Propelled by the rise of social media and content marketing, visual content and storytelling have become two of the fastest emerging content trends over the last five-plus years. And when combined, visual content + storytelling can pack a powerful punch for brands fortunate enough to have access to both high quality visual assets and compelling stories to tell.

Interdepartmental turf wars between so-called “promoters” and “sellers” are commonplace across all business industries—and higher education is no exception. Despite sharing many of the same top line goals and therefore having a shared vested interest in the institution’s success, higher ed marketing and admissions departments often struggle to align and form collaborative partnerships that leverage each other’s expertise.

Coming up with a diverse content mix for social media can sometimes be a challenge. Just ask any marketer with day-to-day responsibility for content planning and generation. Granted, a content calendar is a tremendous help with planning content themes and visualizing how your content will be distributed throughout the week, month, or even year. But can we have a moment of truth and admit to ourselves that our content calendars don’t always take into account the creativity or resourcefulness required to keep our audiences fully engaged?

So when exactly did the annual report take on its new modernized persona? A few years ago, I just kind of looked up one day—and BOOM! Gone were the days of the static print assemblage of a company's prior year balance sheets, operating and financial reviews, and cash flow statements that would subsequently take up valuable real estate in a storage closet or a file cabinet. For those of us who have held the (necessary, but often mundane) responsibility for producing annual reports, it has been a welcomed change.

It’s hard to recall how we ever functioned in a world without social media. Imagine executing your role as a nonprofit marketer in 2016 without the ease and access social media offers for greater cause awareness, increased website traffic, higher levels of community engagement, and extended campaign reach.

Generally speaking, humans respond better when connecting with other humans. That’s just part of our human nature. Regardless of whether we’re interacting in a social setting or in a business setting, we want to engage with real people.

In this digital age, video storytelling is arguably the most powerful marketing tool available to higher ed institutions. Unlike other forms of content, video allows prospective students to virtually experience life on campus and academic programs through current student, faculty, and alumni stories.

Contrary to what you may have heard, email marketing is not dead. Not only is email marketing still alive and kicking, it continues to maintain its status as an effective lead generation channel for organizations of all types, including nonprofits.

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Student personas are fictional, generalized representations of your school’s ideal applicants. The strongest student personas are based on market research, as well as on insights you gather from your existing student body.

Maybe cause affinity and brand awareness were enough to attract loyal supporters to nonprofits a decade ago, but the rules have now changed. Like their for-profit peers, nonprofit marketers are being forced to rethink marketing strategies and maximize their digital presence in order to compete for attention in a crowded online space.