The third quarter of the calendar year includes three critical months in education (July, August, and September). Never in one quarter does so much happen in the world of education. Graduations, end of the school year, summer break (if teachers are lucky enough to have a break), and the start of a new school year all happen within one quarter.
As always, we’ve listed some of the most important K-12 education holidays, events, and conferences EdTech marketers should consider throughout the third quarter. Friendly reminder: Only use the timely events that are important to your audience — don’t force it and do not bandwagon on trends, just because you can. More often than not, you’ll be wasting time reaching the wrong audience. We’ve also included how educators and district and school administrators are feeling during these times. Please use this information to demonstrate that your brand listens to your audience and leads with empathy and a shared understanding of what they need most during this busy time.
Shameless Plug: Our free EdTech Marketer’s Planner has all of these events and more. It also includes a helpful planning process that can allow you to incorporate timely content and social media promotion into your current content marketing and social media marketing plans.
Finally, one of the best ways you can support educators during the preparation of and start of a new school year is to show that you care by contributing to their classrooms. Fulfilling DonorsChoose projects or Amazon or Walmart classroom wish lists is a time-consuming effort. The LCG Foundation can help you be part of supporting classrooms and teacher when they need it the most. Make your tax-deductible donation to the foundation’s pooled fund and rest assured that, 95% of your contribution will go directly to fulfilling lists and projects.
July
When the third quarter of the calendar year begins it is actually Q1 in the world of K-12 schools. In some school districts, July even marks the beginning of their school calendar. Bonus tip for one-on-one sales: All school calendars are public knowledge and take minutes to find. If you are preparing for a call with a school, take a few extra minutes to familiarize yourself with their school calendar. This extra attention to detail will be noticed by your audience.
Summer is also in full swing in July. The first two weeks of July are typically very quiet as many educators are on vacation and unplugged from their professional life. It’s worth noting that the first week of July is a known dead time of the internet. Most people are taking time to unwind and spend time offline. During these times, keep your social media programming cadence light, and share content that is more entertaining. This is a good time to engage your audience and ask them fun questions like what they’re doing this summer for fun or offer up some “this or that” or “would you rather” posts to encourage engagement.
Mid-July marks the official start of the back-to-school season and educators are planning and preparing for the school year ahead. It marks a season of organizing, professional development opportunities, and fresh starts. Given K-12 U.S. schools all have different school start dates, there are also many schools that start their year during this time.
Administrators: While most administrators will still be in buildings, their overall demeanor and workload is much lower than the school year. There is more flexibility that can come along with a workday that doesn’t entail bells, parents, and a building full of students and staff. This doesn’t mean that work isn’t being done, it just means that work can be completed unbothered for the most part. This is a great time to connect with admins to show them any analytics on your product or tool that will help them wrap up the former school year and start planning for the next.
Teachers: It is a myth that teachers have the summers off. They may not report to schools to teach in person, but there are many important aspects of the job that entail professional development and planning that a typical school year with students just doesn’t allow time for.
Even though teachers are still working, and mostly out of contracted hours and pay, this is a time when many educators are recharging. This can be a good time to offer webinars or professional development opportunities. Many educators enjoy the creativity that goes along with their profession and many enjoy trying new approaches to former lessons, refreshing classroom walls, or getting inspired to try a new teaching strategy or tool in the new upcoming school year. To increase attendance at your events, consider offering something tangible or including incentives. Since teachers do many parts of their job on their own unpaid time, this is a small gesture that goes a long way with educators. Even if the budgets are tight, is there something tangible you could send them in the mail? Think of stickers, swag, a published book from your company, a PD resource, or an opportunity to get connected with other educators.
Parents: Families are in full-on summer mode and now have extra responsibilities of taking care of their children throughout the day. Many have filled their summers with camps for their children to attend and a family vacation or two. Some are also seeking opportunities to support their children academically, especially those who showed signs of falling behind in the previous school year. It is a good time to share tools and research-based opportunities that are proven to be effective in supporting children academically at home.
August
For all stakeholders in education, August is a BUSY month! This is the busiest season of the school year as schools and guardians begin to prepare for and start the upcoming school year. This is also a time when major purchasing has already been completed and approved by school boards. As a result, this time is all about ensuring schools and teachers have all of the support and training they need to use your tools. Given the importance of this month, we suggest you increase your professional development opportunities, content marketing, and social media programming post cadence. Ensure you are using the relevant back-to-school hashtags on social media to reach more educators, parents, and administrators.
Administrators: Many schools are back in session and just for an educator, August is also one of the busiest months in an administrator's world. There are last-minute staffing concerns, schedules to confirm, staff back-to-school days to plan, and so many other to-do items that need to get checked off before hundreds of students and staff arrive. This is a good time to offer valuable support based on any specific challenges they may be having. Do not broadly just “check in” as this can be viewed as wasting their time.
Teachers: There’s a split reaction from educators when it comes to the back-to-school season. Some are super excited as they set up their classrooms and peruse the dollar bins for school supplies. Some educators are more reserved and many return experiencing burnout. Just like for admins, time is SUPER precious for teachers during this month. Quick “how to” and getting-started tips can be very helpful. Focus on the quick wins you think educators will enjoy and will incentivize them to use more often. Pro Tip: Many “Meet the Teacher” nights are during the month of August. Offering tips and tricks to help make this night successful will be received well. Teachers will also be assessing their new students to understand what their students know (and what they forgot).
Parents: Families are gearing up for back to school by purchasing new school supplies and they are eager to get to know their students' teachers and many are looking for ways to guide their child’s learning during the school year. Helpful tips to engage parents as partners in their child’s learning will be well received. In addition, lifestyle content that can help parents adjust to their new routines will be helpful.
September
By September, school is still in full swing and this continues to be a very busy time for educators and school administrators. Although stress levels can be high, educators are beginning to settle into routines, but they’re still ironing out some of the bumps in the road that start any school year. Be mindful of all of your stakeholders’ time during this month. Time is precious and your attempts to speak to them should be more value-oriented and direct.
Administrators: September is a time where administrators start to focus more on staff development, classroom observations, and beginning-of-the-year meetings with their teachers. While administrators are still working to integrate the staff and students into the new year, this month is closer to business as usual and allows for more flexibility than the previous month.
Teachers: September normally signals for teachers to come up for air. Routines are starting to fall into place and this allows for teachers to really start digging into curriculum. If your tool offers curriculum support or data-informed teaching, this is the time to market to educators showcasing what your tool can do for them.
Parents: Typically, families are settling into their school routines too. Fall sports are starting up so parents will be busy with transportation concerns and homework routines in the evenings. If your product offers some reprieve from any of these, this is the time to reach out. Parents are much more apt to start something new at the beginning of the school year rather than at the end.
Conferences
The largest education conferences of the year have mostly passed. However, there are still some opportunities for educators and admins to learn and for EdTech brands to showcase their products. Conferences start to increase in Q4, as school schedules start to settle down.
Birthdays
Throughout these months of down time and an upcoming busy season, birthdays can be a great way to inject some light and entertaining posts to your feed. Plus, if you’re in need of timely content, you can use birthdays of historical figures or famous people that your audience cares about most.
Quick reminder: Our free EdTech Marketer’s Planner contains a more comprehensive list of education events, birthdays, conferences, and even content ideas. Also, once you’ve decided on the events you’d like to focus on, make sure you have a campaign-planning process in place. This four-step campaign-planning process can get you started. Enjoy!
