By Jacob Hanson
We are just on the heels of EdNET 2016, one of the education industry’s prime networking opportunities for companies working in education. It was a bit sticky and rainy in Dallas, but the conference was anything but!
This was my sixth EdNET. While the core focus of the conference, networking, continues to be a mainstay, it has been interesting to see how the conversations have evolved over the years.
For those of you who missed it, here are my five biggest ed tech marketing takeaways from EdNET 2016:
- Same old same old isn’t going to work. Ed tech marketers and sales people are adapting new approaches to reaching and engaging their audience(s) in more authentic ways. Building relationships and trust are essential in today’s market.
- Marketing automation, inbound and integrated marketing, and next-gen content marketing are here to stay. It was so exciting to have conversations with ed tech marketers about how they are reaching their audience more effectively by becoming trusted partners rather than providers selling a solution. These approaches are perfect for education and thankfully are here to stay.
- Email is dead—or is it? The “batch and blast” mentality is going the way of the dinosaur. We had an extremely engaging conversation during our birds of a feather roundtable with leading marketers about using email in targeted, strategic ways—and using these touches to educate and be of service rather than sell a service.
- Strategic partnerships are a must. Monday’s keynote went into detail on why these are essential. Nothing new, but increasingly more important in today’s fast paced education marketplace.
- ESSA has been underestimated by nearly everyone (but they are catching on). The impacts of this legislation are further-reaching that we can imagine. We are just beginning to see those changes take hold in how districts are able to purchase. The consensus at the show is that some are waiting to learn more, but most are forging ahead, anticipating differences in the upcoming buying cycle to ensure they are able to help partners navigate these changes.
For those of you that were there, you know this is just the tip of the iceberg! The energy at the conference was contagious. While many are apprehensive about the changes to come, the vast majority are excited to take advantage of new opportunities that technology and legislation provide them.
It is encouraging to see that we as an industry are changing the way we approach marketing in ed tech. It is time we take the same approach to our potential customers as we do our learners: Meet them where they are. And sometimes, where they are is EdNET.
Cannot wait to see more of you at EdNET 2017 in Scottsdale!
Thank you for sharing!
