How Teachers Wish Suppliers Would Market to Them

What makes teachers engage with supplier marketing? Explore the emails, messaging, and practical details that make school campaigns easier to act on.

Author

Guy Lewis

Published: 29^th July 2026

Teachers hear from suppliers every day, and contrary to popular belief, that isn't the problem. Schools buy new software, invite workshop providers in, introduce new services, trial new resources, and discover organisations they've never worked with before throughout the academic year, so hearing from a supplier isn't unusual in the slightest.

The frustration comes from the amount of work some marketing asks teachers to do before they've even decided whether they're interested. They open an email and have to work out who it's for, which year groups it supports, why they've received it, whether it solves a problem they actually have, and if it's worth spending another few minutes reading. By the time they've answered all those questions, the next email is already waiting.

Most of those little points of friction are surprisingly easy to remove. The suppliers that generate the strongest engagement make it incredibly easy for teachers to understand where the product fits, who it's for, and why it's worth another minute of attention.

Tell teachers why they should care first

Teachers only spend around 11 seconds, on average, deciding whether an email deserves any more of their time. That's enough to read roughly the first 50 words, which means those opening lines are doing far more heavy lifting than many businesses realise.

A lot of supplier emails spend those first 50 words talking about themselves. They introduce the company, explain how long they've been established, mention their experienced team, or proudly announce they've been supporting schools for years. None of that information is wrong, although very little of it helps a busy teacher answer the question they're already asking themselves: "Why should I keep reading this?"

If your workshop helps schools meet Gatsby Benchmarks, your software saves teachers time, your resource supports a difficult curriculum topic, or your service removes an administrative headache, those are the reasons a teacher is likely to keep reading. Once they've understood why your email deserves a place in their inbox, they're far more receptive to learning about your organisation, your experience, and everything else that builds confidence later in the buying journey.

Respect how little time teachers have

Teachers aren't opening supplier emails with the intention of spending ten minutes analysing them. More often, they're catching up between lessons, grabbing a few minutes before a meeting starts, or clearing part of an inbox that's already filled with messages demanding their attention.

That means an email doesn't need to explain absolutely everything during the first interaction, and trying to do so often creates the opposite effect. Long introductions, multiple attachments, huge blocks of text, five different calls to action, and brochures explaining every feature can quickly make a useful product feel like hard work before the teacher has even reached the interesting part.

The easiest emails to engage with usually feel effortless to read. They explain the opportunity quickly, answer the obvious questions early, keep the structure clean, and make it immediately clear what the teacher should do next if they'd like to find out more.

Make it obvious where your product fits

Teachers know their curriculum inside out, so given enough time they’ll usually work out exactly where your product fits. The difficulty is that very few teachers have five spare minutes to study a website, download a brochure, and connect everything back to their own planning before deciding whether it’s relevant.

Suppliers that consistently generate enquiries remove that thinking early. If your workshop has been designed for Years 5 and 6, say so. If your resource supports a particular curriculum topic, Gatsby Benchmark, assessment objective, awareness week, or recognised initiative, make those connections obvious. If your software has been designed for school business managers rather than classroom teachers, don’t leave the audience guessing who it’s actually for.

Teachers shouldn’t have to translate your marketing before deciding whether it’s relevant. The quicker they can picture where your product fits into school life, the easier it becomes to decide whether it’s worth taking a closer look.

Answer the questions teachers are already asking

Teachers start evaluating a supplier long before they reply to the email, because they’re already wondering how much it costs, which year groups it suits, how long it takes, whether training is included, what implementation looks like, whether other schools use it, and how much work it’s likely to create.

Every unanswered question becomes another small reason to put the email aside until there’s more time, and for many schools that moment never quite arrives. Good school marketing removes those little barriers wherever possible: pricing doesn’t always need to be displayed, although schools appreciate understanding the level of investment involved, while practical information such as timings, group sizes, delivery format, DBS arrangements, travel, support, and what’s included all help teachers picture how your product would work in their own school.

Stop talking about yourself

Supplier marketing can very quickly become a company biography, especially when emails begin with the organisation’s history, their mission, the experience of the team, or the number of years they’ve been supporting schools.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with including that information, although it rarely belongs at the top of the email while teachers are still deciding whether they care enough to keep reading. Lead with the challenge you solve, explain why it’s relevant to the school receiving the email, then build confidence by introducing your organisation, your experience, and the schools you’ve already worked with.

Stay visible without becoming a nuisance

Very few teachers make purchasing decisions the first time they hear about a supplier, because a workshop might look perfect when there isn’t space in the diary, or a piece of software may solve a genuine problem when budgets aren’t being discussed yet.

Consistent school marketing gives teachers multiple opportunities to recognise your organisation when the timing feels right. That doesn’t mean filling inboxes every week or sending the same email repeatedly; it means staying visible with useful, relevant marketing that gives schools a reason to remember you when circumstances change.

Make life easier for teachers

Teachers don’t expect supplier marketing to be entertaining, but they do expect it to be relevant, easy to understand, and respectful of the limited time they have available during the school day.

Every unnecessary paragraph, missing detail, vague claim, and extra step asks teachers to invest a little more effort before they can decide whether your product is worth exploring. Suppliers that consistently generate enquiries tend to remove those small obstacles wherever they can, making it easy for schools to understand what they’re offering, who it’s for, and why it’s worth a closer look.

If you’d like a second opinion on your current school marketing, book an education strategy call with our team. We’ll help you identify the points of friction that could be costing you enquiries, and show you how to build campaigns that teachers actually want to read.