Your higher ed advertising needs paid and organic social media. Here’s why.
September 18, 2025
In today’s competitive higher education landscape, a strong social media presence is no longer optional – it’s essential. But simply posting isn’t enough. The most successful colleges and universities leverage the combined power of paid and organic social media to reach prospective students, engage current students and build lasting alumni relationships. A winning strategy requires both and here’s why.
The role of paid social media
Paid social extends your reach and drives measurable action. With targeting options based on demographics, location and interests, advertising helps colleges and universities connect with students and families who might not otherwise find them.
Paid social is influential to:
Increase visibility of your academic programs and campus events
Drive website traffic to visit and apply webpages
Retarget audiences who have engaged with organic posts and your website
Communicate admissions deadlines or significant announcements
Paid social platform choice matters. For example:
Use Instagram to emphasize brand awareness, community interaction and campus life.
Choose Facebook to reach parents and transfer/non-traditional students using all types of content.
YouTube is well-suited for true-to-life video storytelling like testimonials, Q&A and student life.
Select LinkedIn to highlight career outcomes and the value of a college education.
Paid social media should reflect the success of your organic performance. The best posts should guide your message, visuals and timing for paid ads, making your ad spend more efficient.
The role of organic social media
Organic social media gives prospective students an authentic look at campus life. It provides a window into everyday experiences, helping students picture themselves at your institution. Current students, alumni and faculty can share stories, achievements and perspectives that reflect life at your university or college.
Key ways to strengthen organic efforts:
Student and alumni voices: Build credibility and community with social takeovers, alumni spotlights and student-led campus tours.
Video storytelling: Short-form videos, livestreams and interactive content engage prospective students. Live Q&A sessions or virtual tours provide immediate interaction with a real-time connection.
Branded hashtags: Create short, memorable and unique hashtags to allow students to celebrate moments by sharing acceptance letters, attending campus events or participating in campus traditions.
What sets you apart: Whether it’s breakthrough research, faculty grants or athletic championships, highlight accomplishments to increase your brand identity without sounding boastful.
Engagement and dialogue: Make prospective students feel part of the campus community with two-way communication like polls, questions and invitations to comment.
Organic social media goes beyond filler content. It builds brand equity, grows recognition over time and showcases your school’s culture.
Why both are important
Organic content deepens trust and builds authentic relationships, while paid advertising broadens awareness and drives action. Together, they create multiple touchpoints across the student journey, from awareness to enrollment.
Additional benefits include:
Stronger brand awareness across multiple social media platforms
Greater engagement through authentic connections and expanded reach
Effective use of budget by using high-performing content
A consistent brand voice that fosters trust and loyalty
Coverage across the student enrollment funnel
Build a balanced strategy
For colleges and universities, a balanced social strategy builds trust, highlights campus culture and impacts enrollment. However, it takes a clear plan that blends paid advertising and organic.
To create a successful higher education social media strategy, you need to follow these 6 steps:
Set clear SMART goals: Decide what you want to achieve and define measurable action steps that align with your overall enrollment and retention goals.
Research your audience: Go beyond demographics. Tailor content to prospective students, parents and alumni on the social media platforms they use the most.
Choose the right channels: Find your audience by selecting the right platforms where they are most active.
Be consistent: Develop a content calendar to post regularly and maintain your brand voice.
Engage actively: Respond and interact in a timely manner. Authentic engagement shows prospective students what it’s like to be part of your school
Analyze performance: Use data to refine both organic and paid social media efforts. Track which posts lead to campus visit sign-ups, applications or inquiries.
Evaluate the impact
Social media data shows you what is working and where there are opportunities for improvement. This data measures engagement and ties your efforts to business outcomes, helping you understand the return on investment. The following key performance indicators help colleges and universities make informed decisions to optimize content, allocate budget and demonstrate the impact of their social media activities.
Engagement rates:
The number of engagements (likes, comments, shares) your content gets as a percentage of your audience.
The number of people who have “liked” or “reacted” to your content on social media.
The number of comments you receive on each of your posts.
Reach metrics:
The number of people who see your content.
Review average reach as well as the reach of each post, story or video.
Impressions:
The number of times people saw your content.
Measure by post and the overall number of impressions.
Conversion numbers:
Conversion rate looks at how often your social content leads to an action like applying or watching a video.
Click-through rate shows how often people click a link in one of your posts or ads to access more content.
Cost-per-click is the amount you pay per individual click on a social ad.
Audience metrics:
Follower count is the number of followers you have across each of your social media channels.
Follower growth measures how many new followers you get on social media during a certain time frame.
Video performance:
View count can vary by platform and is counted when a platform’s minimum watch threshold is met.
Video completion rate is the number of people who have completed watching your video.
Watch time is the total time viewers spend watching your video content.
SOURCE: Hootsuite
What does social media do for your college or university? Build visibility? Yes. Attract prospective students? Absolutely. Connect with current students? Undoubtedly. Support retention? Definitely. And it’s even better if you have a strategic plan that combines paid and organic initiatives that fuel growth across the student journey.
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