Marketing for Distance Learning: check out strategies to attract more and more students

With people spending more time at home, there has been an increase in demand for distance learning courses.  However, in contrast to the increase in demand, another thing that also grew was the supply of this modality.  Therefore, investing in marketing for distance learning is even more important!  Keep following and understand everything about the subject.  Distance Education: what has changed with the pandemic?  One of the consequences of the pandemic was the change in the education system.  It is true that distance learning courses have existed for a long time in Brazil and around the world, but with social isolation there has been a significant increase in demand for this teaching model.  According to the global average recorded since February 2020, enrollments in online courses grew by 425% and there was a 55% increase in the offering of courses created by instructors.  Even companies and the government have embraced online courses, registering an 80% increase.  And everything indicates that online education is here to stay, bringing more convenience to people who want to update themselves in their field, learn new content or even occupy their free time.  Another important point related to the increase in demand for distance learning courses is that, due to the pandemic, many people ended up losing their old jobs, needing to get back into the job market.  An example of a company that grew a lot was Udemy, an EAD platform, which shared information about the increase in demand for its courses.  The most sought after were: Communication skills - 131% Growth mindset - 206% Pilates course - 402% Technical drawing - 920% Given so much demand, it is certain that the course offerings have also grown.  But then, how do you stand out among a sea of ​​competitors?  This is where digital marketing for distance learning comes in!  EAD: digital marketing as the path to success If you know what digital marketing is, you should also know that, without it, it is practically impossible to stand out and have visibility among so many competitors present in the digital world.  But, with the right marketing strategies and a structured sales team, the success of EAD is guaranteed.  This is because the educational segment, in itself, already has a high demand.  People want to update themselves, have more knowledge and grow professionally!  Therefore, it is necessary to stand out, and there is nothing better than using Inbound Marketing strategies to do this.  How does Inbound Marketing work?  Inbound Marketing aims to voluntarily attract potential customers and transform them into leads, based on consumer relationships and education.  The advantages of using it are countless - from building brand authority, increasing business visibility, attracting new customers and, of course, optimizing the sales process.  To do this, it is necessary to respect the consumer journey - sales funnel - and produce relevant content, showing that your company does not just want to sell, but to help the customer and become a partner in the process towards knowledge.  It may seem a little confusing at first, so we're going to help you understand the sales funnel process a little better, which is divided into top, middle and bottom of the funnel and the best strategies for using it: Top of the funnel The top of the funnel is the first stage, where the visitor doesn't yet know that they have a pain or problem, they're just looking for more information about your area of ​​expertise.  Here, the first contact with the brand will take place, which is the awakening stage.  It's time to offer more comprehensive materials on the topics covered in the courses, such as e-books, blog articles and social media posts.  E-books can be offered in exchange for visitor data, such as name and email, turning the visitor into a lead and moving on to the next stage of the funnel.  Once you have this person's contact information, you can send them other materials so that they can advance through the funnel stages until they become a customer.  All of this in a natural way and always with the aim of helping this lead solve a problem.  Middle of the funnel In the middle of the funnel, the visitor is already a lead and knows that they have a “pain”, looking for ways to resolve it.  The tip is to offer materials such as small course pills, with a little of the content that he will see there, or even the first class of the course, so that he leaves with even more valuable data and instigates the desire to continue consuming that subject.  This data will be important for the sales team in the future, to segment your audience and use it for marketing automation, a process that gives you the possibility of personalization on a large scale.  It's worth using email marketing to do this, but at this stage it's also important to do retargeting on social media.  Do you know when you visit a place and then are impacted on social media by that brand?  That's right, here you need to continue to be remembered by that lead you had with your content in the first stage of the funnel.  Bottom of the funnel At the bottom of the funnel, leads are already qualified and looking for the course itself!  How about creating a landing page that talks more about the course, giving details about the content and the teachers’ curriculum?  And of course, it is necessary to have a very well-structured and efficient sales team, to answer questions and, of course, sell the product.  Oh, and it’s worth remembering that people won’t necessarily always start at the top of the funnel!  Many may go straight to the bottom, for example, since they are already looking for a course, or even straight to the middle of the funnel, when they already know they have a “problem” and are looking for ways to solve it.  At this stage, it is important that you have testimonials from students who have already taken the course, clear information about the course.  It is also worth having a FAQ, with the most frequently asked questions and answers, to clear up any doubts and objections that may arise.  Throughout this process, having CTAs (call to action), that is, that button for the lead to make the purchase, is always a quick way to contact the sales team.  What cannot happen is the lead going through your funnel and converting on your competitor's course, so all the details are important.  EAD: marketing and strategic planning must go hand in hand To be successful in digital marketing for EAD, strategic planning must go hand in hand.  Therefore, we have prepared a step-by-step guide: 1- Define your objectives To be successful in the strategies used, it is necessary to have, first of all, a well-established objective.  After all, how are you going to achieve something if you don't even know what you're looking for?  This can range from increasing the number of customers by 80% to even increasing brand recognition.  There are so many ideas!  2- Define your target audience and your persona This step is extremely important so that your brand knows who it is talking to!  This way, content production and distribution on specific channels will be much more assertive.  3- Analyze your area of ​​activity and your competitors As already mentioned, with the increase in demand for courses, there was also an increase in competition.  Therefore, it is interesting to analyze how the distance learning market is doing, what to expect in the coming months and years and, of course, what the competition is doing that is working (or not, so that you don't replicate it in your company!).  What others do doesn't always fit your company, stay focused and confident in your strategy, as copying parts of what your competitor is doing may not be the best path.  But using good ideas that fit your strategy and adapting it to your reality and persona can yield good results.  4- Define the channels that will be used and what content will be produced Having defined your target audience and persona, define which channels will be used to communicate with visitors and customers.  Based on this, it is also time to define what content will be produced, according to what the customer wants to consume, always!  We also recommend, at this stage, separating some success stories to use and reinforce your authority in the area, such as course certifications, student testimonials, number of students already graduated, among others.  5- Have a defined plan Having defined actions, with themes, posting dates and channels, always with a schedule of dates, is very important for the idea to come to fruition and actually be produced!  6- Monitor the metrics Do you want to know if the defined strategies are being effective?  So, track and analyze the metrics!  This way, if something is going wrong or not performing, you can revert it in time.  To start, have Google Analytics installed on your website, a Facebook Business Manager installed and a well-configured pixel.  Google My Business is also an excellent tool for those who are starting out and for those who already invest in digital marketing, I would even say it is essential.  Periodically analyze all metrics and make necessary adjustments.  7- Rely on a digital marketing agency We know it may seem like a lot and even scary at first.  Therefore, there is nothing better than counting on experts in the subject to help you achieve your goals.  Still not investing in digital marketing for your distance learning?

Marketing for Distance Learning: check out strategies to attract more and more students

With people spending more time at home, there has been an increase in demand for distance learning courses.

However, in contrast to the increase in demand, another thing that also grew was the supply of this modality. Therefore, investing in marketing for distance learning is even more important!

Keep following and understand everything about the subject.

Distance learning: what has changed with the pandemic?

One of the consequences of the pandemic was the change in the education system.

It is true that distance learning courses have existed for a long time in Brazil and around the world, but with social isolation there has been a significant increase in demand for this teaching model.

According to the global average recorded since February 2020, enrollments in online courses grew by 425% and there was a 55% increase in the offering of courses created by instructors.

Even companies and the government have embraced online courses, registering an 80% increase. 

And everything indicates that online education is here to stay, bringing more convenience to people who want to update themselves in their field, learn new content or even occupy their free time. 

Another important point related to the increase in demand for distance learning courses is that, due to the pandemic, many people ended up losing their old jobs, needing to get back into the job market. 

One example of a company that has grown significantly is Udemy, an online learning platform, which shared information about the increase in demand for its courses. The most popular were: 

  • Communication skills – 131%
  • Growth Mindset – 206%
  • Pilates course – 402%
  • Technical drawing – 920%

Given such high demand, it is certain that the number of courses on offer has also increased. But how do you stand out among a sea of ​​competitors?

This is where digital marketing for distance learning comes in!

EAD: digital marketing as the path to success

If you know what is digital marketing, you should also know that, without it, it is practically impossible to stand out and have visibility among so many competitors present in the digital world.

But, with the strategies of marketing correct and a structured sales team, the success of EAD is guaranteed.

This is because the educational segment, in itself, is already in high demand. People want to update themselves, gain more knowledge and grow professionally!

Therefore, it is necessary to stand out, and there is nothing better than using Inbound Marketing strategies to do this.

ebook wants to learn everything about marketing automation

How does Inbound Marketing work?

O Inbound Marketing aims to voluntarily attract potential customers and transform them into leads, based on consumer relationships and education.

The advantages of using it are numerous – from building brand authority,  increase business visibility, attract new customers and, of course, optimize the sales process. 

To do this, it is necessary to respect the consumer journey – sales funnel – and produce relevant content, showing that your company does not just want to sell, but rather help the customer and become a partner in the process towards knowledge.

It may seem a little confusing at first, so we're going to help you understand the sales funnel process a little better, which is divided into top, middle and bottom of the funnel and the best strategies for using it:

top of funnel 

The top of the funnel is the first stage, where the visitor does not yet know that they have a pain or problem, they are just looking for more information about your area of ​​expertise. 

Here, the first contact with the brand will take place, which is the awakening stage. 

It's time to offer more comprehensive materials on the topics covered in the courses, such as e-books, blog articles and social media posts. E-books can be offered in exchange for visitor data, such as name and email, turning them into leads and moving on to the next stage of the funnel. 

Once you have contact information for this person, you can send them other materials to help them move through the funnel until they become a customer. All of this is done naturally and always with the aim of helping this lead solve a problem.

middle of funnel 

In the middle of the funnel, the visitor is already a lead and knows they have a “pain”, looking for ways to resolve it.

The tip is to offer materials such as small course pills, with a little of the content that the student will see there, or even the first class of the course, so that the student leaves with even more valuable data and instigates the desire to continue consuming that subject. This data will be important for the sales team in the future, to segment your audience and use for marketing automation, a process that gives you the possibility of personalization on a large scale.

It's worth using email marketing to do this, but at this stage it's also important to do retargeting on social media. 

Do you know when you visit a place and then are impacted on social media by that brand? 

That's right, here you need to continue to be remembered by that lead you had with your content in the first stage of the funnel.

funnel bottom 

At the bottom of the funnel, the leads are already qualified and looking for the course itself! How about creating a landing page that talks more about the course, giving details about the content and the teachers' curriculum?

And of course, it is necessary to have a very well-structured and efficient sales team, to answer questions and, of course, sell the product. 

Oh, and it’s worth remembering that people won’t necessarily always start at the top of the funnel! 

Many may go straight to the bottom, for example, since they are already looking for a course, or even straight to the middle of the funnel, when they already know they have a “problem” and are looking for ways to solve it. 

At this stage, it is important to have testimonials from students who have already taken the course, as well as clear information about the course. It is also worth having a FAQ, with the most frequently asked questions and answers, to clear up any doubts and objections that may arise.

Throughout this process, having CTAs (call to action), that is, a button for the lead to make the purchase, is always a quick way to contact the sales team. What cannot happen is the lead going through your funnel and converting on the competitor's course, so every detail is important.

EAD: marketing and strategic planning must go hand in hand

To be successful in digital marketing for distance learning, strategic planning must go hand in hand.. Therefore, we have prepared a step-by-step guide:

1- Define your goals

To be successful in the strategies used, it is necessary to have, first of all, a well-established objective.

After all, how are you going to achieve something if you don't even know what you're looking for?

This could range from increasing the number of customers by 80% to even increasing brand recognition. The ideas are endless!

2- Define your target audience and your persona 

This step is extremely important so that your brand knows who it is talking to! This way, content production and distribution on specific channels will be much more assertive. 

3- Analyze your area of ​​activity and your competitors

As already mentioned, with the increase in demand for courses, there was also an increase in competition. 

Therefore, it is interesting to analyze how the distance learning market is doing, what to expect in the coming months and years and, of course, what the competition is doing that is working (or not, so that you don't replicate it in your company!). 

What others do doesn't always fit your company, stay focused and confident in your strategy, as copying parts of what your competitor is doing may not be the best path. 

But using good ideas that fit your strategy and adapting it to your reality and persona can yield good results.

4- Define the channels that will be used and what content will be produced

Once you have defined your target audience and persona, define which channels will be used to communicate with visitors and customers. 

Based on this, it is also time to define what content will be produced, according to what the customer wants to consume, always!

We also recommend, at this stage, separating some success stories to use and reinforce your authority in the area, such as course certifications, student testimonials, number of students already graduated, among others.

 5- Have a defined plan

Having defined actions, with themes, posting dates and channels, always with a schedule of dates, is very important for the idea to come to fruition and actually be produced!

6- Track metrics

Do you want to know if the defined strategies are being effective?

So, track and analyze the metrics!

This way, if something is going wrong or not performing, you can revert it in time.

To start, have Google Analytics installed on your website, a Facebook Business Manager installed and a well-configured pixel. 

Google My Business is also an excellent tool for those who are just starting out and for those who already invest in digital marketing. I would even say it is essential. Periodically analyze all the metrics and make the necessary adjustments.

7- Count on a digital marketing agency

We know it may seem like a lot and even scary at first. That's why there's nothing better than relying on experts in the field to help you achieve your goals. 

Still not investing in digital marketing for your distance learning? Contact us and we will help you!

Leave the first comment

Contents