Higher education marketing is all about stories. To attract prospective students, you have to paint a picture of their future, both in the short term (which campus events are most exciting?) and in the long term (how will their coursework turn into an actual job?).
A focus on storytelling isn’t unique to higher ed marketing, however. 92% of customers want brands to make ads that feel like a story, and stories are 22x more likely to be remembered than discrete facts.
At Ithaca College, Fuse magazine was the primary home for tales of student life. I wrote feature stories to highlight student leaders in the classroom, at their club meetings, and on the sports field, including two first-person accounts of my own most memorable college experiences. IC News stories served a similar purpose – reporting on the most incredible happenings around campus certainly does perk up the ears of discerning prospective students – but they spoke to a wider audience of current students, faculty, staff, alumni, and local community members. ICView captured some of the best highlights into an alumni-focused magazine.
Writing for these publications honed my skills in knowing an audience deeply and finding the extraordinary spark that make a seeming plain-clothes event resonate. And that, as all marketers know, is the key to content success.
Note: Fuse is no longer being published nor available online, so the headlines below simply give a sense of my work there. Similarly, IC News has culled many past stories. Full text of these articles can be made available upon request.
Fuse and ICView Magazines (via Ithaca College Office of Strategic Marketing & Communications)
- Colonel Michael J. Hertzendorf ’89 leads by inspiring others
- Breaking Nude: Student Changes Dictionary Definition To Be More Inclusive
- Bringing The Classroom Outside: Students Dig Deeper Into Learning At The Organic Garden
- Students Learn The Power Of Activist Theatre
- From The Field To The Firm: Leadership Academy Prepares Athletes For Success
- Alumna Performs “Poetrical” About Changing Harlem
- You Can’t Stop The Beat: Step Fest At IC
- Alumnus Leads Minicourse On Event Planning
- Alumna Uses Recreation To Aid People With Disabilities
- Lessons In Leadership
- Music as Medicine (editor)
- Five Things I Learned From a Week in Cuba
IC News Website (via Ithaca College Office of Strategic Marketing & Communications)
- Student Named Young Feminist to Follow on Twitter
- Ithaca College Student Fights Drug Addiction in New York City
- Boxing Champ Laila Ali Speaks on Becoming a Fighter and Her Father’s Struggle with Parkinson’s
- Harvest Moon Dance Brings Together Ithaca College Students and Older Adults
- Feminist Activist to Give Book Reading at Ithaca College
- Ithaca College Students Learn About Different Cultures
- For PRWeek Student of the Year Finalist, a Lot of Research, a Lot of Planning, a Little Acting
Sabina Leybold 