Group Gordon’s intern Francie Schwabe highlights how higher education communications teams can lean into authenticity to boost engagement and visibility.
Universities spend millions of dollars trying to stand out in an increasingly competitive higher education landscape. Marketing teams develop comprehensive advertising campaigns, viewbooks, and outreach strategies. These polished efforts are important, but they are only one piece of the equation. Higher education communications teams should also look for authentic, unscripted moments they can use to build meaningful connections with prospective students and reinforce what makes their schools unique.
Authenticity can’t be planned in a marketing meeting. It comes from moments that dominate conversations, flood social media feeds, and turn an ordinary day on campus into national news. The most effective university marketing teams recognize authentic momentum and amplify it.
Here are three examples of institutions that successfully capitalized on authentic moments instead of trying to manufacture them.
Athletic success can increase visibility and boost school spirit. As a rising junior at the University of Richmond (UR), I have experienced this firsthand. Over the last several years, the UR men’s lacrosse team has become one of the country’s premier programs, climbing into the national top ten and reaching the No. 1 spot for part of the 2026 season. As wins piled up, excitement spread beyond the lacrosse community. Students and alumni packed the stands, setting a record for the most attended first-round game in NCAA Division I Tournament history.
The wins drew attention, and Richmond’s marketing team seized the moment. The department shared player stories and behind-the-scenes content across its athletics page and social media, while securing feature coverage from outlets like USA Lacrosse, Inside Lacrosse, and WRIC ABC 8News. As a result, fans and prospective students stayed connected and excited about the program well beyond the season.
The momentum spread beyond the field. The Spiders’ Instagram account (@spidermlax) became the most followed UR athletics account, with nearly 34,000 followers, and excitement around the program coincided with a supporting both the men’s and women’s lacrosse facilities. UR’s marketing team didn’t create the team’s success; it recognized it and amplified it, turning athletic momentum into institutional pride.
When the University of Colorado Boulder (CU) hired Deion Sanders as its head football coach, the university became one of . Sanders is the only athlete to play in both the Super Bowl and the World Series, and his presence sparked excitement before his first season began.
Rather than letting the momentum fade, CU expanded the conversation. The university created the course “Prime Time: Public Performance and Leadership,” examining Sanders’ influence on leadership, branding, and athlete identity. He has appeared as a guest speaker in that class and others at CU. In addition, when Sanders started to call himself “Coach Prime,” a variation of his nickname “Prime Time,” CU leaned into public interest with a line of merchandise inspired by Coach Prime.
The result: During Sanders’ first season, the university reported a . By extending the conversation beyond football, CU transformed a sports story into a university-wide branding opportunity.
Student voices are a powerful way for universities to reach prospective students, but many higher education marketing teams struggle to use them effectively. During her time at the University of Miami (UM), Alix Earle attracted millions of followers by documenting everyday campus life. Her content introduced prospective students to authentic life at UM in a way traditional admissions marketing could never capture.
Earle’s popularity drew attention to the University of Miami. Rather than dismiss this as a passing trend, the university embraced it. UM launched a course in 2025 called “Social Media Influencers,” examining the impact and strategies of digital creators. Earle also established the Alix Earle Scholarship for business students at UM, and the as part of its continued relationship with one of its most recognizable alumni. UM also invites alumni creators, including Earle and Abby Gendell, back to campus as guest speakers.
The University of Miami used the visibility Earle generated to strengthen its academic programs, create new educational opportunities, and appeal to prospective students. The authentic moment was already there; the University simply found meaningful ways to build on it.
Higher education communications teams can’t predict or manufacture these authentic moments. However, they can use the momentum and excitement they bring to build brand awareness, attract audiences, and set themselves apart. The best higher education marketing teams recognize these opportunities and move quickly to act on them.
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