When it comes to higher education marketing, enrollment is a numbers game. But not just the numbers you think.
Volume matters, that’s true of any industry, but good leads matter more for education.
The cultivation process for educational leads is often lengthier than for most services, and the prospect’s reasons for seeking what you provide more personal, transformative.
That’s why the leads you receive need to be not at the start of their journey – which often takes shape over the following 6-18 months – but at the end, when they’re just about ready to commit to the next step.
Leads that are qualified, engaged, like that are more likely to enroll.
That’s the real win when it comes to numbers for lead gen in higher education.
How many qualified leads is your college or university receiving?
Of course, we see it all the time.
Your marketing teams are often chasing the wrong metrics. They’re typically going for volume over value – especially if they operate on a PPL (pay-per-lead) model.
Some even chase clicks over conversions. Crazy, right?
The lowest of the low even value impressions over intent, focusing on how many people saw your offer on Meta or LinkedIn, but not counting how many took action.
Sound familiar?
Either way, here’s a couple thoughts when it comes to higher education lead generation that every higher education institution should be thinking about.
1. Get performance-based with your paid media
Stop fretting over absolute lead volume – if that’s what your agencies are doing, there’s a good chance 95% or more of your leads are not qualified.
A few smart targeting fixes can mean big budget breaks.
Consider:
- Only bidding for high-intent keywords. Not things like “why should I study x?” Leave those for blogs.
- Clean out your search terms regularly – get rid of high click low converting chaff.
- Rely on social only for awareness in the mid-journey or remarketing in late-stage.
- Focus on markets where you’ve seen enrollments previously before expanding cautiously.
Just a few tweaks like that can see your already tight budgets bring better results without any big strategy shifts.
2. Optimize your landing pages for inquiries
This might come across as a no-brainer, but you’ll be amazed how often agencies working for higher education for get this.
Landing pages should do one thing: generate inquiries.
They’re not there to inform, impress, or answer a few quick questions.
They’re there to turn your prospects into real inquiries.
How do we go about ensuring this?
- Start with some best practices. Have your lead form visible at the top of the page (and make sure it actually connects to your CRM!)
- Check that all your CTAs, messaging, UX is designed to drive prospects to filling in that form.
- Give them a tangible reason to do it. You know like a brochure or the promise of answers about available funding.
- Make sure your tags and pixels are all tracking and keeping your team informed as to where your best leads are coming from.
3. Nurture your leads like you mean it
So you’ve got your targeting down and your landing pages crush it for conversion rates.
Now what?
It’s an honest question – and I’ve discovered that speaking to 10 different colleges is going to give me 10 different answers.
Want to know what the colleges who aren’t hurting for students are doing?
Here’s a few ideas:
- Call your leads as soon as they come in. Don’t wait one, ten, thirty days. Do it now or your competitors will.
- Don’t sell them your courses. Every college can say the have the top staff, the nicest campus. Show them how your program empowers them.
- How? Ask your leads questions. Try to understand their goals, concerns, and they’ll piece together how your program will help them get where they need before the call is up.
- If you don’t get them on a call, the next priority is SMS. After that, it’s email. Try all 3 on repeat until you reach them.
Avoid the PPL trap
Pay-per-lead agencies promise volume. You’ll get volume. But not quality.
It’s not in their best interest to focus on quality – their revenue model is built on sending you low-intent browsers, not serious applicants.
And that’s just the surface level problem. How do you feel about:
- Paying for leads you would have already gotten (but they outbid your internal team or poached from your organic)
- Having some outside agency scoop up all your branded leads and sell them back to you
Stings, right? There’s honestly a better way to get leads.
What do we do at Acorn?
We’re into lead generation, but we’re not a PPL agency.
We build, refine, and expand pipelines that work. The ones that get you top quality leads for less.
It starts with review, follows by strategy, and culminates in execution. Whether it’s paid media, organic, funnel architecture, email sequences, or CRO – we do what it takes to get you the leads that matter.
We’re not just talking about it either – we’re living it.
We’ve helped dozens of colleges and universities across Canada, the U.S., and Europe. Our team brings over 20 years of combined experience in higher education marketing.
We know what works. And we know how to avoid what wastes your time.
Let’s grow together. Contact us today.
