The final deliverable was a practical, scalable marketing roadmap that positioned Gophermods for national growth while remaining grounded in operational realities. It aligned brand positioning, demand generation, budget planning, and execution into a single, cohesive strategy—built to adapt as data and market conditions evolve.
When Gophermods began planning its next phase of growth, the challenge wasn’t visibility—it was focus. The company had built strong credibility in K-12 device repair, but its offerings and messaging needed to evolve to support national growth, expanded services, and longer-term district relationships.
I was brought in to develop a 12-month go-to-market (GTM) strategy that aligned positioning, channels, budget, and execution into a single, scalable marketing plan. The goal was to create a framework that could drive near-term demand while supporting long-term brand growth as the business expanded beyond repairs.
The strategy was designed around a clear set of business and marketing goals:
- Reach K-12 IT directors and decision-makers at a national level
- Reposition the brand from a repair provider to a complete device lifecycle partner
- Support new offerings, including protection plans, device sales, OEM partnerships, and buyback programs
- Build a scalable, data-driven marketing framework that could evolve with the business
- Allocate and optimize a fixed annual marketing budget across the highest-impact channels
K-12 IT leaders operate in a uniquely constrained environment. Tight budgets, limited staffing, and increasing device complexity shape every purchasing decision. The marketing approach needed to reflect those realities.
- Reliability and consistency
- Operational simplicity
- Cost predictability
- Long-term partnership over transactional service
The strategy emphasized reducing friction for districts and positioning the company as an extension of the IT team rather than a one-off vendor.
To keep execution focused and measurable, the marketing plan was organized around three core pillars:
Reach
Expand visibility and awareness within the K-12 technology ecosystem.
Demand Generation
Drive qualified opportunities through a mix of inbound and targeted outbound activity.
Trust & Advocacy
Build credibility through customer stories, partnerships, and proof points.
This structure created clarity across channels while allowing flexibility to shift investment based on performance and pipeline impact.
The plan balanced primary and secondary channels to reach decision-makers throughout the buying journey.
Primary Channels
Content marketing and SEO, email and automation, paid search and paid social, webinars, direct mail, and select education-focused trade shows.
Secondary Channels
K-12 technology communities, cooperative purchasing networks, industry associations, vendor partnerships, and regional search optimization.
Together, these channels ensured consistent visibility while reinforcing trust and authority over time.
Rather than locking into rigid spend allocations, the budget was designed with built-in flexibility. Channel ranges allowed for early testing, optimization, and reallocation based on real performance data.
Investment areas included paid media, content and SEO foundations, direct mail, referrals, marketing technology, and ongoing experimentation. This approach ensured the plan remained disciplined while still adaptable.
A key component of the GTM strategy focused on launching and supporting new services. Each offering was introduced with:
This ensured new offerings were clearly positioned, easy to understand, and supported throughout the sales cycle.
Clear performance metrics were defined to measure both marketing effectiveness and business impact, including:
- Cost per acquisition
- Lead volume and conversion rates
- Website traffic and content engagement
- Source mix between inbound and outbound pipeline
- Expansion and cross-sell opportunities within existing districts
These metrics created a shared view of performance and allowed for ongoing optimization throughout the year.
