Selling Education

 As a public educator, I realize that whether we like it or not, our jobs are essentially sales jobs. We turn over the audience every 50 minutes or so, and we face a new crowd and try to sell them on learning a skill or particular content. Quite honestly most of them have no interest in buying what we are selling, but we are responsible for them buying it. On top of that, there are countless organizations offering new ways to improve your selling capabilities, and they are selling those programs to you. I work for one of those organizations myself, and I fully believe in what we provide teachers and students, however the legislators that determine our funding have not always seen our value in the same way. A few years ago I contributed to the graphic below:

In all honesty, it was hard to create a single graphic that truly encompassed everything that we do. While I think this image is helpful and informative, it does nothing in the way of influencing a legislator to see the value in what we provide. Quite frankly it isn't speaking to what they need to know in order to make a budget decision. I'm also not certain our design elements align to the CRAP model described by Turner & Hicks (2017) in a way that makes our graphic effective. It's a great graphic to inform the general public about what is available to schools using their taxes. Unfortunately this image wasn't created with those people in mind, nor was it aimed at reaching them, which is a missed opportunity. While we need to increase brand awareness as described by Lawrence (2022) with the public, they are not the ones who eventually write the checks.  As Lawrence (2022) writes "Who is the audience? Or who are the audiences? What do they want or need to know? What is the most effective way to send that message to your audience?"(p.6).

It turns out legislators, much like superintendents are really only looking for the cost and the return on investment. Superintendents look at this from a cost-per-pupil basis. If they can keep that amount small, then they are willing to move forward with new curricula, or a new initiative. Legislators are also looking for something similar because they have limited time to explain their decisions when it comes to spending taxpayer dollars. The general public should have received this graphic while legislators needed to see something different. This is one I created that is less informative overall, but aimed at a different audience.

When you are specific about your audience, and create your message to be concise to specifically address THEIR needs, then you can make a much bigger, and better impact. Again, Turner & Hicks (2017) point out to "Stay Focused on one claim at a time" (p. 75). This helps your audience stay focused and not begin to ignore information. This is what our initial infographic was missing.



With so much information overload, our goal is not only to sell information, but to target it, so that it is bought.

References:

Lawrence, D. (2022). Digital Writing: A Guide to writing for Social Media and the web. Broadview Press.

Turner, K. H., & Hicks, T. (2017). Argument in the real world: Teaching adolescents to read and write digital texts. Heinemann.



Comments

  1. Grace SandersJune 20, 2022 at 8:29 PM

    It is so interesting thinking about our jobs as teachers in this way of a sales position! I teach elementary students, so I guess my audience isn't turned over every 50 mins like yours but instead it is turned over every year based on the new group of students in my classroom. It makes total sense, since we are trying to teach them new skills or content matter in a way that will essentially "sell" them on it. This made me think of how Arguments in the Real World explained that there is a "story" behind every infographic and "by putting it all together in a format that is easy to read and understand, you will draw your audience and keep them hooked" (Turner & Hicks, 2017, p.62). Since infographics are visuals that are often viewed by a variety of audiences and ages on a variety of platforms, it makes me wonder how the creators go about selecting the information that they think will best appeal to all audiences viewing it and sell their information.

    References:
    Turner, K. H., & Hicks, T. (2017). Argument in the Real World: Teaching adolescents to read and write digital texts. Heinemann.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lee PastorJune 21, 2022 at 12:26 PM

    I think you brought up a great reminder about the importance of audience when creating an infographic. You have to know your audience when you make an argument. Sometimes there is so much information on infographics that it can be overwhelming or perhaps you lose the main point you are trying to make. In the case of Alabama Science in Motion, if you are trying to convince the folks who control the purse strings to fund the program, streamlining your infographic to focus on the cost per pupil is wise. While Turner and Hicks (2017) didn't really discuss audience in detail, they did note that "you have to be able to tell a story combining both the data and graphics. By putting it all together in a format that is easy to read and understand, you will draw your audience in and keep them hooked" (p.62). And yes, just as we do as educators, we are selling something (you could even use marketing terms and call it a brand) to people - whether it is students or to legislators. "Creating true brand engagement is all about creating an emotional connection and an impactful experience. Infographics are particularly effective at cutting through the clutter to communicate with audiences and deliver that experience" (French, 2022, par.2). So being able to effectively create an infographic that makes those connections is a necessary tool for any online writer, salesman, or educator trying to secure some funding.

    References
    French, K. (2022, June 21). Three ways infographics engage your audience. Column Five Media. https://www.columnfivemedia.com/3-ways-infographics-engage-your-audience/

    Turner, K.H., & Hicks, T. (2017). Teaching adolescents to read and write digital texts: Argument in the real world. Heinemann.

    ReplyDelete

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