Service Line: Digital Marketing

In today’s crowded higher ed landscape, standing out isn’t just important—it’s essential. Recent research from Westwood One reveals a key challenge: dull, uninspired ads require 2x to 2.6x more media spend to achieve the same impact as engaging, creative campaigns. For community colleges operating on tight budgets, ineffective ads limit reach and waste valuable resources.

As student search trends and the higher education industry continue to evolve, Google Ads Scripts provides an effective tool that is utilized to efficiently manage campaigns. These blocks of JavaScript code assist in developing data-driven campaign insights and optimizations that are utilized to further maximize the impact PPC and Performance Max campaigns have on reaching your enrollment goals.

With 2025 already underway, community colleges have a unique opportunity to leverage digital marketing strategies to drive enrollment growth this year. As prospective students continue to rely on online resources to explore colleges and programs, it’s more important than ever that your institution meets them where they are.

Standing out on crowded social feeds can be a challenge—especially for higher education institutions. While organic social media is vital, pairing it with paid advertising strategies has proven to be an increasingly effective way to amplify your reach and impact.

In this digital age, social media platforms are vital tools for universities and colleges to connect with prospective students. However, engaging with prospective students, many of whom are minors, comes with important privacy and safety considerations. Major platforms like Meta (Facebook and Instagram), Snapchat, TikTok, and LinkedIn have recognized these challenges and implemented robust safety measures to protect young users. 

It’s hard to imagine social media without TikTok. Over the past few years, this platform has revolutionized the way brands, creators, and even higher education institutions connect with their audiences. But, with increased regulatory and security scrutiny, there are still questions about the future of the platform. Higher education institutions should prepare for potential disruptions.

In higher education marketing, tracking application and yield conversions is essential—but often, the insights stop at the surface. Many institutions face a critical challenge: while it’s possible to track an application or yield conversion through paid media campaigns, gaining deeper context such as the program, term, or student type remains out of reach, especially for an institution with a shared CRM. How is it possible to distinguish an undergraduate from a graduate application?

When considering ending a contract with an Online Program Management (OPM) company, colleges and universities must prioritize preserving their website’s Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and User Experience (UX) to maintain effective student recruitment for online programs.

The number of online degree and certificate programs offered by higher education institutions has exploded in the past decade, providing endless opportunities for students to advance academically and professionally in a more flexible format. 

As a 2024 Google Premier Partner, Carnegie belongs to an elite group representing the top 3% of agencies in the United States. This recognition isn’t just a badge reflecting our certifications — it represents our commitment to both delivering top-tier performance and strategically innovating our approaches. But what does this mean for our higher education partners? Let’s explore the unique benefits of our partnership with Google.