Schools, language tutors, teachers, and agents are increasingly present on TikTok. Some spending a great deal of time and resources to create content with the hope of going viral. However, is it really worth it?

What makes us unique are our thoughts. Welcome to Speak Your Mind!

Speak Your Mind! – “Is TikTok a waste of our time?” by Korinne Algie

TikTok is widely considered the buzz social media platform of the moment, especially among a younger demographic. In fact, the largest age group on TikTok is ten to nineteen years old, which sits at around 43% of all users.

The first step in answering the question whether TikTok is worth the investment is to take a good, hard look at who your target audience really is. Yes, you may recruit young students, but in many cases, they are not holding the purse strings.

Older users are underrepresented on TikTok. People aged thirty to thirty-nine only account for 16% of users. Once we get over forty years of age, we are talking about around 15% only. Slowly these numbers are increasing, but it will likely take quite some time for them to reach any great level.

So, if parents are paying for their children’s education, but are largely absent from TikTok, then we must also ask how much influence children have on their parents. Only then can we properly evaluate if using TikTok makes sense to your marketing and recruitment strategy.

Research specifically pertaining to education is all but non-existent. However, if we look at general consumerism, we see that children do in fact impact parents purchase decisions. Of course, things such as the age of the child, whether the item is for the child exclusively, culture, how much investment is involved, and many other variable factors all impact the degree of influence a child has.

Recent research suggests that between 80 to 90% of parents ask for their child’s opinion when it comes to making a purchase. This is no guarantee that the child’s opinion impacts the final outcome, however it is clear that they are considered in the process.

Kids wield the greatest influence when the product or service concerns them directly or when they are particularly attached to a brand or item. This impact is further magnified when the purchase is proposed by the child and supported by a well thought out and logical argument. Therefore, assuming this also applies to education, children are likely to have an influence on their parents’ choice of school or program, especially when a connection has been made with the brand.

With that in mind, it is fair to say that using TikTok to market to young people with the aim of fostering a connection to your brand, could ultimately have a positive impact on your student recruitment. How do we do that? Stay tuned until next time!

About the Author

Korinne Algie has over 20 years in international education. As the member of the PRODIREKT leadership group, she works with schools, agencies, and other education-related businesses to help develop content, set strategies, and improve visibility of the PRODIREKT Group and the Verbalists Education & Language Network.

Korinne is also the founder of KAIE Marketing (korinnealgie.com), an international education marketing consultancy and Co-founder of the Education Marketing Collective, a membership platform providing digital skills training and support to education professionals.

Korinne regularly speaks on education trends, challenges, and practical skills both online and in-person.