Social media powers up language education and communication development in the Balkans

Belgrade, Serbia – February 20, 2012 – The European head office of the US based PRODIREKT education group today announced that its Verbalists (Verbalisti) Communication and Language Network exceeded an important 10,000-member mark for its Facebook business page. PRODIREKT recently celebrated another landmark when its Verbalists YouTube media channel logged 100,000 video views, the barrier that was broken only two years after the channel inception, with the video views connected mostly to the communication network authored content. The success of the Verbalists social media came after some regional media already proclaimed network Verbalists in 2011 as the fastest growing language education network in Southeast Europe.

Speaking of the impact social media had on PRODIREKT’s business, Dejan Trpkovic, managing director, said: “Our Verbalists Facebook group, which we launched for the Balkan region, is growing larger by the day. Social media and the Internet have allowed us to grow fast our language education business through word of mouth. This is probably the best recognition one company can get, and for an educational consultancy or an educator, it is also the most desirable. A good part of our target audience is young learners and professionals, and they mostly communicate through social networks, sharing their views, language travel experiences and forming opinions. In 2011, about one fourth of our language travel bookings came from recommendations.”

The Pie News, the British online publication for international educators, in its January 8 analysis report (How is international education embracing social media?) points out that most educators realize they need to be active in social media, but many don’t really know where to focus, after having possibly set up their own Facebook page. This is despite the fact that the target audience of the international education sector is often a young demographic. Verbalists have found the winning formula. The communication network has forged important media partnerships (the sponsorship of the show program Pop Idol and regional Nisville Jazz Festival, cooperation with Taramount, Cinefest and Tuck movie distribution houses, to name few). Moreover, during the past two years, Verbalists conducted more than 100 interviews with celebrities and prominent business people, making it stand out not only as a social media platform, but as a potent media house as well.

“It is important to motivate our customers to share their experience, yet, it is equally important to present high quality, entertaining content to keep customers, partners and “by-standers” involved and active. When we launched celebrity interviews with Speak Your Mind! media segment we knew it was going to become the most popular on our Facebook and YouTube; however, it also helped us attain our main goal – education through entertainment. And, nowadays, entertainment and engaging content rule. This is the test most social media fail. If a business isn’t engaging and interacting with customers, the silence is deafening. I believe we managed to strike the right balance in our social media with the education content that is often entertaining.”

In addition to its Facebook page and YouTube channel, the communication network Verbalisti maintains its media presence with the two language specific blogs – stranijeziciblog.com in Serbian, and stranskijazici.com in Macedonian, both enjoying the high support from the local online community.

About PRODIREKT LLC and Verbalists (Verbalisti) Language Network
PRODIREKT’s innovative solutions for corporate management, marketing and international business communication offer a bridge between strategy and education, while its Verbalists Language Network and business group, dedicated to language studies, professional training, translation and interpreting services, help young professionals and corporate clients achieve their objectives in international communication.

The Verbalists Language network has been created for language lovers and all those wishing to improve their communication skills. Furthermore, the language network is the answer to the growing demand for the regional standardization in foreign language studies. Verbalists offer quality language courses for students of all ages and levels according to their various budget needs.