Can coaching institutes advertise their toppers and results?+
Yes, with mandatory disclosures. Under the CCPA's November 2024 coaching sector guidelines, any advertisement featuring a successful candidate must disclose the student's name and rank, the specific course they took, and whether that course was paid for. Consent to use their name, image or result must be obtained after the result is declared, not at the time of enrolment. Claims of guaranteed selection, assured rank or assured placement are prohibited outright.
How should an education budget be spread across the year?+
Not evenly. Demand concentrates sharply around results announcements and application deadlines, so acquisition budget should be paced into those windows and reduced substantially outside them. The quieter months are best used for the durable assets — search visibility, campus and faculty video, parent-facing content, alumni proof — which are then working when the season arrives. Spending flat across twelve months underserves the weeks that decide the year.
What is a reasonable cost per enrolled student?+
It depends entirely on fee level and programme length, so there is no transferable benchmark. The useful calculation is against the total fee value of a student across their time with you, less delivery cost. A three-year programme can justify far higher acquisition spend than a six-week course. We establish your enquiry-to-enrolment rate at each stage first, because most institutes know their cost per enquiry and not their cost per enrolment.
Do schools need marketing, or is word of mouth enough?+
Word of mouth remains the strongest source in this sector and it is not enough on its own for most institutions, because it only reaches families already connected to your community. Digital presence matters at the moment a parent who has heard your name searches for you and finds either a credible answer or nothing. For most schools the priority is not campaigns but findability, transparency on fees and admissions, and structured referral from existing parents.
Does this apply to edtech platforms as well as physical institutes?+
The coaching sector guidelines are framed around coaching centres, and a platform providing coaching or test preparation should assume they apply to its advertising. Beyond that, the CCPA's 2022 misleading advertisement guidelines apply to every business, so outcome and success claims need substantiation regardless of delivery model. Edtech also carries a distinct problem the guidelines do not address: completion and outcome rates that are far weaker than advertising implies.
Can you help with international student recruitment?+
Yes, though it is a different discipline. Country-specific content, visa and accommodation information, fee transparency in the student's own currency, agent and counsellor relationships, and enquiry handling across time zones all matter more than campaign creative. It is also a long-horizon channel that works best alongside a healthy domestic pipeline rather than as a rescue for weak local enrolment.
