The higher ed industry has been in the spotlight. All the various shake-ups rocking the industry this decade have made headlines, been featured on news outlets and podcasts, and even escalated into federal legislative battles.
With so much attention being paid to both the higher ed industry’s reputation and its incoming enrollment cliff, we must understand the functions and differences between two key facets that keep an institution’s brand afloat: public relations and marketing.
A college or university needs both to build and maintain their reputation. These two roles have similar goals, but different functions. Thus, it’s not recommended to mix responsibilities between these departments.
Let’s dive in.
Higher Ed Marketing
It’s the marketing department’s goal within an institution to reach a targeted audience to make the sale of enrolling a student.
The audiences range from high school underclassmen to build brand awareness and affinity, high school seniors to elicit application and enrollment, high school college counselors for trickle-down brand awareness, and even parents/guardians to influence their child towards said institution.
Higher ed marketing departments assist the sales team, the admissions department. While they don’t necessarily have quarterly sales quotas, they are on the hook for increasing applications, enrollments, and ultimately matriculation to campus.
The avenues in which they work to achieve these goals are incredibly diverse.
Think predictive modeling, engagement scoring, brochures, college fairs, high school visits, email and print communications, digital ads, financial aid optimization…the list goes on.
Public perception is certainly a part of higher ed marketing, but it’s not the sole focus. Marketing is the lifecycle of a student. It’s proactive.
Public Relations
Meanwhile, public relations is typically reactive. It centers more on controlling the brand rather than promoting recognition of it.
PR works to build and keep a brand’s positive image across a variety of audiences, not just the main customers (students). Alumni, board members, donors, the general public, media outlets, and government agencies are all within the PR department’s purview.
Their tools include press releases, public events, and announcements to maintain a squeaky clean perception of the college or university.
With more higher ed institutions facing scrutiny, PR has been crucial in preserving institutional brands.
Think of Harvard University and its recent clashes with President Trump and his administration over research funding and international students–not to mention the hearing former Harvard President Claudine Gay faced over her response to campus antisemitism accusations and plagiarism charges.
That is a moment where PR kicks into gear to ensure the reputation of Harvard does not diminish among not-so-positive coverage.
Recently, we’ve seen more and more campuses experience mass layoffs, budget cuts, and mergers. In moments like these that could potentially shake public confidence in the stability of an institution, it’s the public relations team’s duty to assure the community and wider public that their institution remains solid.
There are other instances when PR is necessary to clean up an institution’s image, such as student-on-student incidents. Hazing is an unfortunate reality of college life at many institutions, and it’s gained more public attention as society as a collective shakes off the idea that it’s harmless rough-housing.
When hazing goes south, cases like the 2022 Northwestern football scandal occur, which is another type of image ‘fix-up’ PR teams must handle.
PR tows an even finer line in these instances. Marketing typically does not have to worry about these touchier subjects.
A poor handling of the above examples can, in turn, decrease enrollment rates to some extent. But their scope is much larger than prospective students.
Siblings, Not Twins
So while these two departments share the burden of brand, one focuses on awareness and the other on perception. Though budget cuts and turnover are real, institutions should avoid having one person wear these two hats.
In the brand lifecycle, they’re siblings, not twins…or perhaps teammates running a 4×400. Marketing enrolls the student and passes the baton to PR if that student gets into enough trouble to cause a public outcry.
Public relations is a full-time gig and needs to be handled internally so that marketing can be better served.
If your institution needs extra support in marketing to avoid crossing departmental hairs, The Parish Group is at your service. With almost four decades of experience, we offer a full suite of custom marketing solutions to help recruit, enroll, and retain students.
Reach out at parishgroup.com or call us at 828.505.3000 to learn more.
Together, we do BIG things.
