Micromarketing Your Academic Programs
“Why don’t you promote our program more?”
It’s the question that every marketing leader has been asked more times than they can count. As well-intentioned academic leaders advocate for their degree programs, it can become challenging to acknowledge and honor each department.
On one hand, marketing leaders want to be strong partners to their faculty colleagues. On the other, the combination of limited resources, variances in program popularity, and high-level recruitment efforts aren’t always able to support the vision of each academic department.
The truth is, whatever a marketing leader chooses to promote, there will be those who wish their program got more attention. But by strategically micromarketing their institution’s offerings, marketing leaders can build trust and camaraderie with faculty while highlighting the institution’s assets to the public and contributing to the “rising tide” that can lift all academic “boats.”
Start with Strength
Institutions that have an identifiable strength should go all-in on leveraging them. Think of Johns Hopkins with medicine or Babson with entrepreneurship — these highly-respected schools lead with their primary academic asset strength, which creates a halo effect for their other programs.
For faculty members whose programs are not the university’s primary strength, the halo effect concept may at first sound like a brush-off. But as an institution leans into its strongest programs, other departments are likely to see positive effects and growth as well.
Steps to Starting with Strength:
Meet with the academic leadership of core degrees to dream big with the marketing team about telling their programs’ stories.
Craft comprehensive marketing campaigns focusing on the lead program(s) and aiming for broad reach and visibility.
Infuse the top level of your brand messaging ecosystem with references to this area of distinct leadership.
When flagship programs are highlighted, they become the rallying point for building other high-quality programs. Over time, institutions can become known not only for a flagship program, but for strength across an entire field.
Cultivate a First String
For schools that lack one or two flagship programs, the “start with strength” approach may not feel like a fit. But it’s likely that such schools have five or six medium-sized degree programs that can become leveraged differentiators for the institution. By choosing a handful of degree programs to invest in, marketing teams can create a structure and strategy that can be duplicated for other rising programs.
Steps to Cultivate Core Offerings:
Develop a sustainable marketing system for each program, including talking points to guide marketing and admissions staff as well as faculty members, a stellar website landing page, a program-specific comms flow to prospects, and perhaps print materials and digital ads. Gather compelling student and faculty stories to fuel your efforts.
Test new and innovative strategies. These microcampaigns are excellent opportunities to try something new. The smaller scale allows you the ability to be more agile and take more risks. You might just find a tactic that will work for your larger applicant pool!
Set a standard for success, and document and analyze degree program growth. Use this to adjust your approach for these and other programs.
As you invest in leveraging certain degree programs, give them a cycle or two of attention, like a plant that needs extra love, and see if they bear fruit. If not, shift your attention to the next program on the list and see if it blooms.
Provide a Path
Not every program can be a "first string" priority for the central marketing team, but that doesn't mean they should be left to navigate the recruitment landscape alone. Consider providing academic departments with a clear, self-service "DIY" toolkit to empower faculty or academic administrative staff to take ownership of their program’s marketing. This ensures that even the smallest departments have a brand-aligned pathway to success that requires minimal ongoing support from marketing staff.
Steps to Provide a Path:
Create a strategic messaging worksheet. This document should guide academic departments to identify their target student personas and distill complex academic jargon into clear, benefit-driven talking points.
Deploy a library of branded design templates. Provide easy-to-use templates for basic collateral—such as flyers, social media graphics, and digital headers—using accessible platforms like Canva or Adobe Express. This allows departments to produce short-run materials on demand while maintaining the institution’s visual identity.
Distribute a recruiting field guide. Compile a concise manual for faculty that shares "pro tips" from both the marketing and admissions offices. Focus on practical advice, such as how to effectively follow up with a lead, how to leverage alumni networks for referrals, and how to tell a compelling story during a campus visit, as well as important processes that are essential for cross-campus collaboration.
By handing over the keys to these foundational resources, you transform faculty from passive observers into active brand ambassadors who are equipped to drive their own enrollment growth.
Do you want to take the next step in telling the story of your higher education brand? Let's talk about how 5° could help you micromarket your institutional offerings.
