MDR 2020 Digital Marketing Trends in Education Report Reveals Educators Increasingly Turn to Digital for Resources, Communications

Teachers continue to accelerate online engagement with spikes during COVID-19 school closures

SHELTON, Conn. – June 29, 2020 – MDR, a division of Dun & Bradstreet, a leading global provider of business decisioning data and analytics, today unveiled its 2020 Data-Driven Digital Marketing Trends in Education: Behavior and Benchmarks Guide. The company analyzed thousands of digital marketing campaigns to reveal the kinds of digital marketing to which educators respond.

“Each time we do this study, we see a marked increase in the ways that educators are embracing the digital world,” said Sean McCloud, digital products manager, MDR. “As a result, competition for their attention on digital channels is increasing, so it is critical that marketers target their campaigns and hone their messages to reach, interest and persuade educators.”

Looking at the online behavior of educators during the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent switch to remote learning revealed an uptick in overall educator engagement on digital channels. During the three-month period of March-May 2020, email open rates showed more than a five percent increase over the same timeframe last year. Page views on MDR’s WeAreTeachers online community increased by nearly 74 percent during the three-month period and, in May, educator engagement on Facebook surged by 60 percent over 2019, demonstrating the ways that teachers were connecting with one another and searching for resources during school closures.

Other key findings of the Data-Driven Digital Marketing Trends in Education: Behavior and Benchmarks Guide include:

  • Dollar for dollar, email is still the most direct, fastest, and most cost-effective method of one-to-one communication with customers and prospects.
  • Campaigns targeting fewer educators have higher open and click-through rates. In fact, every increase in campaign size shows a corresponding reduction in open and click-through rates.
  • Off-peak deployment carries the benefit of a less competitive inbox.

McCloud shared additional findings of the report in a recent webinar. To learn more and listen to a recording of his presentation, visit the web page here.

For the 2020 Data-Driven Digital Marketing Trends in Education: Behavior and Benchmarks Guide, MDR analyzed more than 6,000 email campaigns deploying over 102 million delivered emails, more than 200 Facebook campaigns generating 13.8 million impressions and more than 100 web advertising campaigns resulting in 13 million impressions.

About MDR

MDR connects enterprises to the education community with innovative data driven solutions that accelerate marketing and sales success. For more than 50 years, MDR has provided insights and structure to the complexities of the education marketplace through unique institution and personnel data and analytics. Innovative tools, unparalleled services and deep market knowledge speed customers go-to-market strategies while delivering critical database hygiene, structure and linkage to support modern CRM, Marketing Automation and ERP connectivity. MDR’s marketing services range from content development and marketing agency services to data-driven social and digital advertising solutions. MDR’s recent innovations include AcceleratedData, MDR’s ConnectED Cloud, and the number one media brand for educators, WeAreTeachers. For more information, visit www.MDReducation.com.

About Dun & Bradstreet

Dun & Bradstreet, a leading global provider of business decisioning data and analytics, enables companies around the world to improve their business performance. Dun & Bradstreet’s Data Cloud fuels solutions and delivers insights that empower customers to accelerate revenue, lower cost, mitigate risk, and transform their businesses. Since 1841, companies of every size have relied on Dun & Bradstreet to help them manage risk and reveal opportunity. Twitter: @DunBradstreet