If you’re considering starting a tutoring business, know that now is an excellent time to do so. While it used to be the case that you were mostly limited to clients in your own town or city, or however far you were willing to drive, nowadays, you have the power of video streaming at your disposal. Seeing exponential growth during the pandemic, video conferencing has vastly increased the flexibility of tutoring, enabling you to teach all over the world in addition to catering for in-person clients. 

That said, when you have both online and in-person capabilities, there are some key marketing strategies you’ll need to bear in mind. Here are 10 of the most important (and lucrative) ones. 

1. Building a Great Website

Developing a great website is one of the most important aspects involved in developing your business, but it can also seem pretty challenging if you don’t know what you’re doing. 

Think of your website as your digital base of operations. It’s where you’ll have all your key information about the services you offer, as well as info about your personal life and your customer reviews. Naturally, it’s also where potential customers can find all your contact information for inquiries. 

When structuring this information, you’ll want to present it as cleanly as possible: simple tabs that are split into distinct categories work best, and try not to flood your pages with text (keep everything mobile-friendly, as these devices are what will be most commonly used to view your site). 

You’ll also need to think carefully about your branding, which includes any logos, colors, styles, and fonts, and have these themes displayed consistently throughout the site. Platforms like Wix or WordPress are great for those totally new to building a website. 

2. The Importance of Social Media 

While your website will be where most of your potential clients will land, actually funneling them there is mostly down to your social media presence. 

Gone are the days when these services were just for connecting with friends and sharing memes – they’re now an essential part of business. Nearly everyone has a smartphone and accounts on the major platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, and learning how the algorithms work can drastically increase interest in your work.

Learning social media marketing requires a lot of time and patience, but perhaps the most important element is prioritising short-form video. No matter what platform you’re using, short, stylish video content garners the most views, so try to see how you can implement it into your strategy. For tutoring, you’ll want to start by advertising your services as thoroughly as you can within 30 seconds or so, and once you get a few clients, you can build out to include more detailed videos. 

3. Offer Enticing Promotional Deals

Starting out is tough, with one of the most difficult aspects being that you don’t have a solid reputation yet. One of the biggest draws towards your business will be through referrals and reviews, so when you don’t have that, you’ll need to invest in other methods to gain those initial customers. 

One of the best ways of doing this is with promotional deals. The most surefire way of getting new clients is to offer a free lesson to give them a taste of what’s on offer – seeing is believing, after all. You can also offer special discounts for package deals (for example, 25% off if the customer books a batch of 10 lessons). There are numerous ways you can set things up, so just start somewhere and see what clicks.

4. The Best Physical Marketing Methods

While a large portion of your marketing materials will be focused on acquiring clients through digital means, that doesn’t mean you should neglect to prioritize your efforts in person. 

Even with the obvious advantages of the internet, your town or city still presents as a fundamental pillar for getting new clients, and marketing is very different for this method. Mostly, you’ll be relying on quality flyers, posters, and business cards, each of which plays a key role in the process. 

While flyers represent a very simple step in the process, there’s sometimes no better way to reach people than to go door to door, posting through people’s letterboxes, to get the word out. Posters are great too, as you can pop one of these on a lamp post or shop window and reap the benefits for months. You should also always have business cards to hand out; you never know who you’re going to meet, and simply telling people to go to your website if they’re interested doesn’t have the same effect. 

5. Utilize Online Tutoring Platforms

Online tutoring programs, like Tutor.com or Superprof, are another great way to promote your services, and they’re a place secondary to your website where you can build up reviews. Many potential customers will find these sorts of sites first simply by searching ‘online tutoring for X’ in Google, so you want to put yourself in a position so that when they do, your name comes up. 

One of the best things about tutoring platforms is that they become more beneficial the more positive reviews you get. Star contributors and those who are the most reputable are placed top of the list, so providing you do a good job, you’ll benefit exponentially. 

6. Don’t Neglect Networking

While you might consider tutoring as a purely solo affair, networking is still just as important as ever. You’ll want to make sure you’re embedded within the local community and know enough other teachers and directors within the local school system, as well as individuals associated with community centers and workshops. 

Developing relationships with these individuals not only helps you build a foundation of trust within your area, but it’s also a great form of market research: discussing the current educational needs of your town and city and, importantly, what’s lacking, means that you can then tailor your services to be maximally effective. 

Other teachers are also in a prime position to recommend you to parents. When parents go looking for extra tutoring, they typically approach the school their child is at for advice first. 

7. Design an Email Newsletter

Email is still a very viable marketing option. With people now having access to their emails at all times, usually with notifications turned on, you’re in a great position to ping their devices with useful content. 

The best email marketing content is that which isn’t overly promotional. Once people have subscribed, you’ll want to create content that’s actually useful, such as tips for exam season or how to manage study schedules. It doesn’t have to be anything too flashy – just don’t forget to include a call to action prominently within the email. 

8. Consider Using Google Ads

Google is an essential component of any strong marketing campaign, but one aspect many businesses neglect to consider is Google Ads. Google Ads is a free system that enables you to advertise on the platform for a small fee, with the result being that when people utilize the main keywords associated with finding local tutors, you’ll pop up. 

The Google Ads platform links in with your Google Business Profile, so make sure you’re familiar with how these integrated systems work to get the most benefit. 

9. Hire an SEO Expert

Consider hiring an SEO expert/consultant. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, and essentially, it governs your website and social media’s discoverability within Google. It's an essential part of any online marketing effort, and has the power to make the difference between a strong campaign and a weak one, simply due to the sorts of words you use on your pages. 

While SEO is a relatively simple concept, that doesn’t mean it’s easy to get your head around. Best practices are changing all the time, so it’s a good idea to reach out to a professional to help position yourself properly. 

10. Prioritize Your Home Setup or Office

While your individual professionalism mostly pertains to how you present yourself, it’s also key to consider where you’ll be bringing clients for each lesson, too. You should set up your office or home working environment so that it strikes a good balance between looking professional and being inviting; you don’t want something too clinical, but at the same time, you don’t want to come across as too casual. 

Fundamentally, make sure the area is clean and tidy. Secondly, consider what you’d find in a normal classroom, and try to replicate it to make the place look studious: think posters detailing key aspects of your area of interest, and a well-stocked bookcase with relevant literature. Finally, add some finishing touches, like photos and thematic desk toys, to make the place feel a little warmer.