The AI Workforce for Higher Ed is Here |

Talk to a Bolt Agent
EP
51
July 9, 2020
Episode 51: Why Higher Ed Needs Conversational Marketing Now: An Interview with Mark Kilens from Drift | The Enrollify Podcast

Why Higher Ed Needs Conversational Marketing Now: An Interview with Mark Kilens from Drift

Or listen on:

About the Episode

There's a problem with the way we've been taught to market and sell-it no longer matches how buyers actually buy things.

Think about it-when you're not talking to someone face-to-face, where do most of your conversations happen? 

Yup, that's right-they happen over messaging channels like iMessage, Messenger, Slack, WhatsApp, etc. 

People love communicating with messaging because it's fast, easy, and actually feels like a conversation-but most business (and enrollment teams!) are still forcing people to jump through endless hoops before a conversation can ever take place (looking at you, inquiry form!).

Enter chatbots and conversational marketing. 

On this week's episode, Zach sits down with Mark Kilens, the VP of Content and Community at Drift (the first ever conversational marketing platform), to discuss how colleges and universities can attract, engage, and delights prospects, applicants, and students with conversational marketing strategies. 

Tune in for an incredibly inspiring and insightful chat about the future of student recruitment and strategic enrollment marketing - and why conversational marketing is especially pertinent for this next academic year. 

People in this episode

Host

Seth Odell is Founder and CEO of Kanahoma, the fastest growing digital marketing agency in higher education, and host of The Higher Ed Pulse.

Mallory Willsea is a strategist and consultant working at the intersection of higher education.

Interviewee

Mark Kilens

Mark Kilens is VP of Content and Community at Drift where he leads the blogging, editorial, social, and events teams. Prior to joining Drift, he served as VP and founder of HubSpot Academy. As an enthusiastic former customer, Mark joined HubSpot in 2010 as an Inbound Marketing Consultant, where he spent two years working with thousands of HubSpot customers to scale their inbound strategy. From there, he went on to build HubSpot Academy from the ground up, and in doing so, educated millions of people and created a best-in-class hub for marketing and sales content and training. When he’s not at Drift, Mark enjoys plenty of steak and lobster, a round of golf or two, and loves being on snow or in the ocean.

Other episodes

AMA Mini Series: Retention as a Marketer’s JobPlay Button
AMA Mini Series: Retention as a Marketer’s Job

In this special bonus episode from the AMA Mini-Series, hosted by Allison Turcio, she dives into one of the most pressing—and often overlooked—topics in higher education: retention.

2025 Hall of Fame: Marina CooperPlay Button
2025 Hall of Fame: Marina Cooper

Today we spotlight Marina Cooper, Senior Associate Vice President for Integrated Marketing and Brand at Johns Hopkins University.

Ep. 55: Maximizing Instagram Stories in Higher EdPlay Button
Ep. 55: Maximizing Instagram Stories in Higher Ed

Jenny Li Fowler sits down with Rochelle Reed, Social Media Manager at James Madison University (JMU), to unpack how Instagram Stories evolved from an overlooked feature into a strategic powerhouse for campus engagement

Pulse Check: Building the Modern Campus - A Higher-Ed Project Management Playbook Part 2Play Button
Pulse Check: Building the Modern Campus - A Higher-Ed Project Management Playbook Part 2

Jake Tolman sits down with Kirsten Gallagher, founder of Kaizen Ninja and a process improvement expert, to explore how AI can be a powerful tool for refining operations and driving better student outcomes in higher ed.

Ep. 93: Navigating a Website RedesignPlay Button
Ep. 93: Navigating a Website Redesign

Jaime Hunt sits down with Meaghan Milliorn, Senior Director of Web Strategy and Operations at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, to unpack the web redesign process that earned national recognition.

Weekly ideas that make you smarter

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Subscribe
cancel

Search podcasts, blog posts, people