Higher Ed marketers know their audience and what they want to communicate, but translating that into a video people actually want to watch requires a completely different skill set. In this episode, Jonathan Clues is joined by Jacob Beizer to discuss common video marketing pitfalls and how to fix them.
Jacob brings a wealth of experience, having helped Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) raise brand awareness, significantly grow its YouTube presence, and launch a TikTok channel that now boasts over 95,000 followers.
Key topics discussed:
From Enterprise to Higher Ed: Jacob shares the valuable lessons he learned producing videos for hundreds of enterprise clients at Brafton and how those lessons apply to higher education.
Building a Content Ecosystem: How a school's full content ecosystem (faculty, students, research, events) shapes the way prospective students see an institution long before admissions gets involved.
The Copywriting Gap: Why copy written for a website, brochure, or campaign doesn't automatically translate to an effective on-camera script.
Rethinking the "Generic" Interview: Why the most common higher ed video prompt ("What do you love about [school]?") yields generic answers, and how producers should rework it for better responses.
Defining "Authentic": Exploring what authenticity actually means in video content, supported by 2025 RNL data showing that 39% of students prefer real students talking about their experience over polished dorm tours (28%).
"Show, Don't Tell": Practical examples of how to effectively demonstrate your message rather than just stating it.
Managing Stakeholders: How to push back when a video is being asked to hit too many messages for too many audiences, causing the core story to get lost.
The Perfect Creative Brief: What a producer actually needs from a marketer to execute a successful video.
When to Say No: Video is a tool, not the entire strategy. Jacob discusses how to identify when a message simply shouldn't be a video.
The "Stealth Visitor" impact:
A core takeaway from the episode is that your message might be right, but your video format can still be wrong. RNL data highlights the "stealth visitor" problem:
56% of students say social media matters most while they are just learning about a school, before they even fill out a form.
65% of students say a virtual tour made them more likely to apply.
