Education marketers face a transformed landscape heading into 2025. The new Presidential administration has emphasized the importance of local districts and states in making education decisions on general policy and funding.
The emphasis on local control opens new possibilities for education marketers at the state level. Hyper-local public relations efforts are emerging as a key component of these strategies, allowing you to tailor your message to the unique needs and priorities of local districts.
Aligning your PR efforts with this shift positions your products or services as solutions to today’s pressing education challenges. With the right strategy in place, you can gain a competitive edge in an increasingly localized market.
Developing an Effective State-Targeted PR Strategy
National education trade media continues to be a valuable channel for your education company. But you don’t want to ignore local PR in this shifting landscape.
Applying a hyper-local PR strategy will enable you to build awareness and credibility among key state decision-makers. This approach begins with identifying your target states based on key factors such as past success and future growth potential.
Selecting Your Target States
Consider the following when working to develop a state-focused marketing strategy:
- Areas where your company has already experienced success with its services.
- Regions where you aim to establish a stronger presence.
- States with favorable legislation or mandates for your product or service category.
For example, one of our clients offers products that support cursive handwriting development. In recent years, a few states like California have established state mandates for cursive instruction. We worked with the company to gain local media coverage of their offerings to help build a presence for their program in the state.
The Power of Local Media
Local media coverage is among the most powerful tools in your marketing arsenal. Highlighting your “lighthouse” customers — those standout success stories — creates a ripple effect that can influence neighboring schools and districts.
District leaders are naturally competitive and constantly looking for ways to improve their schools. When they see a neighboring district succeeding with a new tool or service, it piques their interest. This peer influence can be a powerful driver of adoption and create a more impactful impression than broad, national marketing campaigns.
Key Strategies for Successful Local PR Outreach
An effective, hyper-local PR campaign requires a multifaceted approach. Here are essential strategies to implement:
Determine Local Sources and Stories
Start by identifying existing clients in target states that are open to speaking to the media. These connections can provide valuable insights and potential story angles that will resonate with local audiences. A PR partner can “story mine” to pinpoint the angles that will resonate with journalists and motivate neighboring districts to take action.
Apply Local Connections
Whenever possible, highlight local sources in your PR efforts. If you don’t have a direct local connection, consider drawing comparisons between comparable states or cities to establish relevance in the area you’re targeting. For example, if you’re trying to establish your product or services in a city like San Francisco, you can highlight the success you’ve had in similar districts in Portland, Oregon.
Build Relationships with District Communication Departments
In-person touchpoints and relationship-building are crucial in the education space. This holds true with districts’ communications teams. It’s helpful to build a trusting relationship with Communications Coordinators, Directors of Communications, and similar positions because they can amplify your PR efforts. At the end of the day, you want a win-win situation where the district feels good about the positive media coverage they receive. Good press for districts is increasingly important as they face renewed political and parental pressure that drives negative headlines.
Create a Strong, Targeted Media List
Develop a comprehensive list of local media contacts, paying special attention to reporters who have good relationships with certain districts — or vice-versa. These connections can provide valuable information and offer insights about media angles.
Partner with Organizations with Established Media Relationships
Consider partnering with organizations that have strong existing media relationships in your target states. CB&A, A FINN Partners Company, often arranges interviews and contributed articles on behalf of district representatives. We can provide your organization with valuable insights into local media dynamics.
Implementing these strategies creates a robust local PR presence that complements your broader marketing efforts, including national education outreach, to help you gain traction in specific state markets.
Supplementing PR Efforts with Paid Media and Sales
Building credibility through local PR efforts is a powerful advantage, but you have other tools at your disposal to raise awareness for your brand. To maximize your impact in target states, consider supplementing your strategy with paid media and robust sales follow-up.
The Role of Paid Media
Paid media is a vital tool for generating leads in your target states and communities. Consider options such as:
- Local digital advertising campaigns.
- Sponsored content in education publications that target specific areas.
- Targeted social media ads.
These paid efforts can amplify your PR messages and help you reach audiences that might be missed through organic outreach alone.
Deploying a Strong Sales Team
PR and paid media can generate valuable leads, but it’s up to your sales team to convert these leads into customers. To ensure your sales team succeeds with your local strategy, they need to be:
- Well-informed about local education policies, priorities, and challenges.
- Equipped with relevant success stories about your products or services.
- Prepared to follow up on contacts generated through your PR and paid media efforts.
Integrating PR, paid media, and sales efforts can create a comprehensive approach to state-level marketing that maximizes your chances of success.
The Local Advantage: Your Key to State-Level Success
As the education landscape continues to decentralize, local PR strategies are increasingly vital to your marketing success. Looking beyond national strategies to state-focused outreach can effectively garner interest for your offerings in the markets your business needs.
A successful hyper-local approach demands more than simply contacting key media outlets. It’s about building relationships, understanding the local education landscape, and positioning your product or service as a solution to your audience’s challenges. Whether you’re highlighting success stories from existing customers or drawing parallels with similar markets, the goal is to make your offering feel relevant to each state you target.
With the right marketing partner, you can expand your market presence while also influencing key education decision-makers at the state level. If this sounds like an approach that will benefit your organization in an increasingly decentralized education system, we should talk.