Competition within the online education market is tougher than ever.
With many businesses shut down during the current COVID-19 crisis, a vast majority of educational institutions are left scrambling to transfer their services into a digital space. Even established and experienced brands within the industry are feeling the pressure to optimize their online presence.
While there’s no doubt that quickly switching to an online learning platform has benefits, keep in mind that you’ll still want your brand to be a go-to educational solution long after the coronavirus outbreak subsides.
Here are five key essentials for launching your online education business during this period of transformation:
1. Choose Your Specialty
You may decide to focus on test preparation, tutoring or specialty education classes. You may want to cater to specific age ranges or grade levels. You may even choose the niche route and go deep into the varying levels of a single subject area, such as math or reading.
Either way, choosing and sticking to your business’ exact focus is a must. This decision is the kickoff to identifying your core audiences. This, ultimately, will point you to the right direction of just how to shape your brand’s messaging and customer experience
2. Build Your Online Platform
Your online platform is one of the most important elements for your educational business. The experience it provides for users will determine whether your prospects stay or return; whether your students can successfully learn; and whether your teachers, tutors and team can achieve their goals.
All of these experiences are key to the success of your educational brand.
3. Design Your Products
Your products may range from tutoring solutions to online courses. They may consist of live or on-demand content, and may require teachers, video, and/or creative production. Whatever the nature of your products, make sure that they align with your brand’s values, philosophy, and standards of quality.
For the test preparation and tutoring market especially, due to its high level of competitiveness, reputation and quality are the two biggest indicators for success. Ultimately, securing both will come down to your business’ ability to drive positive academic outcomes for your students.
For that, your educational products should always be designed with quality in mind.
4. Invest in Top Talent
Your educational business may feature teacher-driven products or content, in addition to or rather than online courses. In that case, a talented team is key to the success of your brand.
You will want to attract employees who are passionate experts in their subjects, with the ability to develop genuine rapport with students. Consider hiring for brand fit, as well as experience. Set high standards in place. Implement a thorough interview and screening process.
During interactions with customers, your teachers will also serve as your brand ambassadors. Good experiences with students and parents will ultimately stack up, generating an overall positive reputation for your brand.
5. Integrate Classroom Techniques
Different technologies are essential to providing your students with a quality learning experience. Depending on the nature of your products, you may be interested in a mix of integrations. To name a few, this may include video conferencing, real-time whiteboard and collaboration, classwork and homework management, as well as administration of assessments, quizzes and tests.
Based on findings from a Gallup study, engaged students are 2.5 times more likely to say that they get excellent grades, and 4.5 times more likely to feel hopeful about the future. By integrating the right technologies to enhance learning and engagement, your business can also increase the likelihood of positive academic outcomes for students.
In Conclusion
Whether newly entering the education industry or a long-time leader in the learning sector, these five essentials will help guide your business while transitioning to an online service. By incorporating the above guidelines and planning for long-term success, you can position your brand as a leader in the industry.
For more tips like these, download our free guide on launching your own online education business in 2020.
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