The WirED Marketer: Deal Killers in K-12. - 6/30/26

Hey there, Marketing Pals!

Greetings from Orlando, Florida. Where the air conditioning is working extra hard and the Disney fanatics are alive and well.

But also, I’m here at ISTE! Yay. And it’s bustling. If you’re reading this and also at ISTE, it’s not too late to join us for a few (free!) briefings today. Here’s a link to our lineup—you’ll want to register otherwise I won’t be able to guarantee you a seat.

This edition is short and sweet because I assume a lot of you are at ISTE, and as much as I want to believe you’ll carve out time to read this, I’m not convinced that if I were you, I would 😅.

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Your WirED Marketer,

—Melissa, Senior Director, Marketing at Education Week

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✨ In this edition you’ll find:

• Sales strategies for a ‘weird’ market
• What’s actually blocking your PD deals
• Kids (students) say the darndest things

What’s Trending: ✨

Deal Killers: In our latest survey, 107 district leaders and 103 principals weighed in on the things that are blocking HR and PD deals. Here are the results 👇

DO THIS: 👇

Address the Objections Before They Become Objections

The data shared in the What’s Trending section tells you exactly what’s going through your buyer’s head before you never hear from them again. Use it.

The “we can’t afford it” problem (39%)
Lead with ROI even before price. What does it cost them to not solve this problem? Staff turnover, compliance gaps, time spent reinventing the wheel. The cost of inaction could be huge.

The “implementation is too heavy” problem (35%)
Put your onboarding story front and center in your marketing, not buried in a FAQ. Testimonials, timelines, dedicated support. Make it feel light (and actually deliver on that promise).

The “we’ll just do it ourselves” problem (24%)
This one is probably a messaging problem 🤷‍♀️. If a district thinks they can replicate your solution in-house, you haven’t made your unique value clear enough. Get specific. What does your product do that a hard-working curriculum coordinator with a Google Doc can’t?

The “we can’t get everyone to agree” problem (22%)
Create content for every stakeholder in the room, not just the highest-ranking individual. Principals, HR directors, finance leads, you get the point. Multi-stakeholder deals require multi-stakeholder marketing. One size fits all is not going to get you the results you’re looking for.

Events on Our Radar 🎯

The EdWeek Market Brief Summit
November 11-13, Nashville, TN

This year we’re doing something new and I’m excited about it. We’re introducing tracks and cohorts. There will be 3 to pick from:

• Revenue Generation
• Strategy & Leadership
• Product & Technology

Each track will offer content tailored to specific job functions and networking opportunities within a defined cohort.

Register here.

Poll

Last edition we asked people what their favorite thing about attending conferences was and 75% of you said, “exploring the surrounding city.” Did you see that the 2026 EdWeek Market Brief Summit is going to be in Nashville in November? The timing lends itself perfectly to a weekend away—the conference wraps up Friday at lunchtime. Come for the content, stay for the weekend in (music) city.

This week’s poll: What do you rely on besides conferences for professional development?
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Meet Jacob Kantor, Chief DODO 👋

For those of you who are like, Chief DODO? What the heck? DODO stands for “District Office Door Opener,” and that’s exactly what he does.

My colleague, Scott Elliott, interviewed Kantor in an article titled Sales Strategies for a ‘Weird’ Market: How to Get in the Door with A District Leader. Below is an excerpt, but I suggest you read the whole thing. Kandor shares a lot of actionable guidance.

Let’s talk about how to invest your time when you are selling to school districts. It’s a long sales cycle. How do you make quality contacts for selling to districts, and how do you know they’re worth spending the time on?

“Some of it is your strategy. Are you going to conferences? Do you have that motion down? Are you doing lunch-and-learns locally? Do you have that as a strategy? Are you doing cold emails? I’d venture to say everybody’s doing cold emails.

My first 10 years in ed-tech sales, we didn’t really use email like that. I had a territory, districts that were assigned to me. So four days a week I was in the car, picking up donuts and bringing coffee [to schools]. That is a lost art in today’s digital time. I’m not saying everybody has to go out and do that, but if you’re sending emails into the abyss, [you might ask yourself] when’s the last time you left the house? Maybe put on a nice shirt and visit five local schools to get a pulse check?

Try some different techniques. If [your company has] true champions in districts and states, are you showcasing what those districts and states are doing? Are you doing monthly webinars or lunch-and-learns on site [and] online, and then asking your good partners, “Can we put you on, and do you mind helping us promote this? Nothing would bring us more joy than to impact more kids locally.” That’s a pretty cool message to deliver to somebody and that has mutual benefit for the company and that person.”

Read the full interview here.

Say What?! 🦜

What we’ve heard at the watercooler, on social, out and about…

The Booger Confession.

In our latest survey we asked teachers, “What is the funniest or most entertaining thing that happened at work during the 2025-26 school year?”

One teacher’s response: “I had a student let me know that he lost his booger in my classroom.”

Kids are so weird. That’s all.

That’s all folks. Thanks for reading.

Your WirED Marketer,
Melissa AND team, because every marketer knows, it takes a village.

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