Brand First, Click Later: Fixing the Most Neglected Part of Your Funnel
In higher education marketing, everyone wants to talk about applications, enrollments, and conversions. Those are important, no doubt. But if you’re only focusing on the bottom of the funnel, you’re missing the foundational work that makes performance marketing work.
Here’s the reality:
The most important part of the funnel is also the most ignored: Awareness.
Why Awareness Is Often Overlooked
Because awareness doesn’t always show up as a data point in your Analytics or CRM.
It’s not easily attributed to any specific campaign and doesn’t have a clean click-through rate. You can’t retarget what you never reached. But just because it’s hard to measure doesn’t mean it’s not working or isn’t important; it means we need to get smarter about how we define it, build it, and fund it.
Brand Marketing vs. Performance Marketing: Why They Aren’t Interchangeable
Brand marketing and performance marketing are not the same thing and shouldn’t be approached the same way.
- Performance marketing is about getting someone to act (click, inquire, apply).
- Brand marketing is about making sure that when it’s time to act, they already know you and trust you.
And even though they are not interchangeable, one fuels the other. Intuitive brand marketing is gasoline to the fire of your performance marketing because brand marketing is refilling your funnel for performance marketing to target.
Rethinking Awareness: It’s More Than Just “Heard of Us”
Rather than treating the top of the funnel as a single stage, we need to rethink “awareness” as a series of smaller, intentional steps. It’s just about being seen, but it’s about building recognition, fostering familiarity, and earning trust. Only then can we create a true connection with our prospective students.
Here’s how the Awareness phase should actually look:
1. Recognition
“I’ve seen or heard of this institution before.”
Recognition is passive but powerful. If your audience can’t recall your name or logo, convincing them to consider your institution, let alone apply, is a lofty goal.
2. Familiarity
“I’ve seen this institution multiple times and understand something about it.”
Familiarity is the bridge, and repeated exposure builds a sense of approachability to your institution. It’s a logo they’ve seen at a game, an ad in their school hallway, or a TikTok their friend shared.
3. Trust
“I’ve seen this brand, understand their offer, and believe they’re a quality choice.”
Trust is built through consistent messaging, peer validation, and seeing a school represented where it matters, including on platforms and in places that feel relevant and authentic.
All of this happens before they even visit your website.
So, How Do You Build All That Awareness Without Blowing Your Budget?
That’s the challenge.
Most higher ed marketers are forced to make a choice:
- Spend the bulk of the budget on performance (and struggle to stand out), or
- Invest in brand awareness and risk having no budget left to drive conversions.
The solution? Be strategic about where and how you build awareness.
Affordability Is About Meeting Students Where They Already Are
Look for targeted, traditional advertising options that are affordable and strategically placed. That’s where NextGrad comes in.
NextGrad offers access to digital screens and posters in high schools, where prospective students are already spending their time. By showing up consistently in this environment, your institution can:
- Spark recognition
- Build familiarity
- Earn trust
- All without wasting impressions or blowing your brand budget.
You Can’t Skip the Top of the Funnel
If your institution is struggling with engagement, applications, or yield, don’t just double down on performance marketing. Instead, zoom out.
Ask yourself:
- Have we truly built recognition?
- Are we familiar to our target audience?
- Do we feel trustworthy to students who’ve never interacted with us directly?
If the answer is no, it’s time to invest in the part of the funnel that too many skip. Because when brand marketing and performance marketing work together, that’s when higher ed marketing actually performs.
To find out more about NextGrad and our network of digital screens placed in high schools across North America visit NextGrad.com/About. To contact us for information on pricing or to get your message in front of thousands of students, visit NextGrad.com/Contact.
