After conducting 22 AI visibility and reputation audits for colleges, GradComm uncovered an important finding: Being visible to AI doesn't guarantee your college will be recommended to prospective students.

In this episode, GradComm CEO and Higher Ed Conversations host Cheryl Broom shares the first five of 10 findings from these audits. She explores why specific program details matter more than broad marketing promises, how clearer information benefits both students and AI, and why strong SEO remains essential. The big takeaway? A college can be easy to find and still be hard to understand.

What You’ll Learn:

• Why being recognized by AI doesn't guarantee a recommendation.
• How specific program details help colleges stand out in AI results.
• Why making information easier for students to find also helps AI understand your college.
• Why strong SEO remains foundational to AI visibility.
• How clear program pathways help students and AI connect credentials to career outcomes.

Thanks for listening!

Connect with GradComm:
Instagram: @gradcommunications
Facebook: @GradCommunications
LinkedIn: @gradcomm
Send us a message: GradComm.com

Higher Ed Conversations is hosted by Cheryl Broom, CEO of GradComm, a marketing and branding agency specializing in community colleges and public education.

New technology can promise greater efficiency and a better student experience, but successful implementation often depends on more than the tool itself. Mike Toguchi of Tectonic joins GradComm CEO Cheryl Broom to discuss how staffing challenges, disconnected workflows, departmental silos, and competing priorities can prevent colleges from turning technology investments into meaningful change.

Cheryl and Mike discuss explore AI and automation and the opportunities they create for higher education. Their conversation looks at what it takes to successfully implement new technology, from building staff buy-in and strengthening collaboration between marketing and IT to balancing innovation with privacy, security, governance, and cost.

What You’ll Learn:

• How leaders can build staff buy-in by focusing on people and purpose instead of platforms.
• Ways marketing and IT teams can find common ground and work toward shared goals.
• How colleges can approach AI while considering privacy, security, governance, and ROI.
• How to start small by identifying one workflow or problem worth solving.
• Why colleges should start by trying to solve the problem instead of starting with the platform.

Thanks for listening!

Connect with GradComm:
Instagram: @gradcommunications
Facebook: @GradCommunications
LinkedIn: @gradcomm
Send us a message: GradComm.com

Higher Ed Conversations is hosted by Cheryl Broom, CEO of GradComm, a marketing and branding agency specializing in community colleges and public education.

What happens when someone on campus says, “Don’t tell marketing”? Usually, there’s a bigger story behind that little act of brand rebellion.

In this special Quick Take episode of Higher Ed Conversations, GradComm CEO Cheryl Broom celebrates the release of her new book, Marketing Is Mission Work: How Colleges Can Build Trust, Remove Barriers, and Better Serve Students, by reading Chapter 1: “Don’t Tell Marketing.”

In this chapter, Cheryl shares stories of rogue logos, off-brand colors, and campus branding battles to explore why people go around marketing in the first place. Often, they’re looking for visibility, ownership, or a faster way to solve a problem. Cheryl explains how marketers can uncover what their campus teams really need and build the trust needed to become strategic partners from the start.

Marketing is Mission Work will be released this October. It will be available online at cherylbroom.com and at gradcomm.com/book, or you can purchase it on Amazon.

What You’ll Learn:

• Why brand consistency matters for building trust
• What requests for new logos, colors, and designs may really be telling you
• How bringing marketing in early can shift the conversation from control to strategy
• Three questions to ask before saying “no” to an off-brand request

Thanks for listening!

Connect with GradComm:
Instagram: @gradcommunications
Facebook: @GradCommunications
LinkedIn: @gradcomm
Send us a message: GradComm.com

Higher Ed Conversations is hosted by Cheryl Broom, CEO of GradComm, a marketing and branding agency specializing in community colleges and public education.