Here are the marketing areas that ed-tech should focus on to finish out the year
Originally, “distance learning” didn’t even make the cut for 2020 ed-tech trends to watch, according to this article from ViewSonic. However, when parents and students alike were remanded to their homes for further notice due to COVID-19, a renewed emphasis on tools that promote connectivity and interactivity in a remote environment not only became A trend, but THE trend of 2020.
Although school is out for the summer, educators across the country are assembling action plans for the 2020-2021 school year, and many plans will include a hybrid of remote and onsite learning, opening up the market for ed-tech in a way that’s never happened before.
So how should ed-tech marketers plan to capitalize on new opportunities brought on by distance learning and hybrid models?
Host and Participate in Digital Experiences
Move over “virtual event” and make way for the digital experience – a format that incorporates multi-channel engagement and special moments to create a highly immersive remote experience.
Why?
Ed-tech is notorious for being in-person events-heavy, with some solutions attending more than 200 per year! With the advent of social distancing and the lingering bias around assembly due to COVID, lagging event attendance could make your events investment hard to justify.
Take a close look at how you’re managing your leads
An influx in demand can really expose holes and inefficiencies in a lead management process. Conversely, a rock-solid funnel taxonomy with a robust scoring and nurturing can ensure that marketing activities are contributing directly to conversion and no opportunities are being missed.
If the way that you attract and convert demand feels fragmented – this is the time to get the house in order.
Invest in digital skills
What is the makeup of your marketing team? If you find it’s heavy on the product and brand side, then it’s time to invest in some digital marketing skills as FTE or as contracted partners. SEO and paid search specialists, demand generation practitioners, marketing programs and operations personnel and web optimization resources are examples of roles that can help to execute a strong digital-first marketing strategy.
Incorporate a target account strategy into your marketing plan
Whether you’re targeting K-12, higher education, private tutoring companies or single users – the use of your solution will differ along with the priorities of your buyers. A target account strategy allows you to cluster like accounts and buyers, stack rank them according to how much value they represent to your company, and create a precise series of content and offers that are geared specifically to each account cluster and the challenges they share.
Education personnel data is well-maintained and relatively easy to purchase or access (compared to some other domains). Using a combination of ICP (“ideal customer profile”) attributes with ranked qualitative attributes will yield a list of accounts and buyers to target proactively.
Keep your foot on the gas
If you’re feeling weighed down by inefficient resources, or simply don’t know where to start when it comes to maximizing your market opportunity – we’re here to help. Reach out and we can have a deeper conversation about how you can adapt your marketing function to the “next normal.”
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