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Following our last blog on how to start an online tutoring business, we continue to speak on issues that concern teachers the most, especially those who are making it on their own. As with any other business endeavor, expanding your brand’s market reach and client base is key to continuous growth.
While it may sound daunting to develop strategies, we have broken it down to digestible steps for you. Here are 6 effective ways to promote your online tutoring services and attract more students. Let’s get started!
Although many are running a one-person business, a memorable logo and name will help you go a long way in establishing a presence.
If you already have a logo and name in place, great – you are communicating that this is a legitimate business held to a certain professional standard. Now, check for clarity, aesthetics, and applicability across different media and platforms. Here are some questions that can help you navigate the process:
Does the logo/name accurately represent your services?
Does the logo/name align with the brand identity?
Will it contribute to better brand recognition – is it unique enough and easily identifiable?
Does the logo follow basic design rules? Namely, simplicity, versatility, timelessness, memorability, and appropriateness.
Keep in mind that the company logo and name are closely associated with your brand and can inspire trust. They make the first impression on customers, distinguish your brand from that of competitors, and foster brand loyalty.
Take Duolingo, one of the most widely used language-learning platforms, as an example. They stress that “How we write our name, how we use our symbols — these are the closest we get to a ‘signature’ for Duolingo. How they appear, whether tiny on a screen or enormous at an airport, becomes a crucial way for our customers and partners to find and trust us.”
Owl Duo, Duolingo’s logo, over the yearsThe company’s logo as well as mascot, owl Duo, has gone through multiple rounds of redesign to become “more expressive and more vibrant” for better connection with users.
A business description is one of the most important elements of your business plan because it introduces the goals and possibilities to potential investors, partners, and most importantly, clients. The U.S. Small Business Administration suggests detailing the problems you can solve, listing the specific customers/organizations you serve, and explaining the competitive advantages that distinguish your business.
Under the general rule of thumb, smaller-scale private tutoring may also benefit from adding a personal touch and showcasing your tutoring certificate, past experiences, client testimonials, and successful cases. On the about page for her language tutoring business, Natasha Saed introduces her agency following the structure below.
Who: highlights of her language learning experiences, education background, and work experiences.
What: the languages and levels she teaches, as well as the overall consultation and learning process
What They Say: testimonials
Where and When: availability, on-site options, and rates accordingly
Indeed, the worldwide job site, cautions that the length of a business description varies depending on where it is applied. Have a one-sentence elevator pitch ready to introduce your business in conversations, but also adjust the description for social media, websites, job listings, and publicity.
A crucial factor that helps establish the legitimacy of your business, a website will also enable the implementation of digital marketing strategies. The website is typically the endpoint in your marketing campaign: no matter how potential clients come into contact with or become aware of your services, the goal will always be to bring them to your website and attempt to convert them into paying customers.
With regard to the size of your tutoring business, Appointy believes a tutoring website typically includes a home page, an about section, a tutoring service catalog, staff profiles, social proof, a pricing page, a booking page/button, a contact form, and site navigation.
While mainstream social media, such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube, generally appeal to audiences worldwide, researching target demographics will reveal the best platforms and best time of the day to reach your potential customers.
When it comes to what you post, TutorCruncher stresses the importance of sticking to a fixed posting schedule with creative content formats, including videos, images, inspirational quotes, and more. For instance, Sonia, a traditional classroom teacher turned online tutor, shared a daily themed strategy to inspire content creation.
If you are looking to diversify your content or channels, blogging offers another potential entry point through search engines. Whether it is driving the traffic to your website or publishing announcements on social media, a blog site will fit smoothly with your marketing scheme.
Ron Stefanski, adjunct professor, marketer, and internet entrepreneur, emphasized that teacher-bloggers should first clarify their focus and niche. You may ask yourself if you want to focus on teaching methods, career advice, self-help resources, etc.? And you need to settle on a niche – a particular subject, grade, or maybe classroom management, grammar, and more.
Don’t be anxious if you are still new to longer-form writing. Angela Watson, Founder of Angela Watson’s Truth for Teachers, believed quality content that expresses your true self ranks above any posting schedule or promotional tricks. For readers, the value of your content lies in whether the blogs solve a problem, bring something new, or help achieve a certain goal.
Ads are the most frequently used and direct means to reach potential customers. Tracy Yun, Founder and CEO of Manhattan Elite Prep, and Danielle Blinka, writer and editor, outlined that for a classified ad, “You will need to write your headline, summarize your qualifications, state your rates, and provide your contact information”. To improve the effectiveness of your ad, Yun and Blinka foregrounded some easy-to-follow suggestions, including
Make sure that your ad has a great headline. Try using a similar headline to the one you used for your flyer.
Keep your classified ad short. Provide just the essential details. You may have to pay for a longer ad when posting online.
Include an eye-catching photo of either yourself or a tutoring scene.
Generic advertising sites, including Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace, are a great place to start. But it is also worth looking into local online communities, such as parents Facebook groups and IELTS preparation Facebook groups, and industry-specific sites, including Skooli, fiverr, upwork, italki, and preply.
Publishing in tutoring directories is similar to posting classified ads. There are many directories online where tutors can list their services. You can easily add your own site to existing listings for free.
Pricing is one of the key factors influencing consumer decision-making, but it can be difficult to determine when and how to be flexible with your asking. We consulted with Kyle, once a long-time English teacher and now ClassIn’s global business development, for some useful tips:
Make sure to have an easily accessible signup form for a free demo, which will potentially turn the audience into your students or at least obtain their info to send future invites and offers.
Do a regular free event where you showcase good materials, teaching skills, or even advanced teaching tools such as ClassIn.
Be flexible with your prices in the beginning period just to get your business up and running and build a brand.
Create various discounts for referrals, group sign-ups, and holidays.
Cooperating with your competitors can be mutually beneficial if done right. For instance, you can offer your services part-time at local tutoring centers, which will possibly be at a lower fee but a great opportunity to sharpen your teaching skills and market yourself.
Shawn Manaher, Founder and CEO of Ignite Marketing, stressed that schools are the best place to advertise your tutoring service. If you offer standardized online classroom or test prep that would be of use to local schools, you may try contacting the front office to place a flyer on a bulletin board or get a quick mention in the school’s next email newsletter. Similarly, with approval from admins, posting in online communities or social media groups of certain schools offers direct access to your target customers.
Search Engine Optimization may sound technically challenging for beginners, but don’t be intimidated. There is a quick and commonsensical approach to this: find your keywords. As Andre Klein, a language teacher for more than 15 years, put it, “use the right words and phrases for your content in the right places”! If your page stays buried under other search results, try a different phrase or keyword combination and research online what you can do from a technical perspective.
Existing tools such as Google Keyword Planner, Google Trends, and semrush will help you identify the popularity and competition of certain keywords in a specific region. Klein suggested looking for “long-tail” keywords, those that are highly relevant to your services with low competition.
About ClassIn: https://www.classin.com/en/
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*ClassIn is a leading edtech company that provides a one-stop solution for digital learning.
ClassIn software enables interactive classrooms, in-school social app, lesson scheduling, homework management, and school management dashboard, which start free and scale up to meet our customers’ needs at any stage of teaching. Today, thousands of schools and institutions around the world benefit from ClassIn’s powerful and easy-to-use tools to teach online and offline.
