Awareness ≠ impact
A college once spent 60% of its marketing budget placing ads during a high-profile basketball game that aired on ESPN (a paid cable channel). It was a bold move with expensive airtime, and a big audience. When asked about the decision, the Marketing Director explained, “The President wants to see our college when he’s watching the game.”
Here’s the problem: while the ad looked impressive, it didn’t do much to reach actual students because what students are paying for cable TV? It wasn’t targeted. It didn’t drive action. And later on, when enrollment didn’t move and no one could point to a clear impact for the money spent, the college leadership started questioning the value of marketing altogether and the budget got slashed. Uff da.
That story captures a pattern I see all the time. Colleges want to make smarter marketing investments, but they often start in the wrong place. The RFP says “brand awareness,” and the conversation jumps straight to tactics. “We need more advertising like billboards, radio spots, our college logo on the menu of the local sub shop, etc. etc. etc.” Or we are doing things for the wrong reasons all together – using budget for activities that don’t have the impact we want.
But instead of asking how do we get more awareness or do more, the better question is:
What are you actually trying to change?
In my last blog post, I broke down the three conditions community college marketing needs to succeed. This post picks up from there and shows how your strategy should work across three distinct but connected lenses:
- Reputation: People need to trust you
- Visibility: They need to be able to find you or see you where they show up.
- Conversion: They need to be able to act without friction (or at least, less friction)
These are the strategy lenses that should guide your marketing efforts and help you build a plan, whether you’re promoting the college, a specific program, or a new technology or process. When you know which area needs attention, you can focus your efforts and make smarter, more targeted changes to your tactics.
Understanding the Three Lenses
Reputation
Are you trusted? Consistent? Do you have leverage?
- This phase is shaped by both what you say and what others say about your college. The goal is to close the gap between what you say and what people experience.
- Community colleges often start at a disadvantage due to persistent #ccstigma—not from a neutral baseline, but from a perceived deficit.
- Building reputation takes time and consistency—think of it like Brené Brown’s “marble jar” story:
- Each consistent action or follow-through = one marble added (trust built).
- Each disconnect between message and reality = one marble removed (trust lost).
- Trust builds slowly when there’s alignment between mission, messaging, and real outcomes, not just words.
- A strong, consistent reputation becomes your leverage, making it harder for others to challenge or undermine your credibility.
Examples:
- An employer comes to your college workforce Dean after hearing from another employer at their workforce development meeting that they hired a community college graduate and had a great experience.
- Anthony goes on reddit to find out a little bit more about your college. He sees someone commenting about how someone in financial aid helped them seamlessly through the process. The students loved their professors and were able to get a job.
- A state is trying to pass a bill to allow community colleges to offer baccalaureate degrees. Legislators are concerned that passing this bill will increase property taxes. When reviewing the property tax levies over the last 5 years, community colleges did not increase property tax levies, meaning there is no evidence to support this claim.
Reputation channels often include: News articles, Op-Eds, letters to the editor, word of mouth, partnerships, community events, social media channels, social media ambassadors, review sites (Niche, Google), reddit, media relations, events, roundtables, speaking events, newsletters
Check out these other ways to measure & solidify your reputation:
Visibility
Are the right people finding you and are you giving them the right information?
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- People may know your college exists—but do they know what opportunities you offer?
- In this stage, show up in places where your audience spends time and give them useful information that helps make the decision.
- Many colleges think they have an awareness problem, but they really have an access problem. If it’s hard to find the information students want, they’ll stop looking. If people can’t find the information they need to make a decision, you will likely lose them at this stage. If you’re not visible in the channels your audience uses, they won’t discover you at all.
- “Apply now” isn’t enough in this stage, (although it is a part of it) you need low-barrier offers (like info sessions, career quizzes, or text follow-ups) to invite engagement.
Examples:
- Michael googles “energy programs” and is served an ad for your college’s energy program. When he visits the program landing page, he sees the page promises that 100% of graduates were placed in a job. He clicks apply now and starts the application process.
- Alana attends the vocal jazz festival with her high school choir at her local community college, the students there give a tour and talk about the music program, when she graduates, she decides to go to college. (Yes, this is a small part of my community college story!)
Visibility Channels often include: paid advertising (digital, traditional, out of home), website/landing page, social media, influencer marketing, email marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), blog/content, events, print: flyers, posters, stickers, brochures
Visibility Signals:
Social Media: Followers, Views, Impressions, shares, profile visits; Website: pageviews, unique visitors, traffic source, branded search volume, search engine result page; Advertising: impressions, reach, frequency; Email/CRM: Open Rate, List Growth, Response; Community: Local mentions (in newsletters, school boards, radio, etc.), physical touchpoints (booth, flyers, posters, billboards)
Conversion
Are people doing what you want them to do? Are you making it easy for them to act?
- Conversion is about designing an experience with clear next steps, timely follow-ups, and human support.
- Confusing portals, broken links, or multi-step forms create silent barriers to conversion.
- If people want to enroll but can’t easily follow through or take the next steps, your efforts in building your reputation and visibility are leaking at the finish line.
Examples:
- Fernando begins an application to the college, but gets interrupted when he has to head to work. One day later, he receives an email from the college to pick up his application, to come in for an application workshop, or to make an appointment with a student ambassador who can work through the application with him via virtual appointment.
- Mona is having trouble with your application, but sees that the college is offering a half day application, financial aid, and enrollment workshop – she makes adjustments in her schedule to attend and is able to finalize her application and enroll in classes the following week.
- Jeremy doesn’t know if going back to school is right for him, he reached out to your workforce dean to find out more about the manufacturing program. The Dean offers 3 ways to engage – to meet with a faculty member, to watch a few videos of other students in the programs and an overview of the program, and a few alumni who graduated from the program to contact.
- Raquel has been thinking about school for a while. She had visited the college landing page from a video ad she saw on instagram and submitted her contact information, but missed the summer session to start classes. Before the fall, she receives a phone call inviting her to apply or meet with a student ambassador, schedules a meeting and applies within 24 hours.
Conversion channels often include a combination of: email marketing, submission forms, events, landing page/website, email opt-in, application, registration, college visit, phone calls
Conversion Signals:
Clicks + click thru rate, form submits (via intake form), applications started, applications completed, event RSVPs, event attendees, survey respondents, counseling/tutoring/testing/advising appointments set, enrollments, students registered, financial aid completions, job placement, votes, campus visits, campus phone calls
Diagnosis → Decisions → Impact
When you put on each lens for your college: reputation, visibility, conversion, which one feels blurry? That’s where your efforts need more attention, more thought, and a clearer view, so you can choose tactics that support the college’s goals.
A clear lens gives you a roadmap, guides your budget, and helps you make the case for the impact of marketing efforts. It helps your team move beyond vague goals and scattered tactics, and start seeing marketing as a strategic tool for connection, access, and trust.
When this clarity reaches students, that’s the moment everything shifts. That’s what clear, aligned marketing can do. It helps students finally see what’s possible and feel confident taking that first step.
It’s like that moment Amy Poehler described on her podcast “Good Hang”, when a baby gets glasses or a hearing aid and suddenly sees or hears their parent clearly for the first time. It’s joyful, grounding, and life-changing. Just look at how excited Amy is here:
When your college sees clearly, your students can too.
Count me in for more babies getting glasses and hearing aids and more of this ☝️