#104 - Why College Websites Are Failing Prospective Students and How to Fix It w/ Pez Perry from Squiz

Program Videos That Don’t Feel Like Marketing - UMaine’s “Life in the Pines” Series w/ Brenn Borror and Patrick Wine

My guests today are Brenn Borror, who leads content strategy at the University of Maine, and Patrick Wine, founder of Story Stroll, the filmmaker behind UMaine's "Life in the Pines" series. We get into how an unscripted, vlog-style student story series came together — and why it's stuck around for three seasons. Brenn and Patrick walk through how "Life in the Pines" started as a cold-call pitch for a generic campus tour video that they reshaped into something more specific to UMaine, why they insisted on one person, one camera, and no crew for every shoot, and how a rigged-up "snorri cam" — basically a tripod strapped under a student's arms — lets students walk and narrate their own story without feeling guided by the marketing team. We also dig into the unglamorous side of the metrics: why a nearly 40,000-subscriber YouTube channel mostly built on a viral lobster-cooking video and an old extension-office library isn't the same audience watching these student stories, and why that's actually fine. In this episode: * Why UMaine passed on a polished, teleprompter-style tour video pitch and built something rougher and more specific instead * How the "snorri cam" walk-and-talk format gets genuine, unguided footage out of students * The one-person, one-camera rule and why it matters for getting students to relax on camera * Why calling it "seasons" and "episodes" instead of a playlist changed how people watched it * How a pre-interview process surfaces the small, specific details (like a chocolate bar traded for a bicycle) that make a story worth following * Why low YouTube view counts don't mean the series isn't working, and what they're actually using it for in the funnel * How casting evolved from proactive outreach to an open call, and why they now ask for a 60-second video submission * Why retention, not just recruitment, is a real benefit of this kind of content Resources mentioned: * Life in the Pines (full series hub): https://umaine.edu/pines/ [https://umaine.edu/pines/] * Life in the Pines, full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ue-xo4MsoTs [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ue-xo4MsoTs] * Life in the Pines, teaser trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1hKbuFXtw8 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1hKbuFXtw8] * Life in the Pines, Season 2 full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2axURGS18I [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2axURGS18I] * The University of Maine's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheUniversityofMaine [https://www.youtube.com/user/TheUniversityofMaine] * Story Stroll Studios (Patrick's production company): storystrollstudios.com Connect with Brenn: * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brennborror/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/brennborror/] Connect with Patrick: * Story Stroll Studios: storystrollstudios.com * Email: patrick@storystrollstudios.com [patrick@storystrollstudios.com] * Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickmwine/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickmwine/] Connect with John: * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnazoni [https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnazoni] * Website: https://unveild.tv [https://unveild.tv] * Newsletter: https://unveild.tv/newsletter [https://unveild.tv/newsletter]

#111 - How To Recruit Graduate Students Using Storytelling (ft. Kogod School of Business, U of Michigan Flint, and Gatton College)

Grad school enrollment is hard right now. International pipelines are drying up, domestic demand is soft in a lot of markets, and prospective students have more options — and more skepticism — than ever. So how do you cut through? This compilation episode features three marketers from three very different graduate programs who are each doing something smart with storytelling and content creation to ultimately impact enrollment. Katya Popova at American University's Kogod School of Business went all-in on a bold AI identity and turned it into a PR machine. Chris Lewis at University of Michigan Flint built a podcast from scratch — solo — and is using it to meet prospective grad students exactly where they are. And Laura Beth O'Brien at Gatton College of Business and Economics at University of Kentucky figured out that "this degree opens doors" isn't enough — you have to show people how it actually fits into their real, busy, complicated lives. In this episode: * Why Kogod claiming to be "the first AI-first business school" wasn't just a positioning move — it became their entire enrollment engine * How AI search engines have become their own audience segment, and why earned media is the way to feed them * The podcast strategy that's building a grad enrollment pipeline at UM Flint — and why even a small audience is worth the effort * Why Gatton stopped leading with aspirational alumni outcomes and started leading with "this will actually fit in your life" * How to track storytelling content through the enrollment funnel (including a QR code attribution trick) * The content ecosystem argument: why no single piece of content closes the deal — and what "the whirlpool" actually looks like Key Takeaways: * Staking a bold, specific institutional claim ("AI-first") gives your PR, content, and enrollment teams something to rally around — and gives media something worth covering. * AI search engines are an audience. Treat them like one. Run monthly reports on what ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity say about your school and adjust accordingly. * Earned media feeds AI findability. Third-party validation (not your own website copy) is what LLMs trust. Put money behind your earned media hits, not just original content. * Podcast transcripts are an underrated SEO and GEO asset — they're long, keyword-rich, and naturally repetitive in a way written content can't be. * A LinkedIn newsletter for your podcast is a low-lift distribution channel that self-selects a genuinely interested audience. A thousand subscribers who opted in beats ten thousand passive email recipients. * Grad school decision cycles are long (18+ months). Your storytelling has to be present at multiple touchpoints — not optimized for the last click. * "This degree will open doors" is table stakes. The story that actually converts is: "You can do this without blowing up your life." * Every story you collect about student or alumni success is also a coaching resource for your own admissions team — Chris Lewis uses podcast episodes to help staff better articulate program value. Connect with the Guests: * Katya Popova, CMO, Kogod School of Business at American University — LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/katyapopova/] * Chris Lewis, Director of Graduate Programs, University of Michigan Flint — LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/drchristopherlewis] | drcleis@umich.edu | Victors in Grad School podcast * Laura Beth O'Brien, Director of Marketing Communications, Gatton College of Business and Economics, University of Kentucky — Linkedin [http://linkedin.com/in/laura-beth-o-bryan-mpa-7467704a/?skipRedirect=true] Resources Mentioned: * Kogod School of Business at American University: https://www.american.edu/kogod/ [https://www.american.edu/kogod/] * Victors in Grad School podcast (University of Michigan Flint): (search on your podcast platform) * Gatton College of Business and Economics alumni video series: https://www.youtube.com/@UKGattonCollege [https://www.youtube.com/@UKGattonCollege] * HubSpot Inbound Conference: https://www.hubspot.com/inbound [https://www.hubspot.com/inbound] * Poets & Quants (named Kogod "most consequential AI transformation in business education"): https://poetsandquants.com [https://poetsandquants.com] * Axios (featured Kogod student AI research): https://www.axios.com [https://www.axios.com] Connect With John: * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnazoni [https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnazoni] * Website: https://unveild.tv [https://unveild.tv] * Newsletter: https://unveild.tv/newsletter [https://unveild.tv/newsletter]

#110 - What College Parents Actually Need From Your Website, and What Higher Ed Is Getting Wrong w/ Laura Rudolph

Most college parent pages were built by someone who ran out of time and dumped every link they didn't know what to do with into a pile. Laura Rudolph has spent a decade trying to fix that. Laura is the founder of Square One Consulting, where she helps colleges communicate more clearly and — as she puts it — speak more human. She started her career as a journalist with a crime beat, fell into enrollment marketing, and eventually realized that the audience nobody was talking to — parents — was the one she was most drawn to write for. Turns out, skeptical Gen X parents who want honesty and hate marketing fluff are basically the ideal audience for a former investigative journalist. In this episode, Laura breaks down why most parent pages fail, what good actually looks like, and the three pieces of content she'd build first if she were starting from scratch. We also walk through real examples from University of Washington, UT Austin, Hamilton, and Wake Forest — and Laura shares a free AI-powered tool she just launched that lets you drop in a URL or paste a parent email and get an honest assessment of whether it's actually working. In this episode: * Why most parent pages are "informationally present but emotionally absent" — and what that costs you * The filing cabinet problem: why organizing your site around your org chart is failing families who don't know what a bursar does * The three content pieces Laura would build first: a "Start Here" guide, a "What Families Worry About" hub, and a "How to Support Without Taking Over" section * Why telling parents why you want their contact info resulted in a dramatic increase in opt-ins at Laura's former institution * What University of Washington, UT Austin, Hamilton, and Wake Forest are doing right — and what makes each of them a model worth studying * The parent-to-parent trust play most schools are completely ignoring * Why there's a middle ground between helicopter parenting and institutional silence — and how your content can actually help create it The free tool: Laura's AI-powered Parent & Family Communication Analyst is live at squareoneky.com [http://squareoneky.com]. Drop in a URL or paste an email and get a scored, tiered review of how well your communication is actually working for a parent audience. It's free. Good parent page examples mentioned: * University of Washington: https://www.washington.edu/parents/ [https://www.washington.edu/parents/] * University of Texas at Austin: https://parents.utexas.edu/ [https://parents.utexas.edu/] * Hamilton College: https://www.hamilton.edu/parents [https://www.hamilton.edu/parents] * Wake Forest University: https://parents.wfu.edu/ [https://parents.wfu.edu/] * Providence College (honorable mention for parent blog): https://parents.providence.edu/ [https://parents.providence.edu/] Connect with Laura: * Website: squareoneky.com [http://squareoneky.com] * LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/laurakrudolph [http://linkedin.com/in/laurakrudolph] Connect with John: * LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/johnazoni [http://linkedin.com/in/johnazoni] * Website: unveild.tv [http://unveild.tv] * Newsletter: unveild.tv/newsletter [http://unveild.tv/newsletter]

#109 - "May 1st Is Halftime, Not the Finish Line": A Yield and Melt Survival Guide w/ Rita Winthrop

If your school just came off a yield season that didn't go the way you hoped — or if you're staring down summer melt and wondering what to actually do about it — this episode is for you. Rita Winthrop is a marketing consultant with 15 years in higher ed and edtech who helps institutions and brands build content that actually moves people. She runs Rita Winthrop Consulting out of Newport, Rhode Island, specializing in enrollment email campaigns, LinkedIn ghostwriting for higher ed executives, and content strategy that doesn't just fill a calendar. She also has a lot of feelings about yield season — which is exactly why I wanted to get her on the show. Rita has a rare background: she was both an admissions counselor and the person writing the MarCom for her team at the same time. That dual perspective shapes everything she talks about in this episode — why the disconnect between admissions and MarCom is so damaging, what actually moves students from accepted to enrolled, and why May 1st is halftime, not the finish line. In this episode: * Why the personalized experience students get with their admissions counselor so often evaporates the moment they deposit — and what a good handoff actually looks like * What bad yield communication strategy looks like in practice: too much volume, too many CTAs, and content that forgets it's talking to a 17-year-old making the biggest financial decision of their life * Why parent communications deserve their own dedicated strategy with its own tone, cadence, and content — and why most schools treat parents as an afterthought * What you can still do right now if you didn't make your class — including how to re-engage fence sitters without looking desperate * Why silence is the biggest driver of summer melt, and what a smart anti-melt campaign looks like from May through August * Transfer students as an underutilized population — why they should be a year-round conversation, not a backup plan * What EdTech vendors consistently get wrong about the people they're selling to (and why cold emailing admissions counselors in April will get you yelled at) Resources mentioned: * Mailed It! by Day Kibilds and Ashley Budd:https://emailbook.co/ [https://emailbook.co/]  Connect with Rita: * LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/rita-winthrop/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/rita-winthrop/] * Website: https://ritawinthrop.com [https://ritawinthrop.com/] Connect with John: * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnazoni [https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnazoni] * Website: https://unveild.tv [https://unveild.tv/] * Newsletter: https://unveild.tv/newsletter [https://unveild.tv/newsletter]

#108 - AI Findability: How to Structure Your College’s Website to Answer Questions (Without The FAQ Dump Page)

If you've been feeling the pressure to overhaul your entire web presence for AI search, this episode is your permission slip to take a breath. Georgy Cohen is a content strategist who has spent her career in and around higher ed — in-house at universities, at agencies, and as an independent consultant. She joined the show to talk about one of the most practical and overlooked problems in higher ed marketing: how to actually structure your website so it answers the questions prospective students are asking — without relying on the sprawling, ungovernable FAQ page that becomes a dumping ground the moment you create it. Georgy brings a content strategy and information architecture lens to a conversation that usually stays at the surface level of SEO and branding. The result is a genuinely useful framework for thinking about your web content on two levels at once — what the human sees and what the bots are crawling — and why attending to both doesn't have to mean starting from scratch. In this episode: * Why FAQ pages are well-intentioned but create more problems than they solve — and what to do instead * The difference between the "viewable web" and the "semantic web," and why higher ed is mostly only thinking about one of them * Why clear communication fundamentals will get you most of the way to AI findability — and why panicking won't * How to bridge the gap between subject matter experts (faculty, financial aid staff) and the content strategists who know how to structure information * Why higher ed's reluctance to have a point of view is hurting both their brand and their findability * The role user research should be playing — and why it's underused * Two short books Georgy recommends for anyone who wants to build a foundational understanding of content strategy and information architecture Resources mentioned: * Everyday Information Architecture [https://www.amazon.com/Everyday-Information-Architecture-Maria-Marquis/dp/B0DP5JDBPN/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2GTG866P7KPRS&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.37rr5Bry0oT7htgbalrpYSYxFFtWvirntV37qSPfKXlCPCuz77IX_lMj4rLkoZSTFlAtMtJmPfU6IUFxxjUCTBmBhXForx5UNSjikIwGqhlrSOcT04sS3UUtbwng_TaQ0Fo4sRCxv-wyuxZIYPK8-Yz0BVwHREzitCnGaSLd7BtGKWV94PDRre1B8fAKOtL8UTrAQFnsFAto3fT_ygVNUg_Wfw0gkwhhh_ZKIxZKtJg.oOflBZh5Uazi-zDXPYGsqJg7AMBR1RYjRHPaT6KjcgY&dib_tag=se&keywords=everyday+information+architecture&qid=1777546843&sbo=RZvfv%2F%2FHxDF%2BO5021pAnSA%3D%3D&sprefix=everyday+information+%2Caps%2C182&sr=8-1] by Lisa Maria Marquis:  * The Elements of Content Strategy [https://www.amazon.com/Elements-Content-Strategy-People-Websites/dp/B004ZRFJ4G/ref=sr_1_1?crid=48Y8IBVE35PS&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.vuDQraxv35VFMxAvEQn5QhnQOTUKQvt0bvs71DeFlPoIRCEQlxb9n--cExyFrpxzL-8oi0zJcUxuJhL7-vSGe4Eda_wo4OYx47ImDP43g4w2EorDk7Retr-nMWof3YMrw15uXKh_KL3S2Er2oz2ko4nESORf_HS9hGwbAv0YoKeYodB3v03WjUReOIBIQlDlGNqn5LoQQWf9AZI4XpQkjTFYQGC2MiVOeSLNlTG4rMU.IacMlRejRKSGN5vu6PinXKp-wvgmm56jtFnwqbGdZPU&dib_tag=se&keywords=elements+of+content+strategy&qid=1777546888&sbo=RZvfv%2F%2FHxDF%2BO5021pAnSA%3D%3D&sprefix=elements+of+content+strategy%2Caps%2C170&sr=8-1] by Erin Kissane * About Schema Markup:  * https://schema.org/docs/schemas.html [https://schema.org/docs/schemas.html] * https://www.google.com/webmasters/markup-helper/u/0/ [https://www.google.com/webmasters/markup-helper/u/0/] * https://search.google.com/test/rich-results [https://search.google.com/test/rich-results] * https://www.seerinteractive.com/insights/higher-education-schema-how-your-school-can-win-google [https://www.seerinteractive.com/insights/higher-education-schema-how-your-school-can-win-google] Connect with Georgy: * LinkedIn: Georgy Cohen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgy/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgy/] * georgycohen.com [http://georgycohen.com]