Tiếp thị truyền thông mạng xã hội để thu hút người học: Nghiên cứu tình huống tại một trung tâm luyện thi Ielts ở Hà Nội

Working Paper 2021.1.3.08

- Vol 1, No 3

TIẾP THỊ TRUYỀN THÔNG MẠNG XÃ HỘI ĐỂ THU HÚT NGƯỜI HỌC:

NGHIÊN CỨU TÌNH HUỐNG TẠI MỘT TRUNG TÂM

LUYỆN THI IELTS Ở HÀ NỘI

Ngô Phương Anh¹

Sinh viên CTTT KT - K56 – Viện KT & KDQT

Trường Đại học Ngoại thương, Hà Nội, Việt Nam

Trần Thu Trang

Giảng viên Viện Kinh tế và Kinh doanh Quốc tế

Trường Đại học Ngoại thương, Hà Nội, Việt Nam

Tóm tắt

Mục đích của nghiên cứu này là để phân tích cách các doanh nghiệp giáo dục sử dụng tiếp thị truyền

thông mạng xã hội để thu hút người học. Dựa trên một nghiên cứu định tính về một trung tâm luyện

thi IELTS nổi tiếng ở Hà Nội, các tác giả chỉ ra cách trung tâm này lập kế hoạch và triển khai các

hoạt động tiếp thị truyền thông mạng xã hội của mình. Nghiên cứu cũng đánh giá điểm mạnh và

điểm yếu của hoạt động tiếp thị của trung tâm và đưa ra một số đề xuất cho trung tâm cũng như các

doanh nghiệp giáo dục khác để cải thiện hoạt động tiếp thị truyền thông xã hội hiệu quả hơn.

Từ khóa: Mạng xã hội, tiếp thị truyền thông mạng xã hội, giáo dục kinh doanh, trung tâm luyện

thi IELTS

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING TO ATTRACT STUDENTS:

CASE STUDY OF AN IELTS TRAINING CENTER IN HANOI

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine how education businesses use social media marketing to attract

students. Drawing on a qualitative case study of a renowned IELTS training center in Hanoi, we

show how the center plans and implements its social media marketing activities. The study also

highights the strengths and weaknesses of the center’s social media marketing and provides several

suggestions for the center as well as other education businesses to improve social media marketing

more efficiently.

Keyword: Social media, social media marketing, education business, IELTS training center.

¹Tác giả liên hệ, Email: [email protected]

FTU Working Paper Series, Vol. 1 No. 3 (06/2021) | 109

1. Introduction

Nowadays, the demand for studying international English certificates is increasing, especially for

students. The main reasons are for employment opportunities, for educational purposes or simply

for self-improvement. Among which, the IELTS certificate (short for International English

Language Testing System) is becoming more and more popular, with 3.5 million tests in 2019,

and given that universities in Vietnam have begun to allow direct admission for students with an

IELTS score of at least 6.5, this certificate is becoming even more attractive to prospective test-

takers. This perk has made teaching IELTS and other IELTS-related services a lucrative market

for many. In recent years, a large number of IELTS training centers have sprung up to meet

students’ growing needs, and to distinguish itself in an era where social media is consumed daily,

an IELTS center needs to establish a strong social presence. Social media, if used wisely and

efficiently, can contribute to a loyal customer base and great business opportunities.

Most IELTS teaching centers mainly rely on social media channels to promote their courses,

but it is a fact that their efforts are often misdirected and ineffective due to a lack of understanding

of the market and of marketing principles. Past research has examined the various benefits of social

media for marketing purposes, but there is hardly any research on promotional efforts of education

businesses on social media. Therefore, a research which attempts to find out how an IELTS center

can utilize social media to attract leaners should be useful and relevant.

2. Theoretical background on social media marketing

2.1. Social media

Social media have been defined in numerous ways. Kaplan & Haenlein (2010) defined social

media as “a group of Internet based applications that build on the ideological and technological

foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user generated content”.

Essentially, the widespread use of social media represents a paradigm shift in communication.

Everyday, people exchange texts, messages, information, ideas via these platforms. It is commonly

thought that such platforms only recently became popular, but the truth is that social media have

been present since as early as 2004. The classification of social media was based on two concepts,

“social presence” and “media richness” (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). Social presence can be defined

as the acoustic, visual, and physical contact between two communication partners and is influenced

by the medium’s intimacy and immediacy (Short, Williams & Christie, 1976). Media richness is

concerned with the degree to which a medium is able to resolve ambiguity and uncertainty in

communication (Daft & Lengel, 1986).

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Table 1. Classification of social media by social presence/ media richness

Social presence/ Media richness

Low

Medium

High

Low

Blogs

Social networking

sites (e.g., Facebook)

Virtual social

worlds (e.g,

Second Life)

Self -

presentation/

self - disclosure

Collaborative

projects (e.g,

Wikipedia)

Content

communities (e.g,

YouTube)

Virtual game

worlds (e.g, World

of Warcrafts)

Source: Kaplan and Haenlein (2010)

There are six different types of social media (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). Collaboration

projects, such as Wikipedia, can be found on social media. These are open-source platforms that

allow anonymous participants to create content, with the goal of achieving a better result than any

single actor could achieve alone (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). The oldest type of social media was

blogs, which are commonly characterized as websites that show chronologically reversed date-

stamped entries (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). The third type of social media is content communities,

where the primary goal is for users to share media material. Photos (e.g. Flickr), movies (e.g.

YouTube), and PowerPoint presentations can all be shared through content communities (e.g.

Slideshare). Virtual game worlds, as defined by Kaplan and Haenlein (2010), are a fourth type of

social media in which users create avatars and engage with one another in a three-dimensional

virtual setting. Users engage with avatars in a three-dimensional virtual environment in virtual

social worlds, too. Social networking sites are the last and most popular type of social media. There

are numerous definitions of social networking sites. Ellison & Boyd (2013) define social

networking sites as “networked communication platforms in which participants 1) have uniquely

identifiable profiles that consist of user-supplied content, content provided by other users, and/or

system-level data; 2) can publicly articulate connections that can be viewed and traversed by

others; and 3) can consume, produce, and/or interact with streams of user-generated content

provided by their connections on the site.” Belch & Belch (2018) provide an alternative definition

of social networking sites as “platforms for networks or social relations among people who share

interests, activities, backgrounds, or real-life connections”. In general, there is a consensus that

social networking sites comprise web-based services allowing individuals to construct personal

profiles, which range from photos, videos, audio files and blogs (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010) and

articulate a list of other users who share a connection (Boyd & Elison, 2008).

To consumers, the use of social media is truly a worldwide phenomenon; there is a presence

on every continent, with over 3.6 billion users in 2020 (Statista, 2021). As can be seen in Figure

1, consumers have numerous ways to access social media (desktops, laptops, tablets, smartphones,

and connected devices).

To businesses, the primary reason for using social media are to (1) drive traffic to one’s site,

(2) communicate with customers, and (3) gain brand exposure. The most important benefit

marketers believe they derive from the use of social media is increased exposure (Belch and Belch,

2018).

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Figure 1. The social media landscape

Source: Belch and Belch (2018)

2.2. Social media marketing

At its core, social media marketing involves the use of social media platforms to reach target

customers, to build brand loyalty, boost sales, and drive website traffic, along with other business

goals (Wilson, 2010). De Swaan Arons, van den Driest & Weed (2014) stressed that the digital

market place is fast becoming more dynamic, and that there is a need to factor in organizational

and managerial elements in conducting marketing activities, i.e. involving other departments or

employees in the marketing process. Sharing the same viewpoint, Felix, Rauschnabel and Hinsch

(2017) regard social media marketing as cross-functional and interdisciplinary. The authors

propose a holistic framework of strategic social media marketing encompassing scope, culture,

structure, and governance (Felix, Rauschnabel & Hinsch, 2017).

Scope means that firms go from ‘defender’ to ‘explorer’. The ‘defender’ approach is

restrictive in terms of scope, only focusing on a few stakeholders and is not involved in the

communication with customers. By contrast, the ‘explorer’ approach takes advantage of social

media’s “intergrative, interactive and collaborative nature” to form and maintain beneficial

relationship with customers (Felix, Rauschnabel & Hinsch, 2017)

Culture reflects the shift from ‘conservatism’ to ‘modernism’. A conservative corporate

culture tends to be safe, internally focused and risk-averse in decision-making while modernistic

social media marketing requires an “open, permeable, authentic and sometimes risk-taking

culture” (Felix, Rauschnabel & Hinsch, 2017)

Structure refers to whether the company prefer its organization to be hierarchies or network.

Traditional hierarchy indicates a concentrated and centralized social media marketing approach.

In other words, the marketing decisions lie in the hands of a few in the hierarchy. In contrast, the

network perspective suggests that social media activities “are a common responsibility for all

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employees regardless of the department to which they are assigned” (Felix, Rauschnabel & Hinsch,

2017).

By the same token, governance, controls the extent to which employees are free to

communicate on social media and regulates the content they are allowed to upload accordingly. In

‘autocracy’ systems, decisions are centralized, dictated and administerd by a single department.

By contrast, the ‘anarchy’ perspective means that empoyees are given free rein to communicate

on social media.

Figure 2. Strategic social media marketing framework

Source: Felix, Rauschnabel and Hinsch (2017)

3. Research Method

The authors use a qualitative case study to explore how companies plan and implement social

media marketing. According to Yin (2017), case study research ‘is said to allow for in-depth

review of new or unclear phenomena whilst retaining the holistic and meaningful characteristics

of real-life events’, meaning it provides analytical rather than statistical generalizations. Applying

the case study method might benefit the literature with novel insights and findings, especially in

the context of social media marketing.

The IELTS Workshop (TIW) has been chosen as a case study because the center has had a

robust social media marketing history since its establishment in 2016, with year-round campaigns

of diverse themes as well as a systematic and organized marketing strategy. The study focuses on

The IELTS Workshop’s overall marketing process and its marketing campaigns on social media

platforms in the year 2020. Specifically, one typical campaign from each platform will be

presented and analysed. Subsequently, the study will point out the strengths and weaknesses of the

company’s current social media marketing.

Data are collected in several rounds through observation and archival documentation.

Observation was conducted by the first author, who has spent more than one year at The IELTS

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Workshop. Besides, a variety of documents was collected from both internal and external sources.

The documents include marketing plans, statistics and post-campaign reports of The IELTS

Workshop gathered from the marketing department. In addition, the authors also consulted books,

jounals and articles related to the literature on social media and social media marketing.

The authors used thematic analysis – a method that emphasizes identifying, analysing and

interpreting patterns of meaning (or “themes”) within the collected data. We presented these

themes in detail in the finding section..

4. Findings

This section of the study provides background information of the case study (The IELTS

Workshop) and an in-depth analysis of the center’s overall marketing process and its marketing

campaigns on two important social media platforms (Facebook and YouTube) in the year 2020.

4.1. Background information of the case study: The IELTS Workshop

The IELTS Workshop (TIW) was formerly an IELTS knowledge sharing site focusing on four

linguistic skills: Reading; Listening; Speaking and Writing and has become one of the leading

IELTS centers utilizing modern pedagogy.

With a view to to making IELTS a tool to help learners access the English language, thereby

obtaining the key to greater goals in study, research and even life, The IELTS Workshop opened

the first course in December 2016 under the guidance of head teacher Dang Tran Tung – the first

Vietnamese to achieve IELTS 9.0 overall 4 times.

The center boasts a team of teachers with Bachelor's degrees/Master of English Language

Teaching, CELTA with many years of teaching and research. The IELTS Workshop adopts novel

teaching practices that places a strong emphasis on learners. Textbooks are the company’s

intellectual products, which are thoroughly compiled based on authentic English materials and

teachers’ pedagogical methodology. The curriculum is exclusive and is revised annually based on

the feedbacks of the students to become more refined and useful.

Together with a team of excellent IELTS 8.0+ teachers, enthusiastic 7.0+ teaching assistants

and enthusiastic consultants, the center aims to bring students the most valuable knowledge and

contributes to corporate stability and common good.

The IELTS Workshop started out as an IELTS sharing webpage and opened its first

headquarter at 55A Vo Van Dung Street, Dong Da, Hanoi, on December 22^nd, 2016.

Along with the Hanoi headquarter, a branch was set up in Danang around the same time.

However, it went under 2 years later due to managerial dispute.

After 3 years of operation and another two branches in Hanoi, The IELTS Workshop made its

forray in the Southern market, opening its first Sai Gon branch in mid 2019. Most recently, the

company opened its newest Hanoi branch in the busy Thanh Xuan district in May.

Up until now, The IELTS Workshop has 7 branches currently in operation, with four in Hanoi

and three in Saigon.

4.2. Analysis of The IELTS Workshop’s social media marketing

4.2.1. Marketing process

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Marketing activities at The IELTS Workshop are directed and overseen by the marketing

department. Each marketing campaign goes through 5 steps. This procedure applies to its social

media marketing as well.

research

plan

execution

remarketing

proposal

Figure 3. The IELTS Workshop’s marketing process

Source: The IELTS Workshop

Research includes conducting market research and identifying latest market trends and

fluctuations, customers’ immediate needs for the IELTS. Data from all platforms are gathered and

analysed weekly on Thursday.

After that, the marketing department drafts a proposal, detailing the specific aims and budget

of the campaign. The proposal is then sent to all stakeholders involved in order to seek collective

approval.

Figure 4. Sample proposal of a marketing campaign

Source: The IELTS Workshop

Planning is a crucial step in the process. It involves developing an implementation schedule/

timeline, delegating human resource as well as allocating budget. A premiliminary outline is

usually made 6 months in advance, while a specific action plan is made one month prior to the

actual campaign.

Execution is the step where all previous planning efforts are put into practice. In this step,

The IELTS Workshop assembles a “crisis management team” to cover possible social media

scandals and malicious rumors relating to the center.

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Remarketing is the final and also the most critical step. After the campaign, the marketing

department re-examines the gains and losses from the campaign by analyzing social media metrics

(reach, interaction, follows) and decides which subgroups of customer need more marketing effort,

and what type of content is the most viral.

4.2.2. Facebook marketing of The IELTS Workshop

Fanpage system

The center acquires most customers from Facebook and therefore it directs the majority of

budget and marketing efforts to Facebook. Apart from its main Facebook page – The IELTS

Workshop, the center also has 2 Facebook groups dedicated to knowledge-sharing and 6 satellite

fanpages each serves three different purposes.

-

Location-based marketing: The center has 4 sub-fan pages representing branches

nationwide. The name of the fanpage includes the district/ city in which it is located in, for

example, the fanpage for the branch situated in Cau Giay would be named “The IELTS

Workshop Cầu Giấy”. At first glance, this decentralized model may seem

counterproductive, since page engagement will not be focused on the main fanpage, but

spread out onto satellite ones. In reality, dividing The IELTS Workshop into sub-pages

based on geographical location is actually an optimal strategy for the center, as potential

customers who are interested in learning IELTS often have a tendency to Google “Where

can I learn IELTS in Cau Giay District?” or “good places to study IELTS in Cau Giay

District”. By putting the location keyword in their fanpage, “The IELTS Workshop Cầu

Giấy” is likely to be the first Google result that pops up when a customer makes a search.

-

Personal branding: A separate fanpage was created with a view to developing a personal

brand image for Dang Tran Tung, the founder and also the face of the center. With roughly

129,000 followers on his personal Facebook account, Dang Tran Tung can be classified as

a macro-influencer recognizable by the majority of IELTS leaners. People largely associate

The IELTS Workshop with Dang Tran Tung, therefore it is a good idea to take advantage

of his influence and bring him closer to the generic audience, not just IELTS learners.

Bearing this in mind, a fanpage exploring other, non-academic aspects of the founder’s

life was created, called “The Dang Vlog”. It portrays Dang Tran Tung not as an IELTS

achiever or a teacher, but a new role as a vlogger. The page’s content mainly revolves

around everyday topics like menswear, food and lifestyle.

-

Viral content: The IELTS Workshop aspires to bring social media audience not only

academic, IELTS-related knowledge, but it also wants to make English-learning a creative

and fun process. To do this, the marketing division conceived “This page was created to

remind you to study English” (Page này lập ra để nhắc nhở các bạn học Tiếng Anh). The

targeted audience consists mostly young people who are frequent social media users and

keep up with the latest social media trends. True to its name, the fanpage provides social

media users with English knowledge using the most recent “viral” quotes and sayings from

a social media phenomenon.

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Figure 5. The IELTS Workshop’s fanpage system

Source: The IELTS Workshop

Content

Each year, The IELTS Workshop comes up with a central theme for its Facebook campaigns.

From the central theme, there will be micro campaigns, each lasting from 2 to 3 months, all serving

the purpose of conveying the message of the big theme. In 2021, the theme is “CREATE

YOURSELF” and all of The IELTS Workshop’s facebook posts must somehow impart this

message. In 2021, the first two campaigns are currently being carried out and given the severity of

the COVID – 19 pandemic in Vietnam, the 5 remaining campaigns from June to December are

quite unlikely to be conducted in full scale, therefore this thesis is only highlighting 2 campaigns

“New Year – New me” and “Generation E”. To ensure the unity and consistency of social media

content, the marketing department plans all of the campaigns 6 months ahead. The planning

process determines:

(1) The tentative topic for the month;

(2) The overall concept;

(3) Core message;

• New year – new me

This campaign was formulated at the beginning of the year 2021. The purpose is to elicit the

audience’s desire for “novelty” in the new year. To attract students who do not have any previous

experience with the IELTS and want to try out “new” things, The IELTS Workshop hosted a series

of “free trial lessons” and knowledge-sharing webinars. The duration of the campaign is one

month.

-

Overall concept: Year of the buffalo with the tagline “Work smarter, not harder”

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-

Core message: A new year begins, The IELTS Workshop enters its 5th year, starting a

new journey with many changes. The new year is also a good time to make new plans, new

choices, new directions for tudents - including studying and taking the IELTS.

Figure 6. Promotional poster of a webinar in the New year – new me campaign

Source: The IELTS Workshop

• Daily content

Aside from campaign posts, The IELTS Workshop’s fanpage also uploads a diverse range of

daily content. Due to its nature as an education business, the majority of the page’s content will be

related to IELTS and English learning. Regular posts are divided into 3 categories

(1) Knowledge-sharing;

(2) Recreational;

(3) Branding;

Table 2. The IELTS Workshop Facebook post structure

Category

Post type

Fun posts

Content

Frequency

1 post/ day

Recreational

Trendy and viral videos or posts

Branding –

About TIW

New courses

Information about upcoming

courses

1 post/ month

3 posts/ week

Course

information

Class review

Learners’ reviews on Facebook

fanpage

Moment of

TIW

Images from a lesson at The

IELTS Workshop

Teacher

profile

Teachers’ background information

and achievements

Flexible

Wall of fame

Honoring high-scoring students

Source: The IELTS Workshop

-

Knowledge sharing posts comprise the majority of The IELTS Workshop Facebook

marketing. The center’s core value lies in education, therefore it is utilizing social media to

deliver education content of high quality to all users. The information presented on the

fanpage is also a good indicator of the teachers’ levels at The IELTS Workshop. Moreover,

the marketing team uses colorful visuals and fascinating images to illustrate new words and

phrases, so that learners found the learning process less rigid. If the center is committed to

offering social media users relevant English knowlegde, it is likely to prompt students to

register for a course here.

-

Recreational posts consists of funny and viral videos, images and texts. They can either be

The IELTS Workshop’s orginal content or content borrowed from other platforms and

fanpages. The purpose of these posts is to take students’ minds off learning and establish a

fresh and innovative brand image for the center.

Branding posts serve the purpose of building a positive image about The IELTS Workshop,

using both external and internal inputs. Internal inputs include teacher profiles and external

inputs are students’ reviews and feedbacks about their learning experience at The IELTS

Workshop. Each post is embedded with The IELTS Workshop’s distinct yellow logo, which

boosts the center’s brand identity and makes it more recognizable to the public.

4.2.3. YouTube marketing of The IELTS Workshop

In addition to Facebook, The IELTS Workshop established its presence on YouTube in 2017 as

an exclusive information sharing channel about IELTS and English lessons created by teacher

Dang Tran Tung (9.0 IELTS) and a team of qualified teachers at the center. Its YouTube strategy

includes dividing into 2 distinct YouTube channels (‘The IELTS Workshop’ and ‘Tiếng Anh

Online’), each accommodating a different group of target audience.

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Table 3. The IELTS Workshop YouTube channel segmentation

Channel

Focus

Target audience

General English

- Age group: 11-17; 18-25; 25-32

- Education: Middle school; High

school; University and Working

people

TIẾNG ANH ONLINE

- Purpose for studying English:

Communication; travel; office

English; watching movies

(listening to music)

- Location: Hanoi, Danang, Saigon

and other big cities

Academic English

(IELTS – related)

- People who are already aware of

The IELTS Workshop

- Intend to take the IELTS and

want to look for studying

materials

THE IELTS WORKSHOP

- Age group: 11-17; 18-25; 25-32

- Location: Hanoi, Danang, Saigon

and other big cities

Source: The IELTS Workshop

The reason why The IELTS Workshop has branched out into two distinct channels is because

it does not want to limit itself to teaching IELTS only, but wants to position itself as a business

that creates valuable content for the English learning community as a whole. The content featured

on each channel will also differ according to the audience that the channel targets.

Table 4. The IELTS Workshop YouTube channel’s message and content

Channel content

TIẾNG ANH ONLINE

(General English)

THE IELTS WORKSHOP

(Academic English)

Anyone can learn English!

All about IELTS with The IELTS

Workshop

Message

Content

Beginner English (basic grammar Academic English

and pronunciation)

Advanced English

Content is simple and easy to

understand

Test preparation guidelines

Sample answers

Knowledge is made clear and

concise

Source: The IELTS Workshop

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4.2.4. The IELTS Workshop’s social media marketing SWOT analysis

To evaluate the effectiveness of its social media marketing, TIW use both quantitative and

qualitative approaches. Quantitatively, The IELTS Workshop tracks vital statistics such as the

number of likes, follows, reach, and reactions. Qualitatively, the center makes use of the

conventional SWOT matrix to identify its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

Table 5. The IELTS Workshop’s social media marketing SWOT analysis

Strengths

Weaknesses

-

Invests heavily in marketing

Marketing campaigns and content are

renewed daily

Has a widespread social presence

“Top-of-mind” when it comes to IELTS

teaching

-

Limited human resource for marketing

Budget spending is often misdirected

Selection of campaign KOL is unsuitable

Unable to create viral content due to the

nature of the business

-

The provision of academic social media

content is rigid and repetitive

-

Teachers are also famous KOLs

Opportunities

Threats

IELTS enables students to gain direct

entry to several universities, therefore

demand for IELTS courses will go up

Collaboration with KOLs from different

industries (singer, actor, MCs,…)

The possibility of offering courses in

general English or other English

qualifications

-

COVID-19 makes it impossible to plan

ahead. Offline events are also postponed

Competitors in the IELTS teaching

market also invest in paid marketing

People can learn by themselves without

having to pay for a course

-

Source: The IELTS Workshop

5. Reccomendations and conclusion

Overall, it can be seen that The IELTS Workshop is one of the few educational businesses that

implements social media marketing in a methodical and organized manner. The effective use of

social media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube allows the center to seize opportunities

and recognize weaknesses in time. This has brought the center a large number of loyal customers

and widespread coverage. However, COVID-19 has made marketing activities stagnant and

marketing planning for the future is uncertain. The center has recently witnessed a drop in reach,

Return on Investment and YouTube views. The center is advised to take the following solutions

to improve its social media marketing.

Increase ‘Call-to-action’ content on social media posts

‘Call to action’(CTA) refers to any content design that triggers an instantaneous response or

stimulates an immediate sale. As the name suggests, a call to action (CTA) is a set of words or

phrases that can be used in sales scripts, advertising messages, or web sites to persuade the

audience to take a specified action (Steinberg, 2013).

Calls to action often make use of imperative verbs to communicate necessity and urgency, and

this is likely to intrigue and prompt the consumer to act. A CTA can be simple, non-binding request

such as “Watch this video” or “Eat this product”.

For education businesses like The IELTS Workshop, creating a CTA that is short, impactful

and still retains the rigor nature of academia can be a challenge. However, the majority of The

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IELTS Workshop’s audience are young and open-minded people; therefore, the message does not

have to be too rigid and serious. To create the maximum media influence, it is best to pair a CTA

with the placement test URL (test.onthiielts.com.vn). Displaying a call to action next to the

placement test URL is likely to convey a sense of importance, thus motivating visitors to the page

to click on the link and do the placement test immediately.

Focus on content that brings ‘value’ to the English learning community

Nowadays, there are many English centers in the IELTS market and this leads to a strong

competition. Social networks prove to be a convenient marketing tool, so it is easy for English

centers to abuse these platforms so that they can demonstrate to customers the level and quality of

their products. English learning content on social channels gradually becomes overloaded and

saturated, making it difficult for learners to find the necessary content for their needs. Another

downside of overusing social media as a medium to convey knowledge is the focus on viral

content. Marketers want their content to be viral so as to increase reach and eventually, sales, but

for education businesses, they may risk losing their business identity if they focus too much on

virality. Education businesses need to reflect on their own core values and try to adjust the content

on their social channels so that it clearly represents the mission statement and values of that

business as stated.

As for The IELTS Workshop, the business could benefit from diversifying their content

portfolio. Audience is already familiar with the existing series of content, so it is time to introduce

new categories. There are several types of content that can provide the community with actual,

tangible value when it comes to English learning. The types of contents include: “How- to” content

(which provides straightforward solutions to learners), Question-based content (which puts the

learner at the center of the problem and can foster learners’ independence and critical thinking),

Reviews (highly practical content that can save learners a great amount of time because they do

not have to chooose between different products), Experiments (which provide learners with

confidence because they are able to experience the event through the lens of another, which helps

avoid possible mistakes in the process), and Templates (which benefit learners greatly in terms of

time and effort).

This study has contributed to the literature on social media marketing by analyzing how

companies plan and implement social media marketing through a qualitative case study. It also

provides recommendations for the company to improve social media marketing effectiveness. The

main limitation of the study is possibly the use of a single case in the educational sector and

secondary data, which restricts the generalizability of the research findings. The examined center

has to close during the Covid-19 pandemic and the number of students gets also smaller, which

made primary data collection through a large survey difficult. Future research can use mix methods

to examine social media marketing strategies and practices of companies in different industries.

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