What is the best way to expand my brand presence?
I have been running an education institution for seven years, but I have not been able to expand my brand presence outside of my local area. I have been advertising for 6 months now, but still have not seen an increase in enrollment. Does anyone have any creative suggestions?
Expert Answers
Sort by Date
Sort by Votes
Sep 25, 2018
A company, an organization, a person - they become a brand when they offer their audience wholesome value that is more than the sum of its parts. We need to amplify and enhance the experience of your audience and your clients across every possible point of connection. You are ready with your offering. Your audience is waiting for the next big thing. We have to connect those two aspects together bridging the gap is called brand establishment.
Sep 7, 2018
Create content around your institution and distribute it to your target audience through social media. Be open. Share inside pictures and videos to the world and let them know how good your institution is and what it is to be there. In simple terms, show your potential clients what you have to offer.
Aug 5, 2018
Advertising is still an instant method, but it's a long way to keep it going.
Aug 4, 2018
Promotional materials are key to branding yourself. Be it education or otherwise, you need to look into getting some marketing materials.
If you want to increase your enrollment, I would consider that as more lead generation than brand building, although the latter is required for the former. You need to go to groups (both online and real life) to meet people who may be interested in your services.
Research about who your target audience is and where they are. Be prepared. Meeting people and pitching them your idea in real life might seem intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. You can use posters, flyers, brochures, and more to get the point across. Be sure to carry a lot of business cards to hand them out to people. This makes you look more professional.
Dress well (obviously) and go in a presentable manner. Answer any questions and be truthful regarding your products and services. Meeting or at least talking to the person directly increases the probability that they will choose you.
If you are looking for a good place to get marketing materials, I recommend PrintStop for custom printing.
You can find and design all sorts of products there with your own logo. This is all a part of branding and will help establish your company in the area.
Promotional materials are perfect for local branding and the more the person sees your company’s name, the more recognizable you become.
Aug 29, 2015
I second the feedback about creating a blog and a social media presence. Both blogs and social media platforms are about engaging with your audience. They're much more personal than advertising. And they give you a chance to show your audience that you're an expert and resource for your area of expertise. And your audience can comment, post and ask questions, which you can respond to to further demonstrate your knowledge and expertise. This, then, creates trust for the audience and should help to improve conversions. It's not a fast process and it takes time and effort. But it can have much farther reaching effects as you establish credibility, trust and authority.
It can also be helpful to expand your presence in on platforms such as LinkedIn and use LinkedIn groups, where you can possibly connect with people in groups that discuss your area of expertise. You can comment on discussions and posts there and further demonstrate that you're a source of knowledge in that area. This could also work in forums if you can find some that relate to your area of expertise. Again, this demonstrates you as an expert in the field.
I hope this helps. Good luck!
Aug 10, 2015
Your question is to expand brand presence or increase enrollment? You already in business for 7 years, and you never expand out of your local area, this may suggest that your local area can reproduce sufficient demand or your business offers sufficient range of education products & services to keep your business survive.
If expand brand presence outside your local area, you probably can only attract students who willing to relocate to your local area. Otherwise, you are explore e-course or a mixed e-course + local area course.
Therefore to increase enrollment may not by way of expand brand presence. You may look at how you can increase your enrollment from a more holistic view point to consider areas as such market, sales, operation, new products/ services, finance ...Please rethink your question carefully, I think it is not about branding rather it is about how to overcome a growth bottleneck of the enrollment.
Aug 10, 2015
Increasing your brand presence won't happen overnight but with a steady approach it is possible. Start by identifying the keywords that relate to your business and that you can realistically compete for, then build a strategy around it.
Set up a blog and social media profiles (if you do not have them already) and start showing off your expertise. Answer the questions that people will be asking about your industry, participate in online discussions, be readily available to answer direct questions. People that might not be interested in your advertising might be interested in your advice, so put as much of it out there as you can.
Aug 10, 2015
I would imagine that word of mouth works strongly in a country like yours. If that is the case you should try to convince people, organise social gatherings and have students tell other people about their school and why they like it and how it helps them build a future.