Katy Campbell, CEO at VisionPoint Marketing, joins E-Coffee with Experts to unpack how AI is reshaping higher education marketing, SEO, and brand strategy. Just weeks into her new role as CEO after years as COO, Katy shares how her background in pro sports marketing shaped her approach to audience behavior and enrollment strategy at universities nationwide.
This episode dives deep into AI-ready SEO, also known as GEO, and what it really means for higher ed websites to become trusted sources for AI systems like ChatGPT and Perplexity rather than just destinations for traffic. Katy explains why brand building and performance marketing are merging in the AI era, and why trust, not ad spend, is becoming the deciding factor in whether an institution gets cited by AI search tools.
Topics covered include the shift from activity metrics to enrollment intelligence, why data over ego should guide marketing decisions, how to align marketing and admissions teams around one enrollment outcome, and what separates content that simply exists from content that actually builds authority and visibility.
Katy also shares her favorite AI tools, the most surprising lesson from her first days as CEO, and one piece of career advice for young marketers: work hard, be kind.
Whether you are in higher education marketing, SEO, or brand strategy, this conversation offers practical insight into navigating the AI-driven future of marketing.
Takeaways:
- AI search rewards trusted, structured content over keyword-stuffed pages
- Higher ed websites should function as source layers, not just destinations
- Brand and performance budgets are merging in the age of AI search
- Trust cannot be bought; it is built through consistent, authentic reputation
- Reverse-funnel math aligns enrollment goals across marketing and admissions
- Return on ad spend by source matters more than raw traffic numbers
- Third-party validation now directly impacts AI citation and visibility
- Career growth sometimes requires short-term steps back for long-term gains