The purpose of this study is to understand the reasons why Japanese higher education institutions show a lack of digital marketing activities. Specifically, we focused on the challenges faced by institutions with management and business faculties when implementing digital marketing. To achieve this purpose, the research invited 167 Japanese higher education institutions to respond to a self-administered online questionnaire followed by semi-structured interviews. 49 valid responses were obtained and then 11 interviews were performed. After analyzing the data collected using text coding, the results indicate the emergence of nine digital marketing enablers and barriers, namely training & knowledge, tools, financial resources & measurement results, human resources, leadership, process, internal public relations, organization strategy and external stakeholders. A comparison between the various factors shows a significant dominance of barriers with respect to enablers, reflecting the concerns of Japanese higher education institutions with respect to digital marketing. In addition, the interviews reveal the existence of four environmental factors which have motivated Japanese higher education institutions to adopt digital marketing.