Heart Over Hype: The Empathy Overhaul Higher Ed Marketing Needs

Jaime Hunt joins Higher Voltage to explain why the future of higher ed marketing depends on empathy, authenticity and letting go of what used to work.

43 minutes
By: Higher Voltage

 

Heart Over Hype: Marketing That Sees Students First

Kevin Tyler reconnects with higher ed leader and consultant Jaime Hunt to talk about her new book, Heart Over Hype: Transforming Higher Ed Marketing with Empathy. But this isn’t just a book plug; it’s a call to action.

After decades in campus communications, Hunt now runs Solve Higher Ed Marketing, helping institutions refine not just what they say, but how they say it. Her message? Empathy isn’t fluff. It’s foundational. And if higher education wants to reconnect with the communities it serves, it has to start by seeing students as more than prospects.

Hunt breaks empathy into three actionable layers: cognitive (anticipating needs), emotional (connecting through feeling), and phenomenological (understanding lived experience). It’s that third one—deep empathy—that she argues higher ed marketing has been missing. “It’s not about being nice,” she says. “It’s about being human.”

With humor, heart, and a healthy dose of frustration, Hunt and Tyler unpack how too many campaigns still lead with institutional ego rather than student insight. The result? Marketing that feels cold, generic, and out of touch. Through the lens of her work at Winston-Salem State, Hunt shows how shifting to empathy-first messaging not only changed perception, but outcomes—student satisfaction, belonging, and graduation rates rose.

One of her key tools? The “empathy audit,” a reality check for materials and processes that asks: Does this make the reader feel seen? Or small?

But Hunt goes deeper, challenging leaders to build cultures where good ideas don’t get stuck in the org chart and where students of all ages—traditional, returning, or parenting—see themselves in the stories being told.

Marketing may not save higher ed alone, but Hunt makes the case that it can lead the way—if we listen more closely, lead more openly, and remember that behind every click or campus visit is a person wondering if they’ll belong.

Higher Voltage

Higher Voltage

Podcast

Higher Voltage explores what’s working, what’s not, and what needs to change in higher education. Higher Voltage isn’t just for anyone who works in higher education—it’s for anyone who is interested in or cares about higher education.

Newsletter Sign up!

Stay current in digital strategy, brand amplification, design thinking and more.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Also in Podcasts

A dark-skinned, bald man smiling at the camera wearing a blue collared shirt and tie surrounded by the Higher Voltage podcast bubble and the text guest: Jonathan B. Williams.

How to Recruit More First-Gen and Underrepresented Students

NYU’s Jonathan B. Williams shares why institutions should partner with communities to develop educational pipelines and recruit diverse student populations.

By: Higher Voltage
Jenny Li Fowler, MIT's director of social media strategy, is a woman with black hair wearing a black blazer and blue shirt.

It’s Time to Treat Social Media as an Adult – Jenny Li Fowler

Kevin Tyler welcomes MIT’s director of social media strategy to discuss her new book and social media’s impact on higher education marketing.

By: Higher Voltage

Breaking the College Rankings System

Colin Diver, author of the book “Breaking Ranks,” joins the podcast to discuss the problem with college rankings and how to replace them.

By: Higher Voltage
A dark-skinned, bald man smiling at the camera wearing a blue collared shirt and tie surrounded by the Higher Voltage podcast bubble and the text guest: Jonathan B. Williams.

How to Recruit More First-Gen and Underrepresented Students

NYU’s Jonathan B. Williams shares why institutions should partner with communities to develop educational pipelines and recruit diverse student populations.

By: Higher Voltage