Encoura

2025 Digital Marketing Trends for Higher Education

Each year, Encoura’s Digital Solutions team releases a list of digital marketing trends that provide insight into top strategies and areas enrollment/marketing teams should consider. As we look into 2025, there are several trends of note as we all still prepare to market to digital-first Generation Alpha students. As your team dives into this action plan, you’ll learn the top trends of note, plus what to focus on and how to apply these at your institution.

Chapter 1

Make Experiences Hyper-Personalized and Collaborative

The first group of Gen Alpha entered high school in the fall of 2024. While you’ve likely been paying close attention to this rising generation, its purchasing power, and brand affinities, are you preparing to recruit them?

While students born at the tail end of Gen Z likely have more in common with the oldest Gen Alpha members than they do with early Gen Z members (born in the late 1990s), there are some differences to note as future Gen Alpha students hit high school and beyond.

To stand out in Gen Z’s and Gen Alpha’s feeds online, personalizing experiences while also encouraging collaboration with tools like AI, gamification, social media, and more, is key.

What We Know

Hyper-Personalized Content Helps Cut Through the Noise

More than any other generation, Gen Alpha likes to create and collaborate. These students don’t know a life before screens and expect more personalization than even their Gen Z predecessors.

Knowing this, it’s no surprise that Gen Alpha is helping shape the future of AI by using it for anything and everything—school, personalized messaging, image creation, and so much more.

Just as companies like Amazon are using AI to suggest products that align with browsing and purchase history, your institution can incorporate AI to provide prospective students with content related to their individual interests. We’ll dive into that more in Trend 5, but let’s talk about personalization first.

We know that younger generations are connecting with messaging that resonates most with them. If your institution isn’t thinking about ways to learn more about your admitted and prospective students to personalize messaging, now’s the time.

Our persona-driven Eduventures Prospective Student Mindsets™ messaging has resulted in 25% more engagement for our partners.

With this persona-based marketing, institutions are able to better understand what students want most from their college experiences, allowing you to speak directly to their desired academic, career, and experiential outcomes to improve your engagement.

For a deeper look into this student messaging tactic, check out our Student Mindsets™ Action Plan.

Students Want To Be Active Participants in the Digital Space

Gen Alpha is known to be more collaborative than the more passively content-consuming Gen Z. These students engage more on social platforms and seek connections with colleges they have interest in – either through college reps, current students, or alumni. In addition, Gen Alpha students use gaming to interact and build connections with people and brands.

What Our Research Says

The Eduventures 2024 Student Sentiment Report uncovered just how college search is becoming more interactive. Gen Alpha is known to be more collaborative than Gen Z; this visual shows a more even consumption (when compared to 2022 findings) of web and video-based content as we approach this college-bound generation.

2024 research showed an increase in students who posted questions to current students and college representatives on social platforms, tweeted with a specific hashtag, or talked to a chatbot on a school’s website.

Examples

Non-Industry Inspiration

Sephora Beauty Insider is an example of how an interactive loyalty program platform can make users feel seen, ultimately directing them to specific products that feel personalized to their needs.

Industry Inspiration

California State University, Northridge, uses an AI chatbot named CSUNny that provides 24/7 support, along with the option for personal follow-up from someone from the university. 

Applying This at Your Institution

Finding ways to personalize your messaging to prospective students will set your institution apart. To do this, you need to understand who these students are and what they value, along with where they spend their time online. 

To appeal to incoming student populations, make interactions a two-way conversation whenever possible. Using AI can help institutions deliver personalized, relevant content in a timely manner. AI chatbots on your website can answer prospective students’ desires for quick, relevant information.

Furthermore, including interactive gamified elements in outreach – and even within the more tedious processes like application forms – can build brand connection.

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Speak Directly to Students’ Desired Outcomes with Prospective Student Mindsets™

Get the insight you need to make connections with students and drive engagement with Student Mindsets™, developed by our Eduventures® Research division and included in every Encoura student profile at no additional cost..

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Chapter 2

Promote Your Online, Hybrid, and Flexible Learning Programs

With Gen Alpha being true digital natives interested in general online and online-led gamified learning, it’s important to promote your flexible learning options to these generations.

For students who have an interest in attending community colleges, promoting general education courses and shorter path/certification programs that are online-led is vital in bringing awareness to these younger generations.

What We Know

Younger Generations Are Learning Online

Gen Z and Gen Alpha students have grown up in a digital world that included online learning at a young age, and many of these students still use online platforms to connect with their teachers, track and upload assignments, and more.

Additionally, these younger generations are using social media, like YouTube, to learn specific things relating to their hobbies, interests, etc. via “how-to” style content.

The Demand for Hybrid Learning Is Increasing

We’ll specifically cover this more below, but as Gen Alpha continues high school and starts to look at colleges, the demand for flexible learning options is something to watch.

What Our Research Says

The Eduventures 2024 Prospective Student Brand Research™ Report uncovered undergraduate modality expectations—and one in four traditional undergraduate prospects wants a mix of online and on-campus courses.

An overview of modality expectations.

Further data assessment from Eduventures indicates that while there’s an overall bachelor’s enrollment decline, online and hybrid options have grown post-pandemic.

Post-pandemic growth in online and hybrid options.

Examples

Industry Inspiration

University of the Pacific promoted its flexible learning options in the inquiry generation stage to promote its 100% online programming.

Evangel University also used 100% online specific messaging to promote its undergraduate degree in psychology.

Applying This at Your Institution

As your institution starts to think about messaging your online learning options, what better way to do so than with targeted digital strategies like website and search keyword retargeting.

These tactics allow your institution to send messages to prospects based on their web habits and interests, narrowing down your audience to those who are looking for online or hybrid courses.

Additionally, promoting flexible learning programs in the copy of your ads is an effective way to share targeted messages around certain programs (for both undergraduate and graduate programs).

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Identify Student Program Interest with Search Keyword Retargeting

Learn how your institution can reach prospective students who have searched for majors and other college-based activities

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Chapter 3

Focus on Online Community Building

As discussed in Trend 1, prospective students value collaboration. While actively engaging with prospective students on various social media platforms is key, focusing on relevant content and community building that entices conversion will help build the connection that these students seek.

What We Know

Interaction and Authenticity Are at the Core of Community-Building

When looking for a college, older Gen Z students and Gen Alpha want institutions that share their values. They want to see themselves fitting into the campus culture – and this starts in their early online interactions with the institution.

These prospective students gain brand awareness and show a preference for brands in which they feel connected, either through influencers, the brands’ interactions, or their (mostly) Millennial parents.

​​An expectation to interact, not just observe, paired with shorter attention spans are a mark of these incoming students. Online gaming and gamified learning are an essential part of Gen Alpha’s social life. As opposed to using gaming as an escape like previous generations, Gen Alpha uses it to build connections and interact with others.

What Our Research Says

The Eduventures 2024 Student Sentiment Report uncovered this young generation’s need for instant information with an entertainment spin.

In all facets of their lives, today’s prospective students are accustomed to quickly accessing relevant, bite-sized pieces of information. Today, this is done through use of generative AI, and also via personalized marketing and entertainment content, and the rapidly expanding consumption of short-form videos.”

Johanna Travato

Principal Analyst

Eduventures Research

Eduventures 2024 Student Sentiment Report also uncovered the frequency in which students want to hear about specific topics. While several of these rank closely, campus events rank highest while cost and financial aid rank lowest.

Eduventures 2024 Student Sentiment Report asked how often students wanted to hear about specific topics.

Examples

Industry Inspiration

Student-Driven Content

While student-driven content isn’t a new strategy, it should be a priority for your institution online. Social media channels like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube are being used as a search engine for students, and it’s no surprise that prospective students want to hear from current students.


College Generated Student Example: The University of Kansas asked current students, “What’s it like to be a Jayhawk?”

Student Generated “Influencer” Example: A student at USC highlights her first week at college, featuring the campus and more.

Social Media Pages and Content for Specific Audiences

The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), uses multiple channels for different audiences and topics, allowing students to quickly access information that is relevant, helping them see how they will fit into that community.

Read more about rising stars in college communication.

Parent Portal

When you’re thinking about building communities online, don’t forget about parents. Institutions like University of the Pacific have dedicated resources to keep parents informed on what’s next.

Applying This at Your Institution

Choosing a college is also choosing a community, and community-building should start well before orientation. Gen Alpha students are engaging on social platforms and seek connections with college reps and current students—work directly with influencers who can provide students with an authentic deep dive into your campus experience.

The more you are able to shift your online marketing from passively providing static information to more interactive forms of outreach and channels, the better chance you have of creating connections with your prospective students. Create engaging quizzes, polls, and interactive videos to foster student participation.

And don’t forget parents/guardians in your community-building. The Millennial parents of this generation are partners in their children’s college searches, and even more than Gen Z, Gen Alpha mirrors their parents’ brand preferences.

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Target Based on Interest with Affinity Audiences

By targeting an affinity audience—or those who have a strong interest in a topic—your institution can get prospective students to take action.

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Chapter 4

Ramp Up Your International Recruiting

Enrolling international students enhances an institution’s culture and holistic education for the full student body, sharing unique perspectives, knowledge, and skills among students to better the world.

While the COVID-19 pandemic likely shifted your institution’s international recruitment strategies, increasing international recruitment is a savvy strategy for institutions to continue to achieve their enrollment goals—especially as the college-aged population in the U.S. declines over the next decade.

What We Know

Be Strategic in Your International Recruitment

Understanding which countries to focus your recruitment on is key. Specifically, countries that have a growing middle class population, like India and Vietnam, may be more open and able to study internationally. Have you considered how your institution can start branching out its recruitment into these areas of the world?

Insights from World Data Lab, visually highlighted by Visual Capitalist, show the number of 2024 consumers around the world.

Messaging Should Be Different for International Students

After your institution determines which markets you want to recruit internationally, you’ll then need to solidify how you’ll recruit those students.

While today’s international students connect in similar ways to those in the U.S., there are important factors that they weigh more heavily in their college decisions–like rankings and innovation. To appeal to these motivations, consider how you can present your school as a center of innovation, research, and/or cultural exchange.

Additionally, evaluate how you can show off the prestige of your school with national rankings, alumni success stories, community employer connections, or other measures that assure international students that they would be making a worthwhile investment of their resources in your institution.

Another deciding factor for many international students is safety.

Eighty-three percent believe that extremism and global terrorism are the greatest threat to the future, so promoting campus safety would go a long way with this demographic."

Read more at nafsa.org

Broadcast media and social media viewed abroad can create unease among students considering studying in the U.S., so messages around how you provide a safe environment - physically and verbally - can have a big impact on college decisions.

Additionally, messages of diversity, inclusivity, and social impact are important to these students who want to know that they will be welcomed into a college where they can thrive and become difference makers in the world. Assure students they’ll belong by incorporating stories and videos of your previous or current international students.

Applying This at Your Institution

With your narrative solidified, let’s dive into digital tactics most effective for recruiting international students. Many digital trends are global today, and that includes social media presence and preferences.

Like students in the U.S., international students want quick, personalized, and visually engaging content from you on social media. Ads should also feature virtual fairs that showcase the unique experiences students have at your institution and your commitment to promoting positive change in the world.


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Chapter 5

Invest in Behavior-Driven Digital Marketing

As evident by the previous trends, incoming students expect personalization and fast access to relevant information. With behavior-driven digital solutions, your institution can stand out from the competition by reaching students at key times in their college search processes – in the places where they are already spending their digital time.

What We Know

Behavior-driven tactics like contextual retargeting will help your institution stay relevant and stand out online. With stricter privacy regulations and cookie depreciation limiting targeting on ads, this is one trend we see only becoming more vital over time.

What is contextual retargeting?

Put simply, contextual retargeting analyzes the content of the page a user is viewing and delivers an ad that aligns to that content. For example, if a prospective student is viewing an article about starting a business, an ad promoting your business school’s entrepreneurship program might show up on the next site they visit. 

Due to newer regulations such as Privacy Regulations & Cookie Deprecation (browser updates for third-party cookies), stricter privacy laws like CCPA, GDPR, and Apple’s IOS Privacy Changes limiting user tracking, contextual retargeting is more privacy-friendly because it mainly uses the content of the webpage, as opposed to personal user data.

What the Research Says

Eduventures’ 2024 Student Sentiment Research™ shows us that the institution website is consistently ranked as one of the top three sources of information in the early college search. But in addition to getting students to your site, it is increasingly important to quickly get them to pages relevant to their personal interests, values, and questions – which is where contextual retargeting can help.

Research also revealed that many students come across a school’s social media posts by chance, suggesting that targeted digital ads and tracking of key performance metrics can help increase visibility among student segments that did not intentionally search for your institution’s posts.

Examples

Industry Inspiration

Let’s say a prospective student reads articles on a particular topic, like traveling or fashion merchandising. Your ad will reach them based on the content of articles/pages visited show up on other sites.

This ad highlights travel abroad opportunities at Elmira, which could be enticing to a prospective student interested in traveling during college/reading about traveling.

This ad highlights the fashion merchandising program at Elmira, which could be enticing to a prospective student reading about fashion trends or other related content.

Applying This at Your Institution

Reaching Gen Z and Gen Alpha students where they are already spending their digital time is the most efficient strategy to engage and begin building brand awareness and connections. One of the most effective ways to do this, especially with the current privacy regulations mentioned above, is contextual retargeting.

Encoura’s Digital Solutions experts can help you develop a retargeting strategy to reach students with ads relevant to their interests and where they are in the funnel. These ads can then lead them to the corresponding areas of your website, lessening the chance of losing their interest.

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Chapter 6

Tips for Implementing Encoura Digital’s 2025 Trends

As we kick off 2025, these recommendations will help guide your marketing to be relevant to the older Gen Z and Gen Alpha prospective students. Ultimately, understanding and implementing these trends will provide your institution with an effective strategy to build awareness, increase enrollment, and prevent melt.

  • Trend 1: Make Experiences Hyper-Personalized and Collaborative

    Focus on making interactions a two-way conversation, using AI for personalized messages and conversations, and incorporating gamified interactions and experiences throughout the enrollment process.

  • Trend 2: Promote Your Online, Hybrid, and Flexible Learning Programs

    Incoming college-bound generations are already learning online, whether it be via their school-issued iPads or interest-driven social media searches. Research indicates that interest in hybrid and online learning options are increasing post-pandemic, so considering messaging around flexible learning options is vital.

  • Trend 3: Focus on Online Community Building

    Community-building tactics like influencer marketing, interactive videos, and parent-specific groups and content provide prospective students with the authenticity and connections they desire.

  • Trend 4: Ramp Up Your International Recruiting

    Be strategic in the areas your institution is recruiting in and understand where college-bound populations are growing. Tailor your messaging differently, focusing on rankings, safety, etc.

  • Trends 5: Invest in Behavior-Driven Digital Marketing

    As more privacy regulations enter the digital marketing space, behavior-driven strategies like contextual advertising can help your institution reach students where they are and speak to their specific interests.

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Stay Ahead of Your Competition

Encoura's Digital Solutions team can help you plan a strategic digital marketing strategy that reaches students when it matters most—and integrates within your current marketing mix. Reach out to us below to get the conversation started.

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