When higher education institutions come to us for marketing support, digital advertising is almost always the first thing on their minds—and for good reason. Digital marketing plays a crucial role in boosting awareness, engaging segmented audiences, and driving enrollment in the higher ed market. Tactics like display ads, SEO, content development, email campaigns, and website optimization are all key components of a strong higher ed digital strategy.
But here’s what often gets overlooked: while digital marketing is measurable and effective, it works best when paired with high-quality creative. Good creative—whether it’s compelling brand messaging, eye-catching design, or emotionally resonant video—has the power to make a lasting impression and inspire real action. And the best part? Investing in strong creative doesn’t just strengthen brand promise and enhance brand perception; it also fuels your digital efforts, giving you versatile content that can be repurposed across multiple channels.
Before we dive into how creative can elevate your digital marketing strategy, let’s take a closer look at why it’s worth the investment.
Why Good Creative Matters
When we talk about “creative,” we mean the full spectrum—branding, video production, social media assets, website design, and beyond. Strong creative serves as the foundation for all successful marketing efforts, whether it’s a refreshed brand identity, an engaging video campaign, or a visually dynamic digital ad. Let’s explore how good creative drives real results for higher education institutions.
- Differentiating from Competitors. With so many institutions offering similar programs, creative content helps your institution stand out. Whether that’s through a unique visual style, engaging messaging, or innovative campaigns, strong creative makes your university memorable to prospective students.
- Capturing Attention. In today’s world, attention spans are short, and competition for those precious seconds are fierce. Engaging visuals, compelling storytelling, and fresh formats are essential for cutting through the noise and grabbing the attention of students scrolling social media or browsing search results.
- Building Emotional Connection. Great creative does more than inform—it connects. By using powerful storytelling and relatable themes, you can make prospective students feel something, whether it’s excitement, curiosity, or a sense of belonging. When students feel emotionally drawn to your brand, they’re more likely to consider your institution as their future home.
- Demonstrating Brand Personality. Your brand is more than a logo or tagline—it is a promise. Creative content lets you showcase not just the numbers, but also your institution’s personality, values, and unique culture. By doing so, you’ll attract students who align with your ethos and are more likely to thrive in your environment.
- Improving Engagement. Interactive content, striking visuals, and compelling narratives are the secret to increasing engagement with prospective students. When content resonates, students are more likely to dive deeper into your digital presence—whether that’s watching a video, reading a blog, or exploring your website for more information.
- Increasing Conversion Rates. All the engagement in the world won’t matter if it doesn’t lead to action. Creative marketing helps convert interest into real-world results—like applications or campus visits—by presenting information in a captivating, easy-to-digest way.
- Tailoring Messaging. Creative content allows you to personalize your messaging, whether you’re speaking to a specific audience segment—like first-generation students, out-of-state applicants, or adult learners—or promoting a particular program. By understanding the needs and desires of each student segment, you can craft content that speaks directly to their motivations, barriers, and goals.
How Creative Fuels Your Digital Strategy
Once you’ve invested in high-quality creative, it doesn’t stop at a single ad or campaign. The beauty of strong creative is its versatility—it can be repurposed across various digital platforms to reinforce your messaging and extend its reach. Creative assets like videos, social media graphics, and banner ads can be adapted into multiple formats, from paid ads and organic posts to email campaigns and website content.
This multi-channel approach maximizes the ROI of your creative investment and ensures a consistent brand experience, which is crucial for maintaining trust and engagement with prospective students.
Let’s take a look at some of the creative assets we’ve developed this year for our higher education clients, and how they leveraged those assets across various digital marketing platforms.
MCCS: I Chose a Maine Community College
Repurposing Creative Across Multiple Digital Channels
Repurposing creative this way ensures that the content keeps working for you. Here’s how these videos were used in various formats:
Display Ads
Our videos and visuals were resized and adapted into display ads, running across various websites to drive awareness and traffic to the MCCS website.
Social Media
The same creative assets were adapted into multiple promoted social media posts and ads to keep the audience engaged and encourage sharing.
Broadcast Media
Our videos were adapted for broadcast TV, and the spots aired on major broadcast channels and Hulu, extending reach to both traditional TV audiences and digital streamers.
Bottomline: Maximize Your Marketing Investment with Strong Creative
In the competitive world of higher education marketing, creative content isn’t just a “nice-to-have”—it’s a game-changer. Investing in high-quality creative allows your institution to stand out, build deeper connections with prospective students, and ensure your messaging resonates across multiple platforms. From engaging videos to eye-catching social media posts, the ability to repurpose creative assets amplifies your reach and maximizes ROI, giving your marketing efforts staying power.
By embracing creative flexibility and strategic repurposing, you can create a cohesive, consistent brand experience that speaks to students wherever they are. So, whether you’re launching a new campaign or refreshing your current approach, remember: strong creative isn’t just an investment in content—it’s an investment in the future success of your institution.Interested in chatting with our team to learn how this could work for you? Get in touch so we can get creative and drive results together.
About VONT Performance Digital Marketing
At VONT, we believe that change is the only constant in the digital world—and that excites us. When tools and environments are constantly changing, new opportunities to help our clients achieve success are constantly arising. Each new advertising technology, social platform, or design approach allows us to improve on the results we achieve for our clients.
We believe in the idea of continual fine-tuning so much that we named our company VONT, which means to achieve exponential improvement in incremental steps. It is our core belief, and the reason why we are not simply a web design company or simply a digital advertising agency, but rather a long-term, single-source partner providing a comprehensive array of web development and digital marketing capabilities.
