Higher education institutions face a unique challenge of standing out in a crowded digital landscape where prospective students have more options than ever. Traditional recruitment methods, from print advertisements to in-person college fairs, are no longer enough to reach modern students. Digital-first strategies now dominate, with paid advertising on platforms like Google and Meta offering the most direct path to engaging and converting prospective applicants.

Unlike broad omnichannel marketing approaches, a hybrid strategy focused on Google and Meta provides the right mix of intent-based search marketing and behavior-driven social engagement. By leveraging Google’s ability to capture students actively searching for programs and Meta’s strength in storytelling and relationship-building, institutions can maximize their return on ad spend and attract higher-quality applicants who are more likely to enroll.

Moreover, as higher education marketing becomes increasingly competitive, universities and colleges must optimize their paid media strategies not just to generate inquiries but also to increase actual enrollment rates. With rising tuition costs, shifting demographics, and an increasing number of students considering alternative educational paths, institutions face unprecedented pressure to demonstrate their value proposition.

A digital-first approach is no longer optional, it is the standard. Students expect instant access to information, personalized engagement, and a seamless application experience. Without a structured digital strategy, universities risk losing prospective students to institutions that are more agile and responsive online.

Investing in a hybrid model that leverages both Google and Meta creates a more predictable pipeline of students, enabling institutions to scale their marketing efforts effectively while maintaining cost efficiency. By meeting students where they are, whether they are actively searching for programs on Google or engaging with educational content on Meta, universities can maximize their return on investment and drive meaningful enrollment growth.

The Growing Complexity of Student Recruitment

In the past, universities could rely on their brand reputation, word of mouth, and campus visits to drive applications. Today, those tactics alone are no longer sufficient. Students expect on-demand digital experiences, and universities that fail to deliver will lose prospective students to institutions that do.

The cost of acquisition is also rising. With thousands of universities competing for attention, institutions that lack a structured approach to paid media waste their budget on unqualified leads. A data-driven hybrid strategy ensures that marketing dollars are spent where they yield the highest return on platforms that provide a measurable impact and sustained engagement.

How Today’s Students Make Enrollment Decisions

A student’s journey from initial program interest to application is complex, as they navigate multiple touchpoints before making a decision. Understanding these stages is essential for institutions to craft digital marketing strategies that meet students where they are, addressing their questions, concerns, and motivations at each step of the journey.

The Awareness Stage: Sparking Interest

At the start of their journey, students are exploring options, often without a clear idea of which institution or program they want to pursue. They typically begin by searching for information on Google, using broad terms like “best engineering programs” or “top online MBA degrees.” Paid search ads ensure universities appear at the top of these searches, helping establish an early connection with potential students.

Meanwhile, students are passively engaging with content on social media platforms like Meta, where short-form video ads, program highlights, and student testimonials can build initial brand awareness. Dynamic video content that showcases real student experiences or program benefits is highly effective in creating an emotional connection, making institutions more memorable long before students are ready to apply.

Best Practices for Awareness-Stage Campaigns:

• Use broad match keywords with Google’s AI to capture more potential applicants early in their search.
• Invest in short-form video ads on Meta, such as Reels and Stories, to maximize engagement with prospective students.
• Implement Google Discovery Ads to expose students to relevant programs as they browse online content.
• Prioritize storytelling over hard selling, positioning your institution as an aspirational choice for students.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid:

• Over-reliance on brand awareness campaigns without clear call-to-actions.
• Neglecting mobile optimization, as most students engage with content via smartphones.
• Focusing too narrowly on immediate applications instead of nurturing long-term interest.

The Consideration Stage: Weighing Options

As students begin evaluating programs, they actively compare schools based on factors like tuition costs, curriculum, reputation, and career opportunities. They return to Google to search for more specific queries such as “best data science programs with scholarships” or “MBA program with international study options.”

At this stage, universities need to remain visible through Google Display and Retargeting Ads, keeping their institution top of mind even as students explore multiple options. On Meta, Lead Form Ads simplify the process of capturing student inquiries directly within the platform, creating a seamless experience for students and increasing inquiry rates.

Best Practices for Consideration-Stage Campaigns:

• Deploy remarketing ads across Google and Meta to re-engage students who previously interacted with content.
• Leverage program-specific landing pages that provide detailed insights into courses, faculty, and career prospects.
• Use carousel ads on Meta to showcase multiple programs or campus facilities interactively.
• Offer downloadable resources, such as brochures or webinar registrations, to further engage students.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid:

• Generic messaging that fails to differentiate your institution from competitors.
• Slow response times to inquiries lead students to disengage and move on.
• Not optimizing landing pages for conversions, causing drop-offs before students complete inquiry forms.

The Decision Stage: Converting Interest Into Applications

As students finalize their choices, they often seek reassurance before committing to an application. They want to hear from alumni, learn about financial aid options, and ensure their chosen institution aligns with their career goals.

At this stage, Google Search & Retargeting Ads focus on high-intent audiences, featuring messaging like “Apply Now – Last Chance for Fall 2025 Admissions.” Similarly, Meta’s personalized nurturing campaigns use tailored testimonials, scholarship reminders, and deadline-driven urgency to encourage students to take action.

Best Practices for Decision-Stage Campaigns:

• Implement countdown ads on Google and Meta to emphasize enrollment deadlines.
• Feature faculty Q&A sessions or student testimonials to address last-minute hesitations.
• Use automated email sequences in combination with Meta ads to keep prospects engaged.
• Optimize landing pages to have a frictionless application process with minimal steps.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid:

• Failing to create a sense of urgency for students may delay their decision without clear deadlines.
• Too many form fields on application pages can increase abandonment rates.
• Lack of post-application engagement, missing the opportunity to nurture applicants toward enrollment.

Why This Matters

By structuring paid media campaigns around these key decision-making stages, institutions can meet students at the right moment with the right message. A hybrid approach leveraging Google’s search intent data and Meta’s behavioral targeting capabilities ensures universities remain competitive in an increasingly digital-first enrollment landscape.

Google & Meta Tactical Breakdown: Bid Management, Budgeting, and Creative Testing

Bid Management Strategies

A well-structured bid strategy ensures institutions get the most out of their ad spend while balancing cost efficiency with conversion performance. Both Google and Meta offer advanced bidding options that should be tailored to specific campaign objectives.

Google Bid Strategies:

• Target CPA (Cost Per Acquisition): Automatically adjusts bids to get the most conversions at a target acquisition cost.
• Maximize Conversions: Uses budget efficiently to drive the most inquiries or applications.
• Manual CPC: Best for institutions that need precise control over their bid adjustments, particularly for high-competition keywords.

Meta Bid Strategies:

• Lowest-cost bidding: Maximizes delivery within budget constraints while optimizing for conversions.
• Cost Cap Bidding: Helps manage CPA by setting a maximum cost per conversion, making it useful for institutions with strict budget limitations.
• Value-Based Bidding: Prioritizes prospects who are likely to generate the highest lifetime value, particularly useful for programs with high tuition costs.

Budget Allocation Considerations

To maximize ROI, institutions should allocate their budget based on funnel positioning, campaign performance, and seasonality.

• Awareness Campaigns: Allocate 30-40% of the budget to Google Display, YouTube, and Meta Video Ads to capture early-stage prospects.
• Consideration Campaigns: Dedicate 30-35% to Google Search and Meta Lead Ads for mid-funnel engagement.
• Decision Stage: Reserve 25-30% for remarketing, application deadline pushes, and bottom-of-funnel ads on both platforms.

Seasonal Adjustments:

• Fall & Spring Enrollment Peaks: Increase budgets by 20-30% during prime enrollment periods to capture high-intent students.
• Summer Engagement Slowdowns: Shift budgets toward lead nurturing and email retargeting rather than heavy acquisition.

Creative Testing Framework

Creative execution plays a significant role in engagement and conversion rates. To optimize performance, institutions should implement a structured creative testing framework that includes:

A/B Testing Across Platforms:

• Google Display & YouTube: Test different ad variations for program highlights, student testimonials, and faculty Q&As.
• Meta Ads: Compare static images vs. videos, carousel ads vs. single image, and different messaging approaches.

Key Testing Metrics:

• Click-Through Rate (CTR): Identifies which creatives drive the most interest.
• Conversion Rate (CVR): Determines which ad variations lead to inquiries or applications.
• Engagement Rate: Evaluates the effectiveness of Meta video and interactive ad formats.

Once top-performing creatives are identified, they should be scaled across campaigns, with low-performing assets retired or reworked for improved engagement.

Optimizing Paid Media for Enrollment Growth

Comprehensive KPI Tracking for Higher Education Campaigns

Success in paid media campaigns is defined by how well institutions track and optimize key performance indicators (KPIs). A strategic approach to KPI tracking helps universities understand which channels, creatives, and audience segments drive the highest student enrollments while minimizing wasted ad spend.

Essential KPIs for Enrollment Campaigns:

• Cost Per Lead (CPL): Measures the cost of acquiring a prospective student inquiry.
• Cost Per Application (CPA): Evaluates efficiency in turning leads into applications.
• Application-to-Enrollment Rate: Determines the percentage of applicants who officially enroll.
• Return on Ad Spend (ROAS): Assesses the effectiveness of paid advertising in generating tuition revenue.
• Conversion Rate (CVR): Tracks how well landing pages and ad creatives persuade students to take action.
• Engagement Metrics (CTR, Video Completion Rate, Bounce Rate): Helps refine creative strategies by indicating what content resonates best with students.

By continuously monitoring these KPIs, institutions can refine their targeting, creative messaging, and budget allocation to maximize the impact of their digital advertising.

Attribution Models: Determining the True Impact of Ads

Choosing the right attribution model is essential for understanding how different marketing touchpoints contribute to enrollments. Many universities still rely on last-click attribution, which overlooks the role of upper-funnel efforts, such as brand awareness and nurturing campaigns. Implementing more advanced attribution models can help institutions allocate budgets more effectively.

Attribution Models for Higher Education:

• Data-Driven Attribution: Uses AI and machine learning to assign value across multiple touchpoints in the student journey.
• Position-Based Attribution: Gives greater weight to the first and last interaction (typically 40% each), with the remaining 20% distributed across mid-funnel interactions.
• Time Decay Attribution: Assigns a higher value to touchpoints that occur closer to the final conversion, which is helpful for long decision cycles, such as higher education enrollments.
• Linear Attribution: Evenly distributes credit across all interactions, helping institutions understand how multiple campaigns work together.

By shifting from last-click attribution to data-driven or multi-touch models, institutions gain a holistic view of student engagement, leading to more informed budget decisions.

Campaign Iteration: Continuously Improving Performance

Even the best-performing campaigns require ongoing optimization. By implementing a data-driven approach, institutions can refine their paid media strategy over time to improve efficiency and maximize enrollments.

Best Practices for Continuous Campaign Optimization:

• A/B Testing Across Platforms: Regularly test variations of ad copy, headlines, images, and CTAs to determine what resonates most with prospective students.
• Bid Adjustments Based on Performance: Use automated bidding strategies like Target CPA and Maximize Conversions on Google to prioritize high-converting prospects.
• Audience Refinement Through CRM Data: Sync CRM data with Meta and Google to refine targeting, focusing on high-intent applicants while excluding those who have already enrolled.
• Landing Page & Form Optimization: Reduce friction in the inquiry and application process by A/B testing different layouts, CTA placements, and form lengths.
• Creative Refresh Cycles: Introduce new ad creatives every 4-6 weeks to prevent ad fatigue and maintain engagement levels.

By adopting a structured approach to measurement, attribution, and iteration, universities can ensure their marketing efforts remain effective, cost-efficient, and continuously optimized for enrollment success.

Case Study: How Ten26 Media Helped ALU Transform Their Enrollment Funnel

African Leadership University (ALU) faced a familiar challenge: while their marketing efforts generated a high volume of applications, conversion rates remained low. They needed a more strategic paid media approach to improve lead quality and ensure that more applicants progressed to actual enrollments.

The primary issue was that while many students expressed initial interest, there was a disconnect between application volume and actual enrollments. This gap highlighted inefficiencies in lead quality, nurturing sequences, and retargeting efforts.

The Solution: A Google & Meta Hybrid Strategy

Ten26 Media developed a hybrid approach that combined Google Search & Display Retargeting with Meta Lead Generation & Engagement Ads to address these challenges. This strategy ensured that ALU could:

• Target high-intent students searching for degree programs on Google.
• Engage passive prospects on Meta through dynamic lead-generation campaigns.
• Reinforce ALU’s value proposition through retargeting campaigns, reducing drop-off rates between inquiry and enrollment.

Why These Tactics Worked

By aligning search-driven intent with social engagement, ALU was able to:

• Improve lead quality: Google’s search campaigns ensured that ALU was visible when students actively searched for educational opportunities, leading to higher-intent inquiries.
• Increase conversion rates: Meta’s personalized engagement campaigns provided nurturing touchpoints, reinforcing ALU’s unique academic experience and addressing common objections before students completed their applications.
• Optimize cost efficiency: A/B testing across different ad creatives and messaging styles allowed for continuous refinement, ensuring that marketing spend was allocated to the most effective channels and audiences.

Through this structured hybrid strategy, ALU successfully enhanced its student acquisition model, demonstrating the power of Google and Meta working together to deliver a higher return on investment in the competitive higher education landscape.

• Google Ads: Focused on high-intent queries, ensuring ALU was visible when students were searching for programs.
• Meta Retargeting Ads: Delivered personalized content, reinforcing why ALU was the right choice for applicants.
• A/B Testing Across Creatives: Messaging was optimized to highlight ALU’s unique value proposition and financial aid options.

The Results:

• 50% increase in high-intent leads.
• 35% improvement in conversion rate from inquiry to application.
• Lower cost per acquisition (CPA) by 27%.

Final Thoughts: Why Ten26 Media is the Right Choice

A Google + Meta hybrid strategy isn’t just a marketing tactic; it’s the foundation for sustainable enrollment growth. Higher education institutions need more than just ad placements; they need a partner that understands the entire student journey and can craft campaigns that engage, nurture, and convert at the right moments.

At Ten26 Media, we specialize in higher education marketing strategies that go beyond surface-level targeting. We leverage data-driven insights, industry expertise, and continuous optimization to ensure your institution reaches the right students at the right time with the right message.

Why choose us?

• Strategic Expertise: We don’t just run ads, we create comprehensive marketing ecosystems that integrate Google’s search intent capabilities with Meta’s engagement-driven approach.
• Proven Results: Our work with institutions like ALU demonstrates our ability to turn high-volume applications into actual enrollments.
• Customized Campaigns: Every institution is different, and we tailor our strategies to align with your unique goals, audience, and budget.
• Performance-Driven Optimization: We continuously refine audience segments, ad creatives, and bidding strategies to maximize ROI and lower acquisition costs.

For institutions looking to future-proof their student recruitment efforts, investing in a hybrid paid media strategy isn’t just an option; it’s a necessity. The digital landscape is evolving, and universities that embrace a holistic, data-backed marketing approach will be the ones leading the industry in enrollment growth.

Are you ready to take your enrollment strategy to the next level? Let’s talk.