Marketing Services

Why online.msu.edu?

A resource for MSU faculty and staff, online.msu.edu, is a hub for post-graduate online and hybrid MSU programs. With over 11,500 visitors on average per month in 2026, our site is the most impactful way to generate leads and house essential information for prospective applicants. The site has established credibility and often appears above similar (or even department-specific) webpages on search engines. Search engine rankings are a key metric for establishing credibility and getting in front of potential students.

Managed by the team at OPDM, online.msu.edu is a simple way to establish an online presence for your program if it’s new, or to boost enrollment of an existing program by attaching to overall authority of the site. Online.msu.edu has been optimized for digital marketing and recruitment by the OPDM team, with special attention paid to funneling users to our call to action, the Request For Information Form. 

Get started:

For program directors and management, all that’s needed to add a new program to the site is to complete an intake form with key content and program information. The OPDM team can support recruitment beyond initial contact with online.msu.edu, from drip email content to pipeline management. To start adding your program to online.msu.edu, send a request below.

Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) work together to ensure your program content is both discoverable and understandable across traditional search results and AI-powered answers. While SEO focuses on achieving strong “page one” visibility in search engines, AEO extends that foundation to ensure your content is surfaced, interpreted, and cited within AI overviews and conversational search results. Together, they form a unified strategy for maximizing visibility in today’s evolving search landscape.

How it benefits program marketing:

Search engines and university websites remain the primary discovery channels, and early visibility—particularly on page one or within AI-generated summaries—is critical, as prospective students often consider only a small set of institutions. AEO and SEO help position your program where prospects are already looking, increasing the likelihood of inclusion in that initial consideration set. By strengthening both discoverability and credibility, these strategies ensure your program is not only found but also trusted in a competitive digital environment.

How we can help

Our approach combines expertise in higher education marketing with advanced SEO and emerging AEO best practices. We optimize content around your program or degree using structured, accessible formats that improve both human readability and machine interpretation. This includes implementing keyword research, strengthening internal linking with meaningful anchor text, and helping you get external citation signals through strategic content distribution and partnerships. 

Drawing on experience with analytics, content strategy, and digital campaign performance, we help ensure your program is visible across search engines, AI platforms, and social channels—while maintaining alignment with institutional brand standards and accessibility requirements.

Interested in seeing how you can improve your SEO/AEO? Schedule a consultation with us.

Paid Search Ads are targeted digital advertisements that appear across platforms such as Google, LinkedIn, and Meta, allowing programs to reach prospective students based on their search behavior, interests, and demographics. These ads place your program directly in front of high‑intent audiences at key decision-making moments, complementing your organic search visibility (see SEO/AEO section for information about organic visibility). 

How paid search ads benefit program marketing strategy:

With many prospective students beginning their search online and narrowing their choices quickly, Paid Search Ads ensure your program is visible at the right time—particularly when competition for page‑1 visibility is high. These campaigns allow for precise audience targeting and real-time optimization, helping drive qualified traffic, increase inquiries, and support enrollment goals efficiently.

How we can help

Our team brings hands-on experience managing campaigns across Google Pay‑Per‑Click (PPC), Google Display, LinkedIn, and Meta platforms, allowing us to tailor strategies to each program’s unique audience and objectives. We develop data-driven campaigns that align messaging, targeting, and budget to maximize return on investment while maintaining brand consistency. From keyword strategy and audience segmentation to ongoing performance analysis and optimization, we ensure your paid media efforts are continuously refined to deliver measurable results.

The OPDM team is especially concerned with making sure online program directors understand the impact of investing in paid advertising for their programs. Often marketing budgets are approved, and money is allocated with the expectation that the results of that investment will be clear. Working with our internal team means you’ll have an expert who is familiar with the institution, the programs, and the red tape that often accompanies requests for resources. We excel at explaining complex data and impact to multiple stakeholders, bringing over 10 years of reporting and experience in data presentation.

Looking to kick-start your program’s growth and overall impact through Paid Ads? Schedule a consultation with our team.

LinkedIn Ads are highly targeted digital advertisements delivered through the LinkedIn platform, allowing programs to reach prospective students based on professional attributes such as job title, industry, experience level, and education. These ads position your program directly within a professional context, connecting with audiences who are actively thinking about career growth, advancement, or reskilling.

How LinkedIn Ads benefit program marketing strategy

For many graduate, certificate, and professional education programs, LinkedIn offers a uniquely qualified audience that aligns closely with program goals and outcomes. LinkedIn Ads enable precise targeting of mid-career professionals and decision-makers, helping your program appear early in the consideration phase—especially for audiences who may not be actively searching yet but are open to opportunities. This makes LinkedIn an effective channel for the following: 

• Building awareness
• Generating high-quality leads for the top of your enrollment funnel
• Supporting long-term enrollment growth

How we can help

Our team brings hands-on experience managing LinkedIn advertising campaigns as part of a broader paid media strategy, ensuring your program reaches the right audience with messaging that resonates. We develop data-driven campaigns that align targeting, creative, and budget to maximize visibility and engagement. From audience segmentation and ad development to ongoing performance tracking and optimization, we use our institutional experience to run campaigns for proven benefits to your program.

By partnering with us, you gain access to experts who understand both the technical side of LinkedIn advertising and the nuances of marketing within higher education, helping you make informed decisions about where and how to invest in your program’s growth.

Interested in starting a LinkedIn Advertising strategy for your program? Schedule a consultation with our team to see example spend and results from other programs on campus.
 

Data and insights are great for developing personalized marketing efforts, ensuring information about your program reaches the most interested students. Social media analytics tracks engagement and content reception, while website analytics provide insights into visitor behavior, showing which pages attract the most interest and where prospects drop off in the application process. 

By leveraging data that is specifically relevant to your program, you can begin to tailor your messaging and materials as well as advocate for the effectiveness of your investments in marketing. For example, analyzing your website traffic before, during and after a paid campaign helps determine its true impact. Reviewing the number of times someone visits your application information and comparing that to the number of submitted applications can inform on-page changes you may need to make to improve conversions. 

Our team has expertise interpreting data from multiple sources to present a cohesive picture of program health, providing you with actionable insights to improve recruitment. These health reports can help persuade departmental decision-makers to invest more or differently depending on their results. Never underestimate the power of analytics!

Looking to gain a deeper understanding of your program’s overall health through Analytics? Schedule a consultation.

One of the most overlooked aspects of many online program marketing strategies is the Enrollment Pipeline. Most programs prioritize ushering applicants through to the state of enrollment, but many have limited knowledge of what happens before the application stage. Our team can help identify any leaks, issues or opportunities in your enrollment funnel. From wasted spend, to staff handoffs, to ineffective messaging, we’ll help diagnose and identify holes in your pipeline that could be preventing leads from becoming applicants. 

Key questions to determine if you need an Enrollment Pipeline Review:

• Where is your lead form located? Do you have multiple forms collecting information from different sources?
• How do you keep track of your communications with prospects with multiple team members?
• Who is regularly responding to inquiries, and how long does it take from the time you get the lead notification, to the time you reach out?
• What technology do you use to keep track of your funnel?  (Excel, Word doc, outlook folders, etc.)
• What does the prospect need to know about your program? (e.g., learning experiences, specific tracks in your field, options for course electives, trending topics, opportunities for mentoring during the program, etc.)
• What happens when you don’t hear back from prospects?
  • Do you follow up with a phone call or add them to a remarketing list? Do they follow your social media channels for updates?  
  • Do you get updates if a prospect moves on? 

Our team has helped improve efficiency and communication for teams across campus. We are apt at finding efficiencies and creating more opportunities for Program Directors to do what they do best - teach! We understand the complexities that exist within the MSU ecosystem, and have experience working within the resource and organizational constraints. Reach out to us if this sounds like a service that would benefit your program. 

Creating emails for drip campaigns 

Drip campaigns are often the first change your program has to solidify a relationship with a prospect. Timely, relevant and exciting content can be the key to taking a student from the questioning stage to the application. Chances are you already have a great pitch for your program and what makes it special. Let’s turn that pitch into something digestible and effective to convince your audience your program is the right fit. 

Website content

It can be difficult to determine which pieces of information will be most important to your prospects. Developing content for your website can be daunting, especially when you add the importance of keyword research and user experience on your site. If you don’t pay for advertising, your program website is often your first chance to sell your graduate program. We will help make sure it’s optimized for your audience and organized for the best user experience possible. 

Social media copy

Social media plays a critical role in reinforcing your program’s brand and maintaining ongoing engagement with prospective students. We work with your team to develop messaging that aligns with your institution’s voice while adapting content for each platform’s unique audience and format. From short-form promotional posts to longer thought leadership content, we ensure consistency in tone, clarity in messaging, and a strategic connection back to your program’s goals. Our approach helps you stay visible, relevant, and engaging across channels your audience already uses.

FAQ’s

Well-crafted FAQs are a powerful but often underutilized tool for both user experience and search visibility. As a program director, you already know the questions prospective students ask most frequently—this makes FAQs one of the most efficient ways to create meaningful, high-impact content. We help structure and optimize these answers so they are clear, concise, and aligned with how people search, increasing the likelihood they appear in search engine results pages (SERPs) and AI-generated overviews. This not only improves discoverability but also builds trust by quickly addressing common concerns and reducing barriers to application.
Schedule a consultation with the OPDM team to begin developing content aligned with your program’s goals. We’d love to help you tell the story your prospective audience wants to hear.

Automated email campaigns create an integrated user experience from the moment your prospect lands on online.msu.edu. Users become informed on our website, then indicate their interest by filling out a Request for Information form. In this digital age most students expect a seamless transition between the online search experience and initial interactions with program staff. 

If you haven’t already, begin thinking about the prospective student journey. You should be able to identify your target audience’s goals, anticipate any questions they might have, and set communication expectations for your program. This information is the foundation for an effective drip campaign, and the OPDM team can help you put it into action from the first moment your leads signal their interest.

Key Questions:

• Who is your audience – what are their attributes? (i.e., target by gender, stage or status)
• What is the goal of your campaign?
• How many emails will you send and in what order?
• How will you measure success? (i.e., what analytics will you use and what numbers are important to track?

You want your email to be helpful, to grab attention, and to have a clear “call to action”. Think about what you want the prospective applicant to do or what you want to accomplish. Do you want the prospect to book an appointment? Set up a phone call? Start an application? Make sure your message is clear and true to your program’s vision and voice. 

Start writing your drip campaign content with these simple ideas:

• Add a personal touch! Use photos of the program director, alumni or images showing cohort communities in the online space. These attributes are still very important to online students.
• Use video embeds and other creative assets you might have - bury key facts about your program within the video.
• Incorporate an event registration for an information session if you have one coming up.
• Encourage prospects to engage with you on other social platforms you might be managing (LinkedIn, Facebook etc.)
• Remind your prospect of the next application cycle information. They may have missed the application deadline and you’re announcing an extension, or there may be an upcoming deadline they should be aware of.

Start a Drip Campaign for Your Program

Schedule a consultation with the OPDM team to begin developing your drip campaign. Our team has experience working with programs from every department on campus. Reach out to us to find out how we can help you.