What Is An Interaction, Really?

One of the most common words used throughout enrollment management today is "engagement."

Institutions discuss student engagement, digital engagement, event engagement, social engagement, and communication engagement. Marketing reports are filled with metrics intended to demonstrate engagement. Technology platforms promise greater engagement. Recruitment strategies are increasingly evaluated based upon their ability to generate engagement.

Yet despite how frequently the term is used, there remains surprisingly little agreement about what engagement actually means.

That ambiguity matters because not all forms of engagement carry the same value, and not every activity we celebrate provides meaningful insight into student behavior.

Over time, higher ed has become increasingly effective at measuring exposure. We know how many emails were delivered. We know how many advertisements were served. We know how many people may have encountered a message, visited a website, or passed by a digital display. These measurements provide useful information because visibility remains an important component of student recruitment. Students cannot explore opportunities they do not know exist.

However, an opportunity to engage and true engagement are not synonymous.

A student walking past a digital display has an opportunity to engage. A student scrolling past a social media advertisement has an opportunity to engage. A student receiving an email in their inbox has an opportunity to engage. A student driving past a billboard has an opportunity to engage.

What remains unknown is whether engagement actually occurred.

This distinction represents one of the most important shifts taking place within enrollment management today. Increasingly, institutional leaders are becoming less interested in opportunities for engagement or impressions and more interested in evidence of engagement itself. As an enrollment or marketing leader, if you are not measuring return on investment, you may be making decisions based on assumptions rather than evidence.

“If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it.” - Lord Kelvin 

In today's environment, the goal is no longer to prove that a message was delivered or that an advertisement was displayed. The goal is to understand whether those investments prompt meaningful engagement. Whether those investments capture student interest, engage those students in meaningful interactions, and impact enrollment outcomes. Anything less leaves institutions celebrating activity while hoping for results.

That raises an important question.

What is an interaction?

An interaction is not simply a click, a scan, a form submission, or a website visit. Those activities are manifestations of something deeper.

At its core, an interaction is a behavioral signal. A real interaction requires intent. It means a student stopped, made a choice, and took action. 

That voluntary action taken by a student provides insight into their interests, motivations, preferences, and intent.

When a student requests information about a nursing program, they are revealing something about their interests.

When a student attends an event focused on engineering, they are revealing something about their aspirations.

When a student schedules a campus visit, explores financial aid resources, joins a communication pathway, or responds to an admissions counselor, they provide signals that help institutions better understand who they are and what matters to them.

The significance of these actions extends far beyond the actions themselves.

Every interaction represents a moment when a student chooses to move from passive observation to active participation. It is the point at which awareness begins to evolve into curiosity, curiosity begins to evolve into interest, and interest begins to reveal intent.

This is why interactions have become paramount within modern enrollment management.

The value of an interaction is not that it occurred. The value lies in what it reveals.

Exposure tells institutions that a message existed. Interactions help institutions understand whether that message mattered.

Exposure creates awareness. Interactions create insight.

Exposure estimates opportunity. Interactions reveal behavior.

Impressions are passive. Interactions are active and directly track ROI. 

That distinction becomes increasingly more important as presidents, boards, and cabinet leaders ask more sophisticated questions about enrollment investments. They want to understand not only how many students were reached, but whether institutional efforts influenced student behavior, strengthened relationships, and contributed to enrollment outcomes.

Answering those questions requires more than visibility metrics or impressions.

It requires understanding engagement.

Awareness will always matter. Visibility will always matter. Marketing will always matter.

But awareness should never be mistaken for engagement.

An impression is a possibility.

An interaction is evidence.

At 13th Year, we define an interaction as a student choosing to take action, not simply having the opportunity to see a message. Through our digital kiosk network and Student Pathway System, students, counselors, parents, and other key stakeholders can explore academic programs, request information, connect with colleges and universities, join communities, and engage with content aligned to their interests and aspirations. 

Rather than estimating who may have seen a message or giving an unrealistic impression number, institutions gain insight into who chose to engage and what motivated that engagement in the first place.

We have never viewed impressions as the finish line because awareness alone rarely explains why students make decisions. Impressions may create visibility, but interactions create understanding. Understanding creates stronger relationships, more meaningful engagement, measurable return on investment, and ultimately better enrollment outcomes. 

As I continue exploring the idea that Interactions > Impressions, I'd love to hear your perspective. How does your institution define an interaction, and what evidence tells you that interaction is truly influencing student behavior and enrollment outcomes?

---

About 13th Year™

13th Year™ is a Student Pathway System™ that helps colleges, universities, trades, employers, military branches, and other postsecondary partners understand not only who they reach, but who chooses to engage.

Traditional recruitment tools measure exposure through impressions, emails, advertisements, and website visits. While visibility remains important, exposure alone rarely explains student behavior. Awareness creates opportunity, but interactions reveal interest, intent, and engagement.

Through interactive digital kiosks and supporting engagement tools embedded within trusted high school environments, students explore academic programs, careers, military opportunities, scholarships, and other postsecondary pathways. Each interaction provides meaningful insight into student interests, preferences, and aspirations.

Rather than relying on estimated reach, institutions gain access to measurable behavioral signals that reveal what students are actively exploring and considering long before inquiry, application, or enrollment activity occurs.

These insights help organizations strengthen familiarity, refine messaging, identify emerging interests, and build stronger student pipelines. The result is deeper understanding, more meaningful engagement, and better enrollment outcomes.

At 13th Year, we believe impressions create awareness, but interactions create understanding.

For more information or to explore a partnership, visit 13th-Year.com.For more information, or to partner with 13th Year™, contact us at 13th-Year.com.

About the Author

Ryan Barbauld is the Director of Strategic Partnerships at 13th Year™ and Co-Founder of the Crossroads Crew, a growing community of higher ed & edtech professionals committed to advancing enrollment management, marketing, and student success. With nearly two decades of experience in higher ed, Ryan has spent his career helping institutions better understand, engage, and serve prospective students and their families throughout the college search process.

His professional journey has included leadership and enrollment roles at Purdue University, Iowa State University, the University of Louisville, and a community college in Indiana, where he served as Director of Admissions. Throughout his career, Ryan has recruited students from all 50 states, worked extensively with students and families in Puerto Rico, and traveled internationally to support institutional enrollment goals and student recruitment efforts.

Today, Ryan is passionate about helping colleges and universities move beyond traditional marketing metrics to build meaningful interactions with students, families, counselors, and key stakeholders. His work focuses on understanding student behavior, strengthening engagement, and helping institutions create measurable pathways that support both enrollment growth and student success.

A proud native of Gary, Indiana, Ryan resides in the Evansville area with his wife, Audra, and their two daughters, Addie and Evie. When he is not partnering with colleges and universities, he can often be found coaching on the softball field, cheering from the pool deck, spending time on the basketball court, traveling to his family's home away from home in Siesta Key, Florida, or supporting his beloved Chicago Cubs and Purdue Boilermakers.

Ryan believes that enrollment management is ultimately about people, relationships, and service, a philosophy reflected in one of his favorite verses:

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters." — Colossians 3:23