EDUCATORS are PEOPLE Too!
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Consumer
Marketers
for Sales
Success
E
ducators are people like you and me. They are at-
tracted to products and services that make them more
successful, or make their jobs easier, or more fun. They
respond to special offers, sales and discounts. They like timely turn-
around on their orders and free shipping. They are drawn to photos
of attractive people and engaged students. In short, teachers are
consumers and many of the marketing techniques that succeed in
consumer markets will also succeed with educators.
BY BOB STIMOLO
4 essentials | summer 2019
Some of us feel that educators are
different. We need only communicate
the educational value of our products
and services and that alone will prompt
action. This may have been true a num-
ber of years ago, but today our market-
place is much more competitive.
I prefer to lead with copy and
images that speak to the benefits of
using a product or service. I think the
interest of most educators is piqued by
what a product does before they care
about what a product is. And
the most attractive benefits are
those that apply to educators first
and students second.
Turn Negative Copy Positive
Virtually all catalogs and websites
have a page or section that addresses
terms and conditions. Many of these
are potentially negative aspects of
serving the customer — price increas-
es, turnaround times, return policies
and so forth. The description of terms
and conditions that most of us put on
our website or catalog do not have to
be terse or threatening. They can and
should be inviting and friendly.
For example, instead of stating that
prices may change after a period of
time, consider guaranteeing prices up
to a specific date. This eliminates the
concern among educators that your
pricing will change between the time