Webinar: 7 Paid Ad Campaigns Universities Should Be Running (But Aren’t)
Get more clicks at a lower cost with these highly effective but often-overlooked campaign strategies.
Social Media Marketing
Social Media Marketing for Higher Education
From TikTok takeovers to LinkedIn thought-leadership, Vital turns social feeds into full enrollment funnels for colleges and universities.
Reach Gen Z (and everyone else), wherever they scroll
Prospective students of every age — Gen Z, transfers, even mid-career grad hopefuls — check their phones over 200 times a day and spend three-plus hours scrolling social feeds such as TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. Within those split-second swipes, you have one shot to grab their attention and start a conversation. Miss that micro-moment and a savvier competitor owns it instead.
When it comes to figuring out how to engage college students on social media, Vital’s answer is simple: Meet them where they scroll with short-form video, peer stories, and deadline-driven calls to act — all backed by data-first targeting.
Plenty of schools stop at surface-level likes. At Vital, we go deeper, syncing organic and paid content with your CRM, creative assets, and full-funnel analytics so every post, Reel, and in-feed ad moves prospects closer to inquiry, application, and enrollment.
Schools we’ve Helped
Everything you need to outsmart algorithms and outshine competitors
- Audit and benchmark higher education social media channels for performance, brand consistency, and WCAG-AA compliance
- Analyze competitors and share-of-voice to surface whitespace opportunities
- Map psychographic segments, student–parent personas, and hashtag trends through audience and keyword research
- Build a content calendar synced to inquiry, application, and yield milestones
- Produce captivating copy, graphics, and video tailored to every platform
- Manage paid social campaigns and boosted posts across Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn, X, and Snapchat
- Monitor conversations and sentiment with always-on social listening and community management
- Deliver live dashboards, weekly insight calls, and quarterly strategy summits for full-funnel reporting
Vital’s Approach to Social Media Marketing for Higher Education
Our social media strategy for universities blends data-driven smarts and scroll-stopping art to raise your enrollment bar.
#1. Establish Goals & KPIs
We begin by setting clear, measurable goals tied to enrollment outcomes — brand awareness, qualified inquiries, campus visits, and deposits — and define platform-specific KPIs to track progress toward each objective.
#2. Evaluate Existing Strategies
Next, we audit your current social presence and ad accounts, pinpointing what resonates with prospective students and where gaps exist, so your new plan builds on proven wins rather than starting from scratch.
#3. Research Target Audience
Using CRM data, social listening, and platform insights, we map personas for high-schoolers, parents, transfers, and adult learners, identifying their motivations, concerns, and preferred channels to inform hyper-relevant content.
#4. Develop Detailed Social Calendar
We craft a channel-by-channel calendar that aligns posts and campaigns with key milestones such as open houses, FAFSA reminders, and decision deadlines, keeping your institution top of mind when prospects are ready to act.
#5. Execute Content Strategy
Our writers, designers, and media buyers roll out LinkedIn alumni spotlights, paid ads, and more, ensuring consistent messaging at every stage of the journey.
#6. Analyze & Plan Repeatedly
Finally, we monitor performance in real time and convene regular strategy sessions to interpret results, iterate on creative, and reallocate budget — so your social efforts keep pace with evolving platform rules and enrollment goals.
The higher education marketing agency that combines fanatical discipline with inspired creativity
Walk through Vital’s halls and you’ll meet social media geeks who can map Meta’s latest Advantage+ settings in their sleep — right next to creatives story-boarding TikTok trends before they peak. Most days, they’re the same people. We live for spotting algorithm shifts other schools miss and transforming them into swipe-stopping content that boosts enrollment numbers. Pull up a chair; let’s talk shop.
Who We Serve
Every higher education institution is different, and success starts with understanding your audience, your goals, and your challenges. We bring a unique combination of higher education-specific expertise and out-of-the-box thinking that drives enrollment and revenue growth for a wide variety of institutions. Here are a few of our specialties:
- Graduate degree programs
Boost program growth through approaches tailored to today’s advanced degree seekers. - Online Degree Programs
Compete in the fastest-growing segment of higher education.
- Professional Development, Certificate, and Course Programs
Attract more career-focused learners. - Traditional on-campus universities and colleges
- Specialized and technical schools and programs
- And more!
Essential Reading
Let’s Talk
Ready to convert likes into leads and followers into students?
Fill out the form below, and our specialists will map a social strategy to match your enrollment goals.
