Gain access to digital marketing expertise weekly on the Onya Mic Podcast. Onya CEO Ashley Monk shares proven strategies and interviews industry leaders who reveal their marketing secrets. Each episode delivers specialized knowledge on topics like influencer collaborations, content creation, paid media optimization, and budget-friendly brand building. Whether you're looking to understand TikTok's impact or maximize your marketing dollars, Onya Mic provides the expertise you need without the fluff. Onya mark, get set, grow!
The Brand Problem Most Schools Don't Know They Have
If your enrollment numbers are stalling, the instinct is to spend more on marketing. More ads. More campaigns. More budget.
But what if that's the wrong problem to solve?
In this episode, Ashley sits down with Ryan Morabito — brand strategist and partner to 125+ colleges and universities including NYU, Marquette, and Baylor — to talk about why so many institutions are treating the symptom instead of the cause, and what the schools that are actually thriving are doing differently.
What you'll hear in this episode:
* Why marketing is the icing and branding is the cake — and what that means for your enrollment strategy
* The difference between branding and marketing and why confusing the two is one of the most expensive mistakes in higher ed
* What silos are actually costing your institution and how thriving schools have moved from cooperation to true collaboration
* The one sentence from a real student that is the entire enrollment playbook
* Why students are the heroes of the story and what student centered storytelling actually looks like in practice
* A 3 step framework for meaningful brand change you can start applying right now
Connect with Ryan: LinkedIn: Ryan Morabito [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanmorabito] Five Degrees Branding: 5degreesbranding.com [http://5degreesbranding.com/]
Connect with Ashley + Onya: LinkedIn: Ashley Monk [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleymonk] onyamark.com [http://onyamark.com/]
10 Feb 2026
Building Trust Through Accreditation: Why Credibility Matters More Than Ever in Higher Ed Marketing
In this episode, we sit down with Josh Fischer, founder of The Progressus Companies, to explore the critical connection between accreditation and marketing in higher education. Josh shares his expertise on how schools can build trust with prospective students, design field-ready programs, and communicate their value in an increasingly competitive landscape where ROI has become the loudest conversation in the room.
Key Takeaways
* Accreditation is a trust signal, not just a checkbox – In an era of declining birth rates and AI-generated content, accreditation serves as third-party validation that helps institutions stand out. Students aren't just buying education anymore—they're buying career paths and outcomes.
* Design programs with the end user in mind, not the ivory tower – Institutions need to move beyond internal assumptions and actually listen to faculty feedback, conduct market research, and understand student requirements. Field-ready programming that connects students to employers and outcomes will always outperform outdated curriculum.
* Consistency and clear outcomes are non-negotiable – Prospective students need to see straightforward connections between courses and career outcomes, faculty expertise and program goals, and accreditation and real-world results. Mixed messaging across platforms destroys trust faster than anything else.
10 Dec 2025
Becoming the Marketer AI Can't
Host Ashley interviews marketing leader Dan "Danchez" Sanchez about how marketers can leverage AI while emphasizing creativity and human wisdom for future career success.
Inside a recent episode
The Power of Podcast as a Business Growth Strategy with Jessica Rhodes
Published 31 Oct 2022 · Transcript excerpt
[…] When we have leads that come to us who hurt us on a podcast, they're not the same leads that are shopping around talking to five other different firms. They're saying, I know that if I'm going to make this investment, it's going to be with you guys because I already feel like I know like in trust you. And that's the biggest hurdle with sales is making sure your leads know like in trust you. So that's just a little plug for why podcast casting is really valuable. And then, you know, as a podcast host, there's this huge opportunity to have a space to be networking and building relationships with referral partners, with potential customers and clients. […]
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