If you want to comprehend the nuts and bolts of content marketing, speak with Annie Teich. A highly regarded writer and EdTech industry marketing communications specialist, Annie sits down with Elana Leoni, CEO of Leoni Consulting Group, to explain the goals of content marketing, the differences between education and other market sectors, and some basic copywriting best practices. Annie mentions some great resources, which you can find below and we also provide highlights of a fun and instructive conversation.
The Best Content Marketing Provides Valuable Information.
As a veteran EdTech marketer, Annie knows exactly what delivering full value to the client looks like:
"There's a pair of qualities that every good marketer in EdTech has: curiosity and empathy. And both of those, I think, get at the motivation behind people to really understand where they are, what their needs are, and how you can help them."
Content marketing, which Annie explains is more than a basic sales strategy, can be defined by three goals:
"First, it's a marketing and selling strategy to build brand awareness. Two, it uses valuable information to build authenticity and relationship with the audience. Third, push the prospect one step further down the funnel toward making a purchase. You're going to move them through evaluation and justification until they make a purchase decision."
School districts and especially educators prefer authentic engagement around pain points and problem-solving, and they're wary of marketing gimmicks. That's why Annie discourages marketers from using clickbait strategies:
"Lots of unserious tech marketers don't respect the prospect or the customer, and they don't listen. They're dealing with shallow surface indicators that don't really get to the heart of what the needs are in our community.
The Education Market Has Its Own Rules.
Despite their best intentions, EdTech companies don't always get their marketing initiatives right. One common misunderstanding, Annie notes, is that while teachers are the end-users, institutions are the buyers. This extremely specialized audience adds a challenge for content creators.
"Most companies in our market do not have a fully staffed marketing department. They have to outsource their content production. The thing that's different for ed marketing and tech marketing is you really need to know the market. You need to have a historical perspective, you need to understand education and the different personas that you're talking to."
Another hurdle is the education market's unique purchasing cycle.
"The actual decisions for buying back-to-school products don't really happen until the winter. So in terms of building awareness for your product and the problems that you solve, the best time to be putting that content out is in Q1. Those decisions are being made in Q2, because final budgets are due by June 30."
And while sales isn't exactly the same as marketing, Annie offers this caveat:
"Cold calls don't work. People know about you before you find out they're even interested. They've gone to your website. So by the time they first come up on your radar, they've pre-qualified themselves. And you would be surprised how often those leads are not picked up and followed by the sales team."
Good Copywriting Is The Cornerstone Of Good Marketing.
Clients have come to Annie for years because of her expertise in developing white papers. As a self-identified grammar nerd, she gladly shares a few common mistakes that make her eyes twitch when she encounters them in professional writing:
Always use the Oxford comma (aka serial or Harvard comma) in a list of items or clauses. That's the comma between the second-to-last item and the conjunction (e.g. A [comma] B [comma] and C).
The apostrophe is used only for possessives (Annie's list) and contractions (can't). It is never used for plurals (always cats, never cat's).
Be careful with homophones, or words that sound the same but are spelled differently (they're, there, and their).
Correctly align verbs with their subjects and match verb tenses throughout the sentence.
She advises, "The best way to find problems with your grammar is to read it out loud."
As a professional writer, Annie can discuss many layers of higher-level best practices. However, she stresses that the most effective marketing copy is clear, concise, and engaging, adding, "I just think it helps the reader assimilate what they're reading."
What We Talked About
Use this to jump to parts of the conversation you want to listen to more closely.
[00:03] Introducing Annie Teich
"Educators can spot marketing at 500 paces and run in the other direction. And the difference between selling to somebody and providing valuable information to them that they find helpful in their life is, that's the difference between good marketing and bad marketing."
[06:49] What content marketing is and is not
[10:50] Building trust, involving educators
[13:09] Content marketing myths: why clickbait doesn't work
[15:52] EdTech's content marketing mistakes and misunderstandings
[20:49] Educators as content creators
[24:12] Understanding EdTech purchasing cycles
[29:56] How to make the most of the content you've invested in creating
[34:55] Marketing teams need better tuning in on potential customers
[36:08] More ways to create valuable content
[46:05] Frequent grammatical errors that make Annie's eyes twitch
[51:27] What rejuvenates Annie
[53:47] Books that Annie recommends
Resources Mentioned in this Episode:
How to Fill Your Content Marketing Funnel, Annie's PDF resource about all of the steps to have a cohesive K-12 content marketing strategy
Content Marketing Institute, Elana recommends this resource for content marketing basics
Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More With Less by Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, and Roy Schwartz, Annie recommends this journalistic structure for lean, efficient copywriting
Rebel with a Clause: Tales and Tips from a Roving Grammarian, by Ellen Jovin, a book that Annie enjoys as an illustration of how people perceive and use language
STEM Pulse, Annie recommends signing up to receive this semi-regular newsletter for STEM-focused companies
Elana Leoni, Host
Elana Leoni has dedicated the majority of her career to improving K-12 education. Prior to founding LCG, she spent eight years leading the marketing and community strategy for the George Lucas Educational Foundation where she grew Edutopia’s social media presence exponentially to reach over 20 million education change-makers every month.
Annie Teich, Guest
Annie Galvin Teich, President of The Teich Group, is an EdTech industry expert in content marketing strategy, content creation, and copywriting. She is a regular contributor to Tech & Learning and Fierce Education. Annie focuses primarily on the needs of K-12 and higher ed administrators and decision-makers. In her work with EdTech companies, she writes compelling short- and long-form content that supports client business strategies.
About All Things Marketing and Education
What if marketing was judged solely by the level of value it brings to its audience? Welcome to All Things Marketing and Education, a podcast that lives at the intersection of marketing and you guessed it, education. Each week, Elana Leoni, CEO of Leoni Consulting Group, highlights innovative social media marketing, community-building, and content marketing strategies that can significantly increase reach, relationships, and revenue.
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