The Application with Allison Turcio

In this thought-provoking episode, Allison speaks with RJ Thompson about the intersection of artificial intelligence and higher education marketing. They explore how AI can serve as a powerful tool for data analysis and creative processes, helping institutions stand out in a crowded market. RJ shares insights from his extensive experience, highlighting the potential of AI to support and enhance human creativity rather than replace it.

How Tos on this Episode:

• Leverage AI for Empathy and Understanding
• Integrate AI to Enhance Creativity
• Apply AI tools for analyzing existing content and data
• Use AI to question and rethink traditional narratives and strategies in higher education marketing

If you loved this episode, please leave us a review on your preferred podcast platform. Your feedback helps us grow and reach more higher ed professionals like you.

Guest Name: RJ Thompson

Guest Social: https://www.linkedin.com/in/studentofdesign/

Guest Bio: RJ Thompson, MFA is an award-winning marketing and graphic design professional. Currently, RJ is the Manager of Digital Strategy in Pitt Health Sciences. He was most recently the Director of Digital Marketing in the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business and College of Business Administration at the University of Pittsburgh. Before joining Pitt, he was a tenured Assistant Professor of Graphic + Interactive Design in the Department of Art at Youngstown State University. Previous to Youngstown State, RJ taught at Carnegie Mellon University, La Roche University, and Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. Continuing his career in education, RJ has been an Adjunct Professor of Graphic & Interactive Design at Point Park University since 2019 where he was responsible for writing and teaching the interactive design curriculum. In 2020, he began teaching at the Community College of Allegheny County. Outside of marketing, design, and teaching, RJ is also the Co-Principal and Creative Strategist for +Public, a Pennsylvania-based social enterprise that focuses on cultivating community and economic development impact through the creation of branded communication platforms, creative place-making, and storytelling initiatives for communities-in-revival. Throughout his career, RJ has received many accolades for his creative works: In 2015, he was one of several recipients of the National Endowment for the Arts “Our Town” grant, valued at $100,000, for the INPLACE (“Innovative Plan for Leveraging Arts & Community Engagement”) project. In 2017, RJ received a “Best of Marketing Award” from the Ohio Economic Development Association for his efforts in rebranding the City of Youngstown, Ohio. In 2018, RJ was accepted into the prestigious Cohort 2 of the National Arts Marketing Project, a program supported by Americans for the Arts and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. In 2019, RJ also received a scholarship to join the National Arts Strategies Executive Program in Arts & Culture Strategy through the School of Public Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2019, RJ was honored with the Ohio Governors Award in the Arts in Community Development, the state of Ohio’s highest recognition in the arts sector. Recently, RJ was the recipient of a certification scholarship from the National Institute for Social Media and received accolades from GDUSA and the University & College Designers Association for "Pitt Business Backstory" and "Business.Pitt.Edu" websites. RJ is presently the Immediate Past-President of the Pittsburgh chapter of the American Marketing Association.

For more on Building Brands with Creative Research:
The Key Word presentation by RJ Thompson
The Keywork: Building Brands with Creative Research Techniques Using ChatGPT

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Connect With Our Host:
Allison Turcio
https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonturcio/
https://twitter.com/allisonturcio

About The Enrollify Podcast Network:
The Application with Allison Turcio is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!

Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — the next-generation AI student engagement platform helping institutions create meaningful and personalized interactions with students. Learn more at element451.com.

Attend the 2025 Engage Summit!
The Engage Summit is the premier conference for forward-thinking leaders an...

The student digital experience is an essential part of the overall student journey. With much of our lives online, students expect seamless, informative experiences. During this episode, Anice Barbosa, the Director of Digital Marketing at Wheaton College, and Corynn talk about all things digital experience, including social, email, and web.

Learn more about this episode in our show notes.

- - -
Connect With Our Host:
Allison Turcio
https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonturcio/
https://twitter.com/allisonturcio

About The Enrollify Podcast Network:
The Application with Allison Turcio is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!

Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — the next-generation AI student engagement platform helping institutions create meaningful and personalized interactions with students. Learn more at element451.com.

Attend the 2025 Engage Summit!
The Engage Summit is the premier conference for forward-thinking leaders and practitioners dedicated to exploring the transformative power of AI in education. Explore the strategies and tools to step into the next generation of student engagement, supercharged by AI. You'll leave ready to deliver the most personalized digital engagement experience every step of the way.

Register now to secure your spot in Charlotte, NC, on June 24-25, 2025! Early bird registration ends February 1st -- https://engage.element451.com/register

In this episode, Allison welcomes back Louis Miller, partner at Electric Kite, for an in-depth discussion on the importance of owning your audience in higher education marketing. They explore how direct control over your communication channels can transform marketing strategies, reduce costs, and foster stronger relationships with prospective students. Through examples from Red Bull to HubSpot, they illustrate the impact of a media-minded approach and offer practical tips for higher ed institutions.

Key “How Tos” you’ll hear in this episode:

• Diversify marketing efforts by building and nurturing your own platforms alongside using third-party channels.
• Invest in creating valuable, evergreen content that continues to attract and convert students over time
• Treat your institution as a content creator and publisher, focusing on topics that resonate with your target audience.
• Use various media formats (blogs, podcasts, videos) to tell compelling stories that attract and engage prospective students.
• Align your team around a clear content strategy and brand messaging to ensure consistency and authenticity across all channels.

If you loved this episode, please leave us a review on your preferred podcast platform. Your feedback helps us grow and reach more higher ed professionals like you.

Guest Name: Louis Miller

Guest Social: https://www.linkedin.com/in/louismiller/

Guest Bio: Louis Miller is a Partner at Electric Kite, a full-service creative marketing agency that specializes in helping higher education partners tell their stories in creative ways.

- - -
Connect With Our Host:
Allison Turcio
https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonturcio/
https://twitter.com/allisonturcio

About The Enrollify Podcast Network:
The Application with Allison Turcio is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!

Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — the next-generation AI student engagement platform helping institutions create meaningful and personalized interactions with students. Learn more at element451.com.

Attend the 2025 Engage Summit!
The Engage Summit is the premier conference for forward-thinking leaders and practitioners dedicated to exploring the transformative power of AI in education. Explore the strategies and tools to step into the next generation of student engagement, supercharged by AI. You'll leave ready to deliver the most personalized digital engagement experience every step of the way.

Register now to secure your spot in Charlotte, NC, on June 24-25, 2025! Early bird registration ends February 1st -- https://engage.element451.com/register

In this episode of The Application, Allison sits down with Lance Hydrick, an expert in higher ed technology, to discuss the critical role of the Request for Information (RFI) experience on university websites. Lance shares his insights on the shortcomings of traditional RFI forms and introduces innovative AI-driven solutions that transform the web experience for prospective students. They explore how personalized, dynamic content can engage students more effectively, providing them with the specific information they need instantly and creating a more seamless path from inquiry to enrollment.

Key “How Tos”

• Evaluate Your RFI Process
• Implement AI-driven tools to transform informational websites into experiential destinations
• Focus on understanding and addressing specific student needs in real-time
• Use AI to gather first-party data and create hyper-personalized experiences that mimic popular consumer platforms like Netflix

If you loved this episode, please leave us a review on your preferred podcast platform. Your feedback helps us grow and reach more higher ed professionals like you.

Guest Name: Lance Hydrick, CEO at Halda.AI

Guest Social Handles: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lancehydrick/

Guest Bio: Lance Hydrick is an entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience building and positioning software to help schools engage with students. He finds new ways to make the student journey more personalized and efficient, so that schools and students can find the right educational fit–fast. As a first-gen student from a single parent household, he cares deeply about higher education, helping students navigate the enrollment process, and keeping pineapple off of pizza.

- - -
Connect With Our Host:
Allison Turcio
https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonturcio/
https://twitter.com/allisonturcio

About The Enrollify Podcast Network:
The Application with Allison Turcio is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!

Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — the next-generation AI student engagement platform helping institutions create meaningful and personalized interactions with students. Learn more at element451.com.

Attend the 2025 Engage Summit!
The Engage Summit is the premier conference for forward-thinking leaders and practitioners dedicated to exploring the transformative power of AI in education. Explore the strategies and tools to step into the next generation of student engagement, supercharged by AI. You'll leave ready to deliver the most personalized digital engagement experience every step of the way.

Register now to secure your spot in Charlotte, NC, on June 24-25, 2025! Early bird registration ends February 1st -- https://engage.element451.com/register

Live from Engage Summit 2024, Allison sits down with Louis Miller, partner at Electric Kite, to discuss innovative strategies for higher ed marketing. They explore the benefits of owning your audience, the emotional factors in student decision-making, and the new features from Element451 that enhance student engagement. Their conversation underscores the importance of authentic, personalized communication in today’s competitive higher education landscape.

• Own Your Platform: Building your own email newsletters, podcasts, blogs, or digital magazines allows for more authentic relationships with your audience and better control over messaging and analytics.
• Emotional Decision-Making: College choice is often driven by emotional factors rather than rational ones, highlighting the need for personal and engaging communication strategies.
• Challenges of Content Ownership: Transitioning from third-party advertising to owned content platforms is complex and requires expertise, technical skills, and consistent, compelling content.

If you loved this episode, please leave us a review on your preferred podcast platform. Your feedback helps us grow and reach more higher ed professionals like you.

Guest Name: Louis Miller

Guest Social: LinkedIn

Guest Bio: Louis Miller is a Partner at Electric Kite, a full-service creative marketing agency that specializes in helping higher education partners tell their stories in creative ways.

- - -
Connect With Our Host:
Allison Turcio
https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonturcio/
https://twitter.com/allisonturcio

About The Enrollify Podcast Network:
The Application with Allison Turcio is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!

Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — the next-generation AI student engagement platform helping institutions create meaningful and personalized interactions with students. Learn more at element451.com.

Attend the 2025 Engage Summit!
The Engage Summit is the premier conference for forward-thinking leaders and practitioners dedicated to exploring the transformative power of AI in education. Explore the strategies and tools to step into the next generation of student engagement, supercharged by AI. You'll leave ready to deliver the most personalized digital engagement experience every step of the way.

Register now to secure your spot in Charlotte, NC, on June 24-25, 2025! Early bird registration ends February 1st -- https://engage.element451.com/register