The first thing most B2B marketers get wrong about selling to education is the assumption that there is a single decision-maker. In a small primary school, the headteacher may indeed be the budget holder, the influencer and the final decision-maker all in one. But in a larger secondary, a multi-academy trust or an FE college, the purchasing journey involves multiple stakeholders with different priorities and different levels of authority.

The Greater Manchester Learning Provider Network (GMLPN) is pleased to welcome Zack Grimes Marketing & Communications (ZGMC) as a member of the network, further strengthening collaboration across education, training and skills provision in Greater Manchester.

Every education provider I have ever worked with has, at some point, said something like: 'We know we need proper marketing and comms, but we can't justify a full-time hire.'

That is an entirely rational position. A senior in-house marketing director in the education sector commands a salary of between £35,000 and £70,000 - before employer national insurance contributions, pension, holiday cover and the cost of managing someone who may not have deep sector knowledge.

Education providers are operating without a marketing strategy, relying on word of mouth, reactive social media content, an underperforming website and newsletters to do the work that a coherent communications programme should be doing.