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Tag: Influencer Engagement

How education brands can reach primary school teachers on TikTok

on Posted by Catherine Lane

How education brands can reach primary school teachers on TikTok

Reaching teachers has never been harder, inboxes are crowded, budgets are tight, and attention is limited. Yet on TikTok, teachers are relaxed, curious, and open to new ideas. That’s why education brands are turning to the platform to connect with primary teachers through content that feels genuine, useful, and worth their time.

Over a quarter of UK teachers are now active on TikTok, and unlike other platforms where engagement is dropping, the appetite for classroom content on here keeps growing.

Through our work with teacher influencers and education campaigns, we’ve seen how TikTok can turn awareness into trust, engagement and action. Below, we have highlighted a few influencers that might be relevant to brands looking to influence primary school teachers.

 

Why TikTok works for reaching primary school teachers

Primary school teachers go to TikTok for ideas that make their day easier such as, lesson inspiration, wellbeing tips, and relatable humour. They’re not looking for polished brand videos, but for content that feels genuine and human.

Influencers have built communities of teachers who trust them, listen to them, and act on their recommendations. Working with these influencers helps education brands reach teachers in a more authentic way.

 

The primary school influencers getting it right

Here are three teacher influencers who show the kind of creativity and authenticity that’s driving engagement on TikTok, you’ll find more great influencers in our full guide.

  1. Kit Brown (@kjbr0wn)

Who he is: A former professional footballer turned UK primary school teacher, Kit brings humour and energy to his classroom content.

What he covers: Kit’s videos blend football and teaching with clever classroom engagement tips. His viral post — “How I get the attention of my class (shouts Cristiano Ronaldo)” — reached over 70.6 million views, and his feed is full of relatable, light-hearted takes on school life.

Why he stands out: With 2 million followers, 69.7 million likes, and engagement levels of 9–10%, Kit has built one of the most loyal teacher audiences on TikTok. His partnerships, like his collaboration with Birds Eye for the Alphabites Challenge are a great example of how being funny and authentic helps a brand message come across naturally.

Best fit for brands: Ideal for campaigns around classroom engagement, nutrition, or health and wellbeing, especially those looking to connect with teachers through storytelling and personality.

  1. Thomas Blakemore (@thomasblakemore)

Who he is: Thomas Blakemore is a UK primary teacher who’s also taught overseas, he shares honest stories about classroom life and teacher wellbeing.

What he covers: Thomas creates daily videos about teacher wellbeing, classroom management, and the challenges of education both in the UK and abroad. His followers value his honesty and practical advice from managing teacher workloads to using technology in teaching.

Why he stands out: With 95.5K followers, 2 million likes, and engagement levels of 4–6%, Thomas strikes a good balance between inspiration and authenticity. He has worked with EdTech brand Gamma on how to create engaging lesson slides.

Best fit for brands: Thomas would be a good fit for any EdTech, teacher wellbeing, and teacher professional development campaigns.

  1. Miss Taylor (@misstaylorteachesprimary)

Who she is: Samantha Taylor is a UK primary school teacher whose friendly, down-to-earth style makes her very relatable to teachers.

What she covers: Her content focuses on classroom management, early career teacher tips, and practical wellbeing advice. Posts like “Teachers – this is how to get their attention!” and “Classroom management strategies” regularly hit six-figure views.

Why she stands out: With 23.9K followers, 175.5K likes, and engagement of 1–4%, Miss Taylor’s feed offers a steady mix of humour, practical guidance, and positivity. She’s partnered with Ryman on “Back to School Shopping” campaigns.

Best fit for brands: She would be really suitable for any classroom supplies, stationery, or wellbeing-related campaigns, particularly for brands who want to target new or early career teachers.

 

What Education Brands Can Learn From these Creators

  1. Authenticity over advertising
    Teachers respond to real people sharing real stories. Overly branded or scripted content is never as successful.
  2. Value over volume
    A useful classroom idea, a relatable moment, or a wellbeing reminder usually outperforms polished ads.
  3. Trust over trends.
    The most effective creators have earned the trust of their followers and that’s what makes their endorsements really powerful.

Tip: It’s important to give influencers a clear brief and objectives, but also to let them create content that is authentic for them.

 

Planning and Measuring Your Campaign

When developing your TikTok strategy, start by defining success:

  • If you want brand awareness, work with visible influencers who post frequently and create short, relatable videos.
  • For sign-ups or conversions, choose smaller, more engaged influencers and offer valuable content like free lesson plans or product trials.
  • For behaviour change (e.g. wellbeing or sustainability), build multi-post campaigns over time and reinforce messages across multiple channels.

Measure what matters: clicks, saves, downloads, and conversations, not just likes.

 

Final Thoughts

TikTok is where teachers talk, laugh, and learn. For education brands, partnering with the right influencers is one of the most effective ways to reach this audience in an authentic and engaging way.

To discover more teacher influencers who can help your brand connect with educators, download our Top UK Teacher Influencers on TikTok guide or get in touch at hello@theinfluencecrowd.co.uk

How to run a teacher influencer campaign on TikTok

on Posted by Catherine Lane

How to run a teacher influencer campaign on TikTok

 

When the school day ends, teachers aren’t rushing to check their inboxes.  They’re more likely to be decompressing, scrolling social media for something funny, a classroom hack or a wellbeing tip. And very often they are heading to TikTok for their post-work relaxation fix.

So, if you want to reach teachers, it’s vital you include TikTok in your marketing mix.

But how do you know what works, what flops and what sparks real engagement.

Getting it right in the education sector takes more than offering discounts, it’s about smart planning, the right partnerships and clear briefs.

It also means not falling foul of some common misconceptions. Here are a few we see time and again:

 

Common misconceptions

1. “If I’m selling a music resource, I need a music influencer”
That’s not always the case.  One of our most successful music campaigns (see below for more details) was fronted by more general teacher influencers.  The reason why, is because teachers follow who they relate to, not just subject specialists.  For example, Mr H isn’t a music teacher but his day in the life humorous content makes him relatable and a trusted source.  When he shared a music lesson from our client, which involved him learning to sing, engagement spiked.

Tip: Trust and relatability are key

 

2. “Competitions are the best way to drive engagement”
We’ve tested this.  Teachers are busy.  They don’t want to tag five colleagues or jump through hoops for a giveaway.   What they do want is something useful, a free lesson plan, a classroom tip or resource they can use in their classroom tomorrow.

Tip: A post with a useful downloadable resource often outperforms a competition

 

3.  “A big audience means better results”
We’ve worked with influencers who have 10k followers that have outperformed those with 100k.  Why?  Because their audience is loyal, engaged and full of teachers who save, comment and share.

Tip: A smaller niche influencer who is trusted by their community can drive more sign ups than an influencer with a huge following

Once you set aside these assumptions, the next step is to design your influencer campaign around what you want to achieve.

 

Tailoring your campaign to your goals

It’s important to know what success looks like as this will shape everything you do from who you work with, to what content they create.

For example:

If your goal is awareness:

  • Work with influencers who have high visibility
  • Focus on short, relatable content that introduces your brand or product
  • Don’t expect sign ups this is about being seen

If your goal is sign ups or trials

  • Choose influencers who teachers trust and who have high engagement
  • Offer something useful (e.g. free lesson plans, trial access)
  • Use clear call to actions

If your goal is to change behaviour

  • Build a series of posts not just one offs
  • Use storytelling and real classroom examples
  • Reinforce messages across multiple channels (TikTok, Meta)

Here’s a few more tips to make sure your influencer campaign is a success:

  • Evenings and weekends rule: Obviously during the day teachers are in the classroom so most influencers post their content outside school hours.  Make sure this is when your content goes live.
  • Keep it short and simple: Teachers don’t want long product demos.  We’ve found quick tips, classroom hacks and bite sized lesson ideas work really well.
  • Contracts matter: Having a clear brief alongside a written contract will protect you and the influencer.

 

What happens when you get it right

When the Ear Academy approached us to help launch their new music platform for primary schools, they had just four weeks to attract the attention of primary schools.

As we had to interest teachers fast, we created Musical Mondays, a three week mini series of free Key Stage 2 music lesson plans.  As part of the campaign, we worked with trusted influencers including, Mr P ICT, Mr H and Miss Taylor, who shared the lessons and engaging content on TikTok and Instagram.  We also used Meta ads and email marketing to support the activity.

The results

  • Nearly 300 teachers signed up to Musical Mondays in just four weeks
  • Almost 700 likes across influencer content
  • Nearly 30,000 total views (11.1K on Instagram and 18.4K on TikTok) across influencer content
  • 97% of teachers who signed up engaged with the resources
  • Potential for 9,000 children to enjoy music in their classrooms

This example shows how teacher-focused content, delivered in the right way, can drive quick results even with limited time and budget.  But how do you decide what is a successful campaign?

 

Understanding teachers

Influencer campaigns in education aren’t about the latest trends or chasing big numbers.  They’re about really understanding teachers, what they need, how they behave online and who they listen to.

If you would like to see which teacher influencers could help your brand connect in the right way then download our guide to Top UK Teacher Influencers on TikTok or email us at hello@theinfluencecrowd.co.uk

 

 

 

Why PR could be the key to boosting sales of your product

on Posted by Catherine Lane

Why PR could be the key to boosting sales of your product

Schools and universities have to be very careful about who they work with. It’s why sometimes the sales process with an educational organisation can be very slow and cumbersome.

It’s probably why some of your marketing campaigns just don’t generate the number of leads you expect either.

This is why PR is so important in this sector.

 

What’s the difference between PR and Marketing?

Whereas marketing does a fabulous job promoting products and services, PR focuses on your brand. It helps articulate what your brand stands for and why schools and universities can trust it.

Someone brilliant once said that marketing is like asking someone out on a date. The PR and branding is the reason why they say yes.

Great PR speeds up your sales process.

 

So how could PR help my brand?

PR is about using great messaging, creativity and the endorsement of third parties to build trust in your brand. A great PR team knows what makes your audiences tick and therefore can help you articulate what you want to say in a way that makes teachers, school leaders and faculty stop what they are doing and notice/like you.

PR does that in a variety of ways – media coverage, speaker slots at key industry events, podcast interviews, hard hitting content, influencer link ups and made-you-look messaging that gets to the heart of what your target audiences need.

 

Case Study: How PR helped an education brand

We worked for a company which had created a new type of technology that could spot reading issues in young children, often before they became apparent to teachers. They engaged our PR services to build their reputation with schools and sell more products.

Prior to the business engaging us, the messaging they used often focused on the time-saving aspects of the assessments, the business’s academic pedigree (it was developed by university researchers) and AI elements within the technology. All very worthy messages. However, our work with schools had shown us that more human messaging, focussed on the child, was key to success.

 

Getting the messaging right

So we updated some of the messaging to focus on early intervention and preventing children from falling behind their peers.

Following this shift, the product was soon being featured in the education press throughout the year and speaker slots were secured at key conferences.

For the broadcast media, we focused on what the technology could do that had never been possible before – the fact that the tech could spot the signs of dyslexia in a child in minutes, just by following how their eyes moved when they read. This messaging resulted in coverage on both The One Show and regional BBC programming demonstrating how the technology would revolutionise schools.

 

The results

Traffic to the company’s web site and lead generation immediately spiked, with many new leads reporting that they were prompted to call because of the media coverage.

PR gave this business the right messaging to create greater interest from their audience and targeted the right channels to expose that new messaging more widely than before.

If you want more tips on how to improve your sales to schools, download our How to Sell to Schools Guide.

You can also take a look at the case studies section on our web site for more ideas on how PR can kick start your sales.

 

*Image by Kaboompics.com

Four reasons why you need PR in 2021

on Posted by Alesha Allen

Well, what a year 2020 was.

As we enter a third national lockdown with hopes of improvement by the spring, here are four reasons why 2021 is the year to invest in PR.

1. Because technology is a part of our lives like never before

Stuck at home during the pandemic, many of us are spending more of our lives online. We are using our devices for work, socialising, shopping, exercise and entertainment.

This may have changed how your business connects with customers.

You can no longer meet in person with teachers or carry out live demos of your products. So, many business leaders find themselves asking how to connect with their audience in an authentic way.

One way is to meet your audience where they are: online.

Using digital PR and communications, you can connect with current and prospective customers via your online channels.

You can find the right way to reach parents and teachers, whether it’s through online campaigns, virtual events, blogs or video testimonials.

2. To take advantage of a rise in social media and influencer culture 

If your business isn’t engaging effectively with customers on social media, then your business isn’t properly communicating with customers.

In the last year, all social media apps reported an increase in usage.

The likes of YouTube, Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok, which allow people to create, upload and share videos, have become increasingly popular. Last year, nine in 10 online adults, and almost all older children aged 8 to 15 years, used at least one of these websites and apps, and many watched videos several times a day.

Running integrated campaigns on social media is key to successful business communications.

Choose a theme that relates to your education product, create a key campaign message and be sure to track engagement. Make sure you use the right platform for your campaign and that it’s timely.

Consider partnering with a social media influencer who fits with your brand values and audience. They can help you reach your target audience, build trust, and increase engagement. This could be a blogger, journalist or podcaster. It could be a well-known teacher, edtech expert or education consultant.

Investing in social media will help you connect with current and prospective clients, boost awareness and increase leads.

3. So you can gain your audience’s trust 

Think about what your customers consider When deciding whether to buy your education product or service. Has this changed since the same time last year?

Recognise changes in your customers and their needs. Whether it’s spending power, ways of working, or challenges in education during the pandemic. And allay any fears or concerns.

According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, 88% of us rate ‘trust’ as important or critical when it comes to deciding which brands to buy or use. Out of 8,000 people surveyed in 8 countries in October 2020, ‘trust’ was the third most important purchase criteria, with ‘price’ and ‘quality’ only slightly ahead, regardless of gender, nationality, age or income.

Personal experience matters the most when it comes to building trust. If your business can communicate with clients through friends, family, experts and reviews from trusted sources, then you’ve taken a step in the right direction in helping them to trust you and your business offering.

PR activities like product reviews, case studies, video testimonials and influencer campaigns can all help to strengthen trust among your target audience.

4. To help you manage a PR crisis

Last year was crisis, followed by crisis, followed by crisis.

The coronavirus outbreak, civil unrest and economic downturn.

An impeachment trial, a contested presidential election and a wave of international protests leading to a moment of reckoning on racism.

Not to mention natural disasters like wildfires, earthquakes and floods.

If we’ve learnt anything from 2020, it’s to be as prepared as we can be for a crisis. A well-managed crisis can actually win your brand fans rather than lose them, so the third lockdown may be an opportunity to reflect on how you would manage a crisis.

PR crisis planning means having guidelines in place for an emergency or unexpected situation.

How is your company going to react if the lockdown lasts longer than expected? What will your company do if there was a breach of school data? Or if your education software that teachers rely on for online learning has technological issues?

Don’t get caught off guard.

Identify the risks to your education business, rank them in order of seriousness and put a plan in place for each one.

Your crisis plan should outline your response to stakeholders such as customers, employees and the media. It needs to include key messaging for all of your business platforms, including social media. And make sure your spokesperson is media trained.

Check out our ‘cut out and keep’ guide to crisis management here.

Get started

The best time to start planning your PR is now.

Don’t put it off for another day. Who knows what this year has in store!

If you’re ready to start planning your PR for 2021, get in touch today on hello@theinfluencecrowd.co.uk.

Or have a read of our PR planning guide for some more top tips.

 

Photo by SevenStorm JUHASZIMRUS from Pexels

How to use PR to change teachers’ opinions

on Posted by Alesha Allen

A successful PR campaign can totally change the way teachers think about your offering.

Whether that’s an IT system that helps manage school admin, an online game that diagnoses difficulties children have with reading, or STEM training courses for teachers.

Maybe teachers think your educational software is too expensive. Or it’s too difficult to implement in their classroom. Perhaps they simply don’t have the time to take part in a demo and bring in a change at a time when they’re busier than they have ever been.

So what do you need to do to change their opinions?

We’ve broken down one of our recent campaigns to give you some ideas.

1. Find out more about your target audience

The first step we always start with is to understand which teachers you are specifically trying to reach. Think carefully about who you want to influence, be that primary or secondary school teachers, SEN leads, teaching assistants, head teachers or subject leads.

And then ask yourself: how can you help them?

Let’s take the example of a campaign we worked on for Maths-Whizz, an award-winning online programme that raises the maths attainment of children aged 5-13. Not many teachers were aware of the difference it could make to children studying maths in their classrooms.

Our task was to let primary school teachers know about everything Maths-Whizz had to offer, and to get them talking about it. We wanted to encourage them to get in contact to find out how the product could help in their schools.

To get the attention of primary school teachers, whatever we did had to save them time – they simply would not engage otherwise. So, we came up with the plan to rebrand the month of November as ‘Mathvember’ and launch a month-long series of daily lesson ideas, social media challenges and competitions. These would provide primary school teachers with the tools and inspiration to ‘Make Maths Magical’ in their classrooms and encourage them to find out how Maths-Whizz can help them.

2. Put your Education PR plan in place

Once you have worked out exactly how to meet the needs of your target teachers, you can develop your plan. What can you do to let teachers know about your offering, or change the opinion they have of it?

You need an integrated campaign that combines the best of marketing and the best of PR. This involves creating great content, carrying out media and influencer relations and running social media advertising campaigns.

With Maths-Whizz, we engaged teachers in the daily lesson ideas, social media challenges and competitions we had developed via daily posts, social advertising and by getting key influencers on board. We also partnered with the influential teacher community, UKEdChat, which allowed us to tap into their 72,000 strong audience.

The month culminated in a webinar, which allowed the education experts at Whizz to demonstrate their obvious passion for generating ideas that help children enjoy maths. It gave the team an opportunity to talk about the Maths-Whizz product to an engaged audience too.

This integrated campaign gave us lots of opportunities to start a dialogue with teachers about how to ‘Make Maths Magical’ in the classroom and encouraged them to get in contact to find out more about Maths-Whizz.

3. Take stock

The outcome of an effective integrated campaign is raised awareness of your brand, as well as a change in opinion and behaviour of potential customers, making them more likely to buy your product.

The results of the Maths-Whizz campaign were impressive:

  • Web traffic rose by 53% year-on-year
  • 293 people viewed the webinar, which provided advice on how to ‘Make Maths Magical’ in the classroom as well as promoting the product
  • We earned support from key social media influencers such as @VicGoddard of Education Essex fame and @MartynReah. We also received coverage in TeachWire and Teach Primary. This resulted in a 2.8 million reach for the campaign
  • 1525 teachers signed up for the campaign and agreed to further marketing contact from Maths-Whizz

A change in teachers’ opinions can be seen in changes to their behaviour. For the Maths-Whizz campaign, teachers most certainly became more aware of the product and understood how much it could help in their schools. Then they went a step further and purchased the online programme.

We can see this from the huge uplift in sales:

  • Sales leads increased by 168% in the first month of the campaign and 244% in the following month

With this type of integrated campaign, you can engage with, and also help, the busiest of teachers. You never know, this may well shift their opinion, and interest, towards your brand.

To find out more about getting teachers to notice you, read our white paper, Influence Schools or have a look at our video and blog on how to get the attention of school leaders

 

Photo by Polina Tankilevitch from Pexels

 

How to get the attention of senior leaders in schools and academy trusts

on Posted by Catherine Lane

Here at The Influence Crowd we work in all sectors of education, but the one request we get more than any other is from organisations that need help targeting leaders schools and academy trusts.

Many brands are finding that their marketing efforts to headteachers are simply not working anymore, and this is having an impact on their ability to sell more education products and services.

So, if you want headteachers in schools and academy trusts to take notice of your brand, you need to approach things a little differently.

And that starts with research.

  1. Talk to leaders in schools and academy trusts

The first step is to talk to your existing customers and prospects about what they read and where they go for information.

You want to know which education podcasts they listen to, who they follow on social feeds, and which channels they use – are they on LinkedIn or Twitter, Facebook or Instagram? Do they prefer to follow Teacher Toolkit or TeacherTapp?

Start reading the same articles and follow the same people your customers do to get an understanding of what they get from these sources and a better idea of the type of content they like.

  1. Understand their problems

The second step is to ask the school leaders you are already in contact with about the issues they are tackling in their schools at the moment.

Find out which areas they need the most help and advice with – it might be putting catch-up lessons in place that boost pupils’ progress, dealing with staff shortages due to shielding or improving children’s wellbeing. If any of these areas cross with issues your product or service can help with, then you are on to something.

You can take it a stage further and do a keyword search around the subject. This will help refine the words and phrases to include in your content so that it is easily found by search engines.

  1. Target school leaders and MATS on many fronts

Step three is planning a multi-channel approach to getting your content in front of leaders.

Pitch article ideas to education media outlets that cover the issues you want to focus on. Put interesting customers forward as interviewees to the podcasts your target audience listen to. You may also want to work with an influential blogger on a series of guides addressing a key issue, or create a help video that you can push out through an engaging social media advertising campaign.

Follow this plan to strengthen your education marketing strategy and you will have a much greater chance of influencing school leaders.

And if you want to know more about this method, you can download our Influence Schools White Paper.

You may also be interested in our blog What marketing messages will teachers want to hear in September 2020/21.

Photo by João Jesus from Pexels

What marketing messages will universities want to hear in 2020/21?

on Posted by Julia Anthony

The coronavirus pandemic forced universities to make some rapid changes to the way they work, including closing their campuses, shifting to online teaching and finding alternative ways to assess their students’ learning.

These institutions now face a whole new set of pressures as they tackle the year ahead.

The logistics of keeping students safe, engaged and learning are only part of the story, and universities will welcome suppliers which can help them with these immediate challenges.

However, to survive and thrive, universities need to take the long view of their roles in a post-pandemic world, and they’ll be particularly receptive to messaging which reflects an understanding of the wider issues in higher education.

That’s why it’s important for businesses in higher education to know what the key trends are in the sector so they can hit the right note with their communications.

So what do you need to consider in your higher education PR planning?

  1. The blended learning model

Many universities were already providing some form of online learning offering prior to the pandemic, with lecture recordings, established virtual learning environments and high-quality multimedia content. But during lockdown, institutions had to shift everything online, with students joining tutorials on Zoom and taking open book exams at the kitchen table.

Now the emphasis is on blended learning with a mix of online and face-to-face delivery.

This appears to be the model most students are expecting as the academic year progresses. A National Union of Students survey found that almost half of students (47%) expected to be taught online in the first term of the coming academic year, but in term two 59% of students expected to be taught via blended learning.

The hybrid model may see students watching live-streamed or recorded lectures from home or within bubbles in their halls of residence, but attending smaller seminars, tutorials and laboratory sessions in person with physical distancing in place.

Universities will need support as they embed this blended learning approach more deeply into the curriculum, and if your solutions can help, it’s important to make this a core element of your messaging.

  1. A tough financial climate

Covid-19 is hitting higher education finances hard. With the pandemic touching every corner of the globe, and travel restrictions changing day by day, it’s harder for students to commit to overseas study. The impact of this is that institutions will be welcoming fewer international students this year.

Many universities are also facing lockdown-related losses of income from the reduced uptake of student accommodation and conference and catering operations.

The Institute of Fiscal Studies states that the total size of the losses faced by the sector is highly uncertain, but could be anywhere between £3 billion and £19 billion – that’s between 7.5% and nearly half of the sector’s overall income in one year.

This could leave some universities struggling to survive.

To be able to continue to deliver high quality education and research, institutions will have difficult financial decisions to make, and brands which understand these challenges and help to address them will be welcomed.

  1. A different student experience

Starting university in 2020/21 will be like never before, with virtual freshers’ weeks, restricted campus facilities and physically distanced social bubbles.

Confronted with this prospect, it’s hardly surprising many students considered deferring their university place for a year. Back in May, a poll by the Sutton Trust found that 19% of students had changed their mind about university attendance this autumn or had yet to decide.

However, the alternative may not be an option either, as the pandemic has put paid to some of the traditional gap year pursuits. Travel is largely off the cards, and jobs in hospitality or retail are hard to come by with so many experienced employees currently out of work and looking for roles.

In this uncertain climate, universities will need to find ways to make the student experience a positive one.

This is the message behind the Universities UK campaign #2020MADEUS which aims to give this year’s school leavers a message of confidence and hope as they continue with their plans to start university courses this autumn.

Institutions may be looking for additional resources to help students make the most of the social aspect of university, by helping students build new friendships despite the restrictions, and focusing on mental health and wellbeing.

Brands targeting the sector will hit the mark if they factor these messages into their PR planning.

  1. Covid-19 and student retention

One of key risks for universities in the wake of Covid-19 is a negative impact on student retention and progression.

Many of the 2020 cohort which universities will be welcoming this autumn have not been at school or college since March and may have missed out on some of the essential learning that would have given them a head start in their higher education studies.

And for the first time ever, students starting their university course will not have taken A levels or any other sixth form qualifications. Instead their grades are based on predicted grades.

This could mean more first year students losing confidence and struggling to get a foothold on their new course in those crucial early weeks and months.

Similarly, current students may find the lack of face-to-face interaction with lecturers and fellow students affects their academic performance.

A blog from the Higher Education Policy Institute suggests that, “With a prolonged absence from more traditional support, many students, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, are likely to experience a dent in confidence and disconnection from learning, despite the best intentions of universities. Some will leave their studies.”

Universities may be looking for tools and technology that can help them identify students in difficulty, so they can provide targeted support and prevent them from dropping out of their course.

It’s a pivotal moment for universities, and the steps they take now to alleviate the impact of Covid-19 will shape their future. Any PR plan needs to take account of opportunities for universities to focus on the positives as the world emerges from the crisis.

Campaigns and communications which demonstrate a deeper understanding of the new higher education landscape stand the highest chance of success in these extraordinary times.

 

To find out more, why not read our guide to good PR planning.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

 

 

What marketing messages will teachers want to hear in September 2020?

on Posted by Catherine Lane

Over the summer holidays, many in the education sector use the relative quiet to plan their marketing and PR campaigns for the year ahead so they can hit the ground running come September.

But this year, things are a little more complicated than before.

Whereas previously, planning often involved updating your messaging to make it more relevant to current policies or trends, this year, a wholescale rethink may be required.

So much has altered in education, that what previously might have headed up the to do list for a teacher or school leader may no longer make it into the top 10 things they need to think about right now.

Covid-19 has changed everything. So what does that mean for your PR planning?

The more things change the more they stay the same

To develop a good PR or marketing campaign in any sector, you need to tap into your audience’s hopes and dreams. Or calm their worst nightmares. This has not changed. It’s just that you need to take a fresh look at what a teacher or school leader’s priorities are as they return to school in September 2020.

With this in mind, we thought it would be helpful to pull together some of the latest research to unpick what teachers will need help with this Autumn. If your organisation can genuinely demonstrate that you are responding to teachers’ current problems, your communications and campaigns will stand out above the rest.

What’s on teachers’ minds

So what are teachers thinking about at the moment?

  • Closing the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers

The Education Endowment Foundation recently examined the existing research available on the impact of lockdown on the attainment gap. The conclusion was that the impact of lockdown would reverse any progress made in this area in the last decade, with estimates indicating the gap would widen by 38%.

No one will be more acutely aware of this than the head that knows how many children are in receipt of pupil premium in their school or the teacher who has struggled unsuccessfully to get a response from the parents of the child who has only submitted a couple of items of work for marking since lockdown began.

These children will be front and foremost in the minds of educators as September nears. Brands that are sympathetic to this challenge or that prove they can help reengage learners will fare better than those that can’t.

  • Developing and delivering a catch-up curriculum

Teachers will be facing the prospect of working out how much learning pupils have missed during lockdown, and the need for a catch-up curriculum could be causing some sleepless nights.

According to Teacher Tapp, the teacher survey app, some year groups and subjects have fared worse than others during the pandemic. 63% of Key Stage 2 teachers say they have only delivered half or less than half of the intended curriculum, and for Key Stage 1 and Early Years, the figure is 57%.

Helping children catch up on essential primary learning will be a priority.

For secondary schools, art, design and technology and PE teachers were most likely to say that pupils missed out on at least half of the curriculum they should have received. And only 11% of English teachers say they had delivered the entire curriculum during lockdown.

Schools will be looking for support during this catch-up phase, and if your business can help teachers focus on key learning priorities to make up for lost time, make sure that’s reflected in your messaging.

  • Pupil mental health

The emotional impact of living through Covid-19 cannot be underestimated, and schools will be concerned about their pupils’ state of mind at the start of term. Children may have felt the impact of strained household finances, family illness or bereavement.

Bright Minds carried out a survey of young people with a history of mental health difficulties which found that 80% of children agreed the coronavirus pandemic had made their mental health worse, and 41% said it was much worse.

Younger children are also affected. Parents and carers of children aged between four and 10 years of age reported that over a one-month period in lockdown, they saw increases in their child’s emotional difficulties, according to a University of Oxford study.

With pupil wellbeing at the top of the agenda, schools may be adapting their timetable, staffing and classroom space to provide additional emotional support for individuals and small groups. Headteachers and SENCos may be keen to access resources which strengthen a school’s approach to pastoral care in the coming months, and they are likely to welcome brands which understand the importance of good mental health.

  • Teacher mental health

Teacher Tapp regularly measures the anxiety levels of educators. Following the announcement that schools should start planning to re-open for select primary school year groups from the start of June, 16% of state school teachers and 40% of headteachers reported feeling highly anxious.

September 2020 could see a similar pattern of anxiety levels among the teaching profession.

Teaching staff may be concerned about the extent of the work ahead of them in tackling learning losses, they could also be anxious about the safety of their work environment and the changes imposed on them by social distancing measures. Of course, many staff members are carrying the burden of family worries too.

Schools are likely to be focusing on teacher wellbeing by renewing policies and procedures and providing additional training for staff. Organisations which understand the challenges and can offer flexible CPD options could be well placed to help schools support their teams.

  • Maintaining safe distances while learning

Each new school year brings something of the unknown – there are new cohorts, colleagues and timetables to get used to. This year, there’s the added task of keeping everyone as safe as possible from Covid-19 infection – which is no small challenge.

Depending on the age of the children, teachers may find themselves reinforcing the social distancing message endlessly throughout the day, ensuring equipment is sanitised and teaching children in their bubbles.

Schools are expecting to welcome all children back in September, although this could change, of course, and the government advice is that “while coronavirus (COVID-19) remains in the community, this means making judgments at a school level about how to balance minimising any risks from coronavirus by maximising control measures with providing a full educational experience for children and young people.”

This may involve rearranging classrooms, removing assembly from the school day and staggering start and finishing times. School suppliers should consider how their solutions can help schools as they go through this period of change.

It’s likely that school leaders and teachers will spend this summer planning for the unpredictable as nobody knows exactly what September has in store. But by tuning in to teachers’ thinking, education companies can ensure their messaging hits the mark.

The best PR and marketing campaigns will do what they’ve always done – understand teachers’ challenges and find ways to help.

 

To find out more about planning your education PR campaign, you might like to read our PR Planning blog. 

Photo by nappy from Pexels

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