The business of supplemental education and tutoring services is rapidly growing as more students seek additional academic support outside the traditional classroom. Due to increased competition, educational services brands face challenges with their marketing efforts and must take a tactical to compete with the industry’s “big gorillas” with large marketing budgets. Here are three marketing challenges tutoring service brands face and how they can be overcome.
Identifying Unique Selling Points
Unlike traditional schools, which focus on a set curriculum, supplemental education brands often target specific audiences, such as students struggling with particular subjects, those with learning differences, or international students. Educational brands must evaluate their market and focus on what differentiates them from competitors. Through this exercise, a clear brand message can be identified and leveraged to develop a strong messaging strategy aimed at attracting their ideal customer.
Educational Services Brands Need to Build Trust with Customers
Building trust with potential customers is another challenge faced by tutoring brands. Since education is such a vital part of any child’s future prospects, parents are often more willing to scrutinize the quality and value of services provided. To build trust, brands need to become more transparent by openly communicating their experience and the effectiveness of their teaching methods. Testimonials, reviews, and social media engagement are crucial to building trust and customer credibility.
Competing with Free Online Education Tools
The rise of free online educational resources for students presents yet another challenge. Multiple online learning platforms offer self-paced courses, assessments, and educational resources at no cost, making it more difficult to convince parents to pay for tutoring services.
Developing a strong brand strategy is an important part of overcoming this challenge. What is the brand’s essence? That one thing that differentiates it and speaks directly and meaningfully to the target audience. Identifying what that is and making it an essential part of a brand’s messaging will help create a memorable brand identity that customers are likely to remember when comparing against the free competition.
Taking a Challenger Brand Marketing® approach to branding is smart for education and tutoring brands looking to set themselves on the path to success in an increasingly crowded market. Gumas Advertising, the country’s foremost authority on Challenger Brand Marketing, are experts with helping educational brands take on their industry gorillas and win. Contact us to explore how we can create a successful marketing strategy for your brand.
