Is it time to transition away from your OPM?

If you’ve started asking whether your online program manager (OPM) is still the right fit, you’re not alone. Whether it’s due to lackluster enrollment results or ROI, misalignment between the OPM’s capabilities and your in-house resources and expertise, inflexible revenue-share agreements, or an absence of marketing and enrollment performance transparency, leaders at universities of all shapes and sizes are reconsidering the value of working with OPMs.

Here’s a four-step framework for a smooth and strategic transition to a new enrollment marketing partner, without jeopardizing enrollment or revenue.

Step 2: Conduct a marketing gap analysis

Before you decide which aspects of marketing and enrollment to own internally and which would benefit from the support of an external partner, you need to understand where your current marketing and recruitment operations may fall short. A thorough gap analysis will help you identify the most pressing gaps.

This analysis is not just an audit; it’s a tool for building consensus across internal teams and streamlining the evaluation of potential new partners. Identify where your capabilities fall into minor, moderate, or major gaps across core marketing and recruitment areas like lead generation, nurturing strategies, data reporting, CRM usage, or content creation. Use this insight to determine what capabilities you can realistically build in-house, and which ones should be outsourced for scale and impact.

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Step 3: Decide what to insource—and what to outsource

Some universities choose to build up their own internal marketing infrastructure, while others rely more heavily on external partners. Most land somewhere in between; use your gap analysis as a guide to make these decisions thoughtfully.

From my days as a chief marketing officer at a university in the Northeast, to my consulting work with dozens of institutions around the country, I’ve seen firsthand that institutions are often best off owning core capabilities tied to strategic brand assets. Think of your college or university’s website and social media accounts. Those should be managed primarily by in-house resources with the deepest knowledge of your brand, perhaps with assistance from SEO and content strategy experts to ensure your website is AI ready.

Conversely, institutions often have success tapping into external resources to achieve scale and access specialized expertise. For example, a small university marketing team likely does not have the bandwidth to source thousands of leads from across channels—and then convert those leads through hyper-personalized, responsive marketing campaigns.

Marketing talent is not always easy to hire and retain. To supplement your in-house talent, look for a partner with expertise across lead sources (from digital media buying to experimenting with different in-kind sources), responsive marketing campaigns, and a deep understanding of the graduate, adult, and online landscape. And don’t forget to seek partnerships that will help your internal team upskill. Ideally, your vendor should not only free up your staff to focus on what they do best—manage brand assets and 1-to-1 student recruitment—but also share best practices and help your team expand their skillset.

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Step 4: Select and onboard your new partner strategically

When selecting a new enrollment marketing partner, look for one that aligns directly with your identified operational needs. Once selected, success will hinge on your team’s ability to provide your new partner with detailed, organized information.

Here’s what to have ready:

Be transparent about what’s worked, what hasn’t, and where you hope to go next. Your new partner should be able to outperform the marketing benchmarks you provide from your OPM—and show you how they will do so.

Ready to transition away from your OPM?

A partner transition can seem daunting. But with a strategic approach, it’s also an opportunity to create a more agile, efficient, and responsive marketing operation that can meet the demands of today’s enrollment landscape. Our Adult Learner Recruitment team has guided dozens of schools through successful transitions from legacy OPM relationships to more flexible, high-impact partnerships. If you’re feeling stuck or underserved by your current partner, don’t wait for your enrollment numbers to suffer.