Accept the challenge! Adaptation and reinventing your school for the new market [PART 2]
The pandemic caused significant changes to the way we operate in various fields. But what it also brought is a whole range of OPPORTUNITIES. You might be wondering what they are, how can you take advantage of them, and how to adapt your school to the changing market of language teaching for expats.
We’re here to help and show you what new opportunities we can see emerging from the post-pandemic ashes! 😱😉
In the first part of the series: Adapt or cease to exist. Reinventing your school for the new market we took a closer look at the mechanisms of the adaptation process. We also gave you some hints on how to broaden the way you think and act upon the future of your school.
In this article, we’d like to go more into detail and explore specific examples of ways language schools for expats can adjust to the post-pandemic times.
Let’s dig into it!
Some things go away, new possibilities appear
As Chris Do mentions in the video (inspired by Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion):
For every action in nature, there’s an equal and opposite reaction. When something goes away, something fills its place.
This rule could possibly be applied to every aspect of human life. Action-reaction is a universal model that you can put into use while thinking about your adaptation to the new market reality. Let’s think of your customers’ changing needs then and the ways you could answer to them so that both sides are happy and thriving 😉
Let’s jump into the observations we can make in the market of language schools for expats and analyze what is disappearing from your clients’ lives and what can arrive in the empty place.
Get access to our library of free marketing guides, trackers, and templates for expat language schools:
Dynamic changes in expats’ lives
When you live somewhere abroad and you don’t speak the local language, it’s complicated enough, trust us 🙈. And when such a thing as a pandemic appears, well, you find yourself in quite a specific situation… Let us give you some examples of changes that happened in expats’ lives during the last year or so.
in-store shopping vs. online – it’s already tricky to manage with Google Translator in shops and now it takes HOURS to shop with apps that are not available in English/ other language they can actually speak 🙄
finding out about interesting events from expat friends (with local spouses for example) vs. no info about entertainment (might be difficult to find information about various interesting events if they’re only announced in the local media or in the local language)
expat pub meetings vs. fewer possibilities to make friends
financial strains (we know that almost everyone has suffered some level of financial distress over the last months, but we’d like to point out, that if you’re left completely without additional support - the financial strain of having to manage an entire life is much higher. Example? You cannot simply “pop in and borrow“ things - you’ll most probably have to buy or rent them. It all adds up, and a language course might be going lower and lower on the priority list…)
being surrounded by many people while going to work, language school, etc. vs. being closed and isolated in your home in a foreign country, where your friends and family circles are probably much smaller – therefore the support net might not be so efficient (mental health and general wellbeing might decrease in such circumstances)
traveling vs. staycation (might be hard to look for information available in English about local day trip places, etc.)
expat parents hiring a daycare for their kids vs. no daycare available so they need to juggle their time between working, looking after their small people & trying to stay sane during that time
pandemic pets that are sucking out the time and money previously spent on activities like language courses.
going to cultural sites (like museums, cinemas, libraries, restaurants, cafes, etc.) and getting to know the local culture and the city itself vs. limited access to cultural facilities. Culture is exceptionally important for most humans, whether they are aware of it or not. And being able to participate in the culture of the new country is exceptionally important for the newcomers. Limited access to discovering it might be very frustrating and cause feelings of disconnection with the new place.
We're sure this list is not a finished one and many things could be added. What we want you to do with it, is to empathize with expats and try to imagine their current situation. When you do that, you can think of what could help your clients. You might want to think about what they need or want besides language courses.
Let's explore the new possibilities for your school's development!
Get access to our library of free marketing guides, trackers, and templates for expat language schools:
How can you use those changes to your own advantage?
Since you've just tried to get into your client's shoes, you've gained new knowledge that will be extremely useful while reinventing your school for the new market. The approach you should take is niching down and creating a more strategic approach. HOW?
Turn the client's needs into a new offer
different class timing to fit in between other zoom meetings?
new workshops - like a workshop teaching specifically the use of one online grocery app - brilliant! 🤩
or an online/ in person guided tour in a museum, where people can learn proper vocabulary linked with such situations?
get inspired by online companies and learn about building an online audience and offering online experiences- there’s always space for improvement and innovation in that field, so stay updated and keep learning about new solutions
create innovative lead magnets (free digital products that allow you to collect people's contact data in return - guides, subscriptions, newsletters, etc.)
niche down to stand out from the crowd* – choose a particular segment of the market (a specific group of people with their distinct needs) and serve them! For example, you can take a strategic decision to target a particular type of client and convey such a message:
1. We teach French to ambitious stay-at-home expat partners to increase their chances of landing the perfect job.
2. We teach German to creative and driven expats who want to make the best out of their new life in Berlin.
That definitely sounds like you’re a specialist in your field, doesn’t it?
But remember: niche marketing isn't just about slogans - it requires observing customers' needs and serving them well.
*you can read more on niching down in this article: Niche marketing: stand out from the crowd and attract your ideal students
Adapt or… die?
There's nothing wrong with being a little apprehensive towards change. Even though we know that it can be really frustrating at times, the key is to recognize when new possibilities present themselves and then come up with plans on how we go about improving them.
Hopefully, our article made it clear just how important adapting to changing circumstances is.
Stay observant, keep learning, and take the opportunities at hand.
To learn more about the adaptation process itself, go to the first part of the series: Adapt or cease to exist. Reinventing your school for the new market.
Good luck with tackling the new challenges! 💛
This article was inspired by Reinventing Yourself (2021)– Obstacles Are Opportunities In Disguise video by The Futur. Watch it here.
