLaney-Hall, and Kate Jackson-Meyer, PhD, the session emphasized the importance of thoughtful momentum over reactionary survival. It invited leaders to lean into strategic thinking and reclaim a sense of purpose during times of change.

Inspired by the idea that transformation often begins in chaos, the conversation offered tools to help leaders shift from managing the moment to shaping the future.

Whether you are seeking new ideas, steady ground, or just a way forward, these ten actions can help.

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Differentiating Your Brand in a Crowded Market: A Four-Prong Approach to Smarter Higher Ed Marketing Webinar

As student expectations evolve and competition intensifies, differentiation is no longer a nice-to-have. It is essential. But crafting campaigns that resonate with Gen Z and Gen Alpha without sounding transactional or generic takes more than clever copy.

In this session, Dr. Suzan Brinker, CEO and co-founder of Viv Higher Education, and her team introduce a four-prong approach to differentiated marketing that helps institutions build trust, elevate their brand, and drive meaningful results.

This standout presentation from the 2024 AMA Higher Education Symposium explores how to:
• Use market research to uncover what students really want
• Tell radically human stories through personas, psychographics, and video
• Implement high-performing strategies that get 1% better every week
• Align channels, content, and creative for smarter, more intentional outreach

If your institution is ready to move beyond one-size-fits-all marketing and create campaigns that actually connect, this webinar delivers practical tools and a fresh perspective you can apply right away.

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