Community colleges don’t always get the spotlight. But they change lives every day.

To kick off our Community College Month series, I sat down with Wallace Caleb Bates, Director of Marketing and Communications at Hazard Community and Technical College and 2026 NCMPR National Rising Star.

Wallace’s story comes full circle.

He started as a student at HCTC and returned just a few years later to lead marketing and communications.

He shared that walking into the president’s office on his first day felt surreal, asking himself, “Am I really here?” after being a student not long before.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Going from community college student to leadership

• Returning home to serve the institution that shaped him

• Challenging the stigma that community college is a “second choice”

• Marketing in a rural community built on relationships and trust

• Building visibility through storytelling and community engagement

• Why empathy matters as much as analytics in marketing

• The growing impact of community colleges across the country

Wallace also shared an important reminder: Many students intentionally choose community colleges for affordability, opportunity, and staying connected to their communities.

This conversation sets the tone for our Community College Month series.

Listen now.

In this special edition of the Education Marketing Leader podcast, our book club welcomed a very special guest.

Ann Handley joined us live to discuss her bestselling book Everybody Writes and engage directly with higher education marketers from across the country.

Ann didn’t just stop by. She stayed, listened, and generously gave her time to react to audience insights, answer questions, and expand on the ideas that have shaped how so many of us think about writing and marketing.

The conversation covered:

• Why writing slowly can actually make you a better marketer
• How empathy for the reader changes everything
• Why Charlotte’s Web might be the best marketing story ever told
• The difference between writing more and writing with intention
• How stronger writing builds trust, connection, and clarity

This wasn’t a traditional interview. It was a real book club conversation. Marketers sharing takeaways.

Ann responding in real time.

And a reminder that better writing starts with caring about the people you’re trying to reach.

If you care about content, storytelling, and creating marketing that actually connects, this is a conversation worth watching.

John Azoni (Founder, Unveild) breaks down how higher ed teams should be using video during yield season.

Not more content. Better placement.

What we cover:

• Where video actually impacts admits → deposits
• Why most schools fall off after inquiry
• The “random acts of video” problem
• How to use 1:1 video from counselors
• Why student voices outperform leadership
• Simple ways to reduce friction (FAFSA, apps, next steps)
• What metrics actually matter (hint: not views)

If your yield strategy is still email-heavy and text-driven, this will challenge it.

🎙️ Follow and subscribe to the Education Marketing Leader for more conversations like this.

In our latest episode, Jenny Li Fowler, Dir. of Social Media Strategy at MIT, breaks down the difference between strategy and tactics in organic social media. And why confusing the two is exactly how teams end up busy, stressed, and stuck.

Her point is simple. When your strategy is clear, everything gets easier: • You know who you’re trying to reach, not “everyone” • You define what success actually looks like • You stop chasing random posts and start building momentum

Organic social can drive real results. But only when it’s anchored to mission, metrics, and discipline.

How are you keeping strategy first in your social plan? Drop your approach in the comments.

If this conversation resonated, connect with Jenny Li Fowler on LinkedIn and tell her you heard her on the Education Marketing Leader podcast.

And if you’re serious about higher ed marketing, follow the show for more operator-level conversations like this.

Resources: Organic Social Media: How to Build Flourishing Online Communities

Direct mail is not dead.

Most institutions just stopped using it strategically.

I talked with Dylon Jones from Spectrum Marketing Companies about how direct mail actually works in higher ed today.

Key takeaways for enrollment and marketing teams

• Direct mail fails when strategy fails. Not the channel.

• The biggest mistake is sending one piece and expecting results.

• A strong baseline is 3 mail drops across 3 months.

• Mail must drive to a targeted landing page, not your homepage.

• The best campaigns integrate mail, digital ads, and admissions follow-up.

• Start with parents early in the recruitment cycle, then shift messaging to students later.

Direct mail should never live on an island. It works best as part of a multi-touch strategy.

Contact Dylon if you need help via [email protected] or cell 806-500-9880.

Follow Education Marketing Leader and subscribe so you do not miss the next episode. 🎧

Short form video “best practices” are mostly fake rules. If you want what works in 2026, you need reps, speed, and real people.

In the latest episode of Education Marketing Leader podcast, I sat down with Rob Clark, creator of That Tall Family, Founder of Tall Family Media, and author of Growing Your Influence, 4 Billion Views and Attention Gap, which we co-authored.

Here are a few takeaways from the episode:

1) Quantity creates quality. More reps. More learning. More wins.

2) Speed matters. Stop scheduling 3 months out. Culture moves weekly.

3) Real beats polished. AI will make “perfect” content cheap. Human content will stand out. If you’re trying to drive awareness and enrollment with social media video, this episode will help you.

Grab your copies of: Attention Gap: https://www.amazon.com/Attention-Gap-Great-Schools-Invisible-ebook/dp/B0GKZ8G72B?ref_=ast_author_dp&th=1&psc=1

4 Billion Views: https://www.amazon.com/Billion-Views-Built-Social-Scratch-ebook/dp/B0FVQFVD2V?ref_=ast_author_dp&th=1&psc=1

Growing Your Influence: https://www.amazon.com/Growing-Your-Influence-Strategies-Generation-ebook/dp/B0DXN7M1LP?ref_=ast_author_dp&th=1&psc=1

How does a university triple freshman enrollment while others struggle to break even?

In this episode, I talk with James Steen, Ph.D., VP for Enrollment Management & Marketing at Houston Christian University, about what actually drove HCU’s growth.

We get into:

• Why removing friction mattered more than better messaging
• How direct admission and guaranteed offers changed behavior
• The role marketing played once the value proposition was clear
• What “next practice” looks like when operations and enrollment align

This is a real case study. No theory. No platitudes.

👉 Follow Education Marketing Leader and subscribe on YouTube for more conversations built for higher ed marketers.

Season 4 is here, and we’re kicking it off with a conversation that will reset how you think about urgency, identity, and starting over.

In this episode of the Education Marketing Leader Podcast, I’m joined by Erin Mark. TEDx speaker, storyteller, and Director of Partnerships at Merit.

Erin was born with cystic fibrosis. She grew up hearing she wouldn’t live past 18. At five years old, she overheard her life expectancy on a phone call. At 35, she entered end-stage disease and was preparing to die. Then Trikafta was approved and it saved her life.

What we talk about isn’t just survival. It’s what happens after. When the future you never planned for suddenly shows up and you have to figure out who you are again.

Erin shares why real change rarely comes from dramatic overhauls. It comes from small pauses that create choice. One habit. One decision. One shift in direction.

She leaves us with a reminder she once set as her iPhone alarm during her sickest season:

"You woke up today."

That’s the work. You don’t have to fix everything this year. You just have to keep moving forward.

Follow Erin Mark on LinkedIn for clear, grounded perspective on leadership, identity, and momentum.

Listen to the full episode of the Education Marketing Leader Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.

For our final book club meeting of 2025, we dove into The Go-Giver—and had the incredible opportunity to host co-author Bob Burg for a live Q&A. It was one of our most reflective and practical sessions of the year.

What We Discussed

• Why generosity and value-creation matter more than tactics in leadership and enrollment
• How “everyone is in sales”—especially in higher ed
• Communicating value vs price when talking about tuition
• The difference between being a go-getter, go-giver, and go-taker
• Why listening is often the greatest form of giving
• How to build trust in low-trust environments (with international perspectives from Chile)
• The “big kahuna” lesson: why your most impactful students often don’t look like big wins at first glance

Bob Burg’s Key Insights

• Selling = giving time, attention, counsel, empathy, and value
• Trust is earned through consistency
• Stories connect deeper than how-to advice
• The Go-Giver was rejected by 24 publishers before becoming a global book series
• His recommended next read: The Go-Giver Influencer (his favorite)

Community Highlights

Our members shared Thanksgiving experiences, career transitions, international perspectives, and how The Go-Giver mirrors the best parts of higher ed: mentorship, service, and helping others flourish.

Next Book

📘 The Hottest Seat on Campus by Angel Pérez 📅 January 21, 2026

Register now: https://www.linkedin.com/events/januaryeducationmarketingleader7402410947400851456/

Thanks to everyone who joined—and special thanks to Bob for his time, generosity, and wisdom.

In this episode, I talk with Lisa Starkey-Wood, VP of Enrollment Strategy at Stamats, about what breaks most prospect journeys—and what to fix first.

We cover:

• RFI roadblocks: Why many teams can’t even find their own inquiry form and how to fix basic CTA and form placement so students don’t stall on step one.
• Day-zero done right: What a strong confirmation experience looks like (thank-you page, instant email, timely counselor outreach) and why waiting for “perfect” personalization is a mistake.
• Real personalization: Moving beyond “Hi, [First Name]” to program-specific, audience-specific content that actually reflects what students told you they care about.
• Yield and melt prevention: Simple, high-impact ways to keep accepted and deposited students engaged using faculty, current students, and multi-channel touchpoints.

Extra curricular: Watch her 60-minute webinar on the art of effective prospect nurturing.

Follow and subscribe to the Education Marketing Leader podcast for more practical conversations built for higher-ed marketers.