The WirED Marketer: 🚫 What NOT to do in K-12 sales according to district leaders - 7/15/25

Hey there WirED Marketers,

Surviving the dog days of summer? Here in D.C., it’s full-on humidity central. The kind where you step outside and your glasses instantly fog up. If you were in San Antonio for ISTE + ASCD a few weeks back, I bet you know exactly what I mean.

Anyway, let’s get right to it.

✨ In this edition you’ll find:

• K-12 jargon you need to know
• What K-12 leaders actually think about education salespeople
• Overheard at ISTE + ASCD

Happy reading!

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Your WirED Marketer,
—Melissa, Senior Director, Marketing at Education Week

P.S. — 📩 Did someone forward you this email? Sign up here.  Oh! And don’t forget to forward this to a friend in edtech. 😉ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ‎⠀⠀⠀⠀
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✨What’s Trending | The K-12 Jargon Edition ✨

Because we don’t already have enough acronyms, am I right? 🥴

1. “A-ROI (Academic ROI)” is found in a lot of RFPs these days in addition to outcomes-based contracts. Prepare to see more of it in the coming years and think about how you might work it into your value proposition, assuming you have the data to support it.
2. Instead of saying “English language learners”, we’re starting to see “all learners” or “inclusive for all students.” Want to understand why? Read this article.
3. Rather than saying “SEL”, we’re hearing “character education” and “human skills.” ✨ Interesting data point: 44% of educators said their morale would improve if their district started offering or emphasizing SEL.*

My brilliant colleague, Emma Kate Fittes, shared this information in a session at ISTE + ASCD a few weeks back. She and her colleagues pulled this info out of hundreds of RFPs that they review each month.

*EdWeek Research Center 2025

District Leaders Speak Up About Sales Reps in K-12 [and they don’t mince words] 💬

DO THIS 👇

Share this data with your sales manager. It’s straight from the source—and it’s gold. We recently asked about 250 district and school leaders, “What makes a vendor feel like a true partner versus just a salesperson? Select all that apply.”

1. Continued support after the sale (72%)
2. Willingness to customize or adapt offerings (70%)
3. Transparency about pricing and implementation (70%)
4. Regular open communication (57%)
5. When they send me content to helps me do my job without an ask to buy something (47%)

Some good news: only 6% of people said, “nothing makes a vendor seem like a true partner versus just a salesperson.” Ya can’t please them all. 🤷‍

We also asked, “Which vendor behaviors do you find extremely off-putting or frustrating? Select all that apply.”

1. Too many efforts to contact me (64%)
2. Pressure to schedule meetings immediately (63%)
3. Lack of transparency around pricing (61%)
4. Overuse of buzzwords or acronyms (56%)
5. Being hard to reach with post-purchase implementation concerns (54%)

Quick Poll 👀

Is your back-to-school marketing plan all set?

Events on our Radar 🎯

Mark your calendar and snag your seat for The EdWeek Market Brief Summit taking place November 3-5 in Denver, CO.

But don’t just take our word for it. Hear what other EdMarketers have to say, like Lindsay:

“This was hands down the best education event I have attended in years. The content was tailored to the diverse needs and priorities of the audience, the networking opportunities were bountiful, and the cutting-edge insights into our field gave me a tremendous amount of intel to bring back to my team!”

—Lindsay Prendergast, Assistant Director of Strategy & Development,
The Danielson Group | Fall 2024 Attendee

What We’re Watching 📺

Besides The Bear — “Yes Chef!” 👩‍🍳— we’re watching EdWeek’s very own videos from the show floor at last week’s ISTE + ASCD conference.

Here’s a 2-minute video on ways K-12 leaders are seeing AI used throughout their districts and at their schools.

What We’re Reading 📚

[Article] The Connection Between Curriculum, PD and Teacher Morale by Emma-Kate Fittes

Pause notifications on Slack for 7 minutes and give this article a read. You’ll walk into your next meeting armed with fresh stats—and casually drop them like the smartest marketer in the room.

Big Take-Aways:

• 40% of educators said their morale would improve if their district started offering career-technical education (CTE) or increased emphasis on CTE course. Read more on CTE interest rising here.
• PD needs to vary by state. Teachers’ feelings about PD vary significantly across states. For example, teachers in Massachusetts and Connecticut need more PD while teachers in Ohio say they’ve had too much. EdWeek Market Brief members can read the full article here.

Wanna get noticed? 😎

Maybe not influencer-level fame—but how about getting in front of 10,000+ savvy EdMarketers in an upcoming edition of The WirED Marketer?

If you’ve got a campaign worth bragging about, a lesson learned the hard way, or just something other marketers need to hear, hit reply and tell me:

• Your title and company
• Advice you’d give other EdMarketers [2 sentences, max]
• A success story you want everyone to know about [3 sentences, max]

Meet An Education Sales Manager 🙋‍

Meet Julie Fagan.

She’s been with EdWeek for 20+ years (!!!) and knows this industry like the back of her hand.

3 words to describe you: “Optimistic, Adaptable, Team Player.”

What’s keeping you up at night?
“I’m sure, like everyone else, the uncertainty with school funding is top of mind—especially with the early July announcement that Trump is holding $6.8 billion in federal funds. While some education vendors may not be directly impacted, there is the possibility of dollars shifting to accommodate losses in other areas.

Interestingly, in a recent meeting, EdWeek Market Brief’s Managing Editor, Sean Cavanagh, mentioned that vendors are taking a similar approach as they did during the COVID era by helping schools and districts navigate the uncertainty and/or funding losses. He shared survey data that while schools and districts would prefer to renegotiate contracts at lower prices, vendors can also help by guiding them to alternative funding sources or helping them advocate for more funding. Simply put, supporting schools and districts now can strengthen that relationship down the road." 

What’s a trend you’ve been really into?
“Video! Video marketing is quickly becoming a go-to in every ed marketer’s toolkit—and for good reason. It’s a powerful, engaging way to stand out, highlight thought leadership, and bring customer stories to life.

In a recent EdWeek Market Brief survey, district leaders ranked YouTube as their top social media platform for PD and training. And it’s not just teachers who are tuning in—our explainer videos perform well across all personas, including district and school leaders. Plus, the data’s hard to ignore: video consistently drives higher engagement, improves brand recall, and gives your SEO a boost (search engines love it). If video isn’t part of your content strategy yet, it should be.”

What do you wish every EdMarketer knew?  
“EdWeek has fantastic resources available for understanding this ever-changing market. For example, in just a few weeks, EdWeek’s marketing team will release the next edition of Trending Topics. Trending Topics is a comprehensive analysis of metrics that divulges what our readers have been engaging with over the last 6 months. It includes a breakdown of top read articles by key job titles, top searched terms on edweek.org, top viewed videos (see above), and so much more. And it’s free!”

Say What?! 🦜

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

✨ The Overheard at ISTE + ASCD Edition ✨

“We were all spoiled by ESSER. ESSER gave us the opportunity to dream big. But that’s no longer a reality.”

—Dr. Quentin J. Lee, superintendent of Talladega City Schools (Alabama), said during a panel discussion. Read more here.

“Everybody wants to pull back, and we all know that the easiest thing to do is say, ‘Nobody gets to travel, nobody goes to any meeting, anywhere, anytime. Nobody talks to anybody else,’” he said. “Well, we get behind when we do that, so we have to invest in professional development if we want to stay ahead.” Read more here.

—Eric Mackey, Alabama’s state superintendent of education.

That’s all folks. Thanks for reading. See you again in 2 weeks.

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

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We can help you develop a successful campaign tailored to your unique marketing goals. To learn more, contact Advertising & Marketing Solutions Director Mike Bell at mbell@educationweek.org.