The marketing plan
Good marketing starts by creating a plan, and at the heart of that is the ‘customer’. You may not normally refer to learners as your ‘customers’ – but when planning and preparing marketing activity you should have the end user in mind.
The target market
This can cover a wide range of people. Can you simplify it by grouping them together? Perhaps it’s helpful to think of them in terms of their age group, or whether they work or not. Segmenting your market will help you to tailor more relevant offers.
Understanding the customer
This is paramount. Start by finding out what makes them tick – how old they are, if they have children, where they shop, what they do for a social life.
Identifying opportunities
Once you’ve determined your target market, and you know a bit about them, you’ll be able to consider where learning could fit into their lives and which courses and ways of learning will appeal to them. Now you begin to get a feel for where the marketing opportunities lie.
Assessing objectives
Take time to consider your own objectives – are there particular courses that you want to create interest in? Assessing your objectives in light of the opportunities that exist will help you prioritise your activity.
Promoting the product
Consider how you can best promote your chosen ‘product’ to your target audience. It may be by providing a special offer – perhaps an introductory discount - or just an opportunity to visit the learning centre to find out more.
Choosing the communication tool
Determine how best to communicate this offer to your target audience. This will depend on the available budget. Think about the method of communication that is most likely to reach your audience and engage their attention. It doesn’t have to be expensive – a poster in your local supermarket might do the job. We have created some posters that you can print in your learning centre to use for this purpose.
Evaluating the campaign
Once a campaign is finished, you’ll need to know if it worked. Did it reach your objective? Did you get learners on board? How could you improve it next time?