Most education organizations are under pressure to do more with less. Teams are lean, hiring is frozen, and yet the demand for leads, pipeline, and proof of ROI keeps growing. At the same time, the buying cycle in K12 has never felt more compressed or more high stakes. You cannot afford to waste effort on campaigns, events, or RFPs that do not convert.
That is where fractional marketing leadership comes in. When you only have a limited number of hours, every decision has to count. You have to land quickly, read the politics, find the true priorities, and show impact fast while still building a sustainable system behind the scenes.
In this episode, long time marketing leader and fractional strategist Allison Maudlin joins Elana to talk about what it really takes to step into an education company, stabilize the chaos, and create momentum. They dig into how to start when leadership only cares about “more leads now,” where the real low hanging fruit usually hides, and why RFPs are a strategic marketing channel, not just paperwork for sales to handle.
They also get tactical about landing pages, forms, and workflows that quietly kill conversion, how to think about state specific strategy, and why the future of education marketing is people plus AI, not one or the other.
What You’ll Learn
How fractional marketing leadership works in education and when it actually makes sense to bring someone in
A practical “listen and learn tour” approach for quickly understanding scope, politics, and true priorities
Where to find real low hanging fruit, from unmanaged inboxes and broken forms to closed lost deals and ignored DMs
How to align marketing, sales, and customer success when leadership is shouting for leads and the runway feels short
Simple landing page and form fixes that increase conversion without a full site rebuild
How to think about RFIs and RFPs in K12, including when to walk away and when to invest deeply
Why the winning play in 2026 is humans plus AI, and the specific skills education marketers need to stay relevant
Quick Wins from the Lightning Round
Use AI for admin work, planning, and organizing so you can protect your time for strategy and creative thinking
Stop posting into the void on social media, spend as much time engaging with people as you do publishing content
Invest in association sponsorships and in person events for relationship driven lead generation
Plan ahead, but assume everything can change, build flexible plans instead of rigid calendars
Treat RFPs as a focused, selective growth channel, not a volume game you respond to “just in case”
Commit to learning the AI features inside the tools you already pay for so they become a multiplier, not a threat
Why It Matters
Most education and EdTech teams are caught between unstable funding, fast moving AI, and constant pressure to show results. In that environment, guesswork and scattered effort are expensive. Allison’s approach is a reminder that the work that actually moves the needle is often unglamorous and very human. Fix the systems that leak leads. Get honest about which RFPs are truly strategic. Build landing pages that speak to real people in specific states, not a generic buyer. Use AI to clear mental space, not replace your judgment. If you lead marketing, sales, or go to market strategy in education, this conversation gives you a clear, grounded picture of what to prioritize next.
Resources Mentioned in this Episode:
Google Analytics
Used to identify high intent traffic sources and understand which states or audiences to prioritize.ClickFunnels
A streamlined tool for building conversion focused landing pages and simple funnels.Leadpages
An accessible landing page builder for quick testing and targeted campaigns.Optimizely Web Experimentation
A platform for running A/B tests on page elements to improve conversion.HubSpot Dynamic Forms
Supports progressive profiling so you can gather richer user data over time without overwhelming visitors.Get in touch with Allison: LinkedIn
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.
Allison Maudlin, Guest
Allison Maudlin is a marketing leader with over 15 years of experience fueling transformative growth for EdTech organizations. She empowers mission-driven companies, from startups to industry leaders in tutoring, assessment, and curriculum development, to scale through robust marketing programs, high-impact go-to-market campaigns, and strong cross-functional alignment.
Her leadership at top education companies has driven consistent year-over-year growth through data-driven B2B and B2B2C initiatives. As a versatile fractional marketing executive, Allison provides tailored strategies that fuel sustainable success for organizations of all sizes, expertly navigating the full customer lifecycle, strategic partnership development, and RFP management to maximize engagement, retention, and business impact.
Allison holds an MBA from Louisiana State University Shreveport and a B.A. in Communication Design and Marketing from California State University, Chico. She is also a Certified Foundation Member of the Association of Proposal Management Professionals (CF APMP) and was recognized as a 40 Under 40 award recipient in 2019.
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.
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