Are you searching for a way to increase your Singapore language school’s visibility or enrolment? Well, it’s extremely important that you have a very strong marketing plan. This can ensure that you have a good idea about who your prospective students are so that you will know exactly how to craft a message that is tailored specifically to them. Let’s go over a few steps you should take.
Step 1: Identify a Persona
One of the first things you need to do is try to gain a clear image of who your ideal applicants are. More importantly, what type of individuals would you like to attract to the school? What is their motivation for learning a brand new language? Do they have any concerns about potential roadblocks they may face? How would they come across information about your school? Do they have any outside influences such as parents, teachers or friends?
While these details may seem small, they can all come together to give you a better idea of how to communicate with your target audience. For instance, if your persona is of a JC or tertiery school student who wants to learn a new language so that they can attend university abroad, then your message can reflect how your program helps people in these scenarios.
And you can create more than one persona. In fact, creating multiple personas can help you appeal to people of many different demographics and backgrounds. However, it is important to remember that creating too many personas could have the reverse effect. So focus on those that apply to the largest groups. Not every customer needs their own personalised messaging.
How to Create a Persona: The most basic way to create a persona is to meet with your recruitment staff. Brainstorm and write down characteristics that your current students seem to share or those that you would like to see more of in the student body. If you would like this information to be more precise, you can ask that your students complete an anonymous survey that asks them direct questions about themselves. Another great way is to pay attention to your Google Analytics Report.
Step 2: Improve Your International SEO
Most institutions understand that in order to get more visibility, specifically online, they need more organic traffic. And there are a lot of things that can have an effect on how well you rank such as the quality of your content, the visual elements that you use on your page, how well-optimised it is for mobile and how easily the search engines can crawl your page. This is why it’s crucial that you spend time on SEO. All major search engines tend to favour content that is relevant and high in quality.
It’s also a good idea to look into international SEO. This is especially the case if your student body will speak a certain language. You must be willing to invest in web content that is multilingual so that your message gets across with. And remember, poor translation could possibly make native speakers assume that your school does not offer a quality education.
How to Improve SEO: The best way to improve SEO is to create blog posts and web pages that are centred around with specific keywords and phrases. With time, you will notice that you average more and more visitors and that your position in the search engine gradually improves. First, use a keyword planner to find keywords and then build your site around them. These words should be relevant to your course content or school and should be what you would expect your audience to be typing into the search bar when looking for language resources. They should answer questions. Consider using geo-localised words. For instance, “English language schools in Singapore” would be a great option.
Step 3: Use Paid Ads
If you want to generate a considerable amount of leads for your language school and in a short amount of time, then consider using paid digital ads. This can be done on platforms such as Facebook, Google and several other social media platforms. PPC can be especially worthwhile because it will appear in feeds and only cost money when someone clicks on them.
The great thing about the PPC strategy is that in most cases, your ads will only be viewed by people who have a genuine interest in what you have to offer. Also, you can specify that your message be shown to a very specific audience. This means that you can show them in only certain areas of Singapore, ages, gender, and according to their personal interests.
This type of targeting is invaluable. Just as is the case with SEO, you can build your ad around specific keywords that will capture your audience’s attention. Just make sure that you monitor the results and refine your ad and landing page as needed on an ongoing basis. If it does not get any clicks, then that means that you may need to change the wording or change the image so that it is more attention-grabbing.
Step 4: Follow-Up
While all of these steps may be great for generating leads for your language school, they will mean nothing if you don’t follow up. Prospective students will often expect responses to be quick, personalised, and comprehensive. So pay attention to responses to your campaigns. Make sure that those who respond to your leads are fluent in both verbal and written communication. They need to be able to clearly address any and all concerns and questions about your school. This follow-up should take place across all lines of communication: telephone, email and even Skype if possible. And it should continue until the prospects level of interest has been officially determined.
Step 5: Develop a Social Media Presence
Social media can be a powerful tool, no matter what country your language school is based in. However, it can be especially powerful for those based in Singapore. And this is because this country is known for spending a great deal of time online–specifically on Facebook.
So if you want to stay connected to your prospective students in this country, then you should make sure that your school has a social media presence. Use your platform to deliver timely updates and news. Show images of your school and happy students learning in a relaxed environment. Post a few testimonials from your current students. Consider the most up-to-date platforms like Snapchat to create a sense of urgency.
Conclusion
While marketing a business online can be challenging for anyone, it can be especially challenging for language schools. However, that does not mean that it is impossible. The key is to know who your messages are written for. Know how to gain visibility in the search engines. Be willing to pay for advertisement. Always follow up with your leads. Also, develop your presence on social media. All of these steps can ensure that you attract a diverse student body.
