Hi there,
The root of higher ed’s public trust problem is a generational shift from institutional to peer influence. No tagline or marketing campaign will fix it. Deeply understanding, amplifying, and engaging with peer-to-peer conversations that hold high value for consumers is the key to rebuilding trust and should be at the center of institutional, marketing, and enrollment strategy.
Public trust in higher education (now at historic lows in the United States) has declined since 2008. At the same time, online word-of-mouth and peer influence via social media increased and most of a generation felt economically unstable since graduation as inflation outpaced wage growth. People talked to each other, online, about college and heard narratives of high prices, tough job markets, and student loan debt.
Too many colleges weren’t listening in the places consumers were. Instead, colleges doubled down on telling consumers what was good for them with statistics, op-eds, defenses of the liberal arts, or flashy marketing campaigns. Regular people, meanwhile, remained confused and defensive about the role of education in their lives. They didn’t feel their concerns were heard by institutions. People like them—often strangers on the internet—continued to shape perception well outside the purview of campus leaders. In places like Reddit.
Most college presidents don’t know about Reddit. Unsurprising, since adults under 30 are 3–10 times more likely to use Reddit than those over 50. It’s the internet’s conversation hub, attracting 56 million daily users. Over 130,000 subreddits host discussions on every niche topic imaginable, including hundreds of thousands of conversations about colleges. In one year, the 50 colleges included in our industry trends research were discussed on 177 subreddits.
Reddit is one of many places online where prospective students of all ages are actively asking for information about college and careers, and alumni are responding—telling your campus and higher ed’s outcomes story without the trappings of highly-produced marketing materials. There are three pieces of alumni content created by your audience for every piece your campus produces. Most of you aren’t seeing it or its impact on your perception within your target audiences.
You should capture value from alumni conversation, no matter the size of your institution (in fact, the smaller your student body, the more likely you’ll have positive earned alumni conversations).
- Amplify unprompted stories from your audience that convey positive education outcomes in authentic formats
- Cultivate positive feedback loops with audience-centric marketing that prompts conversation
- Say more by engaging with and reflecting the words of your audience, while creating less marketing content
Listening more and talking less is key to building trust. An audience-centric strategy rooted in social listening and supported by industry expertise can transform the perception of an institution, and how students, alumni, and employers tell the story in highly influential, informal channels. As the audience shifts, so will your strategy (so you don’t fall behind yet again)—if you’re using what you learn to continually evolve.
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