Higher education marketers are busy, so finding the time to keep up with the latest industry developments can be challenging.
Have you missed an important update to a key tool? Is there a high-performing tactic, channel, or platform you’re not currently using? How are external trends and events going to affect your broader marketing strategy?
Figuring that stuff out can be challenging.
Fortunately, plenty of smart folks can provide the answers: higher education thought leaders who regularly post about what’s happening in the industry (and what it means for people like you). Here are 18 higher education marketers you should start following right now.
1. Mallory Willsea
Who is she?
Mallory is chief strategist and producer at Enrollify, a platform packed with top-tier higher ed content (including articles, videos, podcasts, and newsletters).
Where can you find her?
Mallory hosts Enrollify’s Higher Ed Pulse podcast, a weekly spotlight on higher education marketing and enrollment. You can also follow her on LinkedIn and X/Twitter.
Why should you follow her?
Higher ed content is Mallory’s whole deal, so you won’t be surprised to learn that she posts a ton of high-value thought leadership — including plenty of original research:
She also regularly uses LinkedIn to post polls, which offer some handy insights into how your higher ed peers feel about pressing issues like AI in marketing:
Plus, she teases upcoming podcast episodes, so you can look out for any guests or topics that sound especially relevant or interesting to your role.
2. Tina Miller
Who is she?
Tina is the Executive Director of Creative x Communications for Technology at Arizona State University, the school’s enterprise technology unit.
Where can you find her?
Check her out on LinkedIn.
Why should you follow her?
Tina’s blend of marketing and tech skills, plus her status as a confessed AI enthusiast, gives her a unique insight into using artificial intelligence in higher ed marketing.
Follow Tina for her thoughts on this increasingly crucial topic, including valuable resources on how to get started with AI adoption:
Like many of the other higher education marketers in our roundup, Tina attends many events and conferences. She also takes the time to share what she has learned from each, which is super helpful if you didn’t get to attend yourself.
3. Jason Gulya
Who is he?
As well as being a professor of English at Berkeley College, he chairs the college’s AI Academic Integrity Committee and is a member of its AI Task Force. He’s also an AI consultant, keynote speaker, and mentor for the AI Institute at the American Association of Colleges and Universities. Oh, and he’s a part-time lecturer on ChatGPT for Professionals at Union College.
How does he find time to fit it all in?
Where can you find him?
As well as being a big deal on LinkedIn (with 30,000+ followers), Jason authors the AI Edventure Newsletter.
Why should you follow him?
Jason is a well-known thought leader on AI in higher education, so his opinion is worth listening to.
He’s not just another fanboy talking endlessly about the good bits of AI — he also acknowledges the challenges it presents:
And the better you understand those challenges, the easier it is to prepare your response.
4. Brandon Busteed
Who is he?
Brandon is CEO of educational courses company BrandEd Holdings and was formerly Kaplan’s chief partnership officer and global head of learn-work innovation.
Where can you find him?
Follow Brandon on X/Twitter and LinkedIn.
Why should you follow him?
Brandon is part of LinkedIn’s Top Voices program — an invitation-only group of experts across the professional world. So LinkedIn clearly thinks he’s worth listening to (and so do we).
He posts many of his thoughts on the future of higher ed.
He also shares plenty of interesting, relevant content from other thought leaders and is never shy about offering his take on the material he reposts.
5. Nathan Monk
Who is he?
Nathan Monk is co-founder of SMILE, a digital agency specializing in higher ed.
Where can you find him?
On LinkedIn.
Why should you follow him?
Nathan posts a lot of content about university prospectuses, which are a key tool for reaching and engaging new students and encouraging them to choose your institution over the competition.
So, if your role is related to targeting prospective students, Nathan is definitely worth following.
6. Ashley Budd
Who is she?
Ashley is a nonprofit consultant and full-time marketing director at Cornell University. She also co-authored the book Mailed It!, a guide to building relationships and generating results through email marketing.
Where can you find her?
Find Ashley on her website or follow her on LinkedIn.
Why should you follow her?
Email is one of the most impactful marketing channels, and Ashely provides extensive guidance on using it effectively.
Whether you’re just starting with email marketing or looking to level up your existing email strategy, you’ll learn something by following her.
7. Dayana Kibilds
Who is she?
Dayana is a vice president at Ologie, a higher education-focused marketing and branding agency that helps colleges, universities, and schools build their reputations, recruit new students, and attract philanthropic support. She also co-authored Mailed It! with Ashley Budd.
Where can you find her?
Check out Dayana’s website or follow her on LinkedIn.
Why should you follow her?
For starters, Dayana is fun to follow.
Beyond that, she posts valuable best practices, especially on creating fantastic, high-converting email content.
Oh, and she shares some super helpful free marketing tools, too:
8. Paul Redfern
Who is he?
Paul is VP for university communications and institutional strategy at New York’s St Lawrence University. He’s also president of CUPRAP, a professional community committed to advancing higher education marketing and communications.
Where can you find him?
Find him on LinkedIn.
Why should you follow him?
Paul posts about various issues relevant to higher education marketing, from supporting hybrid and remote workforces to handling crisis communications.
Plus, he’s great at finding (and sharing) content from a wealth of other sources. It’s like having your own higher ed-themed RSS feed!
9. Pete Mackey
Who is he?
Pete is a strategic communications consultant who helps colleges, universities, and other nonprofits to reach and inspire their audiences. Before going it alone, he held senior comms roles at Amherst College and Bucknell University.
(The eagle-eyed among you will also have spotted him getting name-checked by Paul Redfern above.)
Where can you find him?
Visit the Mackey Strategies website or follow Pete on LinkedIn.
Why should you follow him?
As a bona fide higher ed comms expert, Pete is well worth listening to when it comes to topics like improving your communications strategy and embracing diversity.
10. Shane Baglini
Who is he?
Shane is the senior director of marketing at Muhlenberg College and a CUPRAP board member. He also hosts Enrollify’s Breaking Silos podcast, which showcases the work of marketers and their colleagues from different departments across campuses.
Where can you find him?
Besides checking out his podcast, you can visit Shane’s website and follow him on LinkedIn.
Why should you follow him?
As you can likely guess from the name of his podcast, Shane hates silos — and he (and his podcast guests) share plenty of valuable advice on how to break them down.
He also shares hands-on learnings from his day job at Muhlenberg College, such as how his team leverages generative AI tools to scale their efforts in targeting prospective students.
11. Carrie Phillips
Who is she?
Carrie Phillips is the chief communications and marketing officer at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and the former director of university marketing and communication at Arkansas Tech University. She has worked in higher education marketing for more than 15 years.
Where can you find her?
Carrie is active on LinkedIn, posting at least a couple of times a week on average.
Why should you follow her?
We love how Carrie shares best practices on topics like content ideation and how to get the best out of marketing conferences:
Her advice tends to be concise and practical, which isn’t always the case on LinkedIn! She also shares thought-provoking content on topics and trends beyond the immediate world of higher education, such as the marketing lessons from the Barbie movie launch.
12. Josie Ahlquist
Who is she?
Josie is a higher education digital leadership consultant who spent 12 years working on college campuses before branching out independently. She wrote the book Digital Leadership in Higher Education: Purposeful Social Media in a Connected World, which was listed as an Amazon #1 new release for college and university student life.
Where can you find her?
Everywhere! Josie has a website, a YouTube channel, and Instagram, Facebook, and X/Twitter accounts. However, her biggest platform is LinkedIn, where she has amassed around 160,000 followers.
Why should you follow her?
Josie frequently shares polls on LinkedIn. Given her substantial following, these are helpful ways for higher education marketers to gauge the industry’s pulse and understand what their peers are thinking.
Of course, she also links to plenty of her content. Best of all, if you don’t have time to read a full blog post, Josie always includes some of the key learnings within the post itself:
That way, you can pick up valuable takeaways without leaving your LinkedIn news feed.
13. Liz Gross
Who is she?
Liz is the founder and CEO of Campus Sonar, a social listening agency Campus Sonar, having previously held various insight and strategy roles at the Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation and Affiliates and was the director of university marketing and communications at the University of Wisconsin–Madison at Waukesha.
Where can you find her?
You can find Liz on LinkedIn.
Why should you follow her?
As CEO, Liz attends many higher education-focused conferences and regularly shares key takeaways with her audience on LinkedIn.
Liz raises many questions with her followers. It’s always worth checking the replies to discover what other people in your field think about common issues and challenges.
14. Jenny Li Fowler
Who is she?
Jenny is the director of social media strategy at MIT. She was previously the web editor and social media manager at Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She is also the author of Organic Social Media: How to Build Flourishing Online Communities.
Where can you find her?
Jenny is on LinkedIn but is more active on X/Twitter.
Why should you follow her?
As an old hand when it comes to higher ed social media, Jenny has a wealth of valuable insights about how best to reach and engage your target audience through social platforms:
In all the years I’ve been working in #HESM I’ve never once recommended a social media platform solely to reach current students.
— Jenny Li Fowler (@TheJennyLi) July 19, 2023
She also posts relatable and motivational content, which you’ll appreciate when you’re not feeling your best!
Some days, I think my work is SO good 🤌. Others, I think it’s all 💩. It’s all part of the process.
— Jenny Li Fowler (@TheJennyLi) May 18, 2023
15. Ryan Morabito
Who is he?
Ryan is a brand marketing expert with over two decades of higher education experience. He’s worked with more than 125 colleges and universities, helping them develop and implement various branding and marketing-related initiatives.
Where can you find him?
Connect with (or follow) Ryan on LinkedIn, where he’s built a network of 11,000+ followers.
Why should you follow him?
The first thing you need to know about Ryan is that every one of his posts starts with the sentence: “I’m going to tell you another truth about higher ed marketing.”
Some of his “truths” are thought-provoking; some will give you a new perspective on common higher ed marketing goals and challenges; others are just interesting. And they’re always succinct, making his content enjoyable to engage with.
16. Bart Caylor
Who is he?
Bart is the president and founder of Caylor Solutions, a marketing consultancy focused on higher education. He also co-hosts the Higher Ed Marketer Podcast.
Where can you find him?
Besides the podcast above, you can find Bart on LinkedIn and X/Twitter.
Why should you follow him?
Bart emphasizes straightforward, practical advice on specific marketing challenges, such as using Instagram Reels or improving email marketing.
And as a podcaster, he speaks to a bunch of guests from around the world of higher education, and he shares some of their top insights through video and text posts:
Even if you don’t have time to listen to an entire podcast or dig into a video, you can still pick up some practical, bite-sized takeaways from his LinkedIn content, packed with easily digestible, bullet-pointed tips and tricks.
17. Brian Piper
Who is he?
Brian is the director of content strategy and assessment at the University of Rochester. He co-authored the book Epic Content Marketing alongside Joe Pulizzi, founder of the Content Marketing Institute.
Where can you find him?
Brian has a website where he blogs about content strategy and creation, focusing on using data to enhance your marketing. Social media-wise, he’s most prolific on LinkedIn.
Why should you follow him?
As a serial podcast guest and blogger, Brian is a one-person content curation machine for any higher ed marketer:
So, if you’re looking for a constant stream of new articles and podcast recommendations, he’s well worth a follow.
18. Teresa Valerio Parrot
Who is she?
Teresa began her professional marketing career in higher education two decades ago at the Office of the President at the University of Colorado System. Since then, she has founded TVP Communications, a public relations agency focused on issues specific to higher education. She co-chairs the American Marketing Association’s Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education and also co-edits the marketing and communications blog for Inside Higher Education, Call to Action.
Where can you find her?
Teresa hosts the Trusted Voices podcast and shares her thoughts on all things higher education on LinkedIn, Bluesky, and Threads.
Why should you follow her?
Unsurprisingly for the head of a PR agency, Teresa loves conversation; she’s always asking her audience about their challenges and goals (and wading in with her own opinions, too):
Her LinkedIn is also a treasure trove of thought-provoking content about planning and leadership:
19. Jaime Hunt
Who is she?
Jaime is vice president for university communications and chief marketing officer at Old Dominion University in Virginia and previously held similar roles at Miami University and Winston-Salem State University.
Where can you find her?
Find Jaime on her website and podcast, Confessions of a Higher Ed CMO. Or follow her on LinkedIn.
Why should you follow her?
Whereas most of the higher ed marketers in this article are all about short, punchy content, Jaime is a big fan of long-form posts:
This approach helps you get a deeper insight into her thoughts on higher ed marketing.
As a podcast host, Jaime regularly shares takeaways from conversations with her guests, covering everything from branding and culture to measuring the effectiveness of your strategic enrollment planning.
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Featured image by Freepik.
