−13%
High school graduates peaked in 2025. WICHE projects a 13% decline through 2041.
Fewer first-year applicants every cycle from here.
Source: WICHE, Knocking at the College Door, 2024
Lifecycle marketing for higher education and K-12
Reach more students, in more places.
We mapped why students stop progressing at every stage of the funnel. Then we use behavioral and motivational science to build GuidePosts™ that move students forward at every stage, from awareness through graduation.
Every stage, awareness to graduation
300+ institutions in ten years
Indiana University OnlineTexas A&M University SystemCCACPima Community CollegePenn FosterNorthern Illinois UniversityChamberlain UniversityAtlanta Metropolitan State College
Who we are
We help schools reach, engage and motivate students, from first click to graduation.
Motimatic is the lifecycle marketing hub for higher education and K-12. Send us your student lists or have us drive new RFIs. We find where each student is stuck, build behavioral-science messages to move them forward, and deliver them on social media, streaming TV, direct mail, email and SMS. Our team runs it, and new campaigns are measured against a randomized holdout.
1
Reach.
Five channels from one hub. Students see you in their feeds, on their TVs, in their mailboxes, inboxes and texts.
2
Engage.
A message built for each student’s stage, seen an average of 14.5 times a month.
Avg. impressions per student per month, Motimatic campaigns, Jan–Sep 2026.
3
Motivate.
Behavioral and motivational science turns attention into the next step: a submitted application, a deposit, a registration.
Why now
The pool is shrinking. Every stage has to convert.
Undergraduate volume is falling with the birth rate. Graduate programs lost their loan backstop and much of their international pipeline. When fewer students come in, the ones already on your list matter more than any new campaign.
$100K
Grad PLUS closed to new borrowers on July 1, 2026. Federal graduate borrowing now caps at $100,000 per degree, and NAFSA projects up to 111,000 fewer international students this fall.
Cost is now the first objection for every master’s RFI.
Source: NASFAA; NAFSA Fall 2026 Outlook
10–40%
of accepted students who plan to enroll at graduation never show up in the fall.
With fewer applicants, every admit you lose costs more to replace.
Source: PACE, Mitigating Summer Melt
What’s a GuidePost™?
A GuidePost is a message built to move one student to their next step.
It can be a social ad, a streaming spot, a postcard, an email or a text. Each one targets a single action, like submitting an application or paying a deposit, and is built around the reason that student stalled. Think of it as a signpost on the way to enrollment: it shows the next step and gives a reason to take it.
Channels get the message there. GuidePost decides what it says.
Anatomy of a GuidePostTamryn W., admitted for fall
Next stepAccept her admission
Why she stalledUnsure about cost
The why · motivational principleBelonging
The how · behavioral strategyCommitment
Where she sees it
How we build every GuidePost
Every one starts with a root cause.
1
Map why they stop
83 target actions across six stages of the funnel, each backed by research on what holds students back.
Stage 1 of 6 · Started application
24%
of prospective students started at least one college application and never submitted any.
Annenberg Institute at Brown University, 2018–19 cycle, via Higher Ed Dive
Stage 2 of 6 · Submitted application
66%
of college students say college cost more than they expected.
College Ave / Barnes & Noble College Insights, 2024
Stage 3 of 6 · Admit to enroll
21%
of students are “incredibly confident” they understand the details of their financial aid offer.
Ellucian national student survey, 2024
Stage 4 of 6 · First-year retention
77% vs. 64%
Students aware of five or more support services are 13 points more likely to say they’ll persist.
Tyton Partners, Listening to Learners, 2024
Stage 5 of 6 · Second-year retention
59%
of students have considered dropping out because of financial stress.
Ellucian national student survey, 2024
Stage 6 of 6 · Stop-out recovery
44%
of stopped-out students knew academic advising was available to them.
Tyton Partners, Listening to Learners, 2024
Stage 1 of 6 · Started application
24%
of prospective students started at least one college application and never submitted any.
Annenberg Institute at Brown University, 2018–19 cycle, via Higher Ed Dive
2
Apply the science
Each root cause gets a motivational principle, the why, and a behavioral strategy, the how.
9 principles · the why
Self-efficacyExpectancy-valueAgency & autonomyAttributionBelongingCognitive dissonanceIdentity-based motivationConcrete expressions of careReinforcement & incentive
14 strategies · the how
UrgencyScarcityReminders & tipsTiny habitsSMART goalsSocial proofPoint of viewCommitmentIncentivesPerksReframingEmpowermentHopefulnessSense of purpose
Tamryn’s GuidePost
Belonging+Commitment
“You belong here.”
Grounded in motivation research: d = 0.49 across 74 education studies (Lazowski & Hulleman, 2016).
3
Deliver it and prove it
Each GuidePost runs on every channel the student uses. A 5% holdout shows whether it moved them.
“You belong here.”
SocialStreamingMailEmailSMS
One message, timed to her stage, on every channel she uses.
1 in 20 held out. The gap is the lift.
Yield
You already drove the RFIs. We turn them into enrollments.
In our holdout groups, 1.3% of RFIs reach deposit on their own. Motimatic works the rest of the list, one stalled step at a time, with a message built for why each student stopped: cost, confidence, belonging, logistics.
Holdout-tested
RFI-to-deposit rate
Holdout · no Motimatic1.30%
With Motimatic2.76%
+112%
lift vs. control among partners that reached statistical significance
We don’t guarantee results. Partners are now opted into randomized 5% holdout testing on new campaigns.
Proof at every step of the yield path
RFI
Raised a hand
Application submitted
+229%vs. holdout · Northern Illinois
Transcript submitted
+202%vs. holdout · Atlanta Metro
Deposit paid
+210%vs. holdout · Top-100 Northeast university
Enrolled
Showed up for class
One lifecycle hub
One student list. Every channel they use.
Send us your list once. We segment it by stage, build the GuidePost message, and deliver it across five channels from one platform, with one strategy and one measurement standard behind all of it.
The full student lifecycle
From first impression to second year, and back again.
We support every stage, from awareness to stop-out recovery, with one hub, one student list and one holdout across all of it.
1
Awareness
Get on the shortlist before the search starts.
2RFI generation
Bring in RFIs that look like the students who enroll.
3Yield
Move RFIs to applications, admits to deposits, deposits to day one.
4Retention
Keep continuing students registered term to term.
5Stop-out recovery
Bring back students who left over something fixable.
How it works
Four steps. Proof built into the first one.
-
1
FSProspective studentFreya S.JMAdmitted studentJacob M.MCStopped outMadison C.
Send your list
RFIs, applicants, admits, current students, stop-outs. Refreshed on your schedule from your CRM or SIS.
-
2
1 in 20 held out, for the whole program
We hold out 5%
Five of every 100 students are picked at random and receive nothing from us. They stay out the whole time and become your baseline.
-
3
BelongingCommitment“You belong here.”
GuidePost writes the message
Every creative is matched to the student’s stage, the motivation behind the next step, and the strategy that moves it.
-
4
HoldoutMarketedThe gap is the lift
We reach them everywhere and report the lift
Social, streaming, mail, email and SMS run from one plan. You see the gap between marketed and held-out students, by stage.
Results
Measured against students who received nothing from us.
Every result below compares students we marketed to against a randomized 5% holdout from the same list, over the same weeks.
Randomized 5% holdout
+229%
Northern Illinois University
Applications submittedTransfer
Holdout1.22%
Marketed4.02%
+210%
Top-100 Northeast university
Deposit rateDeposit
Holdout3.61%
Marketed11.21%
+202%
Atlanta Metropolitan State College
Transcript submissionIncomplete applicants
Holdout0.51%
Marketed1.53%
+124%
Chamberlain University
RegistrationsStop-out recovery
Holdout1.75%
Marketed3.93%
Who we serve
Built for institutions that have to fill seats.
The pilot
Start with one list.
Pick one audience and one goal: submitted applications, deposits, fall registration. We run it against a 5% holdout and show you the lift.
1
One listRFIs, admits or stop-outs
2
One goalApps, deposits or registrations
3
One holdout5% who receive nothing from us