There are hundreds of online advertising techniques available that you can use to advertise your language school online but the top 5 picks are:
- Social media advertising
- Google ads
- Influencers
- Banner ads
- Pay per click (PPC)
Social media advertising
This is considered to be the top tactic when it comes to advertising online no matter what the nature of your business is. Everyone is online most of the time thanks to social media platforms. For every time they connect to the Internet, they spend majority of that time on their social media accounts, interacting with their friends and followers. What began as a space for people to interact and connect has become a goldmine for advertisers. Here is a list of the top social media platforms that are great avenues for advertising your language school online:
Facebook is currently the biggest social media platform for advertising. There are billions of active users on Facebook each day and the social networking giant is aware of the potential they can bring for marketing and advertising. Because of this, Facebook is able to offer different ways of advertising in their site such as the following:
- Targeting options – Aside from tools, Facebook lets you target specific consumer demographics and interests.
- Carousel – This allows you to show up to 10 pictures or videos and links in one ad space.
- Slideshow – This allows you to create video ads made out of pictures.
- Canvas – This allows you a more immersive ad with the use of pictures, videos, texts, carousels, product feeds, etc.
YouTube
Billions of people log in to YouTube and watch videos making it the world’s second most visited search engine next to Google. YouTube shows short ads to play before the intended video of the user can be played. If the user wants to watch a long YouTube video, ads are also inserted throughout the video. Viewers can choose to skip ads immediately while some have to wait for at least 10 seconds before they can opt to skip the ad. If your advertisement is interesting enough, they will want to finish your ad first instead of skipping it. YouTube offers also targeting depending on their user’s interests, keywords, and demographics.
Facebook actually owns Instagram and their advertising systems are similar which means Instagram ads can also come in carousel, slideshow, canvas, photos, and video formats. Aside from that, Instagram allows you to make a campaign based on an objective like website clicks, app installs, video views, and conversions. Just like Facebook, Instagram ads can target a certain demographic. One thing to keep in mind in order to advertise in Instagram successfully is to have visually appealing posts. If you have poor visuals and graphics, your ad campaigns will not be able to perform well in this platform.
Twitter has millions of active users, making it the third top social media platform to advertise in. You will be able to choose the objective you want such as awareness, video views, increase traffic, and more followers. Like Facebook and Instagram, Twitter also offers targeting for paid ads. Twitter can target by keywords and by their Pinterest searches. In fact, Twitter can also allow you to target people who are like the people who follow your competitors’ Twitter account.
Pinterest has millions of active users and has advertising offers based on your objective. The list of objectives will include engagement, awareness, app downloads, and traffic. Targeting is also offered wherein they target audience based on the keywords they use to search Pinterest and the interests of the users. To be able to succeed in Pinterest, you need to have eye-catching visuals and valuable infographics.
Snapchat
Snapchat is a very popular and fun app that mostly caters to people 35 years old and below. This social media platform can help you gather more students. The advertisements will appear while a user scrolls through their friends’ stories. You can also design a filter or lens that the users can use for their own photos or videos.
LinkedIn is a great way to get professionals who need to learn English as a second language. They already know that being fluent in English means more opportunities for them in their career. LinkedIn has three types of advertising to offer:
- SponsoredInMail – Your content will be sent to LinkedIn users through their inbox.
- Text ads – Text ads will place your ad in random locations around the LinkedIn feed on a desktop.
- Sponsored content – This will place your content in the LinkedIn feed.
Google ads
There is no doubt that Google is the most popular search engine online. When people have questions, majority will simply go online and do a Google search. Paying for advertisements will be worth your money because of this. Google has two options for you:
- Google AdWords – This will allow you to place your ad in the results page. This is determined by the keywords or search terms that are used when people search for products or services relating to your language school. This is a cost per click advertisement deal meaning you will only pay Google if the ad is clicked on.
- Google AdSense – Google Adsense lets website hosts ads from Google to generate income for the site. So if you want to advertise through AdSense, all you have to do is enroll and using Google’s algorithms, your ad will be matched to different websites having relevant content and related search parameters. Because of this, you will be able to reach a larger audience through the placement of your ads.
Influencers
Another popular and effective way to advertise online is to partner up with influencers. Influencers are considered to be social media stars because they have gained millions of followers and are able to maintain a strong and loyal following. These influencers have a lot of value because as brand ambassadors because they have already gained the trust and loyalty of their audience, meaning that if they recommend a product or service, there is a huge chance that their followers will follow suit. Influencers have different pricing rates – some base their fees on the number of followers they have or based on the engagement rates in their posts. Most companies prefer to go with the engagement rate deal because post engagement have more value. Other influencers will also promote you if they can be your affiliate, meaning they get a percentage if people go to your website through their post.
Banner ads
Banners are one of the first forms of advertising that appeared in the Internet. In this type of online advertising, you buy banner ad space on websites for visibility. To be effective with this type of advertising, look for blogs and websites that cater to your target audience and offer to pay them for space on their website. It is best to commit to a monthly fee for the space so that if you do not get a lot of traffic from their website, you can always choose not to renew for the next month. Make sure to create a unique link or coupon code for every website you placed banner ads in so you are able to track how many sales you are getting from each website.
Pay per click ads
This type of advertising is pretty straight forward. You only pay for each click made on your advertisement. So, it does not matter if a hundred people saw the ad – if only one person clicked on it, you only pay for that one click. It may sound pretty simple but it remains to be one of the most used online advertising forms today. For pay per click ads, only four lines of text is supported, usually 25 characters in the title, 70 characters in the text, and 35 characters for the URL.
Other venues for online advertising
Aside from the top five strategies discussed earlier, there are still more venues and ways for you to advertise your language school online. Here are a few more advertising suggestions for you to consider:
Search engine marketing (SEM) and optimization (SEO)
SEM and SEP are two tools you need to promote your content and also increase your visibility through keywords and searches done in search engines.
- SEM – Instead of paying for an advertisement, you pay each time users click on your ad and go to your website. With SEM, you will b e able to gain more specific information about your target audience.
- SEO – Advertisers use different SEO tactics to get higher rankings in search engine results. Tactics include target keywords, meta descriptions, and links.
Remarketing
This is one of the best ways to advertise because you are already targeting people who already know about your language school. Every time someone visits your website, you drop a cookie on them and because of this, no matter where they go online, they will be able to see your ad appear all the time to remind them about your language school. It is a very inexpensive form of advertising and can be an effective way to get more clicks.
E-mail marketing
This type of strategy is one of the earliest tactics that hit the net but has gone low in rankings as to its effectiveness due to the fact that they can be easily avoided by the target. Advertisements that are sent to emails can find themselves disappearing and unopened in the spam mailbox. These days, companies have to reevaluate their e-mail marketing techniques and have to disguise their ads and promotional efforts in the form of a friendly message that the prospective client will not immediately delete without reading it.
Online directories
There are a lot of free online business directories listed by location, industry, and sometimes a combination of both. This type of websites often lean to advertisements for profit. The more content they can offer, the more traffic and advertisements they get. Because of this, most of these online directories will be happy to include your language school in their list for free.
Link exchange
This is a cheap form of advertisement. All you have to do is find merchants that sell products that are complementary to your business and offer to exchange links or advertisements with them. For instance, you may link up with a merchant who sells English dictionaries or textbooks related to your language school. Most companies and merchants will not turn down an opportunity for exposure so you will find a few who will be willing to exchange links with you. Take note though that if your website is new and you do not get a lot of traffic yet, you may not be able to get a one is to one trade.
Pop up advertising
This is the type of advertising where a small window pops out when a person opens a website. In online advertising, this type is probably considered to be the most annoying because some pop up ads are difficult to close. Despite its negative reputation to online users, there are still some businesses who take the risks of running pop up ads – although it is an uncomfortable way of putting your business name out there, it can be effective when done right.
Why should you advertise online?
- Invites more traffic to your website. The more traffic you get, the higher you can rank up in search engine results.
- Better targeting. Your add will show to your preferred audience.
- Data collection. You can get demographic data that can allow you to analyze consumer behavior.
- Brand awareness. Advertising online also exposes your business online, establishing a stronger online presence.
What can you do to get guaranteed results from online advertising?
Of course you also have to do your part for the success of your advertising campaign. Here is a list of what you should be doing for guaranteed results:
Make sure your website is good
You can use the best ad strategies but if you have a bad website, you will not be gaining any clients. Every online you put out there has one mission and that is to make people click on them to get to your website. You have to optimize and improve your website. If your website loads slowly, people who click on your ads might immediately lose interest and close the window. If the website is unattractive and can not hold their attention for the first 5 seconds, you will be just getting traffic and no sales. To avoid this, make sure that your website is attractive but professional looking. It has to load quickly and that when people use it, they are able to navigate through your pages easily.
Focus on your target audience
Your advertising will only result into sales if you are effectively sending your message to the right people. Review the demographic data of your current client base. If you have success in one certain area, whether it be a locality or age group, then maximize your exposure to people of the same group.
Take your time in designing your ad
Take note that you are given a limited space for your advertisement and you have to make the most of it. Take your time in coming up with a short but heavy-impact slogan to relay your message more effectively despite the limited space. Think about what visual elements can help attract the attention of people. Never ever rush the creation process of an advertisement. You may have to go through a couple of drafts before you have the final result but it will be worth it. Make sure you use high-resolution images. You should also take the time to proofread – spelling and grammatical errors can make you lose your credibility instantly – especially that you are a language school.
Make sure your message is short but clear
Online advertising is like an emergency sign for your audience to click on your ad. Do not use 10 words when you can just sum up your message in 4 words. Simply highlight what is important in your ad and let your website fill in the details.
Go with interactive content
People often are attracted to interactive content because they are able to participate in some form. Think up of ad campaigns that allow your audience to take quizzes, answer polls, and even go on some kind of a quest. The online user may have a short attention span but once you are able to catch hold of it, they love to actively participate as well.
One is not enough
You definitely need more than one type of advertisement for a successful advertising campaign. You have to keep in mind that advertising results are not instant. You have to advertise long-term and do so on a regular basis. Having a consistent presence shows to prospective clients how committed you are in expanding your business and seeing some growth.
Establish an active online presence
When prospective client comments on your website or your social media pages and accounts, make a point to reply right away. It is best to do so within 24 hours to show them that you are always easy to reach and that you are actively listening to their needs.