The Evolution of Marketing Automation in Ed Tech

Currently, there are over 4000 EdTech start-ups^[1] in India, assisting more than 300 million school students worldwide. The demand is no less among college-goers and working professionals.

Why? For the sheer convenience of learning it offers.

EdTech platforms enable students and professionals to learn at their own pace. They also provide career counselling, skill assessment, and placement assistance.

A major driving force behind the EdTech industry’s growth is marketing automation. It has transformed how EdTech brands operate. Some tools can automate vital tasks and provide in-depth insights.

This blog breaks down the role of marketing automation in EdTech. Read on to learn about the benefits of marketing automation in Edtech.

How Does Marketing Automation Work?

In EdTech marketing, repetitive tasks take up a lot of time. It does not allow businesses to focus on other significant tasks.

Marketing automation software manages all the background processes in your EdTech business. It simplifies the workload and takes up all the tasks that need manual intervention.

As such, marketing automation helps EdTech brands refine their strategies and save resources. It enhances their lead generation and nurturing strategies to boost business growth.

Marketing automation platforms collect and use customer data to simplify tasks like

• Scheduling emails

• Sending reminders

• Line up social media content

• Retargeting ads

• And more

For instance, as an EdTech start-up, you organise a webinar to promote your product. How will automation help you?

• You may start by sending out invites with a registration form. When someone fills out the form, the automation software will add them to a different list.

• Next, these people become leads and start receiving nurturing emails. The software begins the lead nurturing process with a ‘Thank You’ email and sends out a content copy of the webinar,

• Then, the leads receive a sample course link to download a few days later. Once a lead downloads the sample, the sales team can contact them. This is because these qualified leads have higher chances of conversion.

The complete process goes on without any manual supervision.

Benefits of Implementing Marketing Automation for EdTech Businesses

Combining marketing automation with education solutions, EdTech brands can get several benefits.

Personalised Communication

Marketing automation allows you to send customised messages to students. It helps you engage them with tailored content at each stage of their journey.

This lead nurturing effort helps establish strong prospect relationships.

Responding to Student Queries and Applications

Using automation tools, you can reduce the response time. It facilitates the lead management process, also simplifying the application and enrolment system.

Maintain a Systematic Student Record

Automation and CRM integrations help you maintain an organised database. It reduces redundancy and ensures accurate record-keeping throughout the student’s journey.

We will learn more about automation’s impact on the student journey.

Increase Enrolment Rate

Marketing automation helps track your leads and facilitates precise targeting. It allows you to connect with prospective students and guide them toward the final step. This drives higher enrolment rates.

Boost Team Efficiency

Seamless automation makes your team more efficient. It frees up their time, allowing them to focus on strategic efforts.

For instance, instead of sending emails, your team can automate them. They can instead invest time in planning the following email campaigns and analysis.

Additionally, a centralised automation platform boosts collaboration between cross-functional teams.

Easier Integration with Other Platforms

Marketing automation software also enables seamless integration with social media and email accounts. This helps amplify your marketing efforts by promoting a comprehensive approach.

Data-Driven Decisions with Analytics

Using marketing automation platforms gives you access to insightful analytics. It promotes more precise and data-driven decisions for business growth.

You can optimise your efforts by

• Analysing student interactions

• Tracking campaign effectiveness

• And more

It helps you boost ROI with informed and strategic decision-making.

How Marketing Automation Can Help Buyer’s Journey in EdTech

There are four major stages of a student’s e-learning journey. Let's see how marketing automation streamlines them, transforming how EdTech in India works.

Student Acquisition

This is the foremost step in a student’s buyer journey. Hence, it would be best if you implemented a strong strategy; marketing automation can help you.

Many marketing automation platforms help you create lead capture forms. Using this feature, you can create

• Inquiry forms

• Newsletter signups

• Applications

• And more

You can even customise these forms as needed. As a lead completes a form, their details will integrate into your CRM platform. It can speed up your lead-generation efforts.

Student Enrolment

Acquiring leads is not enough; you must prompt them to convert. Here, a market automation tool can help you by rolling out automated email campaigns.

You can create email templates and automate them to send messages at specified times. These emails may include details about your platform’s features, fee structures, etc.

Automating a series of such emails will target your lead’s motivations. It will encourage them to take the following steps.

Student Engagement

This stage is when your leads start interacting with your platform. To boost engagement, you must focus on personalised marketing triggers.

Use analytical tools offered by digital marketing automation platforms for in-depth student insights. It can help you analyse their behaviour and actions to boost your engagement efforts.

For instance, you can use these insights to track student progress and send automated reminders about upcoming classes, pending assignments, personalised lesson plans, etc.

Student Retention

Retention is more important than acquisition. You must focus on students' opinions about your e-learning features, resources, etc.

It will help you assess product performance and improve to meet their expectations. One way to do this is by observing student feedback across social platforms.

As discussed, marketing automation tools can integrate with social platforms. This feature can check for student engagement on your social handles. You can also track mentions of your EdTech brand across social media and reply to their comments or reviews.

It establishes that you care about individual customer needs, enhancing retention.

Furthermore, you can also send automated emails about new courses students might be interested in. New options will encourage them to explore your platform more and promote brand loyalty.

Automation and EdTech- Evolution Over the Years

Indian EdTech industry analysis shows it will be worth USD 10 billion by 2025^[2]. Automation has been vital in the industry’s rapid growth and transformation in recent years.

Let's see how the EdTech industry in India has evolved with the help of automation technology. Here are some instances

From Focus on the Masses to Hyper-personalization with Artificial Intelligence

Earlier, the learning resources were catered to all the students in general. They were not focused on individual needs and preferences.

But, every student is different with their unique learning capabilities. The EdTech sector has realised this.

EdTech platforms now offer personalised learning sessions using automation and AI. It helps students complete a course and understand concepts at their own pace.

Immersive Learning with Augmented and Virtual Reality

Over the years, e-learning resources and techniques have also evolved. The focus has now shifted to providing a more immersive experience.

The growth of consumer reality technology has increased accessibility to Virtual and Augmented Reality. Anyone with a smartphone can have an immersive virtual classroom experience.

Teachers can replicate real-life classroom settings to enhance student experiences. It helps combine traditional teaching with the convenience of virtual learning.

Additionally, tech giants like Google, Facebook, etc., are developing AR eyewear. It will further speed up the adoption of virtual classrooms.

Rise of Gamification

With immersive learning setups, EdTech brands are exploring ways to gamify their lessons. The focus is to make the classes more engaging for students.

For instance, a leading EdTech company conducts live quizzes for exam preparations. Thousands of students take part in it. There are actual leaderboards, fuelling the competitive spirit to boost learning.

Automated Learning Management Systems

Automation in Learning Management systems has made business processes simpler than ever.

You can upload all customer data into the LMS platforms without manual labour. Integrate it with your CRM or HRM software.

You can prompt customers to start their lessons—Automate notification emails to guide learners throughout the course.

Moreover, you can use an automated LMS platform to

• Track student progress

• Assess completion rates

• Create learning paths and encourage them to continue their e-learning journey

• And more

Wrapping Up

Marketing automation is a growth driver for the EdTech Industry in India. From email automation to boosting AI-driven strategies, it can simplify business processes.

Adopting automation tools is vital for EdTech brands to flourish in this industry.

Partnering with Growth Jockey can help you in this transformation. Optimise your growth marketing efforts with Growth Jockey’s marketing automation solutions.

Connect with the team today!

FAQs

1. Why do EdTech businesses need marketing automation solutions?

Marketing automation platforms minimise the steps between marketing and sales. By automating repetitive tasks, automation reduces manual efforts.

It helps the marketing team focus on refining their strategies.

2. What are some examples of marketing automation?

Using marketing automation, EdTech brands can simplify redundant tasks like

• Sending welcome emails

• Sending reminder messages

• Uploading prospect details into CRM

• And more

3. What is CRM in EdTech?

CRM software helps businesses manage communication with students and other stakeholders. EdTEch brands can track leads, engage them, and boost conversions using a CRM platform.

1. 4000 EdTech start-ups - Link ↑
2. USD 10 billion by 2025 - Link ↑