Higher Ed Storytelling University John Azoni

John Azoni is the founder of the Higher Ed Storytelling Podcast and Unveild, a video branding agency that helps colleges and universities tell compelling institutional stories. 

In this solo episode, John addresses the challenge of top-of-funnel content drought in higher education marketing. He discusses the importance of top-of-funnel content in higher education marketing and strategies for creating engaging video content that resonates with prospective students before they're ready to be sold to.
Key Takeaways:
Many colleges lack top-of-funnel content that engages audiences without directly sellingLeadership often struggles to approve budget for content that doesn't have a direct sales componentTop-of-funnel content helps warm up prospective students before they're ready to consider specific schoolsMarketing drives familiarity, and familiarity drives preferenceTwo recommended approaches for short-form videos:"Man on the street" videos asking engaging questions to studentsThought leadership content featuring faculty lectures and discussionsRepurposing existing events and lectures into video content can be an efficient strategyBalancing content across different stages of the marketing funnel is crucial
Examples Mentioned:
Central Michigan University's successful TikTok asking "Where does up north start?"Boston University's Valentine's Day video of students calling their partnersHarvard Business School's viral classroom debate videoUniversity of Chicago's political discussion videoStrategies for Limited Resources:
Create "man on the street" videos with engaging questions using just a smartphoneFilm interesting lectures or discussions and break them into shareable snippetsLook for opportunities to repurpose existing campus events into video content
Takeaway: Investing in top-of-funnel content is crucial for higher ed marketing success, even if it doesn't directly sell the institution. These strategies can help engage potential students earlier in their college search process and build familiarity with your school.
Connect With John:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnazoniWebsite: https://unveild.tvNewsletter: https://unveild.tv/newsletter

My guest today is Andy Murphy, Associate Director of Marketing at Siena College. In this episode, Andy shares insights on building and managing a video content creation team that includes full-time staff and student interns.
Andy discusses Siena's approach to video marketing, leveraging both professional and student-created content to engage prospective students and showcase campus life.
Key Takeaways:
Siena's video content team includes full-time staff and 10-15 student interns each semester.Student-created content helps capture authentic campus moments that resonate with prospective students.Analytics and A/B testing are used to teach interns about effective video marketing strategies.Viral TikTok success has raised the bar for consistent, high-performing content creation.Aerial video footage of campus events like Siena Fest has directly influenced enrollment decisions.Repurposing long-form video content into short-form clips for platforms like YouTube Shorts is an efficient strategy.Managing brand consistency and onboarding new student creators are ongoing challenges.User-generated content campaigns can yield highly effective marketing materials.
Connect With Andy:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amurphy-siena/
Viral "Dad on college tour" video:
https://www.tiktok.com/@sienacollege/video/6995142764497325318?lang=enConnect With John:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnazoniWebsite: https://unveild.tvNewsletter: https://unveild.tv/newsletter

My guest today is Dr. Sheena C. Howard, an award-winning author, filmmaker, and professor of communication. In this episode, Dr. Howard discusses her book "Academic Branding: A Step-by-Step Guide to Increased Visibility, Authority, and Income," and how universities can empower their faculty to build their personal brands, which in turn benefits the institution.
Dr. Howard shares her nine-step process for faculty to build their personal brands, focusing on the first six steps that are most relevant to higher ed marketers. She emphasizes the importance of mindset, storytelling, and the long-term commitment required to build a successful online presence.
Key Takeaways:
Faculty personal branding can directly benefit universities through increased visibility, citations, and student enrollment.Start by addressing faculty mindset - they need to understand that their work has value outside academia.Help faculty develop a clear vision for their online presence, focusing on one or two platforms where their audience is active.Brand building is more about crafting a compelling story around research than logos and colors.Storytelling is crucial - share struggles and failures, not just wins, to build a relatable brand.Building a brand is a long-term commitment; it's not a quick fix or get-rich-quick scheme.Universities can support faculty by recording and repurposing their presentations for social media content.
Connect With Dr. Sheena Howard:
Websites:Personal: https://sheenachoward.com/Company: https://poweryourresearch.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drsheenahoward/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drsheenahoward/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drsheenahoward/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@drsheenahowardX (Twitter): https://x.com/DrSheenaHoward
Resources Mentioned:
Book: "Academic Branding: A Step-by-Step Guide to Increased Visibility, Authority, and Income"YouTube Video: "How to Land a TEDx Talk" by Dr. Sheena HowardConnect With John:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnazoniNewsletter: https://unveild.tv/newsletter

John Azoni is the founder of the Higher Ed Storytelling Podcast and Unveild, a video branding agency that helps colleges and universities tell compelling institutional stories. In this solo episode, John discusses effective content creation strategies for higher education institutions. He covers several key points:
The Podcast Format Change John announces the podcast is moving to an every-other-week release schedule to allow more time to promote each episode. He encourages a "quality over quantity" mindset for content.Upcoming Webinar with Rob Clark of "That Tall Family" John previews an upcoming webinar on June 27th with Rob Clark, the creator behind the popular "That Tall Family" accounts, on mastering short-form video content for higher ed.Who is Your Content For? John emphasizes the importance of creating content that provides widespread benefit beyond just your existing students/alumni. Successful content resonates with and gets spread by a broader audience you want to attract.Treat Your Platform Like a Business For platforms you want to prioritize, treat it like a business by studying what resonates with your audience, iterating, and delivering more of that content. Don't just use it as a hosting shelf.Organic Reach Insights From researching higher ed video content, John found self-promotional "commercials" don't gain much organic traction. More successful are videos that entertain, inform, or cater to niche interests.The "Who is This For?" Mindset Consistently ask yourself who you're creating a piece of content for. Is it genuinely exciting/beneficial for your target audience, or just for existing supporters like alumni?Balance Promotion with Value While some straightforward promotional content is okay, the bulk should provide real value and interest for your desired audience. Experiment to find the right mix.
Key Takeaways:
Focus content on benefiting your target audience, not just talking about yourselfStudy what content resonates organically and iterate to provide more of thatFind the right balance of entertainment/information and self-promotionConsistently ask "who is this for?" when creating content
Register for the Live Webinar:
Mastering Tiktok, Reels, and Shorts: A Guide for Higher Ed Marketers - https://www.crowdcast.io/c/shortformvideoConnect With John:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnazoniWebsite: https://unveild.tvNewsletter: https://unveild.tv/newsletter

My guest today is Joel Goodman, founder of Bravery Media. Joel helps colleges and universities increase their web conversion rates using hospitable design practices. In this episode, we discuss insights from the Simpson Scarborough CMO study and how it relates to budget constraints, staffing, and curating the best marketing communications team with the resources available.
Joel shares his background, including working in web marketing roles at two universities before starting Bravery Media in 2012. He advocates for a "hospitable design" approach that focuses on caring for the user's journey and reducing friction.
Key Takeaways:
The study reveals significant variability in marketing budgets and staffing across institution sizes, directly impacting strategies and job satisfaction.Despite budget declines, website experience remains a priority with a focus on quality content for prospective students.Effective web governance, strategic digital investment, using analytics, and adapting to AI are crucial for meeting younger audiences' expectations.Salary levels for web roles are often too low to attract top talent, leading to subpar user experiences compared to other industries.Having an in-house video team can make sense for large institutions, but most lack the budget for a complete product team (producer, UX designers, developers).Hiring external partners can be more cost-effective and provide better quality for web design, video production, and content creation.AI tools should enhance research and data analysis, not replace authentic creative work that connects with prospective students.
Connect with Joel:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelgoodman/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joelgoodman/
Connect with Bravery Media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/braverymedia/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bravery-media/Threads: https://www.threads.net/@braverymediaWebsite: https://bravery.co/
Connect with John:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnazoniWebsite: https://unveild.tvNewsletter: https://unveild.tv/newsletter

My guest today is Kristin Nichols, a higher education marketing consultant with over 20 years of experience at top universities in the Northeast. In this episode, Kristin discusses how implementing project management tools like Trello helped unite her marketing teams, facilitated cross-pollination between departments, and enabled an efficient "internal agency" approach.
Kristin shares how she successfully implemented Trello at UMass Lowell, creating dedicated workspaces for each college, enrollment marketing, editorial, and more. This centralized system allowed teams to see all active projects, easily identify content to repurpose across channels, and ensure brand consistency.
Key Takeaways:
Don't get bogged down as an order-taker. Position your marketing team as strategic brand stewards using an "internal agency" model.Establish a streamlined project request and approval process, limiting feedback rounds to 3 max to drive efficiency.Create content templates and approved vendor lists to empower distributed teams while protecting brand standards.Surface storylines and assets from across campus to repurpose content and create consistent thematic campaigns.Buy-in from leadership and practitioners is crucial. Forcing new processes without buy-in leads to failure.Use project management tools to showcase your team's work, justify budgets, and pull insightful analytics.Mental health storylines resonate; look for authentic examples showcasing how your university supports students holistically.
Connect With Kristin:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholskristin/Nichols Higher Education: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nicholshighered/
Resources Mentioned:
Trello - Project management tool used at UMass Lowell Basecamp.Loom - Another popular project management platform. A screen recording tool for documenting processes.
Connect With John:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnazoniWebsite: https://unveild.tvNewsletter: https://unveild.tv/newsletter