Capture Higher Ed's inaugural Enrollment Engagement Report is built on survey data from more than 2,800 high school juniors and seniors actively navigating the college search. 

What the data reveals isn't a picture of disengaged students. It's a picture of students who engage and act differently. 

The Dark Funnel Is Where Enrollment Decisions Are Made 

53% of students reported applying or requesting information without any prior direct interaction with the institution. No form submission. No event attendance. No email response. They simply appeared in your funnel after making their decision largely in private. 

Students Expect Personalization Earlier Than You Think 

83% of students are more likely to take the next step when outreach feels highly personalized. What's clear is that the expectation gap between what students want and when most institutions respond is significant. And students notice the difference. 

Students Are Using AI — But Not the Way Institutions Assume 

Nearly half of students already use AI tools during their college search. But how students use AI versus how they want institutions to use it are two very different things – and the gap between them is creating a trust problem that’s easy to miss until it’s too late.  

The report surfaces specific boundaries students draw around AI in the admissions process, including the types of communication where AI involvement significantly damages their perception of a school. 

The Competitive Gap Is Already Opening 

Some institutions are already acting on pre-inquiry behavioral data. Others are still waiting for the form submission. The report quantifies how much of the student decision journey happens before inquiry — and what that means for institutions that can see it versus those that can't. 

The findings make the case that the enrollment advantage isn't going to the institutions with the biggest budgets. It's going to the ones with the earliest, most complete visibility into student intent. 

The Full Picture is in the Report

These four findings are a starting point. The full 2026 Enrollment Engagement Report  goes deeper on the dark funnel, personalization expectations, AI trust boundaries, and the content and channels that build confidence during the college search. 

It's built for enrollment and marketing leaders who want to understand how today's students actually behave — not how traditional strategies assume they do. 

AUTHOR: Mia Charette
As Capture’s VP of Marketing, Mia brings 13+ years of experience leading growth in EdTech and B2B SaaS, with previous roles at Niche, Harmonize, and Finalsite. She’s a creative, data-driven marketer who loves helping colleges and universities tell their story, reach the right students, and hit their enrollment goals.

Yield season is the moment enrollment teams feel the weight of everything that came before it. The inquiry campaigns, the application pushes, the campus visit follow-ups—it all converges into a window where admitted students are deciding, often quietly, whether your institution made the cut. 

The problem is that most yield strategies are still built around the assumption that if you send enough communications, the right students will respond. But admitted students today aren't passive. They're revisiting your website at 11pm, comparing financial aid pages side-by-side, and making decisions long before your counselors know they're wavering. 

The institutions setting themselves up for success right now aren't just sending more—they're sending smarter, showing up in the right moment, and removing friction at the exact point where students hesitate.  

Why Traditional Yield Outreach Falls Short

Georgia Southwestern State University flipped the script by combining CRM data and marketing automation with real-time web behavior – giving them control of their funnel before prospects ever raise their hand. Rather than waiting for applications, they went after their ideal prospect with a Popover that activates the moment a current enroll year student with a GPA of 3.25 or higher lands on their site. The campaign links to a page on their website filled with benefits of a degree from GSW. A nod to messaging that resonates with high ability students.   

The result is a conversation that begins on the institution's terms, at a moment of genuine interest. The student gets relevance. The enrollment team gets visibility into a prospect they would have otherwise never seen — until it was too late to influence. 

 
Why it works: Early visibility into high-potential students enables earlier, more strategic engagement — turning passive site visits into active conversations before competitors even know the student is looking. And the numbers back it up! 

The results: The campaign generated 15 clicks from 255 unique impressions – a 5.88% conversion rate that’s moving students right through their funnel. 

Removing Friction for Transfer Students 

Admitted students occupy a uniquely frustrating position in the enrollment funnel. They've already raised their hands. They already know your institution. Generic "We hope you'll join us!" emails don't move them—and in some cases, they quietly signal that you haven't been paying attention. 

Research consistently shows that students expect personalization to reflect their actual behavior, not just their name in a subject line. Nearly 60% of students report becoming less interested in a college when outreach feels generic. That's yield leakage that doesn't show up in your deposit numbers until it's too late to course correct. 

The yield campaigns that work share a common thread: they're triggered by behavior, personalized to intent, and delivered at the moment a student is already engaged. Here's how three Capture clients are doing it. 

Strategy 1: Meeting Students in the Moment 

An admitted student who returns to your financial aid page three times a week is telling you something. Without behavioral intelligence, that signal disappears into your website analytics, unlabeled and unactionable. But with the right strategy, it becomes a trigger. 

Popovers—or dynamic content—let you intercept admitted students at high-intent moments with messaging that matches exactly what they're exploring. A student deep in your nursing program pages sees a message about a virtual Q&A with current nursing students. A student lingering on your cost calculator sees a prompt to connect with a financial aid counselor. The message fits the moment because it's built on behavior, not assumptions. 

High Point University is running a popover campaign targeting admitted students who returned to the site after being admitted. The key isn’t just the popover itself—but rather the relevance of the message and clearly guiding admitted students to the next step. Students didn't feel marketed to. They felt seen. The results prove it: a 38% conversion rate. And it’s only February.

If you're using Capture: Capture's behavioral intelligence platform tracks every page visit, content interaction, and return session for prospective students. And luckily for your counselors, they can lean on their Daily Visitor Report to prioritize admitted student follow-up — so they always know which students are showing the strongest signals of momentum. 

Strategy 2: Driving Community Before the Deposit Deadline 

Toasters are small, persistent ads that appear in the corner of a webpage. They're less interruptive than a popover, which makes them well-suited for a specific use case: surfacing a next step to a student who is already engaged and browsing, without pulling them out of the experience entirely. During yield season, one of the highest-value next steps you can ask an admitted student to take is joining your incoming class community. 

That matters because peer connection is one of the most powerful yield levers available. When admitted students connect with future classmates, ask questions of current students, and start to see themselves as part of your campus community, they're not just browsing anymore—they're belonging. And students who feel a sense of belonging before they deposit are significantly more likely to follow through.

Missouri Western is running a toaster campaign targeting admitted students who visit their website but haven’t yet registered on ZeeMee. The toaster appears with a simple, direct message: “Congrats! You’re admitted! Connect with current and future students on ZeeMee.” It’s a one click directing admitted students to the ZeeMee registration page.  

The results: a 4.5% conversion rate shows that catching students during a high-intent site visit—along with a low friction of ask, is a great way to keep students engaged. They only must take one small step toward the community they were already imagining themselves joining.  

If you're using Capture: Our dynamic content tool lets you configure toasters to fire based on specific behavioral conditions—page type, visit frequency, status synced from your CRM, and more. Because the trigger logic is connected to real behavioral data, your toaster isn't showing up for every visitor at random. It's appearing for the admitted students who are actively engaging with your site right now, making the ask feel timely rather than generic.  

Strategy 3: Filling Admitted Student Events While Students are Already Engaged 

Deposit decisions rarely hinge on a single moment. They build through repeated, meaningful interactions that deepen a student's sense of fit and confidence in their choice. Admitted student events—whether an on-campus open house, a virtual information session, or a program-specific preview day—are among the most powerful of those interactions. The challenge is getting the right students to register. 

Email reminders help, but they compete with a crowded inbox and arrive on your schedule, not the students. A toaster catches an admitted student in a completely different context: mid-browse, already on your site, already thinking about your institution. That's the moment to surface the event. The ask is small. The timing is right. And the payoff—a student who shows up, connects with faculty or current students, and walks away with a stronger sense of belonging—is directly tied to yield.

Beloit College is using a Toaster campaign to promote their on-campus Admitted Student Day — but with a smart twist. By targeting only students with 3+ site visits and IP addresses within the United States, they're reaching the right admitted students with the right message: domestic students who are actively considering and can attend an in-person event. This matters because international admitted students follow a different path —Beloit keeps their experience clean by ensuring international students receive messaging that reflects their process instead. 

If you're using Capture: Because Capture's dynamic content rules connect to your CRM data in real time, you can suppress admitted students who have already registered for an event, suppress certain IP addresses, and so much more. Combined with Capture's behavioral triggers, the toaster can be configured to appear only when a student's browsing behavior suggests high engagement—multiple pages visited, return visit within a certain window, specific content explored—so you're surfacing the event prompt at the moment of peak interest, not just on a date-based schedule. 

What These Campaigns Have in Common

Three different tactics, three different institutions, one consistent strategy: each campaign was built on behavioral data that made the outreach feel relevant to the student receiving it. That's not a coincidence, and it's not magic. It's the difference between enrollment marketing built on what students are doing versus what you hoped they might do. 

Admitted students are still making decisions. The question is whether your yield strategy can see those decisions forming—and respond before a competitor does. 

What to Do Next 

If your yield campaigns are still running primarily on calendar-based sequences and gut instinct about which students need attention, now is the time to change that. The data to run smarter campaigns already exists in your students' behavior. The opportunity is making it visible and actionable. 

Ready to see what behavioral yield campaigns look like in practice? Request a demo from Capture and we'll walk through exactly how these strategies would work with your admitted student pool. 

S

AUTHOR: Andrea Gjorevski
Andrea is a Marketing Manager at Capture Higher Ed with 10+ years of experience in higher education and EdTech. She’s driven by a simple mission: helping colleges connect with the right students through smarter, more human marketing.

With undergraduate enrollment challenges pushing more institutions to lean on graduate programs for revenue, competition for graduate students has never been fiercer. 

But we both know graduate students don't take a clear path to enrollment. They operate on their own timelines, taking months or even years to move from initial interest to application. 

Throughout their journey, interest ebbs and flows. Someone who was actively researching in January might go quiet for months, then suddenly return when their career situation changes or a new semester approaches. During this time, they operate in stealth mode: engaging with everything from your social media content to high-intent website pages without ever filling out a form. 

This poses a challenge: Where and how do you focus? 

Striking while interest is hot requires both science and art. You need the data to identify the signal, and the strategy to know what message will resonate. Effective graduate recruitment strategies address both sides of this equation: building new prospect pools and re-engaging existing leads at the right moment. 

In this post, we'll cover strategic search tactics that help you build strong prospect pools, plus proven nurture strategies for re-engaging the leads already in your funnel—so you can focus your efforts on the opportunities most likely to convert. 

• Graduate Student Recruitment Strategies: Building Your Prospect Pool 

• Graduate Recruitment Strategy: Re-Engaging Prospects When Interest Peaks 

• Putting Your Graduate Recruitment Strategy into Action 

Graduate Student Recruitment Strategies: Building Your Prospect Pool 

Engage Recent Graduates with Intention 

Your alumni from the past 2-5 years represent some of your strongest graduate prospects. You already have a relationship with them, you understand their academic interests, and they know your institution's value. Don't treat them like strangers; communicate as if they're old friends, because they are. 

Keep your messaging warm and specific. Instead of generic "come back to campus" emails, reference their undergraduate major, highlight how your graduate programs build on what they already studied, or share success stories from alumni in similar career paths who returned for advanced degrees. 

If you're using Capture: Leverage behavioral data to identify which recent alumni are actively researching graduate programs on your website. These stealth shoppers are signaling interest without formally inquiring, giving you the opportunity to reach out with personalized content before they ever fill out a form—building audiences based on page visits or demographics, then serving relevant content based on their demonstrated interests. 

Recruit Prospects from Current Undergraduates 

Your current undergraduate students are another high-value audience. They're already on campus, familiar with your faculty and resources, and may not realize that continuing their education at their future alma mater is an option. 

Start these conversations junior and senior year through targeted communications that highlight the benefits of staying, such as potential scholarship opportunities for alumni, familiarity with faculty who could become graduate advisors, or accelerated program options that let them complete both degrees faster. 

If you're using Capture: Track which current students are visiting graduate program pages and use dynamic content to serve them messaging about pathways from their current major to relevant graduate programs, creating a seamless transition narrative. This Toaster on High Point’s website reaches students the moment they browse MBA pages – turning passive exploration into personalized, actionable engagement. The campaign delivered 1,600 impressions and 42 clicks from students actively exploring their programs – early signals that enable enrollment teams to prioritize their outreach efforts.

Increase and Diversify Your International Student Outreach 

International students continue to be a vital part of graduate enrollment, but the landscape has shifted. With policy uncertainty and changing visa processes creating hesitation among international prospects, institutions need to be both more strategic and more reassuring in their recruitment approaches. 

While countries like China and India remain significant sources of graduate students, diversifying your international recruitment across emerging markets in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and various regions across Africa can help mitigate risk and tap into new prospect pools. 

Virtual events have become standard practice for reaching international audiences cost-effectively. Use them as opportunities to showcase faculty expertise, connect prospects with current international students, and directly address concerns about visa processes, career outcomes, and cultural support. Being transparent and proactive about these topics builds trust during uncertain times. 

If you're using Capture: Use geo-targeting and behavioral intelligence to identify international prospects researching your programs, then deliver personalized content that addresses their specific needs—whether that's information about international student services, career outcomes in their home country, or financial aid opportunities. A Popover campaign on Roger Williams University’s website is targeting international IP addresses when they visit their website. This automated geo-targeting ensures international prospects see relevant content related to their specific concerns such as visa support, program details and scholarship options. All without manual intervention!

Personalize Content for Your Anonymous Majority 

Most graduate prospects never fill out a form during their first visit...or their fifth. They research anonymously for weeks or months, visiting program pages, comparing options, and consuming content before they're ready to identify themselves. 

This creates a challenge: how do you personalize outreach when you don't know who they are? The answer lies in recognizing behavioral patterns. Anonymous visitors leave digital breadcrumbs—the pages they visit, how long they stay, what content they download, and when they return. These signals reveal intent even without a name. 

Deploy strategies that speak to these high-intent behaviors. Use retargeting ads that reference the specific programs they've browsed. Serve dynamic website content that adapts based on their interests. Create compelling content offers—like program comparisons or career outcome guides—that encourage them to take that first step and convert from anonymous researcher to known inquiry. 

If you're using Capture: The platform identifies and tracks anonymous stealth shoppers as they research your programs, scoring them based on engagement patterns. You can build audiences of high-intent anonymous visitors and reach them with personalized ads and dynamic content before they ever fill out a form. When they do convert, you already understand their interests and can continue the conversation with relevant, timely messaging that moves them toward application. 

Create Partnerships with Two-Year and Four-Year Institutions 

Strategic partnerships with other institutions can create reliable pipelines into your graduate programs. Think about where you want to draw students from: 

• Is it specific geographic regions?  

• Undergraduate programs that align well with your graduate offerings?  

• Institutions whose mission complements yours? 

Formalize these relationships through articulation agreements, joint information sessions, or faculty exchanges. Make it easy for their advisors to recommend your programs by providing them with clear pathways, scholarship information, and success stories of students who made the transition. 

If you're using Capture: Build targeted email campaigns for students at partner institutions, then use behavioral data to identify which prospects are most engaged. Personalize follow-up content based on their undergraduate major or demonstrated interests to highlight clear pathways from their current program into yours. 

Graduate Recruitment Strategy: Re-Engaging Prospects When Interest Peaks 

Recognize When Interest Resurfaces 

Graduate prospects don't disappear; they go dormant. Someone who inquired six months ago may have been waiting for a promotion, finishing a certification, or dealing with a life change. When they're ready, they come back. 

The key is recognizing when that happens. A prospect who returns to your website after months of silence is sending a signal. They're browsing program pages again, downloading content, or checking admissions requirements. This is your moment to re-engage with timely, relevant outreach. 

If you're using Capture: Behavioral triggers identify when dormant inquiries return to your website. Your Daily Visitor Report will show when cold leads start browsing again. Then you can send personalized messages that acknowledge their previous interest and invite them to take the next step—whether that's scheduling a call with an advisor, attending an upcoming virtual event, or reviewing updated program information. 

Identify High-Intent Engagement Signals 

Not all website activity is created equal. A prospect casually browsing your homepage is in a different place than someone comparing tuition costs, reading faculty bios, or reviewing application deadlines. 

High-intent signals—like visiting financial aid pages multiple times, spending significant time on program curriculum details, or downloading application guides—indicate prospects who are close to making a decision. These are the moments when your outreach has the greatest impact. 

If you're using Capture: The platform tracks engagement patterns and scores prospects based on their behavior. You can identify which prospects are showing high-intent signals and prioritize outreach accordingly. When someone hits critical pages like "How to Apply" or "Scholarships and Aid" multiple times in a short window, you can trigger immediate, personalized follow-up that addresses exactly what they're researching—whether that's connecting them with a financial aid counselor or sending them a simplified application checklist. 

Retarget Former Inquiries, Applicants, and Prior Cycle Admits 

Life happens. Prospects who were in your funnel but didn't enroll may have faced personal circumstances that required a change of plans. 

But that doesn't mean their interest has disappeared. 

The question is: when is the right time to re-engage? Generic "we miss you" emails rarely work. But if a former applicant is back on your website researching updated program information or browsing new concentrations you've added, that's a clear signal they're reconsidering. 

If you're using Capture: Identify former applicants and admits who return to your website and automatically trigger re-engagement campaigns that span your website, email, and paid advertising. Acknowledge their previous status, welcome them to the current cycle, and make it easy to restart the conversation. If possible, re-extend their admission or highlight what's new since they last engaged—new faculty hires, curriculum updates, enhanced career outcomes, or expanded scholarship opportunities. Jacksonville University targets current and prior enroll year students as they browse 2+ Law pages on their website, reminding prospects the benefit of a Law degree from JU – no additional application for scholarship consideration. This behavior-triggered campaign has a 7% conversion rate, proving that personalized messaging is best delivered precisely when students are on your site.

Putting Your Graduate Recruitment Strategy into Action 

An effective graduate recruitment strategy isn't about running more campaigns—it's about using data to focus your efforts where they'll have the greatest impact. 

Start by defining your goals. What are your enrollment targets for each program? Which programs need growth? Which geographic markets or student populations represent the biggest opportunities? 

Once you've established goals, use behavioral data to prioritize. Rather than treating all prospects equally, identify who's showing high-intent signals and who needs longer-term nurture. This allows you to allocate resources strategically by investing more in prospects closest to conversion while maintaining automated engagement for those still in early research. 

Execute through cross-channel enrollment marketing that reaches both known and anonymous prospects. Email, digital advertising, direct mail, and virtual events should work together, not in isolation. Personalize messaging based on demonstrated interests—whether someone is researching online programs, comparing tuition costs, or exploring specific concentrations. 

The best graduate student recruitment strategies combine strategic thinking with tactical execution. By using data to prioritize efforts and personalize outreach across channels, you create a sustainable graduate recruitment strategy that delivers results year after year. 

Ready to take your graduate recruitment strategy to the next level? Capture's behavioral intelligence platform helps institutions identify prospects earlier, engage them more effectively, and move them through the funnel faster. Contact us today to learn how we can help you meet your graduate recruitment goals. 

AUTHOR: Mia Charette
As Capture’s VP of Marketing, Mia brings 13+ years of experience leading growth in EdTech and B2B SaaS, with previous roles at Niche, Harmonize, and Finalsite. She’s a creative, data-driven marketer who loves helping colleges and universities tell their story, reach the right students, and hit their enrollment goals.

Most enrollment decisions begin long before a student ever clicks "submit application”. But in that quiet stretch of research, comparison, and consideration — what we call the dark funnel — the institutions that show up first, and show up relevantly, don't just earn attention. They earn an advantage. The three campaigns below aren’t just personalized – they're precise. These institutions are among the many using Capture to identify high-intent prospects to activate messaging at the exact moment of engagement. 

Engaging High-Intent Prospects Before They Ever Raise Their Hand  

Georgia Southwestern State University flipped the script by combining CRM data and marketing automation with real-time web behavior – giving them control of their funnel before prospects ever raise their hand. Rather than waiting for applications, they went after their ideal prospect with a Popover that activates the moment a current enroll year student with a GPA of 3.25 or higher lands on their site. The campaign links to a page on their website filled with benefits of a degree from GSW. A nod to messaging that resonates with high ability students.   

The result is a conversation that begins on the institution's terms, at a moment of genuine interest. The student gets relevance. The enrollment team gets visibility into a prospect they would have otherwise never seen — until it was too late to influence. 

 
Why it works: Early visibility into high-potential students enables earlier, more strategic engagement — turning passive site visits into active conversations before competitors even know the student is looking. And the numbers back it up! 

The results: The campaign generated 15 clicks from 255 unique impressions – a 5.88% conversion rate that’s moving students right through their funnel. 

Removing Friction for Transfer Students 

Transfer students are among the most motivated prospects an institution can reach — and among the most likely to fall through the cracks. This campaign targets exactly that gap through marketing automation based on a prospect's very own website behavior and CRM data. 
 
When a transfer prospect who has a scholarship score browses two or more pages without having applied for a scholarship, a Popover surfaces on Tarleton State University’s website— timely, specific, and directly relevant to their financial interests. 

This isn't a generic nudge, though. It's a personalized signal that tells the student: we know what matters to you, and we're making it easier. For their enrollment team, it's a precision-guided intervention that converts passive browsing into active scholarship consideration — right when engagement is highest. And for the prospect, it’s pointing them directly to the scholarship page.  

Why it works: Personalization that reflects a student's actual eligibility — delivered when their behavior signals readiness — creates stronger momentum and faster movement toward application, without the student ever feeling pushed.  

The Results: A 19.44% click-through rate shows that students aren’t just seeing the right message; they’re seeing one that speaks directly to their situation. And a 5.06% conversion rate proves its working!

Reaching Graduate Prospects with Precision 

For graduate programs — particularly law — the window to influence a top-tier candidate is narrow and unforgiving. That’s why Charleston School of Law used a Triggered Email campaign to target current enroll year prospects who have not yet applied but carry an LSAT score of 155 or above. That single data point is a strong signal of both capability and seriousness — and this campaign acts on it immediately. 
 

Rather than waiting for these high-caliber prospects to self-select, the institution reaches out first with a message that acknowledges their profile and opens the door. It's not about volume — it's about knowing exactly who to contact, when, and why. That kind of focused action is what separates teams that chase applicants from teams that shape their class. 

Why it works: Prioritized, data-driven automated emails to the right candidates — at the right time — means enrollment teams stop chasing volume and start building the class they want, with clear visibility into every step of the journey.  

The results: Of the 44 inquiries who opened that email, 11 students applied. And that’s how we move prospects to apply 3x (or in this case, 4x) faster. 😉 

The Dark Funnel Isn’t a Mystery Anymore 

Each of these campaigns does something deceptively simple: it connects the right message to the right student at the most opportune moment. Behind that simplicity is a system that makes the invisible visible, turns early signals into strategic action, and gives enrollment teams the clarity they need to shape a class — not just fill one. 

Ready to see how Capture works for your institution? Request a demo today and see how we can help shape your next class — before the competition even knows the students are looking. 

AUTHOR: Andrea Gjorevski
Andrea is a Marketing Manager at Capture Higher Ed with 10+ years of experience in higher education and EdTech. She’s driven by a simple mission: helping colleges connect with the right students through smarter, more human marketing.

Competing for your prospect's attention is a digital battlefield. And your generic "Dear [FirstName]" email has already lost the war. 

Recent research found that 73% of consumers expect companies to understand their unique needs and expectations. For Gen Z students—digital natives who've grown up with Netflix recommendations and Spotify's "Discover Weekly"—this expectation is the baseline. 

Yet 67% of prospects say personalized communication influences their decision to apply, while only 15% report actually receiving it.  

Generic campaigns fail because they ignore what we know: prospective students are conducting highly individualized college searches. A first-generation student researching financial aid has completely different questions than a high-achieving student comparing honors programs. And a student in February who hasn't deposited is in a fundamentally different mindset than one who applied early action. 

Cookie-cutter campaigns can't speak to these nuances. Hyper-personalized ones can. Here's how to build campaigns that actually resonate. 

Q1 (Jan-March): Mid-Cycle Momentum - Converting Admits to Enrollees 

1. Mid-Cycle Application Generation 

The Opportunity: If you're behind on application volume in January or February, panic buying names won't save you. You need to activate the prospects already in your funnel—the ones who've visited your website multiple times, downloaded content, or attended events but haven't applied yet. 

The Personalization Play: Segment prospects by engagement level using behavioral signals: website visit frequency, content downloads, event attendance, email engagement, and application starts. A student who's visited your nursing pages five times in two weeks gets a targeted campaign featuring a nursing student testimonial and simplified application link. A prospect who attended your virtual info session receives a follow-up from the presenting counselor. 

If you're using Capture, you gain visibility into anonymous website visitors before they fill out a form. The platform's affinity scoring prioritizes which engaged prospects warrant immediate outreach, and Daily Visitor Reports surface real-time opportunities for timely contact. 

Why it Works: In mid-cycle, every day matters. Behavioral segmentation ensures you're investing resources in students already showing interest signals—not wasting time on cold prospects. 

Personalization in Action: 

A mid-cycle app gen campaign for George Mason University targets students considering submitting an application. This Popover reaches current enroll year prospects and anonymous visitors on 2+ admissions pages or 1+ admissions pages and 1+ financial aid pages – capturing high-intent behavior at the exact moment consideration turns to decision. 

2. Financial Aid Clarity Campaigns 

The Opportunity: Financial aid confusion is a silent yield killer. Twenty-eight percent of students who don't enroll cite cost concerns, even when they received generous aid they didn't understand. 

The Personalization Play: Trigger campaigns based on award brackets and demographics. First-generation students receive simplified breakdowns with video explanations. Middle-income families get net price comparisons. High-need students connect with financial aid counselors for one-on-one walkthroughs. 

Create personalized landing pages showing each student's four-year cost projection, payment plans, and scholarship renewal requirements. If you're using Capture, behavioral triggers detect when admitted students spend significant time on financial aid pages and automatically initiate intervention campaigns before they disappear so you can create 1: 

Why It Works: Personalized financial aid communication drives yield, particularly for first-generation students. Clarity reduces anxiety, and anxiety reduction increases deposits. 

Personalization in Action: 

University of Mary Washington uses Popovers to deliver need-based aid letters to admitted students after 1+ admissions page visit. Students are prompted to review their offer and submit their deposit — turning consideration into commitment. 

Q2 (April-June): Summer Melt Prevention and Early Engagement 

May 1 has passed, but your work isn't done. Summer melt can cost institutions 10-40% of their incoming class. Meanwhile, you're beginning to engage with next cycle's juniors. 

3. Momentum-Building Pre-Orientation Campaigns 

The Opportunity: Between May and August, excitement fades and anxiety grows. Students can lose connection to your institution if communication goes dark. 

The Personalization Play: Create personalized pre-orientation journeys based on student characteristics—housing status (commuter vs. residential), student type (athlete, first-gen, honors), major, and geographic origin. 

Commuter students receive content about parking and balancing school with home life. Residential students get roommate connection tools and residence hall insights. Student-athletes hear from coaches. First-gen students connect with bridge programs and peer mentors. 

Send ongoing "snackable" content: housing assignments with building-specific video tours, major-relevant course registration tips, and student organization spotlights matching their interests. If you're using Capture, marketing automation enables these multi-touch journeys to run automatically without manual campaign management. 

Why It Works: The more connected students feel before arrival, the more likely they show up. Personalized summer engagement can reduce melt by up to 20%. 

Personalization in Action: 

Our next standout example comes from Beloit College, whose anti-melt email series sends to deposited students. Summer is the critical window when commitment can quietly slip into doubt. Rather than pushing CTAs, the focus is on building belonging and reinforcing their decision to become a Beloit student during the most critical months. Through storytelling, each email deepens their emotional investment before they ever step on campus. Because enrollment doesn't end at deposit — it's sustained through intentional engagement that makes "future student" feel like identity, not just status. 

4. Junior Year "Get to Know You" Campaigns 

The Opportunity: High school juniors are beginning their college search and feeling overwhelmed. They're looking for guidance, not a hard sell. This is your opportunity to start building connection before they dive heads-first into their search. 

The Personalization Play: Given that prospects are expecting personalization earlier in the search, you can use juniors’ engagement behavior to create adaptive campaigns that become tailored to their interests. For example, when a junior repeatedly visits your athletics section, you may have a triggered email that invites them to a sporting event. 

If you're using Capture, you can personalize the prospect experience even before they fill out an inquiry form, by tracking anonymous website behavior. This is critical for juniors who will spend the next year likely in “stealth mode.” 

Why It Works: Sixty-eight percent of students start their search in junior year, but only 45% feel colleges understand their needs at this stage. Early personalization builds relationships before consideration sets form. 

Personalization in Action: 

A junior Toaster campaign from Duquesne University targets both anonymous and identified juniors who’ve explored 3+ UG admissions pages, signaling genuine interest before inviting them to attend an on-campus event. By inviting these high-intent juniors to Preview Day, not only is Duquesne turning web browsing to on-campus connection, they’re capturing early identification to recruit junior prospects MONTHS ahead of the competition. 

Q3 (July-September): Application Season Launch and Re-engagement 

Fall is coming, and with it, application deadlines. Seniors are finalizing their lists, and your job is to make sure you're on them—and that they actually click "submit." 

5. Application Progress Campaigns 

The Opportunity: Sixty to seventy percent of started applications are never submitted. That's not lack of interest—it's friction. 

The Personalization Play: Now’s the perfect time to implement real-time triggers based on application stage. Monitor your portal for students who started but haven't returned in 7+ days, those stuck on specific sections (essays, recommenders), or those who completed most sections but haven't submitted. 

Send targeted encouragement addressing likely sticking points. Stuck on essays? Send prompts and examples. Haven't submitted test scores? Explain your test-optional policy. For students who completed sections, celebrate progress: "You're 75% done! Here's what's left." 

If you're using Capture, application portal tracking integrates with behavioral data to understand not just where students are stuck, but what they've been researching—enabling hyper-targeted support with automated triggers. 

Why It Works: Application completion campaigns increase submission rates by 15-22%, with the strongest lift among first-generation students who benefit most from guided support. 

Personalization in Action: 

Promoting a free application, just as Tarleton State University is doing for their transfer students, removes a key barrier- turning consideration into immediate action. This app generation campaign targets intent from both sides: current prospects who haven’t applied and anonymous students browsing from community college or university IP addresses. True Capture magic! ✨

6. Stealth Shopper Identification and Engagement 

The Opportunity: Your biggest prospect pool isn't in your CRM—it's browsing your website anonymously. Students are researching programs, comparing costs, and evaluating fit without ever filling out an inquiry form. By the time they do inquire (if they do), they've often already narrowed their list, and you've missed the chance to influence that decision. 

The Personalization Play: Build campaigns that dynamically adjust content and CTAs based on anonymous visitor behavior. Instead of showing every website visitor the same generic "Request Information" form, tailor what they see based on what they're actually researching. 

A visitor who's repeatedly viewed your nursing pages sees a CTA for "Schedule a Call with Our Nursing Program Director"—not a generic inquiry form. A prospect spending time on financial aid pages sees "Calculate Your Personal Net Price" or "See Scholarship Opportunities for [Your State] Students." Someone exploring multiple STEM programs gets invited to a virtual STEM open house, not asked to fill out a 15-field form. 

Create retargeting campaigns that speak directly to demonstrated interests. That nursing-focused visitor sees digital ads featuring clinical partnerships and NCLEX pass rates. The financial aid researcher sees ads about scholarship deadlines and simplified FAFSA support. 

If you're using Capture, the platform identifies these anonymous visitors and automatically serves personalized website content, CTAs, and retargeting campaigns based on their behavior—before they ever identify themselves.  

Why It Works: Students convert faster when messaging aligns with their actual interests. By personalizing before inquiry, you're moving prospects down the funnel based on what they care about—not what you want to tell them. They're more likely to convert because the content and CTAs actually match their research journey. 

“Capture’s targeted approach allows us to identify students when they are at their highest level of interest. In an era of ‘stealth shopping,’ Capture’s partnership assists us in not just identifying these students but positioning our messaging in front of them at the opportune moment.” – Katy Remich, Former Director of Enrollment Communications, Jacksonville University

Q4 (October-December): Early Action Push and Yield Prep 

Early action and early decision deadlines loom, regular decision applications are ramping up, and you're already thinking about spring yield. 

7. Early Decision/Early Action Urgency Campaigns 

The Opportunity: Students who apply early are more likely to enroll, but many need a nudge to meet earlier deadlines.  

The Personalization Play: Segment prospects by engagement level and tailor urgency messaging: 

• Highly engaged students: Direct outreach from admissions counselors, personal phone calls, "We're excited about your interest in [specific program]" messaging 

• Moderately engaged students: Benefits-focused content ("Students who apply EA have 3x higher acceptance rates"), timeline clarity ("Hear back by mid-December"), social proof 

• Low-engagement students: Friction reduction ("Apply in under 30 minutes"), low-barrier options ("No essay required for EA"), FOMO triggers ("Last chance for priority consideration") 

If you're using Capture, engagement scoring and predictive modeling automatically segment prospects, enabling differentiated messaging at scale without manual list management. This also helps your counselors determine who they need to be prioritizing for outreach. 

Why It Works: Personalized urgency respects where students are in their journey. High-intent students need support; lower-intent students need compelling reasons to act. One message can't do both. 

Personalization in Action:  

Centre College’s Toaster promoting their March 1 deposit deadline, targets admitted students at a critical decision point when follow through matters most. By displaying this message directly on their website, it creates urgency without relying on inbox clutter. This real-time nudge ensures that the deadline is top of mind exactly when students are most engaged with the institution. 

8. Major-Specific Yield Campaigns  

The Opportunity: Admitted students aren't just choosing a school—they're choosing a future. Swap generic "Congratulations!" emails to something that feels a bit more intentional.  

The Personalization Play: Segment admitted students by intended major. Engineering admits receive emails from the Dean of Engineering highlighting research opportunities and lab facilities. Education majors hear about classroom placements and certification pass rates. Business students learn about your entrepreneur-in-residence program.  

Create segmented journeys in your CRM, triggering content based on student attributes rather than sending one-size-fits-all communications. If you're using Capture, behavioral email series automate these sequences based on both student attributes and ongoing engagement patterns—without manual intervention.  

Why It Works: Academic programs rank as the #1 factor in college choice for 82% of students. When you demonstrate deep knowledge of their path, you're confirming they've made the right choice.  

The Personalization Paradox: Reaching Students Who Don't Want to Be Reached 

Here's what makes this all of this actually pretty complicated: today's prospects prefer to research anonymously. They're browsing your website at 11 PM, comparing programs to three other schools—all without identifying themselves. This "stealth shopping" accounts for a significant portion of your prospect pool. They're engaged and interested – but your CRM just doesn't know they exist. (Or at least they haven’t connected a student profile to web activity.) 

The Pre-Conversion Challenge 

Most institutions can only personalize after a student fills out an inquiry form. But thousands of prospects are visiting your site, making judgments about fit, exploring programs, comparing costs—all invisibly. Standard analytics show aggregate behavior ("500 people visited the nursing page"), but can't identify individuals or enable outreach. By the time they inquire, they've often narrowed their list. 

How Behavioral Intelligence Solves This 

Capture's Enrollment Marketing Platform identifies individual students before they submit an inquiry form, building behavioral profiles that reveal which programs they're exploring, time spent on financial aid pages, and visit frequency. This enables: 

• Dynamic Content Personalization Across All Channels: Content adjusts in real-time based on visitor behavior. A student researching nursing sees nursing-specific scholarships and student testimonials—without filling out a form. This happens automatically at scale. 
   

• Predictive Prioritization: AI-powered scoring analyzes behavior to predict likelihood to apply and enroll. Daily Visitor Reports show counselors the highest-intent prospects with insights about what they've been researching—enabling warm outreach instead of cold calls. 
   

• Purpose-Built Automation: Pre-configured workflows, behavioral triggers, and campaign templates designed for the enrollment funnel enable sophisticated, multi-touch campaigns without a marketing technology team. 

The difference between basic personalization and behavioral intelligence is knowing someone opened your email versus knowing they've visited your campus virtually three times, researched your honors program for 20 minutes, and downloaded your scholarship guide—all before you knew their name. 

The Bottom Line 

Cookie-cutter campaigns are easier. They require less data infrastructure, less strategic thinking, and less coordination. But "easier" rarely correlates with "effective." 

Today's students expect you to know them — their interests, concerns, goals, and where they are in their journey. When you personalize at scale, you don't just improve metrics, you build the very relationships that drive enrollment. 

The institutions that win aren't the ones with the biggest budgets—they're the ones that make every student feel like the message was written just for them.  

Because it was. 

Ready to say NO to cookie cutter marketing? We’d love to show you more in a live demo.  

AUTHOR: Mia Charette
As Capture’s VP of Marketing, Mia brings 13+ years of experience leading growth in EdTech and B2B SaaS, with previous roles at Niche, Harmonize, and Finalsite. She’s a creative, data-driven marketer who loves helping colleges and universities tell their story, reach the right students, and hit their enrollment goals.

Every day, hundreds—if not thousands—of prospective students land on your institution’s website. Some are serious applicants. Others might just be browsing. But here’s the thing: they’re all leaving a trail of intent. The question is — do you have access to these insights? 

That’s where Capture’s Daily Visitor Report (DVR) comes in. It’s a daily report of recent website visitors, prioritized by who is the most engaged. It’s delivered to counselor inboxes every single morning. Counselors and admissions teams use these insights to drive meaningful action every single day.  

Turn anonymous traffic into action

Most web analytics tools show you numbers, like the total visitors, pageviews, or bounce rates. That’s helpful on aggregate reporting, but not super helpful when it comes to driving inquiries, applications, or enrollments. 

With Capture’s DVR, you see who those visitors are and their level of interest. The DVR surfaces students names, contact info, and behavioral insights, like which programs they explored, which campaigns they clicked, and how recently they engaged with your institution. Layered on top of that, Capture’s AI scoring analyzes thousands of data points to predict each student’s likelihood to apply or enroll. This means your counselors aren’t guessing who to prioritize—your DVR automatically elevates the students who are most likely to act next.  

And the best part is…they have a reason to call. Here’s what that email shows you: 

Click in, and you’ll land in the Counselor interface — your outreach gold mine. 

Let’s pause here to understand the scoring. 
 
CES (Capture Engagement Score): Know who’s most engaged with your website right now. The higher the score, the more active they’ve been on your site recently. These prospects are great for immediate outreach because those intent signals say, “I’m clearly in decision-making mode right now!” 
 
CAI (Capture Affinity Index): Understand their affinity for your school over time. A higher score here indicates they have been engaged with your site frequently over time. These intent signals say, “I’m interested and have been for a while.”  

A visitor with a high CES and CAI score is a top candidate for attention from their admissions counselor. They are actively on your website regularly, over a long period of time.  

So, now that you know what a DVR is and how we prioritize and score each student. What do you do about it?  

How enrollment teams use the DVR

Upon receiving a DVR, it’s best to take some time to understand where each student spent their time clicking before you call. We share this through behavioral timelines. You can see the complete digital journey of a student. Spot students stuck on financial aid pages or showing “about to apply” browsing patterns.

Our partners lean on DVRs to: 

• Prioritize outreach: Counselors can focus their time on students who visited the site in the last 24–48 hours, when interest is highest. 

• Personalize communication: A student spent 5 minutes on Financial Aid pages? Mention scholarships or fee waivers in your outreach.  

• Spot trends: See which programs or content are trending this week to guide messaging.   

“[Capture] gives counselors identified active current prospects to reach out to. This is critical information for an admissions team, particularly when trying to increase conversion rates.” – Meredith Twombly, Vice President of Undergraduate Enrollment Management, Johnson & Wales University  

Each report surfaces not just who is engaging with your institution, but how: recent page visits, content interactions, time on site, and conversion actions. Counselors can instantly see the story behind a student’s behavior and tailor outreach accordingly.  

See your funnel one layer deeper

The DVR is a flexible report with almost limitless possibilities. While the most common set-up is individual DVRs for each counselor, you can actually use this report to see deeper into your funnel. Most enrollment offices want to track the behavior of specific segments like: 

• No FAFSA on file: tailor your outreach to encourage FAFSA submission. 

• Direct admissions students: track their engagement from the moment they receive an offer through enrollment. 

• International students: guide this group through visa and immigration questions, affordability and more 

• Accepted and deposited students: focus your conversations on delivering timely yield focused assistance 

Because each DVR is built from your own CRM data, it’s as dynamic as your strategy. You decide which student groups to track, how often, and what behavioral indicators matter most. The result? A daily rhythm of insight and action that turns anonymous website traffic into meaningful student conversations. Through Capture’s Daily Visitor Report, we're connecting the dots between data from your students’ website visits, directly to your counselors’ daily workflow. Just another way that Capture makes sure no engaged student slips through the cracks!

See the DVR in action 

Enrollment teams use their DVR to guide outreach, refine their messaging, and collaborate across departments. Counselors know exactly which students are back on your institution’s site — whether they’re inquiring, applying, or even admitted through direct admission students exploring next steps. Leadership can rest easy knowing no signal of student intent is slipping through the cracks. 

If you’re already a Capture client, log in tomorrow morning and explore your latest report. Before you call, text or email a prospect, take a moment to click into each identified student to explore and understand their clicks. The more intentional you are before you dial, the more impactful your call will be. 

Not a Capture client? We’d love to show you the DVR and more in a live demo.  

AUTHOR: Andrea Gjorevski
Andrea is a Marketing Manager at Capture Higher Ed with 10+ years of experience in higher education and EdTech. She’s driven by a simple mission: helping colleges connect with the right students through smarter, more human marketing.

If you've attended a conference lately, you've probably seen "AI-powered" something on every booth you walked by. 

Even as a marketer working at one of those AI-powered solutions, it’s a little exhausting walking around the sea of sameness. 

Everyone says they have the next big thing to revolutionize enrollment. And frankly most sound exactly the same: Use AI to save time and hit your enrollment goals! 

It’s an empty promise. Vague at best. And here's the thing: AI is transforming enrollment marketing and ignoring it isn't an option. But neither is blindly jumping on every shiny new tool that promises to solve all your yield problems with "AI magic." 

At Capture, we’ve been using AI since 2014 — our clients call us “the OG AI.” And our experience in the game means we have some legs to stand on when it’s time to point out the pitfalls that can turn your AI investment into a compliance nightmare, a PR disaster, or just an expensive disappointment. 

Critical Pitfalls Every Enrollment Leader Must Navigate 

While AI offers substantial benefits for enrollment marketing, rushing implementation without careful consideration of potential drawbacks can damage your institution's reputation, violate regulations, or undermine your goals. 

1. Data Privacy and Security

AI is hungry (for data that is!). And that appetite creates a buffet of security risks that should keep any enrollment leader up at night. 

The compliance challenge 

Your institution must comply with FERPA for U.S. student data and GDPR for international prospects. AI implementations that fail to properly safeguard this information create exposure to data breaches, regulatory penalties, and lasting reputational damage.  

Perhaps most concerning: you risk losing prospective students and parents who question your commitment to protecting their privacy. 

Strategic considerations 

• Conduct thorough security audits of any AI vendors before implementation, this means you’ll most likely need to ask for documentation, speak to their product team, or get IT involved 

• Make compliance a non-negotiable, not a nice-to-have, especially if you’re doing a Request for Proposals 

• Implement robust data governance policies and procedures internally with your cross-functional teams 

• Regularly review and update security protocols as threats evolve and train staff on proper data handling when using AI systems two times per year, as it is rapidly evolving 

The bottom line: in an era of frequent data breaches, trust is a competitive advantage. Protecting student data isn't just a legal requirement—it's a strategic imperative. 

2. Algorithmic Bias

AI algorithms reflect the data they're trained on. When that data contains historical biases, even unintentional ones, AI systems can perpetuate and amplify those biases at scale. 

The equity risk in enrollment marketing 

Biased AI in recruitment could systematically favor or disadvantage student groups based on race, socioeconomic status, geography, or other protected characteristics. This creates both ethical concerns and potential legal liability. 

How bias manifests in enrollment marketing 

• Predictive models that undervalue prospects from underrepresented communities 

• Chatbots providing inconsistent service quality based on language patterns 

• Personalization engines that inadvertently steer demographics toward certain programs 

• Advertising algorithms that exclude specific audiences from seeing opportunities 

Your mitigation strategy 

• Implement regular algorithmic audits with clear accountability 

• Ensure diverse perspectives on teams developing and overseeing AI systems 

• Test AI outputs across demographic groups before full deployment 

• Maintain human oversight of AI-generated recommendations 

• Create feedback mechanisms to identify and correct bias quickly 

• Commit to transparency about AI's role in enrollment decisions 

Consider this: if your AI implementation conflicts with your institution's diversity and inclusion commitments, you're creating a problem that technology alone cannot solve. 

3. Over-Automation

The efficiency gains from AI are compelling, but over-reliance on automation can erode the very relationships that drive enrollment decisions. 

The relationship factor 

Despite being digital natives, Gen Z students still value authentic human connection during major life decisions. (I mean, who wouldn’t?) 

While some students may prefer to connect with AI to ask simple questions during the admissions process, research consistently demonstrates that personal relationships with admissions counselors, faculty, and current students play crucial roles in final enrollment choices. 

Warning indicators of excessive automation 

• Increased inquiry-to-application drop-off rates: Students engage initially but abandon the process when they can't struggle to reach live staff when needed 

• Counselor burnout: When automation fails, frustrated students flood remaining human channels — and if you were over-relying on automation, you may have fewer counselors to bear the brunt 

• Higher melt rates between deposit and matriculation: Students commit but lack the relationship-building that solidifies their decision 

• Communications are templated and impersonal: Students may become less responsive to outreach overtime when it doesn’t feel human 

Finding the right balance 

The goal isn't to eliminate AI automation, rather, to deploy it strategically.  

Use AI for routine tasks, data analysis, and operational scale, while preserving human capacity for relationship-building, complex problem-solving, and personalized guidance that influences enrollment decisions. 

4. Reduced Creativity and Commoditized Content

Generative AI has democratized content creation, enabling faster production of emails, social posts, and campaign materials. For time-strapped enrollment marketing teams, these tools offer genuine value. However, they also present a significant strategic risk. 

The creativity paradox 

In a competitive landscape where institutions must differentiate themselves through distinctive brand voice and compelling storytelling, AI-generated content often falls flat. 

The cost of generic content:

• Messaging indistinguishable from competitors 

• Loss of authentic institutional voice 

• Decreased engagement from prospects encountering similar content elsewhere 

• Missed opportunities for emotional connection with students and families 

• Progressive homogenization of higher education marketing 

The human creativity imperative 

AI can assist with initial drafts and routine communications, but skilled marketing professionals are irreplaceable for developing authentic brand voice, crafting emotionally resonant stories, creating original campaign concepts, and making strategic creative decisions that differentiate your institution. 

AI should be leveraged as AI as an efficiency tool, but absolutely require human oversight to ensure communications are authentic, distinctive, and true to your institutional brand identity. 

AI shouldn't replace you; it should amplify you 

By now the question for enrollment leaders isn't whether to adopt AI, but how to implement it strategically and responsibly. And for us, that means using AI to amplify efforts so that enrollment and marketing teams move smarter and faster. 

Rather than replace counselors with AI agents, we amplify your entire enrollment and marketing team's efforts with: 

• Behavioral Intelligence that identifies and prioritizes your most engaged, high-intent prospects 

• Predictive modeling that reveals which students are most likely to apply, enroll, and succeed at your institution 

• Marketing automation that delivers personalized, timely communications at scale—freeing your team to focus on relationship-building 

• Tools like Capture Counselor Copilot that automate routine tasks like preparing outreach lists and researching prospects, allowing counselors to spend more of their day actually building relationships with prospective students  

• Real-time analytics that inform strategic decisions and continuous optimization 

• Expert human strategy and managed services that ensure technology serves your goals, not the other way around 

Capture has been pioneering AI and machine learning technologies in higher education for the past 14 years — which means we've already navigated the pitfalls, learned the lessons, and built solutions that balance cutting-edge technology with the human touch that ultimately drives enrollment decisions. 

Ready to explore strategic AI implementation for enrollment growth? Book a strategy session with our team to learn how we help institutions drive measurable results through AI that's powerful, responsible, and authentically human. 

AUTHOR: Mia Charette
As Capture’s VP of Marketing, Mia brings 13+ years of experience leading growth in EdTech and B2B SaaS, with previous roles at Niche, Harmonize, and Finalsite. She’s a creative, data-driven marketer who loves helping colleges and universities tell their story, reach the right students, and hit their enrollment goals.

It’s November: travel season is winding down, the holidays are creeping closer, and you probably have a pretty clear picture of how your funnel is shaping up for the cycle. 

Well, hopefully. 

In recent years, overall enrollment and apps have made a steady incline post-COVID while direct admissions programs have driven record-breaking application numbers across the board. But we all know there’s a catch: more applications haven’t necessarily meant more enrollments. 

Application generation has become a delicate balancing act. Too many apps can overwhelm your counselors and muddy your yield. Too few, and leadership starts to panic. 

As the industry tries to shift from more applicants to better applicants, now’s the time to double down on strategies that attract the right students — not just more of them. 

Here are five proven ways to accelerate high-quality application generation (you know, the kind that truly moves the needle.) 

Implement advanced segmentation so your outreach feels individualized

You already know that running generic “apply now” blasts don’t cut it anymore, can even drive low-quality applicants. Even worse, they can blow your ad budget on low-intent clicks. 

Moving prospects from inquiry to application starts with smart segmentation. If you haven’t already, now’s the time to group students based on their behaviors and stage in the funnel, such as those who: 

• Visited campus but haven’t applied 

• Sent test scores without completing an application 

• Submitted the FAFSA but stopped short of applying 

• Rank high in your predictive models but remain inactive 
• Started an application and didn’t finish 

Each group needs something different, and the content and frequency of your communications should reflect that. For example, a student who toured campus might need a personalized reminder of what makes your community special, whereas someone who stalled mid-application might need personal outreach to help them make that next step. 

This segmentation should span all channels —specifically email and your website — as segmenting this deeply in advertising could lead to insignificant audience sizes or costly CPC. 

If you work with Capture, now’s the time to chat with your Senior Enrollment Advisor about the types of Progressive Identification Forms, triggered emails, and dynamic content pieces you’re using (and where!). Incorporating fresh messaging on these content pieces at this time of year is proven to move students to apply. 

Just look at how Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University utilizes our Progressive Identification Form to target non-applicants visiting their website:

This strategy, led by Senior Enrollment Advisor, Kate Howard, works because it does two things: it captures student intent right on the website in a fun, engaging way—and it gives the ERAU admissions team exactly what they need to follow up for timely, personalized outreach. 

It’s strategies like this that led to a record year in 2025 for the ERAU team. As Flying Magazine reports, “the number of new students enrolled in ERAU’s Worldwide campus (online) for the most recent full academic year increased to 6,650—an increase of 4.3 percent over 2023-24 and the highest since the 2020-21 academic year. 

“This approach has been a game-changer for their Worldwide campus of mostly non-traditional learners. It helps the outreach team know exactly how to follow up, delivering only the info that really matters—because working adults don’t have time for anything else.” - Kate Howard, Senior Enrollment Advisor at Capture Higher Ed 

Use intent signals to prioritize and personalize your outreach

Ask any admissions office what their counselors are up against right now and the story is the same: territories that feel too big, inboxes that Back in March, I was in a room with 50+ enrollment leaders frustrated by the pressure for a “mid-cycle name buy” when apps weren’t tracking to goal. They lamented that it felt like a waste of time and resources, yet they still felt like their hands were tied. 

Hear me out marketer to marketer: We all know buying names mid-cycle is kind of like putting gas in your car, but the engine is broken. Adding more fuel won’t necessarily make things go faster...or go, at all. 

Instead, look at intent signals: the digital footprints students leave behind (returning to program pages, logging into an application portal without submitting, opening or ignoring emails, attending or skipping events). These act like student “body language” online: real signals of interest and progression. 

Use these signals to: 

• Prioritize outreach: Focus efforts on students showing high-intent behaviors rather than blasting everyone. With Capture, you have access to cumulative engagement scoring and decay that analyzes student actions and interests over time to tell you who’s most likely to convert. 

• Personalize messaging: Tailor what you send based on the behavior you saw, but think beyond personalization. It’s not “Hey, saw you started your app and haven’t finished. Can I help.” It’s “Hey, it’s time to finish your app for the nursing program. Do you still need scholarship info?” 
• Retarget smarter: Use behavioral data to feed your ad campaigns and retarget those who are closest to applying. 

If you’re using Capture Counselor Copilot, your counselors will have access to their Outreach Priority List which factors in both website engagement and likelihood to apply or enroll based on our predictive modeling decile scoring. 

Shift ad spend toward targeted retargeting 

And speaking of retargeting, this is the moment to ramp your digital advertising — but the smart way. It’s not about more brand spend. It’s about more conversion-focused spend. 

With the holidays around the corner, your advertising dollar won’t stretch as far on paid channels as you’re competing with tougher placements and distracted mindshare. 

Retargeting allows you to re-engage those who've shown interest but haven't completed their applications. If funds are tight, shift budget away from broad-awareness campaigns and into smaller, high-frequency retargeting audiences. Think: fewer people, but show them your message repeatedly 

Your retargeting ads should include calls-to-action and content that: 

• Remind students of upcoming deadlines 

• Highlight unique program benefits and campus offerings 

• Showcase financial aid opportunities and scholarships 

• Feature student testimonials and success stories 
• Address common concerns or barriers to applying 

Retargeting keeps your institution top-of-mind during the critical decision-making period and can improve conversion rates from website visitors to applicants.

Host virtual sessions that spark action 

Virtual info sessions and tours still remove large barriers, especially for out-of-state, international, adult, or first-gen students who can’t visit campus easily. 

If apps aren’t where they need to be, you can use virtual sessions to drive high-intent prospects to learn more without adding logistical hardships for your already traveled-out team. 

To maximize impact: 

• Offer multiple session times and themes (by major, audience type, interest) 

• Make them interactive: live Q&A, polls, breakout rooms 

• Feature current students, faculty, alumni — real voices 

• Record sessions for on-demand viewing, but follow up with attendees who showed high engagement the next day 

When the event ends, move fast: encourage application submission while interest is high 

Simplify the call-to-action and streamline the experience

Your website (and application process) is often your first and most used touchpoint. If it’s clunky, you’ll lose quality candidates simply to friction. 

Key priorities: 

• Reduce clicks and form fields so the app process is quick 

• Make CTAs obvious on every relevant page 

• Show critical information upfront: deadlines, costs, program details 

• Ensure your site is mobile-friendly (most students browse on smartphones) 

• Speed up page load time — bounce rates kill conversions 

• Create campaign-specific landing pages that speak to a specific student segment 

Also, remember incentives matter. If you offer fee waivers, priority scholarships, or early-applicant benefits, make sure you promote them everywhere including ads, emails, landing pages, counselor outreach, virtual tours. Limited time offers create urgency and help overcome student inertia. 

Predict apps with 98% accuracy 

At our recent annual meeting, I was speaking to a member of our Client Advisory Board who enthusiastically said, “Capture is our #1 predictor of our class every single year.”  

For High Point University, year-over-year Capture’s predictive modeling has served up to its promise: find the students 29x more likely to enroll. The platform’s accuracy means that by and large, there is no mid-cycle sweat or chaotic name-buy because they focused on the right students from the start. 

Colleges using Capture increase applications by 27% and enrollments by 15% on average year-over-year using our AI-powered tech and expert services. Curious to see how you can, too? We should talk. Contact Capture today.

AUTHOR: Mia Charette
As Capture’s VP of Marketing, Mia brings 13+ years of experience leading growth in EdTech and B2B SaaS, with previous roles at Niche, Harmonize, and Finalsite. She’s a creative, data-driven marketer who loves helping colleges and universities tell their story, reach the right students, and hit their enrollment goals.

References:

• Megan Godlewski, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Sees Record Enrollment, (Flying Magazine, 2025). https://www.flyingmag.com/embry-riddle-aeronautical-university-sees-record-enrollment/

What if I told you your enrollment challenges weren’t due to a lack of student interest, diminishing demographics, or even (gasp!) that you didn’t buy enough names?

The truth: You’re missing your goals because you’re missing — or worse, ignoring — important signals students are giving you every day.

The wrong fix for a bigger problem

The default reaction when classes fall short is predictable, and it happens every year. 

• When you miss your goals, you buy more names. 
• When apps drop, you throw more money at advertising, without re-thinking who you’re advertising to. 
• To buffer yield, you fill mailboxes with more open house invites and put your text opt-in list on blast.

Each tactic might have its place. But without knowing which students actually matter, and what they’re interested in, you’re flying blind with every tactic on every platform — resulting in bigger spend and fewer results.

The reality for counselors

Ask any admissions office what their counselors are up against right now and the story is the same: territories that feel too big, inboxes that never stop, and outreach lists that grow faster than they shrink.

• Which students are serious? 
• What are they interested in?
• Which are slipping by? 
• Which are already lost? 

Counselors spend hours chasing students — but without intelligence, it’s guesswork. Most teams don’t know what action to take – leading to fatigue, frustration, and possibly still missing your goals.

This is the reality: Counselors are overworked and under-resourced. The solution isn’t more names, more noise, or another AI counselor. It’s the ability to identify students and unlock access to the very breadcrumbs that they’re leaving throughout your website as you’re reading this blog.

The intent signals you’re ignoring

Students are telling you exactly what they’re thinking — think of it like their digital body language. They’re telling you how interested they are, and what they’re interested in … and not with forms, but with their actions:

• Which pages they read (and reread)
• Whether they log into the application portal but don’t submit
• If they open (or ignore) counselor emails
• Whether they engage at admitted student events or quietly back away

This isn’t random internet doom scrolling. These are intent signals. They’re the loudest voice in your funnel. And if you’re not listening, your competition surely is.

Using intent signals in your enrollment marketing

Intent signals, when aggregated, paint a clear picture of who to contact and what to say.

Prioritization

Intent signals tell you who to call first. The prospect who visited your nursing program page five times this week? They’re interested. The admitted student who hasn't logged into their portal in three weeks? They're losing interest fast.

Depending on the time in the cycle, you can use intent signals to figure out who to call first. For example, prioritizing interested prospects during app season keeps your funnel moving strong; while contacting disengaged students in the summer can mitigate melt.

Personalization

Behavior reveals what students care about. If someone keeps reading your financial aid pages, lead with scholarship info—not campus tour invites. If they're obsessing over your athletics content, connect them with coaches. When students show you what matters to them through their clicks, you can speak their language instead of sending generic "we'd love to have you" emails.

“Capture’s targeted approach allows us to identify students when they are at their highest level of interest. In an era of ‘stealth shopping,’ Capture’s partnership assists us in not just identifying these students but positioning our messaging in front of them at the opportune moment.”

– Katy Remich, Director of Enrollment Communications, Jacksonville University 

Accelerating your funnel with Capture’s intent signals

e use AI-powered, data scientist-developed scoring to aggregate lists of prospective students your counselors should prioritize, including:

CES (Capture Engagement Score): Know who's most engaged with your website right now. 
CAI (Capture Affinity Index): Understand their affinity for your school over time. So, a visitor with a high CES and CAI score is a top candidate for attention from an admissions counselor. They are actively on your website regularly, over a long period of time.

Daily Visitor Report (DVR): See who's on your site and what pages they were on, so you can call engaged prospects while they're actively browsing instead of waiting for inquiry form fills.

Behavior Timelines: See the complete digital journey. Spot students stuck on financial aid pages or showing "about to apply" browsing patterns. And confidently know how to follow up with them.

Counselor Copilot takes counselor outreach even further by auto-drafting personalized emails based on each student's intent signals and site behavior. Instead of staring at a blank email wondering what to say, counselors get pre-written messages that reference the specific programs students explored, pages they visited, and content they engaged with. Organized in a priority list based on recent web behavior, predictive insights and season of the enrollment cycle. So your counselors can work smarter, not harder.

Stop Flying Blind

The institutions that will thrive in this environment are the ones that build a signal-first strategy. Not just more noise, but smarter, more human engagement — powered by the longest-standing partner in AI for enrollment.

Ready to unlock access to intent signals? Contact Capture today.

Mia Charette