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The Art of Educational Outreach

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Posted on September 25 2001 in by Mediarights_Admin

The Art of Educational Outreach

Published on September 25, 2001

Promoting your film to teachers for classroom use

American humorist Don Marquis once said that "publishing a volume of verse is like dropping a rose petal down the Grand Canyon and waiting for the echo." Documentary filmmaking can leave you with a similar feeling: that those who see your work don't give it enough of their time or attention, thereby minimizing the potential for social impact.

If you were to imagine the ideal screening, you might picture a forum where you have the attention of your audience for a long period of time. Where their attention is focused solely on you and your film. Where your audience can not only spend their time gaining a thorough knowledge of your subject matter and message, but can even debate and discuss that information in an open format under the guidance of an experienced moderator. In other words: an unequaled opportunity to share your story at length with an engaged audience.

Photo by Nicholas Chaisuksant for Street-Level Youth Media

If this sounds like a fantasy, it's not: it's the classroom. And this article will show you how to reach it.

Get the Product Right

While the classroom can be a very attractive target audience, you must do more than just send out sponsored tapes or distributor's flyers to ensure success. You've got to demonstrate the value of your film to teachers, and that value can only be measured in two ways: by how you save teachers time and how you enhance instruction.

Make sure your film is classroom-ready by identifying the classes your film is appropriate for; provide suggestions, ranging from discussion questions to complete lesson plans, for how your film can be used in those classes; and align your film and its support materials to state and national curriculum standards. The more you do to help teachers incorporate your film into their classrooms, the higher the likelihood that your film will be presented to students.

Craft A Powerful Message

The most important thing to consider when developing your promotional message is teachers' time. "Educators have little time to sift through their mail in any detail, so it's up to you to make their job easy," says Gerry Bogatz of MarketingWorks ("Edu-Marketing," October 2000; MDR's Datapoints). Regardless of the channels you choose, the following tips will help you get and keep the attention of teachers:

Put benefits in the forefront: Tell teachers how your materials will help them do their jobs better or make their lives easier, and do it quickly so you don't lose their attention. Think in terms of solutions, not features: remember that "People want quarter-inch holes, not quarter-inch drills" (Denny Hatch, "The Last Word," September 2001; Target Marketing).
Credibility is important: Because teachers are coming under more scrutiny, they are especially interested in materials that can be justified in terms of credibility and proof of effectiveness. While value may be difficult to prove without the benefit of long-term effectiveness studies, it can be inferred through awards and testimonials. A recognized brand, nonprofit status, and/or money-back guarantee can help to build market credibility.
Remember: teachers are people too: Don't be afraid to use a persuasive tone and to offer purchasing incentives when marketing to teachers. According to Bob Stimolo in Marketing to Schools, "Despite what educators may lead marketers to believe at trade shows or focus sessions, they respond to the same types of buying incentives that motivate the rest of the world."

Determine Your Channel Strategy

While there are a number of channels used to market to teachers, direct mail, community outreach, and online marketing are key tools in reaching teachers with information on classroom materials. These will be discussed below, supplemented by a listing of other established channels for those interested in exploring all available options. (Note: for a definitive look at channel strategy, read The Channel Advantage by Friedman and Furey.)

Direct Mail: Bob Stone, author of Successful Direct Marketing Methods, notes that direct mail offers several advantages over other vehicles, including:
audience targeting
a wide choice of presentation formats
potential for personalization
lack of competition at the point of impact
opportunity for testing (see explanation below)
accountability
and the potential to involve the recipient

Particularly valuable is the opportunity for testing: by presenting one group of teachers with one offer and a second group with another offer, you'll be able to find out which offer will receive a greater response. Added benefits specific to direct mail are that teachers can hold mailed information until they have the time and the need to review it and that printed materials can be easily passed along to other teachers or copied for distribution during the product review process.

The most important factor in your direct mailing is list selection. The education market offers excellent lists compiled from sources such as teacher directories and telemarketers; these lists can typically be further refined along various categories, allowing you to specifically target the exact market you'd like to reach. Response lists, or lists made up of people who have made a purchase or taken some other action, are generally less available and offer fewer options (but should still be carefully considered). Education mailing lists typically cost between $50-$100 per thousand names for a one time use.

Key industry providers include Quality Education Data (www.qeddata.com ); Market Data Retrieval (www.schooldata.com ); Venture Direct (www.venturedirect.com ); School Market Research Institute (www.school-market.com ); and Mailings Clearing House (www.mailings.com ). Each of these companies can offer expert assistance in selecting your list if you provide them with a detailed description of the types of teachers you're trying to reach.

Online Marketing: Like direct mail, the Internet offers great potential for marketing to teachers. Your Web site can be an invaluable source of product information for teachers. To promote your site get listed on search engines and teacher-oriented sites to build traffic and visibility. To receive the highest level of exposure, it's wise to supplement your online efforts with offline marketing referencing your site. Remember that, with the exception of mass E-mail marketing, your online efforts must be recognized as "pull" promotional tools (people finding you), as opposed to a "push" tool like direct mail (you finding people).

E-mail lists are still very limited in size and availability for the education market. The first commercial opt-in education E-mail lists were introduced in mid-2000 by Quality Education Data. However, if the experience of consumer marketers is any indication, E-mail promotions to teachers will soon become a valuable option for marketers. "E-mail is the star performer compared to other forms of Internet marketing," said Brian Walker of Eddie Bauer ("E-mail addresses skyrocket as keys to consumer trove," April 30, 2001; The Charlotte Observer).

Community Outreach: If you've got nonprofit partners at the community level, you've got a powerful tool for classroom outreach. Not only can they approach schools at the local level through individual contacts (the most effective form of outreach), but their nonprofit status and implied endorsement lends additional credibility and import to your project. Provide your community partners with the tools they need:
an overview of your project
a step-by-step outreach guide to implementing classroom screenings and/or community events
several copies of your teacher materials and order forms (or free copies) of your film
and feedback forms to help you learn from their hard work
if possible, provide them with outreach grants
never forget to thank them and reward them for their efforts
Other Avenues: While the three channels mentioned here are considered the most effective, there are several other channels proven to reach teachers. These include telemarketing, trade shows, advertisements, and public relations, each of which should be considered within the context of your budget and goals.