Direct mail is not dead.

Most institutions just stopped using it strategically.

I talked with Dylon Jones from Spectrum Marketing Companies about how direct mail actually works in higher ed today.

Key takeaways for enrollment and marketing teams

• Direct mail fails when strategy fails. Not the channel.

• The biggest mistake is sending one piece and expecting results.

• A strong baseline is 3 mail drops across 3 months.

• Mail must drive to a targeted landing page, not your homepage.

• The best campaigns integrate mail, digital ads, and admissions follow-up.

• Start with parents early in the recruitment cycle, then shift messaging to students later.

Direct mail should never live on an island. It works best as part of a multi-touch strategy.

Contact Dylon if you need help via DJones@spectrummarketing.com or cell 806-500-9880.

Follow Education Marketing Leader and subscribe so you do not miss the next episode. 🎧

Short form video “best practices” are mostly fake rules. If you want what works in 2026, you need reps, speed, and real people.

In the latest episode of Education Marketing Leader podcast, I sat down with Rob Clark, creator of That Tall Family, Founder of Tall Family Media, and author of Growing Your Influence, 4 Billion Views and Attention Gap, which we co-authored.

Here are a few takeaways from the episode:

1) Quantity creates quality. More reps. More learning. More wins.

2) Speed matters. Stop scheduling 3 months out. Culture moves weekly.

3) Real beats polished. AI will make “perfect” content cheap. Human content will stand out. If you’re trying to drive awareness and enrollment with social media video, this episode will help you.

Grab your copies of: Attention Gap: https://www.amazon.com/Attention-Gap-Great-Schools-Invisible-ebook/dp/B0GKZ8G72B?ref_=ast_author_dp&th=1&psc=1

4 Billion Views: https://www.amazon.com/Billion-Views-Built-Social-Scratch-ebook/dp/B0FVQFVD2V?ref_=ast_author_dp&th=1&psc=1

Growing Your Influence: https://www.amazon.com/Growing-Your-Influence-Strategies-Generation-ebook/dp/B0DXN7M1LP?ref_=ast_author_dp&th=1&psc=1

How does a university triple freshman enrollment while others struggle to break even?

In this episode, I talk with James Steen, Ph.D., VP for Enrollment Management & Marketing at Houston Christian University, about what actually drove HCU’s growth.

We get into:

• Why removing friction mattered more than better messaging
• How direct admission and guaranteed offers changed behavior
• The role marketing played once the value proposition was clear
• What “next practice” looks like when operations and enrollment align

This is a real case study. No theory. No platitudes.

👉 Follow Education Marketing Leader and subscribe on YouTube for more conversations built for higher ed marketers.