What Run Club Taught Me About Student Recruitment (That Data Never Could)

You've heard it countless times: the prospective student journey isn't linear. And yet, we keep trying to map it like it is.

Here's the truth: as humans, we don't think in straight lines. When we're making big commitments (like choosing where to invest tens of thousands of dollars in our education), our brains need multiple signals before we feel secure enough to decide. As marketers, we know this intuitively. We've all heard about the rule of seven, that a prospect needs to encounter a brand's message at least seven times before they're ready to commit.

Each touchpoint waters seeds of trust. Strong, personal messaging. Communication that meets people in different emotional states. Repetition that builds familiarity. Together, these create relationships with prospects, not just conversions.

But I didn't fully see this principle in action until I stepped outside the marketing world, literally.

My Run Club Revelation

As a distance runner with a visible presence in my community, I wear my branded run club shirt on most runs. Without fail, people stop me. "Are you in a run club?" "Where does your club meet?" "Do you have different pace groups?"

Ant at NYC Marathon, Nov. 2025

At first, I'd answer their questions enthusiastically, share the details, and... nothing. They wouldn't show up. No conversion. No new faces at Monday night runs.

I wasn't recruiting for the club. I just love connecting with fellow runners. But I couldn't help noticing the pattern.

Then, a few weeks later, something shifted. Those same people who had asked me questions started appearing at the run club. When I'd chat with them, they'd mention seeing runners on social media. Or noticing another running club in town. Or spotting someone's blinged-out race medal. 

It was never just me. It was the accumulation of signals, the seventh, eighth, or fifteenth touchpoint, that finally tipped them over the edge.

The Unmeasurable Middle

Here's what keeps me up at night as a higher ed marketer: most of what influences a prospective student's decision happens in spaces we can't track.

We obsess over our dashboards. We measure click-through rates, time on page, form completions, and email opens. We assign dollars based on attribution models that give us a comforting (but incomplete) story about what's working.

But what about the conversation a prospect has with their parent over dinner? The Instagram post from a current student they scroll past at 11 PM? The campus tour their friend took that they hear about secondhand? The moment they see someone wearing university gear at the grocery store and think, "That could be me"?

None of that shows up in our CRM. None of it gets credit in our attribution reports. And yet, it's doing the heavy lifting.

The Blend: Art, Science, and Human Emotion

This is where marketing becomes less science experiment and more human experience. Yes, we need data. Yes, we need a strategy. But we also need to acknowledge that we're operating in a space where influence is dispersed, indirect, and often invisible.

The prospective students we're trying to reach aren't sitting at their computers waiting for our next email. They're living their lives: running errands, scrolling social media, talking to friends, worrying about their future. Our job is to show up consistently across those moments, in ways that feel authentic and relevant, even when we can't measure the impact of each one.

My run club shirt isn't a conversion tool. But it's a signal. A reminder. A point of familiarity that, combined with a dozen other signals, helps someone feel ready to take the leap.

Your institution's brand works the same way.

Every billboard. Every social media post. Every alum story. Every campus event is open to the community. They're all watering seeds, even when you can't see the growth happening underground.

What This Means for Your Strategy

So, where does this leave us as marketers?

1. Respect the invisible

   Not every touchpoint will show ROI in your dashboard, and that's okay. Build a strategy that values consistent presence across channels, even when attribution is murky.

   
   

2. Think in ecosystems, not funnels

   Prospective students aren't moving through your funnel. They're bouncing around an ecosystem of influences. Be present in that ecosystem authentically.

   
   

3. Trust the process

   Just because someone doesn't convert immediately doesn't mean your message didn't land. Plant seeds. Water them. Trust that growth is happening even when you can't see it yet.

   
   

4. Balance art and science

   Use data to inform your decisions, but don't let the limits of measurement constrain your creativity or humanity.

The journey to enrollment is messy, non-linear, and beautifully human. The sooner we embrace that (and build strategies that honor it), the more effective we'll be.

And who knows? Maybe the next person who asks about your institution at a grocery store will show up at an open house three weeks later, ready to apply. You just won't see it in your attribution report.

What invisible touchpoints do you think influence your prospective students most? I'd love to hear your thoughts.