Outbound marketing effectiveness is declining for e-mail in favor of social media branding. My own experience confirms this trend as very few e-mails make it past my spam filter and custom rules (see related post). The only marketing e-mails I open are from vendors with whom I already have a relationship. If you are a new vendor, it is imperative that you build a relationship with your ICP because the vast majority of buying decisions involve vendors on buyers’ shortlists. This relationship-building will likely fall on the shoulders of the founders.
B2B EdTech sales is challenging because of the relatively small opportunities at any point in time. It is easy to identify every educator at a school and district. The rub is that you don’t know WHO is looking for your solution and IF they are ready to make a purchase. I recommend founders spend significant time on LinkedIn to monitor relevant conversations, potential buyers, influencers and trends. LinkedIn is the only social network where companies and individuals can interact. Twitter is another platform, but consistent engagement is much more difficult. Other social networks, such as FaceBook, have highly segmented groups, but they are private and generally don’t like vendors selling in them.
Social media marketing is about generating curiosity in the EdTech community. If you provide enough value over time, then someday, a prospect will navigate to your website for more information. See the sample activities below. Be prepared to use multiple landing pages for different channels and messages and un-anonymize website visitors. See the list of tools you will need below.
