the Easy Way to Benchmark Your Competitors’ Video Ads in Higher Ed
If you want to improve your video ads, one of the simplest first steps is to look at what your competitors are running. The quickest way to do that is with the Meta Ad Library, where you can search any college and view every active (and many past) ads they’ve published on Meta platforms.
When you start browsing, you’ll notice a clear pattern across higher ed:
1. Most colleges rely on predictable, forgettable ad formats.
You’ll see a lot of:
Generic branding lines (“Your journey starts here”)
Rankings
Broad value statements
Pretty campus shots
These ads are safe, but they rarely stand out and they almost never feel differentiated.
2. Story-driven ads are almost nonexistent.
Very few institutions run ads built around one student, one program, or one outcome. But this is exactly the type of content that stands out on social platforms — especially when you keep it tight, clear, and emotionally resonant.
If your institution has student or alumni stories on YouTube, you already have raw material you can repurpose into strong 30- or 15-second ads that are probably better than 90% of what’s out there.
3. The bar is low — which makes differentiation easier.
Once you see the landscape, it becomes obvious how much opportunity there is. A single well-told story, even in a short format, immediately stands out in a field of sameness.
What to Do Next
1. Search for your competitors in the Meta Ad Library.
Look at message themes, creative styles, and how frequently they run ads.
2. Ask yourself two questions:
Do our ads feel different from what everyone else is doing?
Or are we repeating the same patterns we’re trying to break through?
3. Fill the gap with story-driven creative.
A short, focused narrative about a real student or alum is far more memorable than another branding line.
Bottom line
Benchmarking competitor ads isn’t just about seeing what others are doing — it’s about spotting the opportunities they’re missing.
Right now, storytelling is a huge gap in higher ed advertising.
And it’s the easiest way to stand out.
Dive Deeper
If you want to go further down a rabbit hole about creating successful higher ed ads, check out our podcast episode with Kathleen Barth from 3 Enrollment Marketing.
