Marketing Strategies for Higher Education in 2025

TL;DR: Higher ed marketing teams are navigating shrinking budgets, enrollment cliffs, and pressure to prove ROI. These five strategies—from smarter AI use to better video storytelling—can help both institutions and the vendors who support them work smarter in 2025.

Higher education is facing big challenges in 2025: shrinking budgets, declining enrollment, and rising demands for financial aid. Here’s how universities can tackle these issues head-on with five practical strategies:

• Smarter Digital Communication: Combine AI tools, CRM insights, website search, and omnichannel outreach to personalize at scale, cut costs, and improve response rates.
• Video Marketing: Short-form, mobile-first content connects with Gen Z and delivers impact without the TV-level budget. We’ll explore user-generated content, cost-saving formats, and platform-specific best practices below.
• Virtual Campus Tours: VR/AR tours reduce access barriers, especially for international or under-resourced students. That said, we’re not fully sold on immersive VR tours yet—but embedded, interactive content or web-based walk-throughs can still enhance accessibility and appeal.
• Data-Driven Outreach: Use predictive analytics to improve targeting and retention—without over-relying on expensive acquisition tactics.
• Strategic Partnerships: From co-branded programs to research and facilities-sharing, business partnerships can create new revenue and value streams.

Why it matters for your audience:

• If you’re in higher ed marketing: These trends can help justify investments, boost outcomes, and make the case for tech-forward strategies that still feel personal.
• If you’re a B2B vendor to higher ed: These insights give you context for your messaging, product positioning, and partnership development. Tools like Foleon are helping institutions modernize digital experiences and streamline complex content workflows.

What to keep in mind: Many of these tools—especially AI-powered ones—are still early stage. They can lighten workloads or improve personalization, but only when paired with thoughtful implementation and clear strategic goals. Start with what you already know: your audience, your data, and your story. Then use the tools to scale what’s working.

Need help crafting your higher ed growth strategy? We work with both institutions and the companies that serve them.

1. Smarter Digital Communication

“Higher education is in the midst of profound change, and prospective students are more selective and digitally savvy than ever before.”
— Brent Ramdin, EducationDynamics CEO

AI-powered tools, CRMs, and automation platforms can help you do more with less—but only with a clear plan and the right voice. Personalized communication at scale is possible with the right data, integrations, and strategy.

• Personalization pays off: Tailor emails and site experiences by student type, program, or location.
• Use automation wisely: Chatbots and triggered messages can save time but still feel human.
• Don’t forget search: Website search is one of the most underutilized opportunities in higher ed. Tools like Cludo not only help students find the info they need fast—they’re now integrating AI-powered conversational search through their new AI chat assistant (similar to Google Gemini).

As Alan Etkin at BCIT puts it, “After implementing Funnelback [search], the relevance of our search results improved significantly. This led to a measurable increase in the value site search generates for BCIT, and the ROI is terrific”

Tools we like: Jasper, HubSpot AI, Element451, Cludo, Funnelback

2. Mobile-First Video Marketing

“Content is king—but distribution is queen.”
— Ben Waxman & Carrie Bishop

• Go vertical: 75% of video views happen on mobile. Make sure your footage fits the frame—and the platform.
• Get scrappy: UGC-style content outperforms polished brand videos for Gen Z. Let students tell your story.
• Stretch the budget: Use stock, templates, and editing apps to repurpose content into reels, reels, reels.

Tools we like: Veed.io, InVideo

3. Virtual Campus Tours (Cautiously Optimistic)

We’re not totally sold on full VR tours—but there’s value in accessible, embedded, self-guided tours with personalization elements. Especially for international, first-gen, and low-income students who may never see campus IRL.

• Embed 360° imagery on your site—no headset required
• Use branching logic (“interested in science?” → tour the labs)
• Highlight location, community, and post-grad opportunities—not just dorms and dining halls

Tools we like: YouVisit, Impact Virtual Tours

4. Data-Driven Outreach

Predictive analytics and CRM segmentation can help universities target prospective students more effectively—and retain current ones. You don’t need a massive tech stack to get started, just smart use of what you already have.

• Track real results: Focus on cost-per-enrollment, retention, and engagement over vanity metrics.
• Make decisions faster: Dashboards and real-time analytics can reduce the lag in optimizing campaigns.
• Retention ≠ separate from marketing: The same tools help you engage students before and after enrollment.

Tools we like: Civitas, Ellucian

5. Strategic Business Partnerships

“Universities seeking global impact increasingly look to industry-academia partnerships as a driving force for innovation.”
— Academic Leadership Group

From shared research labs to co-developed certificates, business-university partnerships can boost revenue and relevance. With shrinking budgets and rising costs, it’s time to treat strategic alliances as a growth strategy, not a bonus.

• Think local: Regional companies can be faster to partner—and more aligned to your student population.
• Build for workforce alignment: Highlight partnerships in marketing materials to improve perceived ROI for families.

Tools we like: Parker Dewey, Handshake

Final Thoughts

Whether you’re inside a university or building tools for the sector, the pressure is on: do more, prove value, and deliver outcomes. These five strategies offer ways to align enrollment goals with limited budgets—and connect authentically with students and stakeholders alike.

Need a partner to bring these ideas to life? We’d love to help.