Which Marketing Strategies Reach Today’s Students

Higher education is competing for attention in a more crowded, fragmented landscape than ever before. As enrollment pressure rises and traditional advantages fade, institutions face a critical leadership question: how do you grow without losing focus, credibility, or mission?In this episode of Radical Cooperation, Dr. Michael Horowitz speaks with Brook Shepard, Founder and CEO of Mason Interactive, about what higher education leaders often misunderstand about marketing, enrollment, and growth. Drawing on nearly two decades of experience working with colleges, universities, and mission-driven organizations, Brook reframes marketing not as a set of tactics, but as an institutional capability that requires alignment, patience, and shared responsibility.In this episode:Why higher education often measures marketing the wrong wayHow short-term efficiency can undermine long-term enrollment growthWhat alignment between marketing, admissions, and leadership really requiresWhy awareness is a prerequisite for demand, not a luxuryHow institutions can build shared accountability instead of siloed blame