If you’ve never browsed the Meta Ad Library for higher ed, do it.
Search any college and you can see every ad they’re currently running on Facebook/Instagram. Absolute goldmine for competitive research.

And honestly, the bar is low.

After digging through a bunch of schools recently, I noticed the same patterns over and over:

What most colleges are running:

• Generic branding lines (“Your journey starts here”)
• Rankings
• Vague institutional platitudes
• General-purpose b-roll stitched together

Almost zero story-driven content.
Very few ads that highlight one student, one program, or one outcome — which is the type of creative that actually stands out on social.

Meanwhile, most schools already have stories sitting on YouTube. Repurposing those into short ads is a massively underused opportunity.

If you’re running ads, ask yourself:

Do our ads look any different from everyone else’s?
Or are we repeating the same formula we’re trying to break through?

For anyone here who’s worked on ad campaigns:
What kinds of higher-ed ads do you see working best right now?
Are you seeing the same pattern of sameness?