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2025 Pre-Summit Institute

(This is an optional event offered at an additional cost of $300 for NAGAP members and $325 for non-members. You can sign up for this with your Summit registration.)

Beyond the Comm Plan: A Content Strategy Bootcamp for Grad Schools

Date & Time:

Wednesday, April 23rd

1:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Intended Audience:

Graduate Enrollment Managers, Directors/VPs of Admissions, Enrollment Marketing Professionals

Description:

Your enrollment strategy’s secret weapon? Content. In this hands-on workshop, you’ll learn how to build or refine a content marketing strategy that drives results for your graduate programs. Designed for GEM professionals at all experience levels, this session combines practical tools, live exercises, and expert insights to help you create high-impact content aligned with the applicant journey. Walk away with actionable plans, ready-to-use templates, and strategies for leveraging your institution’s unique voice to engage prospective students and boost enrollment success.

Learning Objectives:

Workshop participants will learn how to:

• Identify — and fill — the gaps in their existing content foundation
• Create a content strategy that responds to the questions, needs, preferences, and behaviors of target audiences in the enrollment process
• Develop core content for all three stages in the applicant journey, using best practices and leveraging existing content
• Deploy content marketing campaigns to diversify digital ad offers
• Measure the effectiveness of various types of content assets
• Leverage internal thought leaders (e.g. faculty), students, and alumni to create and bolster content for enrollment marketing

1. Content Strategy 101 for Higher Ed (20-30 mins)
   1. Why content is an essential part of your enrollment marketing strategy
   2. Define content strategy, providing examples of different types of content
   3. Show how content relates to the marketing funnel (awareness, consideration, decision), including how it translates to TOFU/MOFU/BOFU activities
   4. Define search engine optimization (SEO), key terms and concepts, and how it relates to content marketing
   5. List out some fundamental content rules people should follow
2. How to Create a Content Strategy (1 hour)
   1. Overview: high-level topic cluster methodology
   2. Step 1: Auditing what exists
      1. Exercise #1: No Dead Ends
      2. [Handout] Brand/Content Audit Checklist
   3. Step 2: How to come up with new content
      1. Exercise #2: Ikea Marketing Team
   4. Step 3: Make it actionable
      1. [Handout] Content Strategy Template
      2. [Handout] Topic Cluster Fill-In
      3. Handout] Journey Stages + Corresponding Questions
   5. Exercise #3: Make Your Own Topic Cluster
3. How to Power a Content Strategy (20-30 mins)
   1. Explain where content strategy and marketing strategy meet
      1. Evergreen content strategy vs marketing campaigns
   2. Share the theory behind and examples of content marketing campaigns
   3. Discuss creating intentional content pathways
   4. Institutional Perspective: How to work with your digital ad vendors to power your content strategy
4. How to Measure Content Strategy Success (20-30 mins)
   1. The metrics that matter most
   2. Proving ROI with full-funnel attribution
   3. Integrating a CRM that can help you get the data you need
5. Q&A (15-20 mins)

Speakers:

Tony Fraga, CEO @ DD Agency
Tony has been consulting with schools for the past two decades and specializes in developing customized strategic marketing and communications plans for graduate schools. His approach is heavily based on the inbound methodology and is known for helping institutions build more sustainable marketing programs (doing more with less) based on data and bottom-funnel impact.

Tony has presented widely on marketing trends and best practices at national and regional conferences for the past 20 years, including NAGAP, NACCAP, TXGAP, NYGAP, CAPGAP, SEGAP, MAGAP, BIOGAP, SCCCU, AMA

Higher Ed, EduWeb, and others. He was awarded the NAGAP Visionary Award in 2019, and continues to volunteer on NAGAP’s Education Committee and Strategic Partners Council.

Mel Trice, Creative & Marketing Director @ DD Agency
An experienced multi-medium storyteller, Mel balances creativity and curiosity with a left-brained approach to both content and brand strategy. She has spent the last decade crafting complex, data-backed content strategies for institutions of all sizes across the higher education, health care, and nonprofit industries. Motivated by bringing real value to prospects and making the lives of marketers easier, Mel’s approach is based on inbound methodology. She also loves a good challenge and gets an extra kick out of helping underdogs beat the odds.

Mel is an enthusiastic speaker and former podcast host (Healing on the Home Front), who has hosted webinars and workshops on storytelling, content, and brand development.

Marcus Hanscom, Director of Enrollment Marketing @ DD Agency
A purpose-driven, higher education enrollment management and marketing leader, Marcus joined the Direct Development team in 2023 after more than 17 years working in progressive admission and enrollment roles at Roger Williams University (Bristol, RI) and University of New Haven (West Haven, CT). He also served for two years as a higher education consultant for Dutcher LLC, supporting clients in academic program analysis and development, market research, digital marketing strategy, staff assessment, and more. As a consultant with Direct Development, he has served as an Interim Director of Admissions (Bastyr University) and as a senior consultant on admissions and marketing strategy with BAYADA Education, Peabody College, University of Dallas, University of San Diego, and more.

Marcus has presented widely on enrollment management and marketing strategies at national and regional conferences for Academic Impressions, Aslanian Market Research, Carnegie, NAGAP, NEGAP, Stamats, TxGAP, and others, and completed his third term on the NAGAP Board of Directors in 2020. He was awarded the NAGAP Distinguished Service Award in 2023 and is co-host of the official NAGAP podcast, The NAGAP Report. He was the founding president of NEGAP, the New England Association for Graduate Enrollment Management.