How to sell to CTOs at Education companies
CTOs in education companies are primarily measured on technology integration success rates, ensuring that digital tools enhance learning outcomes. They are likely to respond to outreach that demonstrates a clear understanding of their unique challenges, such as integrating new edtech solutions without disrupting existing systems or compromising data security.
Written and maintained by the SoloRiff team, who build outbound software and run outbound with it. The figures below are our own: we measured 554 education company domains over public DNS on 2026-09-03. Last updated 2026-09-03.
What actually hurts
- integration with legacy systems
- budget limitations for new technology
- data privacy compliance
- teacher training on new tools
The playbook
- 01
Identify recent technology initiatives
Look for education companies that have recently launched new online courses or digital platforms. Use news articles or press releases to find mentions of technology upgrades, as these indicate a readiness to invest in new solutions that can enhance their offerings.
- 02
Highlight data security challenges
Craft your outreach to emphasize how your solution addresses common data security concerns in edtech. Mention specific regulations like FERPA or GDPR that impact their operations, positioning your offering as a way to ensure compliance and protect student data.
- 03
Connect through industry events
Identify upcoming education technology conferences or webinars where these CTOs will be speaking or attending. Reach out to them via email or LinkedIn, referencing the event and suggesting a brief conversation to discuss insights from the sessions.
- 04
Respond to common objections
Prepare for objections regarding budget constraints or resource allocation. In your outreach, acknowledge these concerns and offer insights on cost-effective implementation strategies or pilot programs that require minimal upfront investment.
- 05
Follow up with relevant content
After your initial outreach, send a follow-up email that includes a link to a relevant case study or white paper about successful edtech implementations. This positions you as a knowledgeable partner and keeps the conversation focused on their specific industry challenges.
Can education companies even receive your mail?
We measured the DNS of 554 education companies, sampled evenly across company sizes, to see how many authenticate their own email. It matters in both directions: a domain that does not authenticate is a domain whose team is used to mail going missing — and if your own domain is in the gap, yours is the mail going missing.
Publishes a DMARC policy of quarantine or reject — the domain actually asks receivers to act on failures.
The gap is the finding: 16.3% of 1–10-person companies against 80.2% of the largest — 64 points apart. Small companies are where the unauthenticated domains are, and small companies are who most cold outreach is aimed at.
Where does your domain sit?
Same three lookups, run live against your domain. Nothing is stored and nothing is emailed to you.
How this was measured
Company domains were sampled within employee-count bands, then queried over public DNS for SPF (TXT at the apex), DMARC (TXT at _dmarc.) and MX. One domain per company, deduplicated. Anyone can reproduce any single row of this with dig.
DKIM is deliberately absent. A DKIM key lives under a selector that cannot be enumerated from outside the domain, so a company with flawless DKIM under a name we did not guess would be counted as having none. That would measure our guess list, not the industry.
Domains with no MX record are excluded rather than counted as failures — parked and redirect-only domains would otherwise drag every figure down and make the result an artefact of the sample.
Sampled within bands, so this describes the population of companies, not of employees: a 10-person company counts once, as does a 10,000-person one. Each band is at least 60 domains; bands below that are not published. Figures are percentages of the sample, not of the whole industry, and we publish no company names — only counts.
Measured 2026-09-03. Re-measured monthly.
The full census across every industry — sortable, with sample sizes, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0.
Subject lines that fit
- Enhancing your edtech strategy
- Navigating data security in edtech
- Streamlining technology integration
Questions
- Why do education CTOs overlook new technology vendors?
- CTOs in education often prioritize established relationships and may hesitate to engage with new vendors due to concerns about reliability and support. They typically prefer solutions that have a proven track record in their specific sector, making it crucial for new entrants to demonstrate relevant experience and success stories.
- What factors influence a CTO's decision on technology purchases?
- CTOs consider factors such as budget constraints, integration capabilities with existing systems, and the potential impact on student outcomes. They also weigh the scalability of solutions and the vendor's ability to provide ongoing support and training for staff.
- How can I effectively engage with education CTOs?
- Engagement with education CTOs requires a tailored approach that speaks directly to their unique challenges. Sharing insights on industry trends, regulatory changes, and technology innovations can capture their attention and position you as a knowledgeable partner in their decision-making process.
- What are common misconceptions CTOs have about new edtech solutions?
- Many CTOs believe that new solutions may not integrate well with their existing infrastructure or that they require extensive training for staff. Addressing these misconceptions upfront in your outreach can help build trust and open the door for further discussions about your offerings.
Or have it run itself
SoloRiff does every step above on its own — finds the companies, finds the people, writes each of them individually, and handles the replies. Drop your URL and watch it work before you sign up for anything.
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