How to Find the Best Marketing Agency for Your Goals
How Colleges and Universities Should Choose Their Marketing Partners to Drive Growth
While the landscape of higher education feels like it is constantly shifting – almost day to day, there are some aspects of the industry that have stayed the same. Imagine three different scenarios that a Higher Education administrator might currently be facing – a small tuition driven private institution struggling to survive, a mid-sized public school eager to remain relevant and financially healthy, and a large public with a sizeable endowment. What do these situations have in common? They can all benefit from the right marketing partner.
For small private colleges, the stakes are particularly high. Often with limited budgets and niche student populations, these institutions must be extremely strategic in their marketing efforts. A marketing agency can provide the expertise and innovative strategies needed to amplify their unique value propositions. For instance, a small college might have a strong sense of community, personalized education, and specialized programs that set it apart from larger universities. A marketing agency can strategically target audiences to which that sort of brand identity will resonate – and do it at an efficient cost.
A marketing agency can help mid-sized institutions differentiate themselves in a crowded market. This might involve highlighting unique programs, fostering strong alumni networks, and showcasing successful student outcomes. Agencies can also assist with advanced marketing techniques such as retargeting campaigns, email marketing automation, and sophisticated analytics to track the effectiveness of various marketing initiatives.
Large public universities, with their vast resources and diverse student bodies, face unique marketing challenges. These institutions must manage complex branding and messaging efforts across multiple colleges, departments, and campuses. A marketing agency can provide the strategic oversight and execution needed to manage such complexity. They can help large universities create cohesive brand identities that resonate across different audiences and platforms. Agencies can also implement large-scale digital campaigns that leverage the latest in technology and marketing trends, from programmatic advertising to personalized content experiences.
Moreover, large universities often have a wealth of data at their disposal. A marketing agency can harness this data to gain deep insights into student behaviors, preferences, and engagement patterns. This enables the creation of highly targeted and effective marketing strategies that drive enrollment, retention, and overall brand loyalty.
With the ever-present changes to the marketplace and to advertising programs, going it alone is rarely, if ever, the right choice. Even well-resourced internal marketing offices can reap substantial benefits from having a well-equipped and experienced agency take on some of the tactical and content load. If you have not partnered with an agency before, or are interested in looking to change partners, make sure you keep a few things in mind as you go about your search.
Assessing Your Capabilities and Resources
- Know Your Budget:
Work with leadership to decide on an estimated budget for digital marketing. Do not put the numbers in the agency’s court. The agency cannot tell you how much money to spend, because they do not know what goals you may have or what expectations you are bringing to the table. Tell them the budget, along with your goals, and then have a conversation about what they think that budget can accomplish. There is not a “set it and forget it” approach to digital marketing budgeting. Every school and situation is different, and having even a guideline of a potential budget will make sure no time is wasted for either party. - Know Your Growth Goals:
What growth are you hoping to achieve with this partnership? What expectations do you have for the programs you will be promoting? Is it a certain percentage growth in applications, in enrollments? Is it to grow awareness of the brand in general? Agencies need to know the goal of the engagement before they can craft a strategy to accommodate the partner. You may not know the exact answers to these questions, but you should have a general idea. Otherwise, you will not know how to adequately ask for help – imagine going to the grocery store without a list of groceries. If you don’t know what you need, you will end up back at the house with plenty of money spent, but nothing that you really needed. - Know Your School’s Strength and Weaknesses:
No one will know your school better than you and the people you work with. What are the challenges you currently have with marketing? Is it an awareness issue, is it a crowded market, is it a lack of jobs in the region that match the program? Similar to the previous point, you should know some of the general issues at hand before sitting down to have conversations. Talk to your team, talk to leadership, and get a good idea of what have been strengths of the school, and where you currently have challenges. The more you bring to the table, the more focused your discussions with potential partners can be. - Know Your Priority Programs:
Are you looking for a partner to address your entire undergraduate portfolio? Online or on campus programs? Specific graduate schools or grad programs within specific schools? The amount and area of study that you are interested in augmenting with a third party digital marketing vendor will help you identify what partner will be most helpful. Some agencies have built areas of focus around specific market segments, or have different strategies for wider audiences versus niche offerings. When you can quickly identify the scope of the campaigns you would like to run, you can more easily identify the right partner. - Understand the Metrics that Matter to You:
High web traffic and conversion rates are only meaningful if they translate into student enrollment and retention. Understanding key performance indicators (KPIs) that drive registration is essential for tracking and improving performance. If you are talking to a potential agency partner and they spend most of the time discussing Cost Per Click, Impressions, and Cost Per Inquiry as measures of their success, that should be a large red flag. An experienced higher ed marketing agency will prioritize metrics such as Cost Per Application, Cost Per Enrollment and student persistence/retention, ensuring that your marketing efforts yield tangible, long-term results. These agencies maintain cohesive and targeted content, branding, and communication strategies tailored to your audience. Their expertise ensures that you attract the right kind of traffic and achieve high-intent conversions, ultimately leading to sustained success.
Key Considerations for Finding an Agency with Shared Vision
- Depth of Service:
A full-service agency that considers every available marketing channel and platform is more effective than one that focuses solely on paid search and social media, or on awareness channels like OTT and streaming audio. There are some agencies who focus entirely on Search Engine Optimization or creative content generation. All of these services are good in and of themselves, but even more important is finding an agency who utilizes all of them at a high level. - Mission Alignment:
Ensure the agency’s mission aligns with your values and goals. Positive collaboration and open communication are more likely when there is mission alignment. Does the agency have a track record not only of success but of furthering the school’s mission and expectations? Do you think your goals will be treated seriously? Does the agency understand them and feel that they can meet your expectations? These are things that you must vet before entering into a partnership. - Culture Alignment:
Similar to the mission alignment is how you feel your school’s office culture will align with the agency’s culture. What sort of communication cadence are you expecting? What sort of project management are you looking for that will mesh well with how your office handles projects? Does the agency have quality assurance for their contributions? What are their processes, and how do they work with partners in the day to day marketing grind? Some big agencies can still feel like they are very focused on you and your success, and some small agencies can feel like they have a hectic partner work load and you might not get the attention you need. Make sure to inquire about how they balance their account and creative teams’ workloads. - Industry Expertise:
Are you looking for an agency that works specifically in higher education? Are there things that you value outside of the industry? Some schools are looking for larger agencies that have multiple verticals, because they want an outside perspective, and value a company that has worked with large and important corporate brands. Others are more focused on industry expertise and a history specifically of higher education success. Regardless of the background that you value, you should make sure the partner does have some sort of higher education focus and has thoughts on the higher education market. Look for agencies that contribute to the higher education ecosystem through research, thought leadership, and active participation in relevant associations. - Do Your Research:
Demonstrated performance by the partner is critical to establishing an initial feeling of trust and that you are being set up for success through the partnership. Look for testimonials and case studies that conform to your type of school and that showcase actual numerical growth – not simply percentage increases. This is especially important if the agency is not a Higher Education specific vendor, as their ideas of success may be different than yours. If you are somewhat unfamiliar with the digital marketing space, make sure to brush up on the current landscape and challenges that marketers face so you can question them on their ability to face those challenges.
The Right Higher Education Support
The agency you choose will significantly impact how quickly and effectively your institution sees returns on the investment and grows over time. EducationDynamics is a full-service marketing agency passionate about elevating our partner schools’ success through data-driven marketing. We focus on engaging high-quality students who enroll and persist in completing their education. Our custom mix of platforms and strategies is designed to yield the best results for your individual goals efficiently. Ready to see how EDDY helps higher education institutions grow enrollments and retention? Contact us to for a free consultation.