Do you want to start a digital marketing school? If YES, here’s a complete guide to starting a digital marketing school with NO money and no experience. When looking to establish a digital marketing school in the US, one would need to contact the department of education of whatever state they find themselves in. The interesting thing about the United States is that policies and procedures vary from state to state.
However, some actions are very general like the need to register with the National Independent Private Schools Association. When you register with this association, you are able to receive certain privileges from the authorities. The National Association of Independent Schools is another association to register with when thinking of starting a Digital Marketing School.
Before you would have gotten to the part of registering with these associations, you must have already taken some very basic steps like developing a team of directors that would help you in putting the school in order. You would need to register the school as a viable legal entity so that it can be taken seriously both by the prospective clients you hope to have, the law and various authoritative bodies in the educational sector.
Putting together your curriculum and having it accredited by the board of regulators is another feat you will have to put into consideration when choosing to start this school. Your curriculum will have to reflect what those in the academic world would see as appropriate; your study materials would also have to be examined to see if they meet up with the standards that are accepted by the educational board. After such is done, then you can now move ahead to looking for a facility for your tutorials.
You could consider building a place from scratch but that would ultimately cost you more, simply finding a space to lease may be better. But I would seriously have you consider a system by which you provide mostly if not entirely online training procedures for your students.
They needn’t come to a physical campus to receive training but can simply enroll and complete the course using only digital means. This way, the cost of paying for a full facility will be cut short and you will be able to accommodate more students from around the world, seeing that physical distance will not be a factor.
Depending on how you choose to approach setting up your digital marketing school, it could be an up-hill task. But with proper guidance and consulting with the right kind of people, you can make a success out of this very interesting business idea.
19 Steps to Starting a Digital Marketing School in USA
1. Understand the Industry
To understand the industry dynamics of digital marketing schools, we must first of all look at digital marketing and the possible trends it will most likely exhibit in the coming years. It is anticipated that marketers will increase influencer marketing by more than 30%, with Instagram having more of a response rate than any other social marketing site, it is no wonder marketers are increasing their investment in marketing from that platform.
Ad spends in the digital space does not seem to be letting up as increases in this medium of marketing is said to have increased beyond 10% in this year alone. When statistics was drawn it was noticed that the percentage of digital marketing and that of television where on the very same level with newspaper adverts and outdoor mediums receiving lesser percentages when it comes to the way marketers use these medium.
With these medium and so much more, it is only clear to see that digital marketing is here to stay and will only continue to increase in its influence over the way we communicate with our prospects and clients.
With something as influential as this, there is a need to cultivate talented professional who will be able to master every changing trend of the digital marketing world. Making digital marketing effective for business have become much of a science as well as an art so it is no surprise that certain schools have taken to create an organized program for teaching digital marketing.
The digital marketing industry has been somewhat indifferent to the number of trained persons coming in to the field because of the large gap between the training method and the actual trends of the industry when one finds themselves active in it. We find that the realistic effects these schools were supposed to have on the industry is marred by the school’s rigid approach to developing curricula that have lost touch to the real world of digital marketing.
Many schools have not learned to innovate as the years go by seeing that digital marketing in itself is an ever-changing sector and so will demand that its training institutions constantly adapt to the ever-changing dynamics of this sector.
So, you can see that the usual tendency for academies and training institutions to simply stick to traditions of teachings that have been developed years ago, without updating the curriculum to reflect new technologies, new applications and trends will only bring out graduates who wouldn’t be able to make a difference in an ever-changing world of digital marketing.
Based on this, many digital marketing schools have seen situations where the students know more about the sector than the tutors who try to educate them. This is basically how the digital marketing schools are looking at the moment in the USA, but as time goes on and this relatively new medium of marketing and communication is understood, schools that intend to focus on this course will find their way of maintaining relevance and establishing more of an authoritative presence in the industry at large.
2. Conduct Market Research and Feasibility Studies
- Demographics and Psychographics
The demographics and psychographic composition of those who will need to enroll in a digital marketing school will cover a broad spectrum of people with identical interests. This would be those who have a strong desire to advertise their brands in a much cheaper and influential way.
Regular marketers would need to enroll for a course like this because this is becoming one of the most influential ways to market. It would be to a marketer’s advantage if they are able to offer digital marketing tips and ideas to their respective clients as well as the traditional marketing options they are used to.
So, a strong set of people for this type of schools are traditional marketers. Another set of people with a strong propensity to enroll in a digital marketing school is the small business owner who is looking for ways to raise more awareness for their business and also maintain strong communication with those who have already patronized his brand.
It would be understood that this business owner may want to either handle the digital marketing aspect of the business initially before handing it over to a team of digital marketers or they may want to be fully informed on the way this is done so they can better direct their team in effectively presenting their brand to prospects.
Another set of people that will love to enroll in a course like this are those who intend to become internet influencers. Those who want to establish some type of niche blog, website and the likes. They would need to know how to make their web space more influential with their target audience. They would need to know which platform will be the best for the effective communication of their message, ideas or products.
They would need to know what is effective for which demographic and so on. Enrolling in a digital marketing school will help them achieve this level of understanding in order to make their internet ambitions a possibility.
Another set of people who will be excellent candidates for a digital marketing schools are those who intend to start a digital marketing agency. With the rise of this type of influence comes the rise of those who offer a service in this area.
There are other sets of people who may not have a strong need to be so professional about he entire idea of digital marketing, maybe their interests may simply stem from a strong place of curiosity or light accomplishment of certain internet goals.
3. Decide What Niche to Concentrate On
When it comes to a business like this the niche ideas could be endless. With the almost inexhaustible aspects of digital marketing as a whole, developing and fine-tuning your niche cannot be so much of a hassle. Digital marketing itself has multiple aspects that a promising academy can decide to specialize in.
An academy can be known for its proficiency in e-mail marketing. Bulk e-mail marketing is one of the major aspects of digital marketing that has received high reviews in its ability to give back solid returns on investments.
Many people especially those who are upwardly mobile check their emails first thing in the morning. They see their e-mails as the place where important information is communicated and stored for future use or reference.
So, developing your niche around this bulk e-mail technology can make your digital marketing school stand out. Another place you can develop a niche for your school could be the development and effective utilization of mobile applications.
Mobile applications have become the place where clients can interact with brands in a more personal fashion. Everything one may want to do with the company could be found in the company’s mobile applications. Your school could specialize in the efficient use of mobile applications as a means of marketing and advertisement.
Another means of executing digital marketing is the use of chat applications like WhatsApp, snapchat and the likes. This could be a place of specialization in your school. Dissecting and discovering innovative ways to use this tool as a means of successful digital marketing could be a solid niche for your digital marketing school.
Social media marketing is another area to develop a niche, the use of various social media platforms can be a massive area of expertise when it comes to educating your students for the world of digital marketing.
This list would not be complete if I didn’t mention the Search Engine Optimization for generating more website visits and other advantages that such an achievement can provide.
So you can see that developing a unique niche for yourself in your digital marketing school is not so difficult, it is simply to find your unique area of specialty and make it your unique selling point when approaching new prospects. Any one of these things could be taken as a solid niche for your digital marketing school.
The Level of Competition in the Industry
In an industry where you have full universities offering courses in Digital Marketing then you know you have your work cut out for you. Sometimes people may simply want to have it said that they got their diploma in digital marketing from a reputable university as opposed to a private digital marketing school. So, this is one of the areas where you would have to prove that your academy knows exactly what it is doing by winning victories over the competition.
So basically, you would be competing against leading universities that have strong names and influence in the minds of people who may think that because such a university is known for its proficiency in other courses, they must also be excellent in their ability to provide digital marketing training.
The truth of the matter is that sometimes this may not be the truth, so it would be more advantageous for one who intends to start a digital marketing school to make sure they look for effective ways to win over this competition.
Other private digital marketing schools also pose a strong competition for those intending to get into this market. The truth is that competition can be found in every sector, so it is wise to keep that in mind and identify who they may be in order to win.
4. Know the Major Competitors in the Industry
Below are therefore some of the leading Digital Marketing Schools in the USA;
- College of Business University of Michigan-Dearborn
- The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)
- Georgetown University
- Stan Richards School of Advertising & Public Relations University of Texas at Austin
- Leonard N. Stern School of Business New York University
- Maryville University of Saint Louis
- Stanford Graduate School of Business
Economic Analysis
Depending on how large you want to go, setting up a digital marketing school can be very cost effective. On the one hand if you intend to run your digital marketing school as an online training academy, then you will not need a training facility where your students will come in daily for classes. You may definitely need an office space to operate from, but most of your classes may be recorded in videos and other digital materials that would be sent to your students.
They would interact with your school through the student portal on your website, which they maybe required to sign in when needed and of course, they would be required to turn in assignments, answer quizzes and attend live streaming classes or webinars as assessment conditions before they will be allowed to graduate and receive their diploma.
If this is the way you want to run your digital marketing school, then you would be spending most of your money in making your official website secure from hackers, developing your training videos and other materials, organizing your webinars, managing your teachers and other business staff. There are licenses, permits and various intellectual property laws to take into consideration but the alternative may prove to be more cash intensive.
Another way a school like this can be established is by going the traditional route and actually having some type of campus or learning facility where students who have enrolled in the academy can come in for their classes. However, one can also blend both ideas, the bottom line is that setting up a school like this can be economical or very costly depending on how you want to approach the venture.
5. Decide Whether to Buy a Franchise or Start from Scratch
Like any other business, starting from scratch will appear to be more stressful but it will develop in you the entrepreneurial spirit needed to set up other branches of your school or even enter other business ventures in future. On the other hand, starting with a franchise will save you most of the ground work.
Most of what you will do is simply advance beyond the place of establishment by focusing on ways to improve the impact of the brand on the public, because most of the ground work would already have been taken care of by the franchise. You will have access to mentors who will guide you into things you can do to make the academy resonate with clients.
6. Know the Possible Threats and Challenges You Will Face
The first set of challenges you will face is putting together the structures needed to make your school operational. This process usually begins by putting together a committee or a board of directors that will include people from various backgrounds. Their backgrounds will prove to be advantageous to the various aspects you will have to look into in setting up your school, various areas like the legal, business and financial aspects to mention a few.
Then another challenge would be getting the licenses and permits you will need, and either building a facility, hiring one or purchasing one. It all depends on what you want to achieve with your school, another threat you may have with establishing a school like this is the amount of free teaching mediums available on the web that appear to communicate the very same information you intend to give your students at your school.
There are a great number of electronic books, videos on the web, blogs and websites that have information about digital marketing in itself. Such platforms may bring the question in the mind of one intending to enroll as to why they should enroll for a course in digital marketing when they can simply pile up all if not most of these materials and be self-taught.
Another threat of course is usually other digital marketing schools that may present themselves as competition. One cannot forget the fast-changing trends of the digital marketing world, as what could be accepted as a norm for today in the digital marketing space, may be outdated tomorrow.
So, your curricula and training materials would have to reflect the current trends of the industry. Overcoming these threats and challenges will set your digital marketing school on its way of achieving high victory.
7. Choose the Most Suitable Legal Entity (LLC, C Corp, S Corp)
This is one of those types of businesses that can pass as a sole proprietorship or a private partnership business entity. Since one of the conditions for putting a school together is setting up your board of directors or patrons, these people could also be partners with the business. The private partnership is very good for a business like this as it maintains most of the control and has most of the tax exemptions one would enjoy as a sole proprietorship, while enjoying great liability advantages.
A school basically focuses on increasing learning and may not be at risk of running into any liability problems with clients and those who choose to do business with the school.
On the other hand, if the school intends to grow into a much larger institution, then a limited liability company can be floated as this will help give the institution a more established outlook, making investors keener for the business.
8. Choose a Catchy Business Name from the ideas Below
A name is important in a business like this, one should be able to give their school a name that both communicates the very core of the school and is catchy enough for it to be easily remembered.
Below are some interesting names to try out when seeking to start your own digital marketing school;
First Academy, INC
Abulone Digital Marketing Training Institute, INC
Digital future Academy, INC
Digital Space Innovations, INC
Capricon Training Institute, INC
Transient Academy, INC
9. Discuss With an Agent to Know the Best Insurance Policies for You
As a digital marketing school, your business is open to a lot of risks, you may have property theft, damage or other kinds of problems that may arise as unforeseen situations. It is only prudent to ensure that you have taken some of the major insurance policies required to establish your school.
Some of the basic insurance policies that you should therefore consider purchasing if you intend starting your digital marketing school in the United States of America are;
General Insurance
Commercial Umbrella Insurance
Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI)
Risk insurance
Liability Insurance
Financial Reinsuance
Workers Compensation
Business owners policy group insurance
10. Protect your Intellectual Property With Trademark, Copyrights, Patents
The major place where intellectual property protection would be required in this type of business would be in the various teaching manuals that would be developed for the various courses.
The training videos, audios, information on the website and the school’s logo would be things that would have to be placed under the protection of the schools intellectual property. It would be very bad if anyone can simply take these materials and use them for training their own students without the consent of the school. Such practices should be punishable by law, hence the need to copyright all of the schools intellectual property materials.
11. Get the Necessary Professional Certification
One does not need to have a professional certificate to start a digital marketing school in the USA. It is not like other businesses that may require that the owner should have gone through training. All a person needs to start a digital marketing school is knowledge of what they want to achieve and a great entrepreneurial spirit.
12. Get the Necessary Legal Documents You Need to Operate
Some of the basic legal documents that you should have in place if you intend running your own digital marketing school in USA include;
Certificate of Incorporation
Operating Agreements
Business License and Certification
Business Plan
Insurance Policy
Employment Agreement
Operating Agreement for LLCs
Employer Identification Number (EIN)
Consulting contract documents
Online Terms of Use
Online Privacy Policy Documents
Company Bylaws
Memorandum of Understanding
13. Raise the Needed Startup Capital
Some financial options to raising funds for your digital marketing school are;
- Raising money from your personal savings and sale of stock
- Sales of personal properties
- Sell shares to interested investors
- Getting soft loan from your family members and friends
- Applying for loan from the bank
- Getting the required capital from private investors and business partners
- Market your ideas for business grants and seed funding from angel investors and donor organizations
14. Choose a Suitable Location for your Business
Like was stated above; one could choose to run this type of school entirely on the internet as an online training institute. If that is the case, then one would simply need a place to set up a business office, with some type of classroom for if there is a need to meet with the students live.
On the other hand, if the person wants a facility then a clean serene environment would suffice, somewhere away from the noise of the big city but still accessible to students. If the owner of a school like this would like to provide boarding, then other factors would have to be taken in to consideration.
These are some of the key factors that you should consider before choosing a location for your digital marketing school;
- The local laws and regulations in the community/state
- The demography of the location
- The number of digital marketing schools in the location
- The demand for the services of a digital marketing school
- The purchasing power and business activities in the location
- Accessibility and road network of the location
- Traffic, Parking and Security
15. Hire Employees for your Technical and Manpower Needs
Anything less than four teachers may be too small for an academy that desires to be taken seriously. Setting up a business like this, you would definitely need teachers who may or may not develop curriculum for the various courses, you would need a business manager, to take care of the business side of the academy.
You would need a principal or proprietor who would pay attention to the administrative aspect of the school, looking into how students are responding to the training methods and such, lawyers for legal matters, Information Technology Professionals, Marketers, Business development team and financial managers. You would also require items like computers, laptops, tables, file cabinets an official car, office furniture and so on.
The Service Delivery Process of the Business
Basically, the prospect finds the information of the school on the internet or any medium of advertisement applied by the school. Enrolls for the course online, receives a confirmatory e-mail and a brochure on what to expect on the course. They then make payments for the course and begin the training session. After the session is completed the candidate graduates with their certificate.
16. Write a Marketing Plan Packed With ideas & Strategies
To know your marketing ideas and plans is to know how to effectively get your business across to those who will have a strong propensity to patronize what you are selling. Taking out the time to think through the various marketing options that are out there should be one of the things a Digital Marketing School should be good at, seeing as they specialize in training people to take full advantage of the digital aspect of the marketing process. It doesn’t stop them from also being knowledgeable about other traditional ways of marketing their services and products.
Below are a list of possible marketing ideas and strategies for your Digital Marketing School;
- Advertise your business in relevant financial magazines, radio and TV Stations
- Introduce your business by sending introductory letters alongside your brochure to all the corporate organizations, households, startups, small and medium scale businesses
- List your business in the local directories
- List your business in the yellow pages
- Attend international micro finance and financial services expos, seminars and business fairs.
- Engage the services of marketing executives and business developers to carry out direct marketing
- Utilize the internet to promote your business
- Create different packages for different categories of clients in order to be more specific in meeting their needs.
17. Develop Iron-clad Competitive Strategies to Help You Win
As a digital marketing school, you are basically competing with free materials that are up on the internet offering the same kind of information as you. However, the advantage you have over these platforms are the kind of certification you would give those who graduate from your school.
With that diploma or degree, they can enter into the labor market as certified digital marketing professionals. The certification makes those who intend to employ them know that they have been through some type of training process hence making them credible for the job. This will be you major selling point that will put your academy above the self-training websites or e-books.
18. Brainstorm Possible Ways to Retain Clients & Customers
One thing that will help retain students for this course is to find ways for them to enter the labor market upon completion of the course. Nothing encourages a student more than the fact that some type of employment awaits them when they finish the course.
You could also make certain advance courses available for the students so that when they finish the major digital marketing course, there are other more advanced courses that will catch their eye.
This way, even if candidates may have graduated from the course they enrolled for, they may consider enrolling for the more advanced courses in order to make their intellectual power in the field more authoritative.
Other ways to retain customers in this kind of business is to offer various scholarships and discounts on certain courses, webinars or training videos or live classroom sessions. Since it is a digital marketing school, other digital marketing activities could also be employed in making sure customers keep coming back to the academy for one reason or the other.
19. Develop Strategies to Boost Brand Awareness and Create a Corporate Identity
Below are the platforms you can leverage on to boost your brand and advertise your business.
- Ensure that you position your banners and billboards in strategic positions in your city
- Brand all your official cars
- Ensure that all your staff members and management wear your branded items at regular intervals
- Advertise your business on your website; develop strategies that will pull traffic your way.
- Use the direct approach by calling households, start-ups, small and medium scale businesses and the likes of them, informing them of what you do.
- Share Fliers and handbills around the target areas where you have deducted that your business will do well.
- Encourage the use of word of mouth among your loyal consumers
- Maximize the advertising potentials of the internet.