5 marketing trends in the EdTech industry to watch out for in 2021
The EdTech industry is playing to its strength since the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic. Even though it was relevant and necessary even before, only a handful of learners enrolled and learned something of their interest. However, the story has changed in the favour of EdTech, as the crisis has been a major catalyst in improving the learning process and uplifting the overall growth of students during the lockdown and beyond.
India is home to 4,000+ EdTech start-ups, and the pandemic has only fuelled the need for more education technology companies to fill the gap in the market. The industry has been able to garner an investment worth $1.1 billion alone in 2020, the highest tally ever.
A comprehensive glance at the EdTech sector highlights how not just the investors but the start-ups are also looking at an upward trend, as customers are getting comfortable with digital learning and are signing-up for a plethora of online learning courses.
Amidst this, the EdTech sector must capitalize on the upward ride by planning well in advance. With the right push and effective marketing strategy, they can leverage the current demand for online courses that has been created and help drive even larger groups of potential customers to the EdTech platform to register and sign-up. Here are 5 major marketing trends that the EdTech brands must watch out for – to attract customers and drive sales:
- Public Relations will play a key role in managing public sentiment and disseminating relevant brand communication.
Marketing trends are only essential till they have a part to play in augmenting the brand presence or help advance sales. Public Relations is a tool that enables both, besides helping manage public sentiment by allowing brands to put forth valuable, honest and authentic information. Brands can tap into the hearts of the customers by engaging with various PR media to disseminate information about the product without giving it a sales perspective. And, honestly, the EdTech industry needs nothing but wins after the short debacle.
- Social Media is here to stay, engage, and build a repo with the brand.
From Instagram to YouTube, brands will have to leverage the advantage each platform has to offer. Every year millions of people, entities, and brands join social media platforms to engage in entertaining and informative content or to engage with their potential audience. Either way, social media is here to stay for the long run, especially since the pandemic has forced people to find entertainment on digital platforms rather than personal/public experiences.
- The use of Artificial Intelligence will help drive sales and generate revenue.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has found its place on the marketing spectrum for the several benefits it offers. From helping gather relevant customer information to analyzing it, from helping create relevant content to capture the attention to enabling brands to reach the audience with the right tool, AI is everywhere. It has allowed brands to connect with potential customers and convert them into long-lasting associations.
- Integration of Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) is not limited to EdTech but also EdTech marketing.
AR and VR technologies have helped improve the learning experience in the EdTech world, and now it is improving the marketing experience. EdTech brands can set-up booths at various targeted locations and give demos to woo the potential customer audience and decision-makers (in case of children) in registering with the brand.
- From cold-calling to digital media campaigns, EdTech will take on every potential platform to enhance its reach, visibility for better brand recognition.
While this trend is an unsaid need of the hour, however, it needs to be emphasized for even more reasons. Brands need to find what works best for them depending on their TG, price brand, budgetary constraints, availability of resources, and more, to ensure that they market their offering – no matter what, to establish its positioning and enhance its image.
The Takeaway
Education has a very crucial role to play in every student’s life, especially when people are losing their jobs left, right and center amid the on-going pandemic. Parents are worried about their child’s future and so are enrolling them in the best of the best courses available online. While it is quite overwhelming, the same is an advantage for the EdTech sector, which had been waiting for this very moment to work out for them. Hence, using marketing to one’s advantage will not only help draw customers but give the EdTech company an edge in the market to place itself as the leader in the category – to build a brand image that’ll be hard to beat.
About the author:
Divanshi Gupta, Director, The Marcom Avenue