Your school’s brand is more than a logo, a tagline and a color palette. It’s an experience. It’s the kind of paper your brochures are printed on. It’s how the person sounds answering the phone when a prospect calls. It’s how the parking lot looks when they come to visit.
It’s not easy being a brand champion, and I’m not going to argue otherwise. But, it’s vital. Someone at your college, at whatever level, has to see the big picture and understand how everything, everything, everylittlething works together to make up your brand.

Why? It’s the enrollments, stupid. (Get it? The Bill Clinton line about the economy? But, instead I wrote enrollments? Whatever, I think I’m funny.) It’s all about converting those inquiries into enrollments.

There is a lot a brand champion can do to create conversions. But the single most important thing…and do not lose sight of this because of a one-semester-dip in apps…it’s OK if your inquiry leaves still being an inquiry, just make sure they leave with a positive impression.

Your website. Your print materials. Your counselors. Your campus visit. A prospective student can leave without signing on the dotted line, that is OK for now. But you cannot create a brand that will have them leave with a negative impression.  Read this article and think “What can I do at my institution to be a brand champion?”