As government and institutional funding for language programs decreases, it becomes increasingly important for schools to spread the word about their courses in order to maintain enrollments and keep new students coming through the doors. This includes post-secondary institutions, private language schools, non-profit organizations and any other school offering language programs people pay for. The problem is that most language program coordinators and managers have little experience or training in marketing. They juggle administrative (and sometimes even teaching) duties with student recruitment and program promotion. Most know that student enrollment is a priority, but making time and allocating resources for marketing their program take a backseat to more pressing needs. Some believe that business terms and ideas such as ‘marketing’ have no place in education.

The problem is, the need to market and promote programs in order to keep enrollment flowing is a challenge that does not – and will not – go away.

It is important to note that there are different kinds of marketing. Remember that marketing and selling are two different things. Selling focuses on closing the deal, often as quickly as possible. Marketing is about developing an image and a presence in the market place and ensuring that people know about your school. Marketing is a longer-term activity and requires an investment of both your time and your energy.

Another problem facing many language schools is a little or no resources to promote programs. I have seen budgets for numerous schools that never mention marketing, advertising or promotions. Instead, expenses are lumped under headers such as ‘office expenses’ or worse, ‘miscellaneous’. It seems that language program managers are between a rock and hard place. On one hand, there is pressure to increase enrollment; on the other, managers are given little to no financial support to meet that goal.

So what do you do?

Ultimately, you may need to educate your superiors about the fact that if they want to increase enrollment, they’d better dedicate some resources to marketing. But that takes time, because it requires a shift in thinking. That shift is one from thinking like a teacher or an administrator, to thinking like a business person. That means you may have to market on a shoe string while you lobby for more resources to be allocated to your cause. You may first have to show your superiors that you know what it takes to promote your program.

The trick is to try new ways of polishing the school’s image, building your rapport with prospects, students and the community and finally, getting your name known.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Use the KISS principle in all your marketing materials.

The KISS (Keep it Short and Simple) principle applies both to the amount of content and its presentation in your marketing materials. The first step is to eliminate unnecessary words. Next, review your document to ensure that the words are short, simple and easy to understand.

Avoid colloquialisms in your international marketing material.

For example if you were an ESL student, what would you think if you read, ‘homestay families will look out for students’ in a brochure? Does that mean ‘keep vigil over them’ or simply ‘protect them as their own parents would’? Review your marketing materials to ensure they follow the KISS principle. You will find that students are more interested in your program because they understand what is about.

esl@? Make your e-mail address easy to remember.

Having a long, complicated e-mail address can turn prospects off. They may write to a school with a simpler address just because it is easier and looks more professional. Although they may have the intention to write to all the schools, the ones with the simplest address my get the first opportunity to hook students. Your e-mail address should be as simple and straightforward as possible.

If your current e-mail address is not simple, I recommend getting an updated, simpler version. Keep your old e-mail address for a minimum of two years. Lots of people may still have it listed somewhere. If you get rid of the address, you may lose them. Instead, have all mail from the old address forwarded to the new address. That way, you will be sure to get any mail sent to you.

Host an open house.

An open house is an excellent way to educate people in your community about your program. Host it when classes are in session so visitors can tour your facilities to see students and teachers in action. Refreshments are a must for any open house, so be sure to order enough snacks and beverages for the entire duration of the event. Send invitations to colleagues, host families, former teachers and staff, prospective students who may live in your city and alumni.

A great time to host an open house is on the anniversary date of your school or program’s opening.

Let your students market for you – Collect testimonials from students and get their permission to use them.

Testimonials from graduates of your program (complete with their photos) can have a huge impact on prospective students. These are the words of their peers, possibly even their countrymen. Prospects will tend to believe testimonials and respond to them on an emotional level. In turn, this can increase their desire to enroll in the program.

You want testimonials from a good cross-section of your student population. You want both men and women from various age groups and different countries to provide you with testimonials. If you have specialty programs, such as a teacher-training program, gather testimonials from participants of those programs, too.

Publish the testimonials in your brochures and on your website. Remember to update them at least once a year.

Imagine how implementing these ideas could impact your program. But don’t stop there. Put the ideas to work. A speaker I heard once said, ‘Until you put your ideas into action, you’re just hallucinating.’ I encourage you to take action sooner, rather than later. Stay focused. Stay positive. Most importantly, persevere! Your dedicated, strategic action and efforts will lead to results and increased enrollment for your program.

© 2003 Sarah Elaine Eaton

The situation worsened in Canada when Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) caused the World Health Organization (WHO) to recommend that anyone with travel plans to Toronto “consider postponing all but essential travel.” Language programs in and around Toronto were hit hard. In fact, registration in language programs across the country dropped significantly at that time. Let’s face it, international students and their parents may not know that Calgary or Vancouver are thousands of kilometers away from Toronto and hardly affected by SARS, but the reality is that for a few months Canada was branded, however informally, as an “unsafe” country for foreigners.

As an educational consultant who specializes in helping language programs market their courses better, this year I heard more managers than ever concerned about plummeting enrollments. Program managers from across North America have asked me the same question, “What do we do now?” The answer is not a “quick fix”, but one focused on long-term vision and strategy.

Firstly, recognize that what may have been happening recently is by no means a disaster, nor is it isolated. As we mentioned at the beginning, every few years something happens in the global economy that affects enrollment in our language programs, however small they may be. Don’t be fooled into thinking that we are not affected by what happens in the global market place. Language programs that rely on foreign student enrollment to generate revenue are big business. What happens in international economics and markets will affect us. One mistake language program managers make is to think that education is not business. But when enrollments drop and you have to answer to senior administrators who want answers and more importantly, want a healthy bottom line, we recognize that we are indeed in the “business” of educating students.

We need to learn to think like business people. Our programs are the services that we offer to clients. Our market is international and therefore, what affects the global market for all goods, services, stocks and commodities affects us. If we take a look at history, we can see that every few years, some event occurs in the world that has a direct impact on our enrollment.

If you have historical program statistics, review them. More than likely, if all other factors are equal, you will be able to correlate significant drops in student enrollment with economic disruptions or political events across the globe. We need to look at the “big picture” and recognize that whatever it may be this time, it will be temporary. Say to yourself, “This too, will pass.” Developing a long-term perspective will help you and your staff avoid the panic that so many program managers have felt this year. It will also help you answer to superiors who may be quick to blame lower enrollments on managers or coordinators (namely, you). If you have a clear idea of the big picture, you will be calmer, more confident and you will think more clearly about the decisions you have to make and why you have to make them. Your staff and superiors may not like the fact that enrollments have dropped, but they will respect you more if you show strength, vision and a conservatively positive attitude in tough times.

Apart from keeping things in perspective and developing a long-term vision, there are things you can do when the markets are tough to continue promoting your program:

Take the time to strategize. Instead of flailing around to develop new courses that you hope may bring a few more students through the door, instead I recommend recognizing the situation for what it is: a slow market. This is the time to be pro-active, not reactive. If you complained before that you never had time to figure out a marketing strategy for your program, now you have that time. Use it wisely. Figure out where you want your program to go over the next 5 years. (Realistically, you may want to factor in at least one more global event that will affect your enrollment during that time.) Assess your current marketing strategy and determine what, if anything, needs to change. Instead of letting panic rule how you run things in tough times, stay calm and develop a vision that will carry you through the difficulties and into the market recovery.

Keep your prices stable. Now is not the time to increase your prices because you are feeling a financial pinch. Instead, maintain current price structure and keep your long-term vision. Conversely, now is also not the time to lower prices or offer “special discounts due to SARS”. Even if you don’t say it directly, prospective students and their parents will recognize a certain level of financial concern on your part. They may be intuitively turned off your program if it looks like it’s in financial trouble.

Focus on the students you do have. If you have fewer students, you can focus on giving them top-notch service. Remember that word of mouth is still the best promotion. Make sure that the students currently enrolled get the best quality program they could possibly have from you. Each and every student is a prospective referral for you. No-cost or low-cost ways to focus on students include things like having every person who works in the program learn the names of each and every student. This includes correct pronunciation of their names, too! Personalized letters of congratulation to each student from the director at the end of the program is another idea.

Remind your staff that they each play a part in the success of your school, so remind them to stay positive. This may not be easy, especially if there have been layoffs due to lack of work. That’s all the more reason for those who still have work to stay focused on the students and show a positive attitude around them. This will serve a double purpose. Not only will the students feel important and special, but by focusing on the students as much as possible, staff are less likely to dwell solely on the safety of their jobs or the dismal state of enrollment.

Take time to regroup, re-organize and even have some fun! Remind everyone that while these may not be the best of times, things will get better. There is nothing more detrimental to staff morale or to a program in general, than to have panic or a sense hopelessness infect the school like a virus. We need to combat fear by maintaining a long term vision and most importantly, by staying productive in the meantime. This means hands-on work for teachers and staff to keep everyone busy while preparing for better times ahead. Now is the time to clean out your teachers’ offices, resource rooms, filing cabinets, cupboards and bookshelves. Organize a second-hand book sale of any old textbooks or resources you really don’t need. Use the money to take the students on a field trip or buy pizza for the staff on a Friday afternoon. There is still room for fun and in fact, small ways of boosting staff morale that don’t cost your program significant dollars can be a huge emotional investment in the mental health of your staff.

I tell language program managers to listen to their financial planners when it comes to having their language programs make it through tough times. Sound strange? Not really… Investment planners tell us not to make rash decisions when markets fluctuate unexpectedly. We need to think long term, plan for the future and stay calm. Your program is similar to your personal investments. Stay steady in your belief that all your hard work and investment in your program will not be lost and that the market will recover. The next time a market fluctuation causes a drop in your language program, you will be all the wiser.

© 2003 Sarah Elaine Eaton