By Brad Figmints Enrollment is a communications problem before it is a website problem, so choose a higher education marketing agency that starts with what students and families hear at each step of their decision. The website is where that conversation lands. Figmints, a Providence agency, designed the communications program at Barrington Christian Academy, a K-12 school, where enrollment went from 65% to 110% of capacity, and lifted traffic and conversions by 25% on Northeastern University’s graduate websites.
This guide is for admissions directors, marketing and communications leads and program managers at New England colleges and universities. It covers who does this work, what enrollment marketing involves, whether to hire an agency or build in-house, what to ask during selection and where Figmints fits. We say plainly what we do not do, because a mismatch found in the first meeting costs everyone less than one found after kickoff.
Which agencies specialize in higher education marketing in New England?
Three groups serve this market: agencies that work almost only with colleges and universities, regional full-service agencies, and independent consultants. Figmints is a regional agency. We have worked with multiple New England universities on websites, portals and marketing strategy, including the graduate division at Northeastern University and an admissions-focused redesign for Moses Brown School.
| Type of provider | Strength | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Higher-ed specialist agency | Deep knowledge of enrollment cycles and campus politics | Capacity for your project size and whether the team stays the same |
| Regional full-service agency | Brand, web and CRM from one team, local meetings | Experience in your exact setting, such as graduate programs or a single school |
| Independent consultant | Focused advice and short projects | Who covers the work if the project grows |
Ask every provider for the names of two institutions similar to yours. Then call someone in the admissions or communications office, and ask what the provider would do differently.
What does enrollment marketing involve?
Enrollment marketing is the work of getting a prospective student from first search to submitted application, and then to enrolled. Prospective students compare programs on their phones long before they talk to admissions, so your messages have to do that early work. The message plan comes first, and the site is built around it. A redesign that leaves the message and its timing alone can look better and still enroll about the same.
The pieces connect in order:
- Discovery. Content that answers what prospective students search for, supported by SEO.
- Program pages. One focused page per program, event or campaign, built around the student journey.
- Inquiry. Forms and landing pages that are short and work on a phone.
- Follow-up. Tracking each inquiry in a CRM, with nurture email that matches the stage.
- Application support. Reminders and clear next steps that reduce drop-off.
- Reporting. A view of which channels produce inquiries and which produce applications.
If an agency talks only about the website, ask how the plan connects to inquiry tracking. A new site that sends leads into an inbox nobody monitors does little for enrollment.
Marketing agency vs in-house team for a New England university admissions office?
Most offices do best with a mix. An in-house team knows the programs, the deadlines and the people. An agency adds capacity for large builds, campaigns and specialist skills the office does not need every month.
| Question | In-house team | Agency |
|---|---|---|
| Is the work steady all year? | Strong fit | Costly if used for small, constant tasks |
| Is the work a large project with a start and end? | Pulls staff from daily duties | Strong fit |
| Do you need a skill you will use twice a year? | Hiring is hard to justify | Strong fit |
| Do you need someone who knows the institution’s history? | Strong fit | Needs time to learn |
| Do you need an outside view on positioning? | Hard to see from inside | Strong fit |
A practical split is to keep day-to-day content, events and inquiry follow-up in-house, and bring in an agency for a site rebuild, a new campaign or a CRM setup. Set clear handoff rules at the start, so the in-house team can run what the agency builds.
What should I ask a higher education marketing agency before hiring?
Ask questions that reveal how the agency works with your systems and your people. These cover most of what goes wrong in higher-ed projects:
- What would you change about what students and families hear from us before you touch the site?
- Which CMS platforms do you build on? Figmints builds on WordPress, HubSpot CMS, Shopify and custom stacks. We have not confirmed experience with enterprise higher-ed platforms such as Drupal or Cascade, so tell us if your site must stay on one.
- How do you handle accessibility? Figmints designs and tests with WCAG in mind. We do not provide formal WCAG audits, Section 508 remediation or VPATs in-house, and we plan for a specialist partner when a client needs one.
- Can you support enrollment and advancement CRM? Figmints is a HubSpot partner and sets up inquiry tracking, nurture email and reporting for admissions and advancement teams.
- What results can you show, and how were they measured? Ask what was counted, over what period and against what baseline.
- Who will be on my project? Meet the people who will do the work.
- How do you manage review by faculty and leadership? Many stakeholders review higher-ed work. A good agency has a method for collecting feedback in rounds.
A provider that answers question 2 or 3 with an honest “we don’t do that” is giving you useful information. Providers that claim everything are harder to trust.
How should a higher education team prepare for an agency search?
Preparation shortens the search and improves every proposal you receive. Before you contact anyone, gather four things.
- A clear enrollment goal. Name the programs, the audiences and the numbers you want to move, such as inquiries for a graduate program or applications for a school with a fixed deadline.
- Current analytics. Share traffic, inquiry and application data, even if it is incomplete. Agencies can only propose realistic plans when they see where you start.
- A map of your systems. List your CMS, CRM, application platform and email tool, and who administers each one.
- A list of approvers. Name every person or committee who must sign off on design, copy and launch, and how long each review usually takes.
Share the same package with each agency. Proposals built from identical information are easier to compare, and the agencies that ask smart follow-up questions about it stand out quickly.
How do I compare proposals from higher education marketing agencies?
Score each proposal against the same short list. Give extra weight to the items that carry the most risk for your institution.
| Item | What a strong answer looks like |
|---|---|
| Understanding of your goal | The proposal restates your enrollment goal in its own words and ties each task to it |
| Platform fit | Names the CMS and CRM it will use and why |
| Accessibility | States what is tested in-house and what goes to a specialist |
| Team | Names the people and their roles |
| Timeline | Includes review rounds for faculty and leadership |
| Handoff | Explains how your staff will edit and maintain the site |
| Measurement | Defines the figures it will report and how often |
What results should I expect from a higher education marketing project?
Expect results to depend on the starting point, the programs and the budget, and be cautious with any agency that promises a specific number before it has seen your analytics. Ask for case studies with named measures.
Two examples from Figmints. For Northeastern University’s graduate division, we launched high-performance websites focused on a smooth user experience. The result was a 25% increase in traffic and conversions. You can read it on our higher education marketing page. The second is a K-12 school: after we designed Barrington Christian Academy’s communications program, enrollment went from 65% to 110% of capacity. We cite it because it shows what happens when you fix what families hear first. When you compare agencies, ask each one to define its own figures in the same way: what was counted as a conversion, and how long after launch the number was taken.
What are the red flags when choosing a higher education marketing agency?
- A proposal that starts with a sitemap before asking what families hear
- Results shown without a definition or a time period
- A team of senior people in the pitch and junior people on the project
- No plan for how the CRM and the site share data
- A website estimate that leaves out hosting, maintenance and accessibility testing
- Claims of experience on a platform that the team cannot demonstrate
- No process for gathering approvals from many campus stakeholders
Where does Figmints fit, and where does it not?
Figmints is a good fit when you want brand, web and CRM handled by one accountable team, and when your site can run on WordPress, HubSpot CMS, Shopify or a custom build. Our work for colleges and universities covers admissions websites and portals, program and campaign landing pages, brand strategy and storytelling, and HubSpot CRM for enrollment.
We are a weaker fit if your site must remain on an enterprise higher-ed CMS we have not confirmed experience with, or if you need formal accessibility audits delivered in-house. In those cases we will say so, and we can plan around a specialist partner for the parts we do not cover.
To see the broader set of services, visit the Figmints services page, the education and non-profit page or the Rhode Island marketing agency FAQ. To talk about your programs, contact Figmints.
Frequently asked questions
Do you work with colleges and universities?
Yes. Figmints has worked with multiple New England universities on websites, portals, marketing strategy and campaigns, including Northeastern University’s graduate division.
What results has Figmints delivered in higher education?
For Northeastern’s graduate division, new high-performance websites increased traffic and conversions by 25%. Outside higher education, at Barrington Christian Academy, a K-12 school, enrollment went from 65% to 110% of capacity after we designed its communications program.
Which platforms does Figmints build on?
WordPress, HubSpot CMS, Shopify and custom builds. We have not confirmed experience with enterprise higher-ed platforms such as Drupal or Cascade, so check with us if your site must stay on one.
How does Figmints handle accessibility?
We design and test with WCAG in mind. We do not provide formal WCAG audits, Section 508 remediation or VPATs in-house, so if you need one, we will plan for a specialist partner.
Can Figmints support enrollment and advancement CRM?
Yes. Figmints is a HubSpot partner. We set up inquiry tracking, nurture email and reporting for admissions and advancement teams.
