3 brand marketing strategies to elevate your edtech brand in 2024

Did you grow up staring at illegible handwriting on whiteboards (or blackboards) and scrambling for a go on the library computer at lunchtime? Then you would probably gaze in wonder at the technological landscape of schools and universities today:

• Eighty-six percent of UK school teachers now use tech like laptops or interactive whiteboards during their lessons.
• Up to 98 percent of school teachers and leaders receive training or continuing professional development (CPD) using edtech.
• Forty-three percent of secondary schools have a ‘bring your own device’ policy for students

The global COVID-19 pandemic forced learning institutions of all levels to reach for edtech to adapt. Video conferencing, testing and assignment portals, parental engagement platforms and more saw an unprecedented spike in demand.

Some schools and universities felt dragged into this revolution. But most of them have come to embrace it, because it’s working: top-performing schools are significantly more likely to be making use of collaborative or game-based software.

In the UK, the edtech sector is fast growing. Competition is becoming fierce as more companies enter the space. If you want your marketing to get an A*, read on for 3 brand marketing strategies that have contributed to edtech success stories:

1. Amplify your advocates with case studies

If you have users who regularly sing your praises, make a recording and hold it above your head Cusack-style - metaphorically speaking. If you’re getting great feedback from customers, ask if you can work together on a case study (ahem, something like this one from an Articulate client, The Ambassador Platform!).

Twenty-nine percent of B2B buyers say case studies are one of the most valuable sources when researching their purchase. Try for video if you can, even if it’s a recording of a call — 70 percent of B2B buyers and researchers watch video throughout their purchase journey.

Take your lead from: Flip by Microsoft

Flip by Microsoft is a free web and mobile app that allows teachers to set video assignments and a secure place for students to record and submit their work. ‘Educator Spotlight’ is a regular series on their YouTube channel featuring power users discussing the different ways they enable learning and engagement through Flip. This series features alongside brand-created tips and tricks to showcase the full scope of the platform’s capabilities and benefits for learners.

2. Champion your expertise with empowering content

It’s almost unnecessary to state that educators themselves are enthusiastic learners, but it bears repeating when it comes to edtech marketing. Find your internal fonts of knowledge and use their expertise to write thought leadership content. You can write about ‘evergreen’ challenges (like student engagement) or hot topics (like the use of AI) to determine which areas you can position your brand as a thought leader.

If educators feel more knowledgeable every time they read one of your emails or visit your blog, they will think of you first when they encounter a problem you can solve.

Take your lead from: SoapBox Labs

SoapBox Labs aims to help all children access voice-powered experiences through their proprietary, AI-driven voice engines. Their blog features posts written by their speech engineers or webinars hosted by their executive team. They cover everything from machine learning and AI equity to literacy and prosody, including their applications in SoapBox Labs’ technology.

3. Add value to your user journey with partnerships

There’s a reason so many of us still struggle to the front door laden with shopping bags, losing circulation in our fingertips, instead of making multiple trips.

We want fewer journeys and less to manage, not more.

It’s the same with technology:

‘Technological innovations have enhanced our lives in countless ways, but they also threaten to overwhelm our brain’s goal directed functioning with interference… [This interference] impacts every level of our thinking, from our perceptions, decision making, communication, emotional regulation and our memories.’

— The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World by Larry Rosen and Adam Gazzaley

If you provide tools to students, teachers or education leaders (all of whom could do with a little less to manage), look at how you could partner with other tools or services. Better yet, provide integrations if you can. If you streamline their experiences, you give them back time and energy to make better use of your offering, which improves those all-important engagement numbers.

Take your lead from: Kortext

Kortext provides access to over four million digital textbooks and learning content from more than 4,700 publishers. Their partnership with Student Minds means that students using their platform also have direct access to their Student Space, with resources for online and in-person support for their mental health. Students are also able to verify their student status and get discounts on e-textbooks via their StudentBeans account.

The key for edtech brand marketing in 2024? Keep end users in your sights.

Edtech buyers will always have essential boxes to tick in budget and compliance, but they also understand that edtech’s value is in engagement rates. By showcasing authentic success stories and use cases, empowering educators with your expertise and merging with other important user journeys, you can drive end-user demand and demonstrate the full potential your edtech can unlock.

Ready to reach new heights in the edtech space, but don’t know how to get there? You need to build a rocket-fuelled difference engine - and we happen to have the blueprint at Articulate Marketing.