Back-to-school may receive top billing, but it represents only one part of the education print calendar. For distributors interested in selling print to schools, that makes education a year-round market – not a one-season opportunity.
Throughout the year, schools communicate with prospective students, current students, families, faculty, staff, alumni, donors, and community members. They recruit, welcome, inform, direct, promote, fundraise, recognize, and celebrate – and nearly every one of those activities creates a need for print.
For you, the opportunity is significant. The United States has approximately 99,300 public schools and 29,700 private schools, along with thousands of colleges, universities, technical schools, and other postsecondary institutions.
Yet the number of institutions tells only part of the story. The greater opportunity is found inside them.
How to Find More Print Business Inside Every Education Account
It’s easy to think of a school, district, college, or university as a single account. In practice, each may contain numerous departments, organizations, and decision-makers with their own audiences, objectives, budgets, and deadlines.
Within a K–12 account, potential buyers may include:
- District administration and communications
- Individual school offices
- Athletics and extracurricular programs
- Parent organizations and school foundations
- Performing arts departments
- Food service and transportation
- Fundraising committees
- Summer and community education programs
A college or university can open even more doors:
- Admissions and enrollment
- Orientation and student services
- Academic departments
- Athletics and student organizations
- Campus events and conferences
- Housing and dining
- Alumni relations
- Advancement and development
- Continuing education
- Facilities and campus operations
An existing relationship with one contact can become an introduction to several others. The reseller who supplies folders for admissions, for example, may also be able to help orientation prepare welcome materials, athletics promote upcoming events, and advancement coordinate a donor mailing.
The key is to stop asking, “What can I sell this school?” and start asking, “Who does this institution need to reach next – and what are they trying to accomplish?”
Connect Print to the Institution’s Objective
Education buyers are rarely looking for print simply for the sake of print. They’re trying to recruit students, communicate information, increase attendance, guide visitors, raise funds, or strengthen a connection with their community.
Leading with that objective makes the sales conversation more relevant – and often reveals a larger, coordinated opportunity.
Recruit and enroll
Admissions and enrollment teams may need brochures, postcards, flyers, presentation folders, envelopes, and event signage to reach prospective students and guide them through the decision process.
Instead of quoting one brochure, ask how the school communicates before and after a campus visit. A recruitment campaign might include an introductory postcard, program brochure, information folder, promotional products, and signage for an admissions event.
Welcome and inform
Student services, orientation teams, school offices, and academic departments continually share instructions, schedules, policies, and resources.
Folders can organize orientation materials. Forms and envelopes support administrative communication. Labels help identify materials and manage supplies. Post-it® Notes offer a useful branded item for students, teachers, faculty, and staff.
Direct and organize
Schools and campuses are busy physical environments. Students, families, visitors, and employees need to know where to go and what to do when they arrive.
Floor decals, banners, posters, and directional signs can support registration, campus tours, conferences, athletic events, performances, graduations, and everyday navigation.
Encourage participation
Athletics, student organizations, performing arts programs, clubs, and parent groups depend on participation from students, families, and the surrounding community.
Postcards, flyers, posters, banners, decals, bumper stickers, yard signs, calendar cards, and event tickets can help promote activities, manage attendance, recognize sponsors, and encourage school pride.
Fundraise and reconnect
K–12 foundations, parent groups, advancement teams, and alumni departments rely on communication to maintain relationships and generate support.
Donation and remittance envelopes, custom letterhead, postcards, event invitations, and supporting campaign materials can work together to make an appeal more visible, personal, and easy to respond to.
A product request may be the starting point, but the institution’s objective reveals the full campaign.
Beyond Back-to-School: Education Print Sales Follow a Year-Round Calendar
Distributors who contact education customers only before the first day of school miss much of the market.
Schools have recurring communication needs across every season:
- Summer: Registration, orientation, enrollment communication, classroom preparation, campus updates, back-to-school events, and new signage
- Fall: Athletics, homecoming, parent events, student activities, performances, fundraisers, and annual giving
- Winter: Admissions recruitment, course registration, conferences, recognition programs, indoor events, and spring planning
- Spring: Graduation, alumni events, donor outreach, summer-program promotion, year-end fundraising, and enrollment for the coming year
The most effective outreach starts well before the event. Review school and campus calendars, identify what’s approaching, and work backward from the date the materials will be needed.
A spring graduation project may require a conversation during winter. Fall recruitment materials may be planned during summer. Annual campaigns often return at roughly the same time each year.
Once a recurring need is identified, record the likely reorder date and follow up before planning begins again.
Learn How the Institution Buys
The opportunity may be broad, but education purchasing can be structured. Before recommending products, learn how decisions are made.
Ask:
- Is purchasing centralized through a district or institutional office?
- Can individual schools or departments manage their own budgets?
- Do we need to complete a vendor-registration process?
- Who requests the materials?
- Who approves the artwork and expense?
- Who ultimately places the order?
- Are there brand standards that every department must follow?
- When does the budget year begin or end?
- Which projects repeat each semester or school year?
One especially useful question is: “Who else is involved in approving, ordering, or using these materials?” The answer may uncover an additional decision-maker, a different department, or an opportunity to coordinate several related pieces.
Understanding the process also helps you provide greater value. Education customers often appreciate help maintaining consistency, selecting practical specifications, meeting firm event dates, and preparing repeat orders without starting over each time.
Try the 10-3-90 Education Plan
The education market can feel enormous. A simple prospecting framework makes it manageable.
Choose 10 institutions
Identify 10 schools, districts, colleges, universities, prep schools, charter schools, technical schools, or community education organizations in your market.
These could include current customers as well as prospects. An existing customer may provide the fastest opportunity because you already have a relationship and order history.
Find three potential buying groups in each
Research the institution’s website, staff directory, event calendar, news, and social channels. Select at least three departments or organizations that regularly communicate with students, families, alumni, donors, or the public.
For example:
- Admissions
- Athletics
- Student services
- Advancement
- Performing arts
- Parent organizations
- Continuing education
Ten institutions multiplied by three buying groups creates 30 focused opportunities – without requiring a massive prospecting list.
Look ahead 90 days
Review what each institution has scheduled during the next three months. Look for enrollment events, performances, fundraisers, athletics, orientation, conferences, parent programs, alumni gatherings, or graduation activities.
Then choose one timely objective and suggest a coordinated group of products that can support it.
For each opportunity:
- Identify the audience and desired response.
- Recommend two or three complementary print products.
- Contact the appropriate department before its planning deadline.
- Ask about related events or communication needs.
- Record the likely reorder date.
The goal isn’t to pitch every available product at once. It’s to begin one relevant conversation, complete the project successfully, and use what you learn to find the next opportunity.
Start Mapping Your Education Accounts
More departments = more needs = more opportunity for you. Navitor’s Education Products page brings together print ideas for both K–12 and higher education. You can also download separate K–12 and Higher Education flyers to guide prospecting conversations and introduce customers to additional possibilities.
Choose one nearby education account. Identify three departments. Look at what’s coming up on the calendar. Then start with the department that has the clearest need and the nearest deadline.
Education never stops communicating. Neither does its need for print. The next education order may already be on the calendar. You simply need to find the person planning it.
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About Julie Carlson-Kulla