The Application is your playbook for the ever-evolving world of higher education enrollment marketing. This podcast zeroes in on the niche, often-unexplored areas of the field, delivering a potent mix of actionable insights, practical strategies, and cutting-edge perspectives. Host Allison Turcio, Assistant Vice President for Enrollment and Marketing at Siena College, tackles the topics others aren't – from empowering student influencers to harnessing AI. The Application is where uncharted territories in marketing get mapped out, designed to arm higher education enrollment marketers with tools to stay ahead of the curve.
This podcast isn’t just about keeping pace with the market – it's about leading the charge. We're here to provoke thought, encourage innovation, and foster a community of forward-thinkers. Whether you're crafting your next campaign or redefining your institution’s marketing strategy, The Application is your essential resource for fresh, innovative approaches in higher education marketing. Get ready to be inspired, educated, and transformed with each episode.
The Application is hosted by Allison Turcio and is a proud member of the Enrollify Podcast Network.
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The Application is your playbook for the ever-evolving world of higher education enrollment marketing. This podcast zeroes in on the niche, often-unexplored areas of the field, delivering a potent mix of actionable insights, practical strategies, and cutting-edge perspectives. Host Allison Turcio, Assistant Vice President for Enrollment and Marketing at Siena College, tackles the topics others aren't – from empowering student influencers to harnessing AI. The Application is where uncharted territories in marketing get mapped out, designed to arm higher education enrollment marketers with tools to stay ahead of the curve.
This podcast isn’t just about keeping pace with the market – it's about leading the charge. We're here to provoke thought, encourage innovation, and foster a community of forward-thinkers. Whether you're crafting your next campaign or redefining your institution’s marketing strategy, The Application is your essential resource for fresh, innovative approaches in higher education marketing. Get ready to be inspired, educated, and transformed with each episode.
The Application is hosted by Allison Turcio and is a proud member of the Enrollify Podcast Network.
What if your university’s marketing felt as irresistible as a Spotify playlist? That’s exactly what Lauran Hundshamer, VP of Enrollment and Marketing at St. Catherine University, is building. Instead of relying on tired “apply now” email blasts, her team is delivering personalized portals, layered communications, and behavior-driven outreach that moves students to act. The payoff is clear: campus visits are soaring, engagement is climbing, and enrollment is growing across every program. Tune in to discover the playbook for making personalization a reality on your campus.
In this final installment of The Application AMA miniseries, Allison Turcio confronts three unavoidable realities shaping the future of higher ed marketing. But rather than offering recycled takes, this episode delivers three powerful reframes that challenge conventional thinking and offer clarity amidst the chaos.
In part 2 of her AMA Mini Series, Allison Turcio dives into the transformative role that AI and social media are playing in the college search process. The conversation centers on a big shift: AI tools and platforms like TikTok and YouTube have become the first stop for many students researching colleges—not your homepage. This episode breaks down what that means for your enrollment marketing strategy and offers tactical advice for evolving your content to meet students where they are.
In this special bonus episode from the AMA Mini-Series, hosted by Allison Turcio, she dives into one of the most pressing—and often overlooked—topics in higher education: retention. As Allison shares, we can’t out-recruit poor retention. This episode unpacks why student persistence isn't just a student services issue—it’s a marketing, messaging, and promise-keeping priority. You’ll walk away with actionable strategies and fresh perspectives on how enrollment marketers can become key players in student success.
In this episode of The Application, Allison sits down with Jennifer Lonchar, Co-founder of AmbioEdu, to demystify performance TV. Jennifer explains how this new approach to streaming ads moves beyond brand awareness to become a measurable, personalized, and highly effective tool for driving enrollment outcomes. She shares actionable insights on how to use hyper-specific targeting, from high schools and community colleges to specific demographics and income levels, to reach prospective students and their families where they're most engaged. Learn how to leverage AI to optimize campaigns, measure true impact beyond vanity metrics, and create powerful creative that tells a story instead of just screaming stats.
What happens when storytelling stops being a side project and becomes the main event? In this episode, we talk with Kelly Peiffer, VP of Communications and Advancement at Manor College, to explore how stories drive not only connection but measurable enrollment results. Kelly shares how her team turned storytelling into the centerpiece of their marketing strategy, tracking its impact on applications, building collaboration across departments, and proving that authentic student and alumni voices can outperform traditional campaigns.
Every email, text, and touchpoint with a prospective student matters. Get it right, and you move them closer to enrollment. Get it wrong, and you may lose them to another institution. In this episode, we sit down with Lisa Starkey-Wood, Sr. Director of Digital Strategy at Stamats. She breaks down the must-dos of prospect nurturing: from mapping communication by stage and student type, to delivering quick wins that keep your funnel strong. You’ll hear why “day zero” response is critical, how to avoid overwhelming prospective students, and why student workers may lead you to your most valuable insights.
When a prospective student lands on your website, what do they really want to find? It might not be what you think. In this episode, Grant De Roo, Founder and Principal at ADV Market Research & Consulting and Jarrett Smith, Senior VP of Strategy at Echo Delta share results from surveying over 1,000 prospective students about the top tasks students want to accomplish online. From cost clarity to course descriptions, modality, and career outcomes, the data challenges some common higher ed marketing assumptions and reveals a handful of universal priorities you can focus on to improve the student experience.
Campus social media is at its best when it feels alive. It should feel like walking the quad, chatting with students, and catching those unexpected moments that make a place unforgettable. In this episode, we talk with Eve Gaciarz, Associate Director of Social Media at Yale School of Management, and Kayla Ooms, Digital and Social Media Specialist at Purdue University Northwest, about keeping feeds fresh, authentic, and impossible to scroll past. From pumpkin toss competitions to students in ghost costumes roaming the quad, Kayla and Eve share stories that prove authenticity draws people in.
In the final installment of The Admissions Travel Season Playbook, Allison Turcio addresses a critical question: what do you do with everything you’ve learned on the road? Too often, valuable insights from conversations with students and counselors stay locked in notebooks, heads, or voice memos. This episode shows you how to use AI to capture those takeaways and turn them into action.
In this episode, Allison and Dallin Palmer, Co-Founder of HALDA, discuss the shift in enrollment marketing from an institution-centric approach to a relationship-first mindset. Dallin unpacks the SHIFTS Framework, a powerful roadmap for building authentic connections with prospective students. The conversation covers key pillars of the framework, including how to listen effectively (Survey), provide personalized value (Helpful and Individualization), and leverage technology to create a more human, responsive experience (Face, Triggers, and Speed). Learn how to move past outdated tactics and focus on building genuine trust to drive enrollment success.
In Part 3 of The Admissions Travel Season Playbook, host Allison Turcio dives into how admissions counselors and enrollment marketers can stop working in silos and start building a stronger, AI-powered partnership. Fall travel is a team sport, but too often it feels like two separate games. By using AI to bridge the gap, institutions can make their outreach smarter, faster, and more effective.
In this episode of The Admissions Travel Season Playbook, host Allison Turcio tackles the crucial moment that determines whether your travel season efforts pay off: the follow-up. A great high school visit or college fair conversation is only the beginning. Without timely, relevant, and personalized follow-up, your chances of turning interest into applications drop fast.
Welcome to Part 1 of this mini series — The Admissions Travel Season Playbook. In this episode of The Admissions Travel Season Playbook, host Allison Turcio dives into how admissions counselors can make their high school visits more personal, engaging, and effective — without reinventing the wheel. With a focus on AI in higher education, Allison shares four actionable strategies for using tools like ChatGPT to tailor presentations to different student audiences. Whether you're visiting a STEM-focused school or a service-driven community, these tips will help you show up with relevance and impact. Perfect for enrollment marketers and admissions pros looking to stay sharp this fall travel season.
In this episode of The Application, Allison is joined by Faton Sopa, Cofounder and CEO at Manaferra, to dissect the groundbreaking findings from the State of College Search 2025 report. Based on a survey of over 1,500 recently enrolled students, Faton reveals a seismic shift in student search behavior. He shares surprising insights, from the rise of platforms like Reddit for authentic validation to the fragmentation of the student journey across multiple channels. Learn why marketers need to move beyond traditional SEO, audit their brand's presence on new platforms like AI search, and focus on performance metrics that truly influence the enrollment pipeline.
In this episode, Allison sits down with Simon Lewis, founder of Binary & Co., to dive deep into his Pillars and Layers framework. This smarter, student-centered approach helps nurture higher-ed leads throughout their long and emotional decision-making journey. We explore why lead capture is only the starting point, not the goal, and how to keep students engaged well beyond the initial form fill. Simon explains how to sync your ads, emails, and CRM so you can meet students where they actually are rather than where you wish they were.
What if your institution stopped playing it safe and started thinking like a startup? DéRecco Lynch, Assistant Vice Provost of Enrollment Management at the University of Cincinnati, asked that question and answered it by launching Our City, one of higher ed’s boldest brand activations. In this episode, DéRecco tells Allison how his team broke down silos, built trust, and aligned four divisions to move fast and make an unforgettable mark on the city. From failing fast to letting go of creative control to creating a student-centered, family-focused experience, he shares what it takes to unify a brand and spark real engagement.
Allison Turcio delivers a recap of one of the most compelling sessions from EduWeb Summit 2025 from R. Ethan Braden, Vice President and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Texas A&M University. Braden tackled the question we all wrestle with: Does your brand actually matter? His answer: absolutely, but only if it’s rooted in values, clarity, and great storytelling. From challenging the idea of being “for everyone” to turning brand perception into an emotional experience, this session offered a masterclass in higher education content marketing and brand building. If you're looking to sharpen your institution’s identity and ensure your brand drives student recruitment and long-term loyalty, this is an episode you can't miss.
Allison breaks down one of the most buzzed-about sessions from LeduWeb Summit 2025, sharing about Western Governors University’s approach to using AI and decision intelligence to stop student dropouts before they happen. WGU’s tech-forward system can predict, with 80% accuracy, which students are at risk of disengaging—within the first week of classes. But what makes this a must-listen for enrollment marketing professionals is how WGU’s playbook can be adapted for yield, melt prevention, and even student services across any institution—big or small.
Allison unpacks a powerhouse session from EduWeb 2025 featuring Montclair State University’s innovative approach to enrollment marketing. By leveraging National Student Clearinghouse data and integrating it into Slate, Montclair isn’t just re-engaging stop-outs—they’re stealing market share and rewriting program value props with clarity and confidence. From “spring-back” campaigns to faculty-driven messaging makeovers, this is a masterclass in data analytics in higher education done right. If you're serious about using marketing strategy for student recruitment and want to put actionable data to work across your institution, don’t miss this one.
The Application is your playbook for the ever-evolving world of higher education enrollment marketing. This podcast zeroes in on the niche, often-unexplored areas of the field, delivering a potent mix of actionable insights, practical strategies, and cutting-edge perspectives. Host Allison Turcio, Assistant Vice President for Enrollment and Marketing at Siena College, tackles the topics others aren't – from empowering student influencers to harnessing AI. The Application is where uncharted territories in marketing get mapped out, designed to arm higher education enrollment marketers with tools to stay ahead of the curve.
This podcast isn’t just about keeping pace with the market – it's about leading the charge. We're here to provoke thought, encourage innovation, and foster a community of forward-thinkers. Whether you're crafting your next campaign or redefining your institution’s marketing strategy, The Application is your essential resource for fresh, innovative approaches in higher education marketing. Get ready to be inspired, educated, and transformed with each episode.
The Application is hosted by Allison Turcio and is a proud member of the Enrollify Podcast Network.
