Students or Parents?

Hi All,

If you were marketing an educational product, who would you market to first? Students or students' parents?

Thanks!

Linda Locke


Master Mental Math

> If you were marketing an educational
> product, who would you market to first?
> Students or students' parents?

Linda,

Playing with semantics...

I am a student (of the masters, as Gordon would say; of those who have gone down the road I want to go down; of those who possess knowledge I wish to have; and so on), and marketing to my parents to get them to buy it for me would be a waste of time.

From a typical high-school student point of view... while many parents would buy something to help their little darlings get better grades, the little darlings would not be interested. (Just like the parents who hire tutors for their children while the child doesn't care one little bit.)

From a Seeds of Wisdom board point of view...

Are any of the visitors here high school students? And if so, THEY have come here to learn off their own bat. So they would be prime targets in my opinion.

However, if you are asking because you want to develop a marketing system around your math thing - which you linked to in your post - then I can't see any "school" use.

Calculating a tip... or mileage on a trip... or whatnot, doesn't get me better grades. And in school, I am allowed to use a calculator anyway.

As an adult out in the real world, I find the possibilities intriguing. Then again, in high school I always reckoned everyone should have been doing "maths in society" (called veggie math because only those who couldn't handle higher level math did it) because it had an actual real world use, whereas the higher math being taught (absolute values, differentiation, etc.) had no immediate real world use. So my comments are slanted.

Also, seeing as I have heard of Trackenberg (sp?) I am already drawn to these types of mental tricks.

Personally, I think adults are more likely to go for your product. For their own use. And some for those who do home schooling. That's my "opnion" - untested.

If you truly want to know who to market to... go into the market and ask them. Stand outside a school and do a survey of the students. Go to a junior school and survey the waiting parents.

Michael Ross

Hi Michael,

Thanks! The mental math product is just one of the educational products I want to market after I rewrite the sales copy and slant it more to a students point of view.

I like the idea for standing outside a school and doing a survey, but in today's climate I worry that before long the police would show up and want to know what I was doing! But I could round up some high school students from family and friends and do a survey with them and their parents at the same time.

Thanks again!

Linda Locke

Dear Linda,

Michael had some excellent insights in his post. I wondered also about the "educational product" and whether it is a product that is laden with benefits the parents would most highly value or does it have benefits that the would the student most highly value?

Is it a high cost product that the parents will need to purchase for the students or is it inexpensive enough for the allowance to pay for it?

These types of things also may add into your marketing mix....

Best wishes and look forward to hearing what is happening with your product. I am the parent of a few students and a future student who right now is focusing on language acquisition. Right now he loves saying "Hi!" and "Mama" or "MY MAMA!" and "Yeah!!" and "uh huh!" and lots of other cutisms that make my heart melt....

With Passionate Gratitude,

Julie


Dare to Discover Your Passion, Decide to Live Your

Hi Julie,

Thanks! As for the main educational product I'm marketing right now, I would think the parents and students both would see the value and benefits -- maybe the parents a little more.

The cost is over $100 with shipping which may be a problem for some students. But if they see it and want it as a mother you know they could get their parents to buy it for them especially if it's going to improve their grades.

Thanks again for your input.

Linda Locke

Hi Linda,

I have sold to this market in the past and....

I have found that the attitudes of today's kids are really sad when it comes to doing well at school or showing an interest in improving their standings academically. Sadly also, many parents (the younger ones) don't place much pressure on the kids to do better in scholastic endeavors.

I have watched the outlook change as the last 2 generations come of age and become parents...the drive for a top education just doesn't seem to be there in the majority of families...BUT...

There is a market for these types of products...Grandparents - today's grandparents were of the generations that did place a great deal of weight and relevance on education...when approached with good products and good copy, they will buy for the grandchildren.

Whether the kids ever use them is another story...but sales will get made.

Cornell

Hi Cornell,

Thanks so much for your input, it's really helpful. I would never have thought about marketing to the grandparents.

Linda Locke

Dear Linda,

Wow. I had not thought of the Grandparents perspective and Cornell's point is well taken.

Another thing I thought of for you is that my eleven year old daughter is very bright and very committed to her own personal achievement. She participates in Academic Pentathlon, has made the Principal's list (highest honors)each grading period.

Her fifth grade teacher practically treats her like a teacher's aide.

Unlike many kids, the TOP echelon kids remain very motivated. I have read that in early middle school is when girls stop being motivated due to peer pressure, etc. I am working to prevent that for my daughter.

Another aspect of this is educational sales overall. I heard on the radio that all the pushing to increase state test scores has actually brought down the overall testing abilities of our kids.

Bottom line, though, the schools will do anything to bring in more money for their schools....so perhaps even a school market might be worthwhile to look into.

The schools also get quite a bit of money when they reach their goals: at least those schools here in California that are in disadvantaged areas. There is so much emphasis on helping the kids who REALLY need the help whose parent's can't afford the $100 price tag.

Look what happens when someone has another perspective: it opens up even more.

Best wishes, Linda. Lets keep improving our children instead of losing hope in them.

With Passionate Gratitude,

Julie Jordan Scott


Dare to Discover Your Passion!

Hi Linda -

I would concentrate on the educators. How about Counselor's offices and teachers who run tutoring programs. Some products could also be used in the classroom as a teaching tool?

You could also think about partnering with independent teaching/study programs. Sylvan Learning Centers, those Speed Reading courses (I forget the name), and Kaplan all come to mind.

Just my 2 cents...


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