Date

April 4, 2023

Author

Sue

Knowing where to begin - especially if you haven’t advertised a tutoring business before - is always the hardest part and can quickly seem overwhelming and scary. Fortunately, we are here to provide you with the basics to overcome the first hurdle.

81% of consumers research your business online before deciding whether they want to book your classes. With that being said, we can all agree that having a strong online presence and marketing strategy in place is a substantial part of running a successful tutoring business.

While we already have a blog post on Marketing tips and tricks to attract new customers, this post will help you ask the right questions before actually starting your marketing journey.

Let’s dive right into it:

1. Who is your target audience?

Your target audience is the group of people you want to attract to your business. They are the ones who will be paying for your services if your marketing campaign is successful. A common misconception is that ‘anyone’ falls into this category. The more the better, right? Not necessarily! The one-size-fits-all approach might work for some businesses, but it is proven that more tailored marketing content is more successful.

Start by having a look at your current customers and define simple demographic information, such as age, gender, income, zip code, etc.) and then dive into the specifics.

Some of you might run classes for children, who don’t actually represent your target audience as they are not the ones making payments. In this case, your audience might be parents living within a 5km radius of your school.

2. What message are you trying to convey?

Now that we have defined your audience, you can continue by determining your value proposition. What can your tutoring business offer that is different from your competitors? Consumers need to know why they should choose your business over all the others.

This could lay in the subjects you are teaching, the quality of lessons, teacher expertise and qualifications or how much you are charging for lessons.

Conveying your unique value makes a compelling argument. If you’re unsure which strengths and values differentiate your business from the competition, here is a useful step-by-step guide.

3. Offline or online marketing?

When it comes to marketing nothing is off limits. First of all, you can decide whether you want to go down the road of ‘offline marketing’ (also called traditional marketing) or online/digital marketing. Of course, you can also do both!

Offline marketing can encompass channels such as TV ads, radio, print advertisements, mail or just networking, while online marketing includes social media, blogging, SEO, Google ads, emails etc.

While both have their advantages, it is up to you to determine what your defined target audience is more likely to engage with. Elder demographics, for example, are more inclined to read ads in the local newspaper, whereas younger demographics are more likely to click on a Facebook ad.

4. How much budget do you want to allocate?

When googling how much budget to put towards marketing, opinions and recommendations differ tremendously. And we are not here to tell you that you have to spend amount X on marketing to be successful.

The truth is, it is completely up to you. It comes down to how much you are willing to invest and how much you can invest. While some marketing campaigns, such as paid ads, require payment, some are free of charge.

Here are some examples of non-paid marketing efforts:

Blog posts
Social media posts
Email newsletters
Customer referrals

5. What does success look like?

Lastly, one of the most - if not the most - important question to ask is: How do you define success? To ensure your marketing strategy is performing well, you need to determine what outcome you want to achieve.

Having a clear objective in mind will help you track performance and reassess or refine your campaigns if they are not hitting your set target.

For example, a goal could look like this:

“I want to increase website traffic by X% to grow my customer base”
“I want to secure X more tutoring lessons”

Whatever goal you might set for your campaign, ensure that it is attainable and fulfils the purpose of helping your tutoring business grow.

Now it’s your turn to start advertising your tutoring business!

Once you have successfully implemented your campaigns and started seeing an increase in your customer base, you need to focus on retaining your existing customers.

Udio helps you streamline your admin, so you have more time to focus on what matters most - your customers! Features like automated SMS and email functionality and allowing your customers to manage their own lessons through our portal, help you strengthen customer relationships and build a community.

FAQs

Pressing questions? Check out our most-asked questions

How do I know if my business is ready for a second location?

When your timetable sits at 85 to 90% capacity across most slots, your margins have held for 12 to 18 months and your team can get through a week without you, you’re in a good position to start looking.

What’s the best way to grow my business if I’m not ready for a second site yet?

Fill the time slots you already have, add classes where waitlists build and keep families enrolled for longer. A second site makes sense once demand clearly spills past what one venue can hold.

What should I look for when choosing a new location?

Look at five things: demand, competition, local demographics, access and operating costs. Together they tell you whether enough families nearby want what you offer and can get to you, and whether the site can pay its way while it fills up.

How much money should I have set aside before opening a second location?

Plan for 6 to 12 months of operating capital on top of your setup costs. That gives the new site time to find its feet without pulling cash from the first.

What happens if my second location doesn’t work out?

Give it time before you call it. A new site usually needs a few terms to fill, and slow early numbers are normal. If it’s still struggling after that, its own budget will show you whether the issue is the location, the timetable or the cost of running it. Your 6 to 12 months of operating capital is what stops a slow second site from pulling down the first. It’s also worth asking about exit or break clauses before you sign the lease, so you have a way out if you need one.

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