Lead segmentation for education

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right it's two o'clock so we'll get going um so hi everyone and welcome my name is kim lynch and i am the business development manager at isc research thank you for joining me for this second session of our marketing to schools masterclass series ifc research is the leading provider of english medium k-12 international school data trends and intelligence we've decided to start this new academic year with some master classes that are designed for education suppliers and providers already working with international schools or looking to enter the market in this session i'll share some insights that will be valuable to marketing and business development teams and we will discuss ways to support your organisation's goals towards the end i'm going to open up the floor to questions and i do have a client that'll be joining us to share some of her own experiences if you joined us last time you'll know all about the ways to leverage content to engage with international schools or if you missed it we can share that recording with you today's session we're going to be talking about segmentation and it would be great if we can make this as interactive as possible so do please feel free to post your questions into the chat the session is being recorded too so you can come back to this later on if you need to so let's get started now for those of us um here that don't already know us already let me introduce you to isd research first of all now we've been gathering data and intelligence on the international schools market for over 25 years since 1994 we have guided schools with their growth plans informed investors on new school development helped universities to engage with international schools and advised education suppliers and other partners that are supporting the market we track the market closely for shifts challenges good practice new development and emerging opportunities we process close to three hundred thousand data points every year and we spend four and a half thousand hours on data verification to ensure we and you can trust our data isc research supplies a live international schools online data platform in-depth reports data sets and expertise on the market in addition to specialist areas of practice within the international schools what makes us unique is that we have a team of field and desk-based researchers that are all based out of key growth regions around the world surveying the schools and interviewing senior leadership teams to collect relevant intelligence directly from the schools you can follow ic research on linkedin twitter or facebook to make sure that you're up to date with all of our news and those resources as they become available for the purposes of data collection and analysis isc research includes an international school if it is a privately operated school that delivers a curriculum wholly or partly in english to some or all of its students aged between 3 and 18 in a country where english is an official language or it's a privately operated school that delivers a curriculum other than the host country's national curriculum wholly or partly in english to some or all of its students aged between 3 and 18 in a country where english is an official language our data includes school location and ownership age phases student enrolment capacity student nationality fees contact details of staff across many functions and seniority levels staff salaries and benefits nationalities facilities quality assurances examinations and curriculum and school supply we also gather demographic and social economic statistics for key regions countries and some cities including population and growth rate growth rate which impact the demand and prospective demand for school places most of data and intelligence supplied by isc research has collected directly from senior leaders at international schools this data and intelligence gathering is conducted year round by our field-based research consultants supported by our desk researchers we also use trusted local sources market experts and government bodies to acquire reliable market intelligence the raw data and intelligence is then verified and analyzed to produce the most reputable current and comprehensive research on the international school sector because we've been collecting and analyzing this data for more than 25 years isc research is also able to produce valuable market trends and projections as some of you may be new to the international schools market let's start with some background information to provide further context and to today's session the international schools market is an established and widely recognized sector of global k-12 education knowing what makes the english medium international schools market different from other education options is going to be important for your organization's strategy in our brand new white paper what makes the international schools market different we highlighted five top factors that differentiate english medium international schools so the first of those is english as a as a major medium of instruction ing to the oecd in its 2020 report how language learning opens doors the english language is the one considered most necessary for education and work for many parents language lessons alone are not enough nor is after-school tutoring for those parents who live in a non-english speaking country and want their child to have access to global higher education and career opportunity career opportunities immersion of learning using the english language remains prime reason to select an english medium international school the second is the pathway to global higher education so in addition to the language of instruction most international schools are following a curriculum that prepares students for globally recognized qualifications at 16 and 18. the teaching and learning approach exit examinations and leaving certificates offered by international schools are commonly accepted by the majority of the world's higher education institutions including the highest ranked universities as well as most multinational companies and number three the teachers most international schools employ expatriate teachers with skills to teach the curriculum and with the experience to facilitate the learning approach that is delivered by the school as most curricular and teaching and learning approaches offered in international schools are western this has traditionally meant that teachers from the uk us canada and australia some international schools are leading change by employing a more diverse teaching staff and selecting um educators for their cultural understandings and different experiences they can bring to the school and upskilling necessary curriculum knowledge and pedagogical principles internally the truly diverse teaching staff will continue to set an international school apart from other schooling options and for more equitable reasons moving on to class sizes and student teacher interaction most international schools have much smaller class sizes than other school types serving the same age of children the current average student teacher ratio across the international school sector is 10 to 1. holistic development of students international schools are in general recognized for focusing on a more holistic development of students so i.e addressing the social emotional and psychological and academic growth of each child this is delivered through practical creative arts and sports learning and facilities learning outside of the classroom and service learning as well as through pastoral initiatives extracurricular activities etc and so the the facts of this white paper and is accessible to download from the reports section uh for our clients if you're not ready client of ours and you'd like to receive a copy please do get in touch would be happy to discuss your international school business plans and share this with you during the portal demonstration and meeting okay so now that we've talked about what makes the international schools market different and you might be wondering why they can differentiate and here are just a few of those reasons the independent status and fee structure of international schools can give them more autonomy around curricular choice operational structures facilities and budget expenditure than the government-funded schools their global vision also gives them potential to adapt more quickly they can attract a diverse global talent pool of teachers and leaders who bring teaching skills cultural perspectives and as i said before lifestyles from different countries and the medium of learning is often not the mother term of most students attending these international schools meaning that english as an additional language eal provision is by necessity a requirement competing for student admissions and staff means that international schools must maintain good educational standards which drives up the quality accreditation is popular within the international school sector to help raise standards and provide a quality mark now before we talk about the importance of segmentation i just want to take a quick poll to understand what your needs are and now if you have joined us on zoom the questions should appear on your screen those of you joining on linkedin unfortunately you won't be able to answer the poll but please feel free to add in your answers on the chat if you wish and if you do this it'd be great if you if you don't mind letting us know who you are in your organization so i'll just give this a moment so what part does the international schools market currently play in your growth strategy is it a key target market in itself could it be a segment within your overall target market or is it a new market for your organization and that you're currently exploring so i'm going to give it a moment let a few of you have a chance to consider that okay so the most popular answer um is that it is a key target market in itself um followed by those of you that have said it's a new segment and within your overall target market so thanks very much everyone and now let's move on to my next slide there we go my computer seems to be running a little slow so last september isc research surveyed educators and leaders to identify the ways education suppliers could better support international schools our research included 61 people 80 who were leaders from international schools in 35 countries the results of this research are published in a white paper called purchasing plans the decisions international schools make and how which is available to download from the intelligence section of the ic research website we wanted to find out more about decision making process international schools follow when we asked who makes purchasing decisions 70 of our respondents said they feel they can make purchasing decisions on their own even though several said group decisions are valued the results show how essential it is to identify and build relationships with the appropriate international school contacts that being said let's not forget either about influence from key introducers such as teachers who will act as advocates for your service and of course this all starts with a rigorous segmentation uh now i'm sure most of you will already have a market segmentation in place and things to consider if you want to build strong relationships with international schools is that you'll need to develop a strategic approach rather than considering the international schools market as a segment within your existing markets you may want to define it as a primary or a secondary target market depending on your own ambitions and then identify target segments within it if that's already how you're targeting international schools then of course you're on the right track it all starts with some research to explore and understand your audience as we discussed in the content marketing session last week there are some resources available to help you to better understand the international schools market many of which i see research provides we regularly share high level market data in the content we share publicly and we also produce a broad range of market intelligence reports that can help you to get started so for instance our annual market report is a useful resource to identify the regions and countries to consider if you are new to the international schools market or looking to expand your brand footprint now a regional breakdown always helps so here we're looking at a regional breakdown of the international schools market so whether you are a b2b or b2c organization this will be a good starting point for you to find potential for growth asia dominates the international schools market with 56 of all international schools for a total of 7506 international schools as of july this year teaching a total of 3.7 million students aged between 3 and 18. the presence of international schools is shared evenly between east asia southeast asia western asia and southern asia and top the top five leading countries in the world for schools are all in asia so china india uae pakistan and indonesia once you've identified countries that are worth considering for your organization make sure that you go into some specific research government regulations and policies can impact your market entry this can apply to importing or exporting goods as well as services sharing experience within your professional networks can be a great way to learn more about the market ifc research also produces sub-regional and key country market-specific reports which include intelligence gathered from our very own field research team sharing insights on external factors that are impacting the market the profile of international school students has evolved significantly over the past 20 years international schools are no longer the domain of western expatriates today most students attending international schools are local children from the country in which the international school is located third culture children who do not associate with any single nationality or culture or expatriates from all countries of the world and this has also impacted the fee structure of international schools which could be highly relevant in your segmentation here you can see the growth trends of both the premium fee and mid-market fee sectors of the global market now although the mid market fee sector of international schools is attracting more students than the premium fee sector growth in premium v-school student enrollment remains stable essentially the international schools market as a whole is broadening to meet a wider range of students to meet the needs of a wide range of students i should say and the international schools market has also seen a notable growth in demand for um for those schools at a feed point affordable by more families several several factors that are impacting this are that there is ever more interest from local families selecting an international school in their neighborhood in preference to a local state or independent school there is a growth of expatriate families originating from a wide range of countries and there are declining benefits packages that include education fees for dependents covered 19 also did impact the incomes of some families of course so a growing number of international schools are being established or adapting their fees with the purpose of meeting the needs of a mid-market fee sector needless to say premium c international schools remain in demand from the wealthiest sector of society who can access them and want what they consider to be educational prestige and best education money can buy one important point to remember is that all international schools regardless of their fee level have to deliver good learning standards to be competitive within their location and this means being competitive against the local schools local pro local public schools local private schools and other international schools so no international school can afford to offer a poor service or they obviously wouldn't survive very long as a result they're always looking for resources and services that will help them offer the best service that they can afford to offer to the parents and we did release the white paper detailing market developments within the premium fee and mid-market fee sectors again this is available free on the isc research website and it does include some valuable case studies from from those mid-marketpoint schools about their educational offering now um the criteria that you use to segment the international schools market will depend on your overall business strategy are you targeting specific profiles of schools in which case your segmentation will be account based or are you targeting specific individuals working or studying international schools so are you focusing on knee generation let's start by exploring relevant segmentation criteria for account based marketing as you may know the principles of account based marketing rely on a rigorous segmentation that also applies to the international schools market we know from experience it's absolutely worth spending your time defining the profiles of international schools that have been most interested in your brand your product and services skipping this step will most likely result in a lower to no engagement from the international school contacts they want to talk to suppliers and providers that you know genuinely understand their needs and the challenges that they might be facing so here's a few criteria worth considering to segment the international schools market there are many characteristics to take into account to build your international school client profile including their location and any potential barrier to entry but also their curricular examinations fee sector student enrolments and student ages the year they opened up might also be relevant to your organization or whether they are using specific resources associations international schools can also be members of associations which provide a broad range of services such as community building professional development and major events you may find associations that closely align with your brand or your business goals for instance operating in specific regions that may help you to connect with a wider group of international schools and similarly international school accreditations can also be a criterion to help you reach international schools and international school groups now many international schools exist as single entities while others will exist as part of a school group at isc research we classify an international school group as one which owns international schools that are part of the group or has a financial interest in international schools by managing them or providing key services to them without actually owning them if you're taking an account based approach school groups can help in two ways firstly um a few groups may centralize purchasing decisions so your company being listed on their books might simplify the purchasing process for other schools within the group secondly and perhaps more importantly establishing a strong relationship with a school but as a member of a group is a great way to enhance your brand reputation and be recommended to other schools across their network and if that's an approach you're interested in you can check out our latest white paper the brands and groups leading the the world's international school sector and now a little more data on school groups if that's a criterion that you want to explore our white paper showed that a number of international schools that part of the school group is increasing in july 2017 isc research was aware of 333 school groups that represented a total of 2 526 international schools they were teaching 1.28 million students in april 2022 isd research tracked 616 international school groups with a total of 4 861 international schools teaching 2.18 million students so the international school group sector has experienced total growth growth and enrollment of 70 in five years some groups have experienced significant student enrolment in that time for example basis global has experienced 734 enrollment growth in its international schools since 2017. and so is your segmentation um based on individuals working in international schools here again segmenting your audience will positively impact your lead generation activities to target individuals international school characteristics we've previously listed will still be relevant of course thinking about your audience personas will help you reach the appropriate contact within international schools they'll be more likely to engage with your content you would also consider the department they belong to within their international school their job title and possibly their behaviors or level of engagement on social media platforms like linkedin which as you know can be a great tool for lead generation and network building at iec research we can help to inform you segmentation so whether your focus is on account based marketing lead generation or both i've already mentioned our market intelligence reports which are a fantastic resource to develop your international strategy at the live international schools portal ifc outreach provides access to a searchable database which includes data on almost 13 000 international schools contact details of over six to three thousand departmental contacts across all functions seniority levels and information on all um more than six hundred school groups so that also includes details of school associations and accreditations including member schools the database offers a broad range of filters on international school locations curricula exams groups student ages enrollment and tuition fees as well as on contact departments our data on international school contacts also includes linkedin profiles to help you to develop a personalized approach and as the portal uses live data you'll always have access to the latest figures as our team continuously gathers data and intelligence throughout the year now as well as data analysis tools the portal includes that library of regularly updated reports a news feed and an events calendar to support all aspects of your business development and marketing strategy country summary reports are also included in all licenses to highlight trends and regulations that might impact your reach enabling you to adapt your plans ingly and if the international schools market is of interest then you should book a call of our team to discuss your needs in more detail you can take a closer look at the data and during this we'll be happy to verify to share a copy of our brand new white paper which produces insights into where the international schools market is growing so do get in touch if you'd like to organize a meeting i'll leave the details on the last slide at the end of the session and so i would like to move on to an opportunity to have one of our clients join us now share their experiences with using isc outreach in sport of international school business growth plans and i've got elena petrova head of marketing from edmonton uh who has kindly agreed to share some insights now myself and elena worked closely together during my own time working in edmonton's international schools team so really pleased to have you here today elena and i think our marketing team will just unmute you uh see that you've raised your hand there so that we can hear you so when you're ready if you can unmute and share your camera um elena welcome so then please could you start by sharing with us a brief of edmonton's international a brief of edmonton's business with international schools of course yeah um hi kim great session so far so um yeah so adventure is a global company and we specialize in education technology and educational services our businesses split across three core areas which are assessments for learning digital curriculum as well as as i mentioned educational services um to international schools brilliant thank you could you give us an overview of how you use the live portal to segment the market for your international business yeah so i actually love the ic portal and i love all of the segmentation that's already available um obviously as you've highlighted earlier kim the way you would segment that data highly depends on your business strategy and your business needs um but what we tend to do is when uh in terms of abm we will segment schools by curriculum for example us uk curriculum or orientations at times just because segmenting based on curriculum can get a bit tedious because there is there are a lot of curriculums so that's something we would do and then we would drill further based on location um and then that enables us to create messaging buckets um where we can really kind of hone in on key messaging for those kind of segments that we have going on um we further run some segmentations based on accreditation that we're aligned to um as well as some associations that we're already part of and that we work with um above all abm really allows us to tailor our messaging for that particular audience we'll also uh market to particular school groups in strategic locations for us um and so on and so forth and then to just kind of wrap up um this portion what we also really tend to leverage is a very um rigorous automation system that we have alongside an automated abm um software that we have and all of it is kind of api linked with our salesforce system and isd so it enables us to really create a pretty rigorous profile over our accounts so you're finding that data on the portal supports all of this work and to help you diversify against the market absolutely yeah i mean um as some people on this call may have already experienced marketing to international schools can be a very kind of um well it's a very niche industry and it can be it could definitely get quite quite challenging at times um data is incredibly difficult to come across and i have yet to see kind of um the data provider who does this better than the ise to be absolutely honest so yeah the isc is critical to what we do brilliant how how do you think work provides the impact the overall business opportunities yeah i mean um it kind of links to my previous point but to be honest it would be very difficult to get quite close to some of these schools and some of these contacts without that data that the isc provides um we we as i mentioned we market and sell to the whole world um we are so it makes it incredibly difficult to get pretty kind of close with a lot of these schools contacts globally so the ic kind of really enables that link for us and it really enables us to build a better profile of um the industry out there brilliant thanks very much elena that's been really helpful and appreciate you joining us and sharing a bit about that if you don't mind just pop yourself back on mute now i just want to open up the floor got a couple of minutes left um just very quickly for any questions and that anyone might have around the session content today um i'll just check in the chat um so somebody has asked greetings you just mentioned accreditation i was wondering if you could expand on the value of that theme for international schools and so very quickly uh before we run out of time i would say um you know it is as i've touched on quite a bit it's a competitive market and you know these schools have got to be seen to be offering best-in-class services so accreditation you know it's just another um it's another way of them showing quality assurance essentially a lot of the associations actually provide accreditation and just before we run out of time i just want to put the next slide up so that you can all see my contact details on here and just in case i don't you know get around to answering um questions fully you can book a call with us um using the link or you can contact me directly and through email and the other question i had on here is will we get a copy of the presentation and this session has been recorded so if you've been registered then you will get sent um the registration the the link of the recording and we're almost out of time so uh if you have any further questions please do uh do send them through to email um to me and i'll be more than happy to um to follow up directly with you but i hope you've all found this session valuable and as mentioned if you'd like to take another look at a closer look at the international portal you can you can reach me through these details so keep an eye out for the session uh next week we'll be focusing on raising awareness of your brand at events we look forward to seeing you all there