Welcome back to Higher Ed Hot Takes. I’m Joel Goodman, founder of Bravery Media and a digital strategist who’s spent nearly two decades helping colleges and universities get real results online In this episode, I’m taking on the buzzword that just won’t quit: personalization.

I kick things off with a story from my early days in higher ed web, when personalization meant little more than mail merges and “Hi, [First Name]!” emails. The sector is still obsessed with personalization today—but most of us are still guessing what it should actually look like.

We’ve thrown everything at the wall: custom landing pages, personalized videos, digital viewbooks that require students to do all the work. It’s exhausting, and honestly, most of it hasn’t moved the needle. Why? Because the infrastructure isn’t there. Most institutions can’t even reliably connect website traffic to CRM records.

Ask around and you’ll hear dozens of definitions for personalization, most of which miss the point. Customizable homepages? No one’s coming back to your homepage. And why would they? We’re obsessed with flashy tech like drone videos, chatbots, and pop-up RFIs because we want to show off, not because it actually helps prospective students.

Here’s the hard truth: good personalization is invisible. It should feel like magic, not like a neon sign screaming “Look what we did with your name!” If your personalization is obvious, it’s adding friction at best, and downright creepy at worst.

Most of the tools being sold to higher ed are solving problems we don’t actually have or they’re creating new ones. AI chatbots, so-called “conversion optimization” platforms, search tools—they’re distractions, not solutions. Your audience doesn’t care about your tech stack. They care about getting what they need, quickly and easily.

The real job is to curate a frictionless experience. That means anticipating needs and removing barriers, not layering on more tech for the sake of it. Results matter more than impressions or engagement. And results come from seamless, invisible guidance. Not from shouting about how “personalized” your website is.

I challenge you to invest in real UX improvements instead of the latest SaaS snake oil. Most of these “AI-powered” tools are smoke and mirrors, designed to confuse and extract as much money as possible before the industry catches on.

The higher ed sector is at a crossroads—financially and strategically. Now’s the time to be a critic, not a skeptic. Stay vigilant, focus on outcomes, and make every dollar, pound, or euro count.

Find me on LinkedIn or Bluesky.

Thanks for listening to Higher Ed Hot Takes—the counterculture higher ed marketing podcast.

For more honest takes on higher ed digital strategy, visit bravery.co.

00:00 Introduction: Personalization in Higher Ed