5 Marketing Tips for the US Education and EdTech Industry

It’s common sense that different industries require different approaches to branding and marketing, which is why Apher’s approach to marketing strategies varies widely depending on which industry you’re coming from. Not only does the industry and your offerings determine who your target market and audience is, but it also requires you to plan strategically around specific seasons, current events, and socio-political-economic circumstances.

For the Education and EdTech industry in the USA, this couldn’t be truer. While there are exceptions, most of the country – across all 50 states – runs on similar schedules and rules. Yet, there are also significant differences amongst states, districts, schools, and family needs. Let’s dive deeper into what you should keep in mind as a marketing professional in the US Education and EdTech industry.

#1. Be mindful of the school year schedule.

Seasonality is key to marketing in the education industry, especially in the USA where the school year is pretty set from around August-September to May-June. While each school district may vary on when specific start and end dates are, and if they’re year-round, semester, or quarter system run, the general yearly pattern holds true in most of the country.

You may want to target summer vacation specials, or a bootcamp-style winter vacation program. Parents show interest in short-term programs for shorter breaks like Thanksgiving or spring breaks as well. Other than breaks, keep in mind AP exams for high school students, final exams for each school, or state-wide standardized testing days, which we’ll go into next.

#2. States vary widely.

As stated above, school districts can vary in school schedules. But most education experts are also aware that different states have different requirements for standardized testing, graduation, and deeming a student “satisfactory” in their educational endeavors. 

There are two ways you can go about this. The first way is to become the be-all-end-all, go-to education expert of one state. This essentially means that when it comes to education in a specific state like New York or Georgia, you know all the details and every update (which has become more frequent with the pandemic) as they get announced.

On the other hand, if you’d like to have a presence in more than just one state, then rather stake your claim on knowing the high-level details of various states and furthermore, knowing how to competitively market in each of them because of your widespread knowledge. Regardless of which path you decide to take in your Education/EdTech Marketing journey, just keep in mind that the state you are operating in is probably different than the other 49.

#3. Don’t forget about the international market.

Often overlooked in US Education and EdTech companies is the extremely large international market that is keen for an opportunity and the support to be able to study in the US. This may be because traditionally, many Education services could only be offered domestically or only in-person. However, with the rise of EdTech and other digitally available products, US companies now have the opportunity to offer Education services to international clients as well.

Another potential roadblock could be the pricing of Education products for international students, but EdTech actually solves this problem as well. With the power of digital adaptation, many services become less expensive for customers. Look out for these cool new innovative offerings if you’re an international (or even, let’s be real, domestic) family on the search for an affordable US-based educational service.

#4. Make sure to differentiate the buyer and the user.

This may not apply if you’re in the graduate programs or adult education space, but most of the educational industry actually serves the K-12 market. If you’re targeting students who are under the age of 18, the user will be the students but the buyers will be the parents or guardians of those students in most cases. As a marketer, you have to balance the messaging to students who may influence their parents’ purchasing decision, but you ultimately want to target the person who will open their wallet aka the parents. Balance is key here, as well as knowing where to target which audience, and how to formulate your messaging and marketing collateral accordingly.

If you run an institutional B2B company, then your buyer may be the school administrator, but your decision maker is most likely the principal or superintendent, and you may also want to win over some teachers aka decision influencers and key supporters. It is crucial to understanding the buying process at the institutions you’re looking to sell to, as well as the decision hierarchy and who to best target with your marketing strategies. Also keep in mind the sales process B2B sales in general – and definitely in the education industry – tend to be longer, so work on building that relationship!

#5. Remember what matters in education: the success of our future generations.

This can get overlooked when we get too nitty gritty into marketing strategies and target markets and the data behind it, but people in education are usually in the industry because they are passionate about educating our future generations and giving them the best chance at success. Nothing markets better than genuine passion and invested interest in change for the good, so you can’t forget to keep that at the core of everything you say and do to potential customers. 

Which industry would you like us to cover next? Leave a comment, or reach out to us today for a free 15-minute consultation!