MDR's Free Webinar Series
Thursday, December 10, 2008
The Education Market: 2009 and Beyond
Trends, Predictions, and New Politics
Q&A Summary:
Q: What was the Web site that contained the information on state budgets: NCL.ORG?KB: The site is www.ncsl.org. The report, “State Budget Update: November 2008,” is published by the National Conference of State Legislatures, and the cost of $40 is well worth it.
Q: Can you send us the information that you mentioned about planned spending cuts, where educational materials were listed last at 35%? Thank you!
KB: The source of the information is a report, “Impact of the Economic Downturn on Schools,” published by the American Association of School Administrators. It can be downloaded at no cost from their site— http://www.aasa.org/files/PDFs/Publications/AASAEconomicImpactSurvey2008.pdf.
Q: How fancy should email marketing be? Do college buyers respond to bells and whistles, or is a straightforward email enough? Also, will email overload make this method less useful over time?
KB: It does not have to be fancy; however, there are best practices that when followed will get you better results. Those best practices, both in printed documents and recorded webinars, are on MDR’s Web site:
Email Learning Center – http://www.schooldata.com/mdremaillearning.asp
MDR Webinar Archives – http://www.schooldata.com/mdrwebinars.asp
Q: What are 21st century skills? Is there a reliable consensus or an official list? Can you explain further what 21st century schools are and their criteria to become one?
IS: The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has developed a unified, collective vision for 21st century learning that can be used to strengthen American education. The organization brings together the business community, education leaders, and policymakers. The Web site—http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/—has a wealth of information on the subject.
The Partnership defines 21st century skills as:
Q: I remember 2001-2002 was a very challenging time (post 9/11, tech bubble burst). What did you see companies do then that worked to be successful and stay in the game?
KB: My advice is to stay in the game and focus on marketing smarter. If you dramatically reduce your level of marketing (e.g., promotions), expect your revenue to follow the same pattern. You should leverage your customer file fully by performing file hygiene and overlaying external data key to your marketing efforts (e.g., job titles, enrollment). Use profiling to identify your best customer; then target prospects that look like your customers. Email marketing is a great option right now as it’s quick, easy, and very cost-effective. Bottom line: The worst thing you can do is stop marketing; you need to let schools know you’re still a player and have the solutions that will help them meet goals during a difficult time.
Q: Will the reduced property tax values impact funding into community colleges? And will we expect an increase in community college enrollments due to rising costs of four-year college tuitions?
KB: Reduced property taxes and the reduction of other tax revenues (e.g., corporate, income) at the state and local levels can certainly impact publicly funded institutions. However, most states and communities try hard to protect education budgets from cuts as much as possible. Your question about additional growth occurring at community colleges, which typically offer lower tuition rates, is an excellent one. While I have not seen data to support a “yes” answer, I suspect more students will seek an education at community colleges than would have during more affluent years.
Q: Will the economic slowdown impact sales of educational DVDs in the college market? If so, how do you recommend reaching into college sociology and law markets?
KB: It will likely impact sales of items perceived as non-essential or nice to have. Educators will continue to buy instructional materials they deem important to their lessons. My advice is that you need to market smarter, and you need to constantly test and refine what works. You may want to test a list like MDR InfoBuyers, which offers names of people who have purchased products specifically in the area of sociology and law. Response lists, while a bit higher priced, offer solid value as they typically produce a lift in response rates.
IS: Many districts are cutting back on out-of-state travel, which creates opportunities to distance travel companies.
Q: I have a DVD I'm marketing that deals with challenging prison history, and I’m not sure it would be appropriate for high school students. However, a private high school teacher recently purchased the DVD. How do I reach the non-public high school market?
KB: I would make sure the product is appropriate for the intended audience prior to investing in any wide-scale promotions. You can conduct a quick, inexpensive survey (using emails) to high school teachers or conduct a focus group in order to get feedback. Do not judge the market based on anecdotal comments.
Q: Question regarding Slide 10: Are the college numbers reflecting only the traditional market?
KB: I am not clear on what she is asking. These are NCES numbers and reflect two- and four- year colleges in the U.S.. Please visit NCES site for more information.
Q: Are schools, especially K-12, trending toward streamlining business processes to save money (i.e., looking harder at document management instead of having several people pushing paper)?
KB: Everything we see says “yes.” Districts have invested in technology to streamline the process, and they often order products over the Web, which is quicker and less costly. Another example is that many schools communicate with parents using email, which lowers the need for paper and copying. In the AASA report, 48% of respondents indicated reducing consumable supplies in order to save during this economic downturn.
Q: Can you market directly to students via email, print, or text message marketing, or does it have to go to the parent of the student?
KB: Since MDR does not compile student lists or market to students, I’m not up to date on the existing restrictions. There are laws that protect minors, and I believe there are restrictions on the acceptable marketing activities to that group. You should become familiar with all laws and best practices for the youth market prior to going forward. The Direct Marketing Association may be able to offer guidance in that area.
Q: Any change expected where instructional materials spending decisions will be made? District/school/classroom—any change based on new priorities?
KB: MDR surveyed teachers in 2007 to understand the level at which purchasing decisions are made. We asked about the “main” level where decisions are made, recognizing that rarely does one person make the entire decision. Results showed that it varied by the type of materials with textbooks, instructional hardware, formative assessments, and intervention programs being mainly decided at the district level. Instruction software was evenly divided between district office and school-based locations, and supplemental materials were primarily decided at the school level. The report is available for purchase from MDR, and you can preview it at the following link on MDR’s Web site: http://www.schooldata.com/pdfs/MDR_EdBuyingTrends_intro.pdf. I don’t expect this pattern to change much if at all from these recent findings, although some purchases may be delayed based on input from the district office.
Our expert lineup included:
Irene Spero |
Kathleen Brantley |
