December in K-12 is two weeks of chaos wrapped in out-of-office replies. Teachers are hanging on until winter break, district leaders are buried in celebrations and strategy, and your carefully crafted sales push is not getting the response your dashboard hoped for. If you are still banking on December to hit revenue targets, this episode is a reality check and a reset.
In this episode, Elana breaks down what December really looks like for teachers and decision makers, how to show up with human first marketing, and why your smartest plays now are relationship building, evergreen content, and getting January ready before you log off. She also shares fresh LinkedIn and Instagram trends, plus an insight from Education Week that might change how you think about pillar content.
What You’ll Learn
Why December is effectively a two-week window with scattered attention and low responsiveness
How to support teachers who are managing antsy students and counting the days to break
How school and district leaders are actually spending December, from celebrations to vendor and tech stack decisions
How to use December to quietly build an efficacy library of case studies that will convert in January
Why deep explainer content can become your most durable, evergreen traffic and trust builder
Why It Matters
December is not a normal marketing month. Educators are exhausted, buyers are either offline or deeply focused, and attention is more fragmented than usual. If you respond by pushing harder on demos and product pitches, you erode trust and waste effort. If you treat December as a relationship and infrastructure month, you protect renewals, set up January campaigns that actually ship, and create content that works for you long after the decorations come down. How you show up now affects how confident and prepared you feel when 2026 hits.
December and Early January Plays You Can Run
Teachers
Share quick wins, not heavy lifts. Think short lessons, templates, or ways to use a specific feature to calm or re engage a restless class.
Lead with empathy. Acknowledge that they are tired, overloaded, and looking for anything that feels like relief. Avoid jargon and long PD pushes.
Balance help and humor. Teacher memes, classroom realities, and “you are not alone” posts can be as valuable as resources, as long as they respect your brand.
School and District Leaders
Assume they are either publicly “out of office” or silently heads down. Keep outreach short, human, and relationship first.
Send real holiday notes. Handwritten cards, small thoughtful gifts, or a simple “we see your leadership” message stand out in an era of generic automated email.
Show your team. Holiday photos, small traditions, and founder messages remind buyers that they are partnering with humans, not just a logo.
Your Marketing Team
Build your efficacy library. Use quieter weeks to interview customers, outline case studies, and collect quotes and data. Hold the launch until January.
Put humans front and center. Plan video forward, story forward case studies where buyers can say, “that is my context, that could be my district.”
Schedule January now. Draft early January email campaigns, social runs, and webinar promos so you are not rebuilding your brain on day one.
Protect a “cone of silence.” Block half a day, go dark, and review which channels and tactics actually delivered this year. Decide where you say yes and where you finally say no in 2026.
Resources Mentioned in this Episode:
Melissa Explainer Links
Heyeck’s post about why deep evergreen explainers consistently outperform newer content at Education Week. Melissa’s examples show how complex, high search volume topics become durable traffic drivers when written with clarity and depth.Instagram Trial Reels
Elana recommends using trial Reels to test content with non followers, then reposting successful Reels to your main feed to grow reach and engagement.WirED Marketer Newsletter from Education Week
Shared as a source of insight on what content performs with K 12 audiences, including the ongoing strength of deep explainer pieces.“Teachers pay, explained: Salaries, benefits, and pensions” from Education Week
Cited as an example of an evergreen explainer that continues to perform years after publication. Read it here: https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/teachers-pay-explained-salaries-benefits-and-pensions/2020/02.The 2026 EdTech Marketer Planner – Free Download
LCG’s go to tool for mapping campaigns and key moments in the education buying cycle.
Elana Leoni, Host
Elana Leoni has dedicated the majority of her career to improving K-12 education. Prior to founding LCG, she spent eight years leading the marketing and community strategy for the George Lucas Educational Foundation where she grew Edutopia’s social media presence exponentially to reach over 20 million education change-makers every month.
About All Things Marketing and Education
What if marketing was judged solely by the level of value it brings to its audience? Welcome to All Things Marketing and Education, a podcast that lives at the intersection of marketing and you guessed it, education. Each week, Elana Leoni, CEO of Leoni Consulting Group, highlights innovative social media marketing, community-building, and content marketing strategies that can significantly increase reach, relationships, and revenue.
Rate, Like, and Subscribe
Let us know what you thought about this episode by rating and reviewing our podcast. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let us know what you loved most about the episode! Also, if you haven’t done so already, subscribe to the podcast to be notified when we have more content to share with you.