It feels as though tutor business-marketing has changed pretty profoundly in the last 10 years. But even so, it remains formulaic. If you think of marketing as a pyramid, the base would be Word of Mouth (referrals) followed by Groups, Events, and Paid Marketing. One may never have to spend $ on traditional marketing efforts if the first two foundational levels are fully leveraged and engaged.
If you do get to the point where you need to spend money to market create a budget of what you plan to spend and stick to it. Mature tutoring businesses generally spend between 4 – 10 % of Net Revenue on paid advertising etc.
And it is this area that has shifted the most. Paid marketing has shifted from the traditional domains of Grass Roots Marketing, Email, Direct Mail, and local Print Advertising to Internet Fueled alternatives.
Here are some basics to get you started down that road:
These tactics should allow you to have a “jumping off” internet footprint.
Because the primary demographic does a lot of research as well as shopping via the web, the foundational items above will be helpful when tackling the next level of things: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Organic Search, Pay-Per-Click, and Content Based Marketing.
The shift in emphasis from traditional marketing to web-oriented has been underway for years but it is not preeminent. A combination of tactics from both the traditional list and the web based list seems to work well for our members.
-Email (use a free service for up to 2000 names), pay $50 / mo for others
-Direct Mail (stick to postcards) have them in house holds when grade cards are released. Budget $.50 per card when doing the budget – math.
-Networking – Host breakfasts for local gate-keepers, free drop-in tutoring etc.
–SEO: Pay someone to optimize your website ($30). Good SEO is often enough to generate web – page visits when starting out. Once one heads into Search Advertising & Pay-Per-Click the efficacy of one’s marketing dollar should be closely measured. At this point, small firms are often competing with industry heavy-weights in a virtual auction for words.
–Content based marketing strategy: blog, Facebook, expertise on a site (like Quora), free items on the website, event announcements all work in a mosaic way to influence web page search and continuously engage not yet converted followers of your brand.
We recommend folks wrap all this up in the context of “Client Acquisition Cost.”
Simply put, track your dollar and the revenue it generates. Figure out what combination works best and change your chili recipe accordingly.
We have a number of free tools, templates at testprepprofessionals.com. Some of the good stuff is gated but there is still plenty worth viewing.