How Universities Should Actually Be Targeting Parents in Paid Media
How Universities Should Actually Be Targeting Parents in Paid Media
(The Student Room – TSR Matters blog).
That alone tells you everything you need to know about their importance.
It’s no surprise then that most undergraduate media plans include something for parents. A line here, a small budget there, maybe a slightly older age bracket layered into Meta.
But for an audience this influential, that approach feels a little light.
A couple of targeting tweaks and a handful of generic ads doesn’t mean you’re now “targeting parent audiences”.
If parents are shaping decisions, I think they deserve a little more consideration.
What do parents actually care about?
There’s plenty of data out there which digs deeper into the things which parents find most important.
(The Student Room – TSR Matters blog)
(Unifrog webinar, Spring 2025)
Different sources will shift the percentages slightly, but there’s one thing that certain – parents and students aren’t thinking exactly the same.
Parents are thinking about outcomes, security, and reassurance. Students are often thinking about experience, independence and identity.
Both matter, but they require different conversations.
If your paid media is saying the same thing to both audiences, one of them is being underserved.
Creative is now doing the targeting
In an article we released last month on Meta leaning further into creative-first delivery, who sees your ads is increasingly shaped by what your ads say.
That can feel like extra pressure, especially when creative teams are already stretched, but this doesn’t mean building entirely new campaigns from scratch. Subtle changes can go a long way.
If everyone else is saying “Book an open day”, explain why a parent should attend with their child.
If others are showcasing societies and nightlife, talk about safety and support systems.
Hell, if most messaging is about choosing your university, consider stepping back and reinforcing why university is worth it at all!
You don’t need a full suite of parent-specific video shoots to make an impact. Even subtle changes in copy and framing can shift who engages.
We spend a lot of time tailoring messaging to students. Parents deserve the same level of thought.
What do you actually want parents to do?
From my experience, this is where a lot of campaigns miss the mark the most.
Even when ads resonate, the journey often doesn’t. Most university websites aren’t built with parents in mind and the pages that are tend to sit fairly low on the priority list when it comes to updates and optimisation.
That creates two problems: the experience doesn’t match the message & there’s very little parent-specific data to learn from
If you want to take this audience seriously, you need somewhere meaningful to send them. Parent guides and webinars are a strong starting point. They give you:
And beyond performance, there’s something more human in it too. It shows parents they’re seen and considered during a moment that matters just as much to them as it does their child.
Parents just use Facebook… right?
It’s an easy assumption to make, but think about your own behaviour, or the people around you.
Scrolling TikTok. Messaging on Instagram. Watching YouTube. Checking Facebook occasionally. Usage isn’t limited to one platform anymore, regardless of age.
(Sprout Social).
That alone should challenge the idea that certain platforms are “off limits” for parent audiences. This doesn’t mean spreading budget thinly across every channel, but it does open up opportunity.
Being one of the few universities actively and intentionally targeting parents on platforms like TikTok could create a real advantage. Less competition, fresher creative and a better chance of standing out.
Final thoughts
Parents aren’t hard to reach, they’re just often spoken to in the wrong way, or not given enough attention in the first place.
A small shift in thinking can go a long way:
Because if they’re influencing decisions, your media strategy should reflect that.
