Marketing and Education Elana Leoni | Leoni Consulting Group

n this week’s episode of All Things Marketing and Education, our host Elana Leoni sat down with Ian McCullough, a consultant specializing in marketing, go-to-market strategies, and business development for the EdTech industry.
You might remember Ian from our last episode with him, Academic Integrity in the AI Era, took us on a journey into the fascinating intersection of ChatGPT, AI writing, and academic integrity.
Here, we delve into the intricacies of the EdTech buying cycle, exploring its metaphors and nuances that help make sense of the process. Ian’s insights are invaluable for anyone involved in EdTech sales, whether B2B or, as Ian suggests, B2G (business to government).
Before diving in, a bit about Ian: with over 20 years in education and creative technology, he has experience spanning consumer, corporate training, and institutional markets. He previously led the North American K-12 marketing team at Turnitin and now offers his expertise as a consultant.
Enjoy this engaging episode that makes the complex K-12 buying cycle both understandable and exciting!

In this episode of All Things Marketing and Education, Elana sits down with Dr. Robert Dillon, School Designer, Author, Speaker, and Learner. Bob, as she likes to call him, has earned a doctorate in educational leadership and administration, and brings over 20 years of experience as a teacher, school principal, and director of innovation at multiple school districts; he is the author of five books, including the ones we dive into today: The Space: A Guide for Leaders.
In this episode, Bob and Elana discuss the crucial role of redesigning learning spaces in education, emphasizing that it's far more than just updating bulletin boards. They delve into the significant impact of classroom design on student engagement, sense of belonging, and overall well-being.
Make sure to listen until the end, as Bob shares practical tips for educators to create flexible, inclusive, and technology-integrated learning environments. They also explore the relationship between physical learning spaces and EdTech products, highlighting the importance of considering equity and the needs of marginalized students in the design process.
Whether you're already back in school or preparing for the upcoming year, this episode is packed with valuable tips and ideas to help you optimize your classroom space.
Here's the link to the episode show notes.
For even more planning resources, check out our EdTech Marketer's Planner.
Mentioned in this episode:
The EdTech Marketer's Planner - Extended Edition
Want a comprehensive list of timely education events to inform your 2024 marketing plans?

Struggling to find the time you need to strategically plan for content and social media?

Spending countless hours just trying to aggregate conferences, awards, events, holidays, and famous birthdays is most important to education stakeholders?

Our first-ever Extended EdTech Marketer’s Planner was created to help you easily create a marketing and content plan that generates leads. It includes proven templates, strategies, editable calendars, and more.

In this episode of All Things Marketing and Education, we sit down with Shawn McCusker, Senior Director of Professional Learning at EdTechTeacher, to discuss his passion, civic engagement. We ask him about some of his favorite tips and takeaways from the book Becoming Active Citizens, which he co-wrote with Tom Driscoll. He provides practical ways to encourage active citizens in the classroom by creating authentic, engaging learning experiences, emphasizing the need for students to actively participate in government meetings and simulations to truly understand how government works.
Shawn highlights the positive impact of quality civic engagement on communities, such as increased voter turnout and improved quality of life. He encourages educators to prioritize citic education and suggests ways for school leaders to support its integration into all subjects.
Here's the link to the episode show notes.
For even more planning resources, check out our EdTech Marketer's Planner.

In this week’s episode of All Things Marketing and Education, Elana sits down with Tatum Moser, who has the unique combination of an expertise SEO and a deep background in education and EdTech.
During this conversation, Tatum talks about all things SEO — and before you get concerned that this may be overly technical, Tatum has a beautiful way of breaking this all down in such an easy-to-understand way. She talks about practical ways to leverage SEO in your daily marketing and content efforts; specifically, we talk about tips on improving your SEO health score by conducting keyword research, optimizing user experience, and using some cool SEO tools.
SEO isn’t always easy, but if done right, it will completely change the way you approach your content strategy — and Tatum is exactly the right person to help you start your jouney. Enjoy!
Episode show notesExtended EdTech Marketer's Planner
Mentioned in this episode:
The EdTech Marketer's Planner - Extended Edition
Want a comprehensive list of timely education events to inform your 2024 marketing plans?

Struggling to find the time you need to strategically plan for content and social media?

Spending countless hours just trying to aggregate conferences, awards, events, holidays, and famous birthdays is most important to education stakeholders?

Our first-ever Extended EdTech Marketer’s Planner was created to help you easily create a marketing and content plan that generates leads. It includes proven templates, strategies, editable calendars, and more.

In this week’s episode of All Things Marketing and Education, Elana sits down with Ilana Kurizki, the Vice President of Communications at BrainPOP, a 25-year-old EdTech brand that reaches millions of learners worldwide.
Ilana has spent almost 14 years at BrainPOP within different communications roles, and we talk about so many valuable things within communications and marketing, such as how you make the case for comms, what role should it play internally and externally, and best practices like how to integrate it within the entire company (and not let it be a siloed effort). 
Toward the end of the conversation, Ilana shares some really great nuggets of wisdom for anyone starting in comms or thinking about it as a profession. To top it off, we get into an inspiring conversation about how to integrate educator voice into your day-to-day.
This conversation is such a breath of fresh air that made us smile. We hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did. 
Questions Covered:
What is the relationship between communications and other leaders and departments within the organization, including the executive team and marketing?Why is a robust internal and external communications function critical to the success of any organization?How do you evolve a brand over time while preserving its core identity? What are the benefits of conducting listening tours with customers and colleagues?What advice would you give to aspiring communications leaders on finding their power, purpose, and voice? What are some of the things that fill your cup? 
Here's the full transcript of Ilana’s podcast episode.
Mentioned in this episode:
The EdTech Marketer's Planner - Extended Edition
Want a comprehensive list of timely education events to inform your 2024 marketing plans?

Struggling to find the time you need to strategically plan for content and social media?

Spending countless hours just trying to aggregate conferences, awards, events, holidays, and famous birthdays is most important to education stakeholders?

Our first-ever Extended EdTech Marketer’s Planner was created to help you easily create a marketing and content plan that generates leads. It includes proven templates, strategies, editable calendars, and more.

In this week’s episode of All Things Marketing and Education, Elana got to chat with Lawrence Korchnak, a Founding Partner of BLOQQ, a consulting firm that specializes in helping organizations scale in the education market.
Lawrence guides us through the unique challenges of a go-to-market strategy in the EdTech Industry, including how to plan a go-to-market strategy, including defining success, backward planning, and prioritizing marketing channels. He sheds some light on the seasonality and Budget Cycles in Education and don't’ miss the end of our chat, when Lawrence throws down some really candid pieces of wisdom. we talk about some important intangibles on Building an EdTech Go-to-Market Strategy.
For any EdTech marketers, but especially those who are new to the EdTech industry or the marketing profession, this episode will help set a solid foundation for your next go-to-market campaign.
Questions Covered:
Why develop a Go-To-Market Strategy and let’s even back up and define what a typical EDTech GTM strategy is and looks like? What are some key questions for success in building your startup in a crowded, bureaucratic, and complex marketplace?What are some of the things that you turn to to fill your cup? 
Here's the full transcript of Lawrence’s podcast episode.
For even more planning resources, check out our EdTech Marketer's Planner.
Mentioned in this episode:
The EdTech Marketer's Planner - Extended Edition
Want a comprehensive list of timely education events to inform your 2024 marketing plans?

Struggling to find the time you need to strategically plan for content and social media?

Spending countless hours just trying to aggregate conferences, awards, events, holidays, and famous birthdays is most important to education stakeholders?

Our first-ever Extended EdTech Marketer’s Planner was created to help you easily create a marketing and content plan that generates leads. It includes proven templates, strategies, editable calendars, and more.