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Hey, Marketing Pals!
I recently deleted Instagram and Facebook apps from my phone. Most days it feels freeing, and I’m real smug about it. I love working it into a convo: “Oh, me? No, I’m not on social media.” There are, however, moments when I completely miss something that’s gone viral, or I’m reminded that I still dress like the elder millennial I am (you’ll have to tear my skinny jeans from my cold, dead hands) because I’m no longer keeping up with what influencers are raving about. So yeah, some days I miss it.
But here’s the thing about my smug little social media detox: it’s a fine personal choice, but a terrible marketing strategy. As marketers, it’s tempting to write off the channels we don’t personally love. I’ve caught myself doing it more than once. But my scrolling habits aren’t a stand-in for a superintendent’s, and neither are yours. The data on where our audiences actually spend their time should beat our personal preferences every single time.
Read on to learn about a webinar focused on what’s trending among district and school leaders, and how you can design marketing campaigns that meet them where they are.
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Your WirED Marketer,
—Melissa, Senior Director, Marketing at Education Week
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P.P.S. Let’s play a little game of “who said it?” The answer is at the bottom of the email.
“Take chances, make mistakes, and get messy.”
a. Tim Cook, executive chair of Apple and former CEO
b. Ina Garten, Food Network star and best-selling author
c. Arne Duncan, former Secretary of Education
d. Ms. Frizzle of The Magic School Bus book and TV series
✨ In this edition you’ll find:
- Why you shouldn’t ignore Facebook
- A 30-min free webinar you don’t want to miss
- An expert’s opinion on respectful disruption in K-12
✨ What’s Trending: The Social Media Edition
TL;DR - We looked at a year of EdWeek social referral data broken out by audience segment, and Facebook leads for every K-12 group. Yes, Facebook. The platform that your marketing team probably stopped talking about in 2019.
- Teachers rise to the top. Facebook drives ~59% of their social visits, more than double LinkedIn’s ~26%. If you’re trying to build classroom-level awareness, Facebook is where you want to be.
- Leaders split the difference. School-based leaders land at 44% Facebook and 42% LinkedIn. District leaders come in at 48% and 44%. Those platforms account for 91% of district leader visits.
- X/Twitter has seen better days. It still holds 11–13% of visits for teachers and school leaders but drops to 5.8% for district leaders.
And the shiny new(er) platforms? Instagram, Bluesky, and Reddit combined stay under 3% for all 3 groups.
Two noteworthy caveats: these numbers reflect visits to EdWeek content from social referrals. They don’t measure where educators spend all their time online. Secondly, this is likely heavily influenced by where EdWeek posts. For example, we’re not posting a ton on Instagram or X/Twitter these days. Treat this as a strong directional signal, that’s it.
DO THIS: 👇
Match the platform to the persona. Use Facebook to reach the classroom and pair Facebook with LinkedIn to reach decision-makers. Resist the temptation to only advertise where you go for answers. You’re not the buyer. They are.
Curious about reaching Education Week readers? Using our 1st party data, we target based on content affinity and user behavior via co-branded Facebook and LinkedIn ads. Learn more here.
Quick Poll 📊
In the last edition I asked, “Pick your poison for the next 365 days. Would you rather 1) grant every sales reps’ wish OR 2) quit AI cold turkey.” Fifty-eight (58) percent of you would rather grant every sales rep’s wish rather than quit AI. Eek. Be careful what you wish for, marketing pals. That could be a long and arduous road ahead of you.
This edition’s question:
Are you a Halloween person?
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| I LIVE FOR IT |
| NAH |
I am a full-fledged Halloween person. I go maximalist in my décor. It gets so spooky that it legit frightens my young children and even that doesn’t stop me. I’m still unsure of what I’ll be for Halloween. Got ideas? Send them my way. Last year I was Magda from the ‘90s comedy There’s Something About Mary. I like a deep cut when it comes to Halloween costumes.
Events on Our Radar 🎯
[Virtual] EdMarketer Quick Hit: Build Campaigns That Engage K-12 Leaders
Fri. October 23rd, 12:30 PM ET
What’s trending among district and school leaders? And how can you design marketing campaigns that capture—and keep—their attention?
If you’re marketing products and services to K-12 leaders, you won’t want to miss this discussion.
[In-Person] The EdWeek Market Brief Summit
November 11-13 | Nashville, TN
The agenda is packed with lively sessions and insightful conversations between SMEs. Here’s a glance at what you can expect on day one:
- Insights from an Innovative Leader: The Cutting Edge in K-12
- Does Ed-Tech Need a Rebrand?
- Where Core Meets CTE: Tracking New Demand for Bridging Pedagogy + Workforce Readiness
- Meet Your Cohort Networking Break
- Breakout Session
- Cocktail Reception
Join me in Nashville! Buy your ticket here.
What We’re Reading 📚
[EdWeek] Which States Are Overhauling Math Education? See Our Tracker
[EdWeek Market Brief] Where Pre-K Materials Are Falling Short For a Growing Market
Meet an EdMarketer👋
Dr. Alison Rossi is SVP of Go-To-Market Strategy at Bluum, where she leads strategy, enablement, marketing, communications, events, category management, and innovation.
In her recent conversation with Scott Elliott of EdWeek Market Brief, she talks about getting respectfully disruptive—what that means and how to do it gracefully. The article is titled, One Experts’ Answer to ‘Permanent Uncertainty’ in the K-12 Market? Get Respectfully Disruptive and it’s a must read. Here’s a preview of the article. 👇
You describe your leadership philosophy as ‘respectfully disruptive.’ What does that mean?
“There is a study that talks about how you create, [and] one of the through lines is you create a good culture by “encouraging the heart.” I was taught this back in my days at Atrion [Networking Corp]. We did this this thing called the leadership challenge, and the one principle that I always really got tied to was, “challenge the process.”
When we’re in a world of, to quote Jeff Probst again, “permanent uncertainty,” it requires that you don’t say, “Well, we’ve always done it this way, so we’re going to do it this way.” When you start to tie all that together, [you say], “I’m going to challenge the process.” But you can’t just be disruptive to be disruptive. So, then you add an adverb on the front of it that says, “respectfully.” Because disruptive implies a certain amount of disrespect for the process that got you this far.
[Instead, you say] “I’m going to recognize that it worked well, but I’m going to challenge the assumption” [or] “Do you mind if I challenge this right now?” That’s what respectful disruption looks like. Sometimes people will say, “Hey, not now.” Be respectful of that. That’s how I define it.
It requires bravery and courage. The other thing that it requires is a boatload of energy, because the easier thing is not to do it.”
One of your aims is to “elevate” the role of account executive. What do you mean?
I consider myself part of the sales team. When we go back to that education persona, our job is to not only get them what they need but also explain to them what they don’t know that they need yet. That’s really elevating that role.
Don’t just be the person that helps get stuff. Teach them how to elevate their own careers, or advance their own thinking, or prepare for the challenge of AI. Be a thought leader in that space. That’s the hard work.”
Read the full article here.
Say What?! 🦜
What we’ve heard at the watercooler, on social, out and about…
Wise words, Ms. Frizzle.
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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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.