Meeting Graduate School Intenders Where They Are
By Ed Flaherty and Meryl McDonough
2020 has brought tidal-wave-sized shifts to higher education. While virtual events, test-optional policies, and COVID closures have dominated the admissions workday, a new player has quietly entered the graduate school arena—the first wave of Generation Z students.
That’s right: The eldest Gen Z students are now about 23 years old, and they’re making their way into the workforce and graduate programs. The question is: Are your graduate marketing efforts primed to reach this new breed of prospective students?
Gen Z: What We Know
You’ve heard about them. You’ve likely done your own research on them (and if not, there are countless resources available if you need to get up to speed). In fact, our 2020 Graduate School Intenders Survey found that:
- Email and text messages are their preferred direct channels of communication
- Most of these students spend more than three hours a day on social media
- Google is the most used resource in their search for graduate programs
Cultivating Leads
As our survey confirmed, Gen Z is a “just-Google-it” generation who will never know the pain of scouring a library full of encyclopedias to find an answer, waiting on a dial-up connection, or the primitive experience of an “AOL keyword search.”
To reach this audience where they are, it’s crucial to run digital media campaigns that use Google Search Ads (formerly AdWords) paired with an engaging landing page. Google Ads allow you to deliver content that directly relates to what these students are searching for. For example, an ad for your Master of Business Administration program can be there when a prospective student searches Google for the “best MBA program.” Similarly, you can deliver an ad for your Master’s of Education program to those searching for answers to questions like “How do I become a teacher?”
Appearing at the top of their search with a succinct, engaging value proposition can earn you clicks and new leads from those eager to learn more about your program. Plus, our team of digital marketing experts can help you get the most out of each Google Ads campaign by continuously optimizing your ads and their paired landing pages.

Lead-Nurture Tactics
Once you pull these students into your funnel, you’ll need to deliver a steady stream of relevant messaging in order to keep them engaged, and ultimately, drive them to apply and enroll. Spark451 has been perfecting outreach methods to Gen Z for years with great success. We’ve built key strategies that meet this generation where they are — online and mobile. Our secret recipe for success isn’t all that secretive:
- Hyper-personalized, segmented, and captivating e-communications
- Robust, personalized text messaging
- An extensive digital media strategy implemented across targeted social platforms
Each of these “ingredients” is, of course, created with mobile-friendly design and accessibility in mind.
Get Ready for GenZ
Now is the time to make sure your recruitment efforts are optimized to reach the latest generation of grad students, and the experts at Spark451 can help you do just that. We’d love to discuss your institution’s specific challenges and help you determine which strategies and tactics will best prepare you for your next cycle. Reach out so we can get started.
Supplement Your Search and Fill Your Next Class
By Meryl McDonough and Sarah Vicare
2020 has been a challenging year for admissions—there is no getting around that. With a shortage of names typically available during this time, lack of in-person visits, and limited financial resources, there is no longer any such thing as a “traditional” senior search—at least for the short term.
At Spark451, we pride ourselves on being able to adapt to change and pivot to strategies that will help drive in a strong incoming class. That’s why we’re such strong believers in deadline-driven marketing, especially in this unique cycle. Here, we’ll explain some of the reasoning behind that philosophy, and highlight a specialized tactic that could help ensure you finish your Fall 2021 recruitment strong.
Why Timely Marketing is Critical
In this digital age, consumers are under constant pressure to buy something new or inquire about a new product or service. But, have you ever wondered why companies with deadline-driven campaigns, such as Amazon’s Prime Days, are so successful?
Marketing campaigns that emphasize deadlines compel consumers to take immediate action because they tap into our innate fear of missing out. This sense of urgency can be easily replicated in the higher education landscape.
Take, for example, a recent Spark451 partner case study: A small, private, liberal arts college in suburban Pennsylvania came to us looking for a strong winter push for Fall 2020 applications. We quickly launched our Supplemental Senior Search Program, which features a personalized letter and tip-in card, delivered in a branded envelope, as well as an accompanying e-communications nurture stream. Because all of the messaging prominently promoted an application deadline that was set for just a few weeks after we launched (and we tied in some special incentives), students immediately took action. In just a few short weeks, the effort provided a 27% lift in applications.

Why Supplemental Senior Search? (Hint: Strong ROI!)
At this point, your team has likely just finished launching your initial Senior Search campaign, and you’re starting to see your efforts roll in, so you’re probably wondering why you should even consider a Supplemental Senior Search. The short answer: Because now is the time to make sure all your bases are covered to ensure a successful year.
Supplemental Senior Search is a proven tactic for eliciting additional applications from those in your search pool who are actively engaging with your institution, or who have a high likelihood to apply.
At Spark451, we have conducted many successful Supplemental Senior Search campaigns— both for longstanding partnering institutions as well as new-to-us schools that have needed a late-stage push to increase their incoming classes. In fact, we’ve observed that students who receive these Supplemental Senior Search packages are twice as likely to submit an application than those who don’t receive the mailings.

Achieve Your Goals
With so many uncertainties in how this year’s class will shape up, we recommend planning for a Supplemental Senior Search early on in the cycle (now), so you’ll be poised to deploy this additional effort in the late fall or early winter months. Given the current recruitment landscape, you can feel fairly certain that you will benefit from having these additional touchpoints to help ensure you can hit your recruitment goals for the year.
Let us help you get there. Reach out when you’re ready to discuss specific strategies for your own Supplemental Senior Search.
Boosting Applications and Fostering A Healthy Grad Student Pipeline
A couple of years ago, in an environment where MBA applications were generally down, one of our Ivy League institutional partners developed a unique advance-application program to shore up its MBA student pipeline. The initiative allows talented undergraduate students to apply for and gain advance admission to the institution’s prestigious MBA program.
By the time this school partnered with Spark451 in the summer of 2019, the institution had only just begun promoting the unique opportunity through a somewhat bare-bones email marketing effort. While the initial campaign was reasonably successful, the school’s administrators were ready to amp up their efforts and help the program reach its full potential.
Effective Solutions
To help our partner raise awareness of the program among qualified undergraduate students, and drive them to apply, Spark451 developed a combination of digital communications, including:
- A robust series of search emails
- Facebook and Instagram ad creative for a digital lead-generation campaign
- A dedicated inquiry-capture landing page
- A downloadable fact sheet (which the school ultimately used as a printed handout as well!)
- An informational marketing video
- A compelling series of prospect nurture emails
While adhering to the school’s larger brand, these materials built upon and expanded an existing marketing framework and helped refine key messages about the program’s unique benefits. In select instances, the materials were delivered by third parties as needed. For example, the emails were built and deployed from the school’s existing CRM, and the digital media ads were launched by the institution’s existing digital advertising partner agency. Regardless of how the materials were delivered, Spark451 ensured that the messaging and look was unified and suited for the niche audience.

Impressive Results
Ultimately, the program’s administrators reported the following results for the 2020 cohort:
- A 64% year-over-year increase in started applications
- A 76% year-over-year increase in submitted applications
Let's Connect
We’d love to help you achieve similar results. Reach out when you’re ready to discuss strategies and tactics to support your own enrollment goals.
The Votes Are In: Innovation451 Competition Winner is a Data Lake Platform for Data Governance, Analytics and Predictive Modeling
Innovation has always been an intrinsic part of the culture here at Spark451, but this year, we took it even further with the launch of our new company-wide initiative, Innovation451.
Starting this spring, Spark451 Principal Steve Kerge challenged all employees to come together to identify big needs, propose revolutionary solutions, and ultimately, select which ideas to develop and implement.
Meeting(s) of the Minds
While we were all still working remotely during the COVID-19 shutdowns, Sparklers from every discipline and department got together for virtual brainstorming sessions, during which all participants were encouraged to share their ideas. The only rule—that there were no rules!
After we generated a lengthy list of ideas for potential products, technological tools, and infrastructural improvements, participants voted to select four ideas to pursue further. Once the finalists were selected, the individuals who had proposed the ideas were each allowed to recruit two other employees to help them flesh out their ideas and prepare presentations to “sell” their ideas to the entire company. (Think “Shark Tank,” or as some of us came to call it, “Spark Tank!”)
Following the presentations this summer, the entire company was asked to rate each idea according to the following metrics:
- Spark451 integration (how it aligned with our culture and mission)
- Higher-education integration (how well does it solve a problem in our industry?)
- Attainability
- Stability
- Usability
- Marketability
The Winning Idea
Ultimately, the winning idea was to overhaul how we store and manage data—to move from a warehouse architecture to a data lake. As John Bellina, Director of Digital Services; Ed Flaherty, Client Development Strategist; and Saish Patkar, Senior Data Specialist, explained during their presentation, this massive infrastructural change (and sizeable fiscal investment) will enable Spark451 to easily provide even more robust campaign performance reporting, as well as deeper strategic analysis of campaign performance—both at the individual institutional level and industry-wide. These additional points of reference will allow us to be even more nimble at optimizing performance in real time, and enable us to benchmark performance across the industry, which should contribute to even greater success on enrollment campaigns.
While Spark451’s data team moves to make this bold new vision a reality, the company at large is gearing up for another round of Innovation451. We can’t wait to see which ideas rise to the top next!
TikTok Advertising For Higher Education
It’s safe to say that TikTok has taken the world by storm. Given the video-sharing platform’s overwhelming popularity with teens and young adults, it has the potential to help colleges and universities make a lasting impression on prospective students.
Now, TikTok has made the advertising portion of the platform available to a select group of agencies, and Spark451 is proud to announce we’ve been invited to participate in this exclusive program. We are excited to help our college and university partners leverage the app to foster deeper connections with students.
Why Timely Marketing is Critical
Curious as to how hot TikTok actually is right now? With more than 63.3 million installs in August 2020 alone, TikTok was the most downloaded social media app (excluding games) that month, according to data from Sensor Tower.

You might be wondering if your prospective student audience is giving TikTok enough attention to justify spending ad dollars on a new channel, and the answer is a resounding yes! Not only does Hootsuite show that 69% of the app’s monthly active users are between the ages of 13–24, but our own recent mini-research experiment showed that teens spend several hours per week on the platform.

TikTok Tips
Interested in TikTok advertising? Here are a few things you need to know:
- TikTok is ideal for Gen Z: As mentioned above, the majority of TikTok users are under the age of 24, which makes the platform ideal for reaching prospective undergraduates, transfer students, or recent graduates who may be considering graduate school.
- TikTok is well-suited for branding efforts: TikTok is an upper-funnel method of advertising that can help you build brand awareness with your target audience.
- TikTok users are engaged: According to TikTok, the average user spends over 71 minutes a day on the app and opens it more than 14 times a day.
- Targeting is key: TikTok offers robust targeting opportunities, allowing us to reach users by demographic, interests, geographic location, and more. Additionally, we can leverage first– and third-party data, in addition to retargeting and lookalike audiences, to ensure you can deliver your content to users with whom it’s most likely to resonate.
- TikTok requires its own unique creative: Your ad creative on TikTok needs to be mobile-friendly video and appear to be native to the platform. Animation, music, and authenticity are key. Plus, TikTok ads need to be refreshed regularly to avoid ad fatigue within the quick-moving platform.
TikTok and Beyond
In addition to TikTok, Spark451 holds exclusive marketing partnerships with a variety of platforms, including Google, Facebook, Snapchat, and LinkedIn. When you partner with Spark451, our premier-level affiliations with these platforms mean you’ll have the most up-to-the minute access to the best strategies for making an impact on these ever-evolving platforms.
When you’re ready to discuss specific tactics for your institution, please reach out. Our digital media specialists and enrollment strategists will be happy to help you craft a budget-friendly digital communications plan.
The Results Are In: 2020 Graduate School Intenders Survey
Blog
You already know graduate school is a perennially attractive option for students seeking additional credentials, career advancement, or a career change, but disruptive events such as the COVID-19 pandemic have the potential to radically alter students’ grad school plans.
The Spark451 Education Research Division’s 2020 Graduate School Intenders Survey examines how the pandemic has influenced prospective students’ outlook on graduate school. It also includes relevant insights on:
- Which factors students value most when assessing grad programs
- Students’ communication preferences and social media habits
- Respondents’ employment outlook
- Delivery format preferences
- And so much more!
Download the full report now to access all of the results!
2020 College-Bound Student Survey: Download The Report
You already know 2020 has been an unusual year for college admissions (to say the least). However, you may still be surprised by some of the findings from Spark451’s latest College-Bound Student Survey. For example, in spite of all the hype in the media, less than one percent of students who responded to our survey ended up taking a gap year!
This summer, thousands of 2020 high school graduates responded to the Spark451 Education Research Division’s ninth annual survey on the college selection process. Download the full report to gain access to all the valuable information for college admissions professionals, including:
- The Class of 2024’s social media habits
- Students’ reactions to test-optional admissions policies
- Which influencers have the most power over college decision-making
- The effect of virtual events on college decisions
- So much more
Download the report now. Then, reach out. We’ll be happy to help you determine if your upcoming admissions marketing and student search plans are fully in line with the latest data from students.
Let’s Chat This Week
These days, we often find ourselves wistfully humming that classic Rod Stewart song: “Wake up, Maggie, I think I got something to say to you. It’s late September and I really should be back at school.”
Well, here we are, in late September, and many of us are still not in our “normal” routines of being on campus or out recruiting for 2021. For us at Spark451, we’d normally be heading out to the annual NACAC conference for a few days of meetings, meals, and energizing conversations with higher ed industry colleagues and friends. We’re really going to miss seeing all of you in person this year.
Even though we can’t exchange a hug, clink our glasses, or even extend socially distanced elbow bumps, we don’t want to miss out on a chance to catch up this week. That’s why, if you’re attending NACAC virtually, we hope you’ll pop into our virtual booth at NACAC’s virtual Exhibit Hall for a direct chat with our strategy team. We would love to:
- Hear how you’re doing
- Discuss how recruitment season is going so far
- Brainstorm tactics to help you achieve your goals, regardless of the circumstances
Know that our hearts go out to everyone in our industry who has been impacted by COVID-19. Like you, we’ve found these last several months to be challenging, but we remain optimistic that this too will pass, and we’ll all be stronger on the other side. We hope you’ll stop by our virtual booth this week, and we can’t wait to see you in Seattle in 2021.
The Key to Effective Virtual Recruiting Events
It’s September, and you’re probably feeling added pressure to provide prospective students with a variety of engaging and meaningful interactions from afar. Even though your recruitment season is well under way, you still have a little time to ensure that your institution’s virtual recruitment presence resonates with students. We’ve got your back.

Whether you’re gearing up to participate in a virtual college fair, prepping for an online Open House, or simply trying to craft a remote info session that will pop off the screen, Spark451 can help. Our Virtual Experience Support Package contains everything you need to capture students’ attention in a digital environment. Best of all: We can pull it off in a short timeframe.
Check out the details, and then reach out to discuss specific plans for your school. We’re here for you!
Name That September Tune
It’s September first—cue the music…What do you hear?
Maybe: “September,” by Earth, Wind and Fire?
Or: “September Morn,” by Neil Diamond
This year, it’s more likely: “Wake Me Up When September Ends,” by Green Day
Regardless of your preferred musical genre, there’s probably a tune that sums up that feeling of putting the summer behind to focus on building a prosperous future for you, your family, your school, and its students. Over the past six weeks, I have taken the time to connect with enrollment managers at more than 40 campuses, and I thought I would share a few common themes and positive solutions so you know you are not alone.
Mental Paralysis
More than half of those I spoke with discussed some level of mental paralysis in their division or within their campus. COVID’s forced shift to working remotely since March (which still continues for many of you throughout the nation) has resulted in a state where long-term strategic planning has fallen in priorities. Senior leaders on campus were forced to work on the urgent as opposed to the important for too long, and now everyone’s having a hard time getting back on track. Let’s face it, it’s easy to procrastinate the tough decisions.
If you can relate to this sentiment in some way, I would suggest you check out this quick article from Psychology Today, titled: How To Get Unstuck From (almost) Anything.
Campus Pride
I’m equally excited to report that, in spite of all the challenges over the last several months, the vast majority of you remain fiercely proud of your campus, your colleagues, and your students. So many of you defend your campus’s decision to open or close as an effort to balance safety with the importance of your school’s role in fostering a productive future for our world.
You all also have a wide range of stories, from herculean efforts to deliver exciting virtual visits, to assisting families impacted by COVID-19. Those examples are incredibly relevant to our world of enrollment, and I know there are a multitude more that touch almost every corner of campus. It makes me wonder why more of these stories are not in the media each week.
I’m sure you have a cool “campus story” to shout about. Guess what? It’s worth it and it will make you feel great. So use the hashtag #ProudCampusMoment and get the word out on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
Anxiety
This one seems unavoidable. Beyond COVID-19, there is so much happening in the world now, and it has us all on edge. But I like to keep these blog posts directly related to our industry. This is normally a celebratory time in our cycle with classes starting, admissions recruitment travel kicking off, national conferences for rekindling professional relationships, and so much more. However, like most of 2020, this September is quite different and many of us are feeling anxious as a result. It’s important for you to know that this is a very common feeling among your colleagues, and I believe your strength and professionalism will carry you through.
In the meantime, allow me to share a low-commitment method for reducing stress at work. Check out Entrepreneur’s 5 Science-Based Tips for Reducing Work-Related Stress.
Looking Ahead
In my next blog, I will offer you a number of supporting points to illustrate that private colleges and universities throughout the nation are actually better positioned to flourish now than they were prior to COVID-19. Stay tuned and, until then, check out the Top 20 Songs About September.