How to market a tutoring business or side hustle?

Market your tutoring business by building an online presence with a simple website, leveraging free channels like your network to get referrals, and moving to paid channels like Google Ads once you have a few students

In this post, I’ll explain how you can apply these business principles to improve the reach of your marketing and attract more students for your tutoring business

Note: Make sure you also check out our in-depth guides on starting a tutoring business and pricing strategy for tutors

🎯 Goals of marketing: Awareness vs Conversion

Before we talk about marketing your tutoring side hustle, let’s talk about the purpose of marketing and what we’re aiming to achieve

When you market a product, your ultimate goal is to get people’s attention and persuade them to take action, usually by making a purchase. Marketing focuses on two main objectives: creating awareness and driving conversions

🙉 Awareness

Awareness means making your product the first thing that comes to mind when people think about a certain topic. It doesn’t directly lead to sales, but it helps people remember your brand. Building strong brand awareness eventually leads to conversions because people trust things they are familiar with. When conversations about a topic arise, if your product or service comes to mind, it’s more likely to be mentioned. Red Bull’s marketing strategy is a great example of awareness building. They sponsor extreme sports events to associate their brand with the energetic feeling they want their drinks to convey. Seeing the Red Bull logo on a Formula One car won’t make you buy a Red Bull right away, but when you’re feeling tired and need an energy boost, someone who has seen the logo many times during their favourite sports events is more likely to choose Red Bull over other energy drinks

🧲 Conversion

The second goal of marketing is conversion, which means directly persuading people to take action after they see or interact with something. Google Ads is a great example of conversion-focused marketing. By displaying advertisements that match a search query for a product, Google Ads shows people exactly what they are already looking for. This means they already have the intention to take action. By presenting your product to them, you hope they choose yours and convert immediately. Google Ads don’t do much for creating awareness. When was the last time you remembered a Google Ad?

🧩 Both

Social media ads lie somewhere in between. They increase awareness, and brands can target individuals who have already seen their ads with more ads. The first time you see an ad, it raises awareness, and when brands retarget you with more ads, they aim to convert you by the fourth or fifth ad you see

👨‍💻 Step 1: Create a simple website

Consider using a no-code website builder like Squarespace, Wix, or Weebly to quickly establish an online presence. All the website needs to contain is a professional picture, a tagline, some information about your qualifications and a contact form. Continue updating your site as you get more referrals and success stories to build social proof and credibility with potential clients. Keep your website concise, and avoid writing fluffy content. Visitors need to understand what you provide in seconds, or they will turn away

🆓 Step 2: Utilize free channels for marketing

🗣 Referrals from current students

If you already have students, offer them free lessons for referring friends. You can also offer group discounts for lessons with friends to make it more affordable for your students and maximize your time. Word-of-mouth referrals from your students are valuable for growth because people trust recommendations from their friends. Even if they don’t refer you right away, they make be able to recommend you to their friends in the future if they need it

👨‍🎓 Connect with local schools

Contact your former high school and other schools in the area and let them know about your tutoring services. Schools are always looking for new ways to help their students, so it’s always worth getting in touch. Ask your former teachers or friends who are teachers to refer students to you too. Because teachers’ recommendations are highly trusted by students and parents, they’re some of the most valuable sources of referrals you can get.

I can personally vouch for this method. When I started tutoring in my first year of university, I informed my former high school math and physics teachers, who referred three struggling students to me, giving my first tutoring business a strong start

🕸 Leverage your social media reach

Utilize your network by posting updates on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn to let people know about your tutoring services. Ask for referrals and include a link to your website in the post. By increasing awareness in this way, you’ll often pick up one or two students for less than 5 minutes of work

🎫 Post on free classified platforms

Advertise your tutoring services on websites like Gumtree, and specialised tutor finding sites like HighSchoolTutor. These platforms are usually free to post on and a simple ad takes very little time to create. Check out our post on how to write a good tutoring advertisement that converts. Posting on these platforms helps people already looking for a tutor to find you, and often has a high conversion rate into paying clients

👀 Flyers and posters

Distribute simple posters and flyers at local supermarkets, community centres, and libraries. Your posters should be targeted towards parents as most high school-aged students aren’t looking in these places nowadays. Ensure your contact information and tutoring subjects are clearly displayed to capture attention and generate awareness. You should also place a QR code leading to your website so people can easily get more information on the go, or contact you later

🍞 Content marketing

When students need help, they often search for solutions on Google. You can capitalize on this by positioning yourself as an expert by creating informative blog posts on your website. Optimize your content for search engines to improve its ranking, eventually generating leads for potential clients. While it doesn’t require additional costs on an existing website, be mindful of the time investment as creating quality content takes time. This strategy is more suitable for long-term goals and may not be necessary for everyday tutors. If you choose to go down this route, consider using a blog-friendly website builder for your main tutoring site, such as WordPress

🔗 Collaborate with other tutors in related fields

Collaborating with tutors in related subjects is one of the most underused growth opportunities. Connect with friends who tutor in complementary fields and propose a referral arrangement. Offer to refer students to each other and discuss implementing a referral discount that you can both promote. Building a mutually beneficial referral network can get you a steady stream of trusted word-of-mouth referrals, and is a key step in starting a comprehensive tutoring business in the future if you decide to do so

💰 Step 3: Move to paid channels

🔍 Google ads

If you want to find more students and you already have some money coming in, you can invest in Google Ads for your website. Target keywords like “maths tutor in [your location]” to reach people who are actively looking for your services. Google Ads can be pricey, so keep track of your spending, the cost per click, and the cost per student you acquire. As long as you’re gaining more students and making more money than what you spend to get them, you can continue running ads. If it ends up costing you more to get a student than what they pay you in the long run, it’s time to reconsider

📰 Newspaper ads

Small advertisements in local newspapers can reach parents who may be interested in hiring a tutor for their children. Keep in mind that the target audience is parents, not the potential students themselves. When creating your ad use language and messages that resonate with parents. You should only do newspaper ads when you have some cash flow already. Securing just one or two students from a newspaper ad can cover the initial expense, and the increased awareness among parents is incredibly valuable

💬 Social media advertising

If you have already invested in content marketing and have some cash flow, you can try running paid advertising campaigns on social media platforms such as Facebook or Instagram. As we mentioned earlier, social media ads serve both awareness and conversion purposes, but their effectiveness can vary based on your content. Remember that people visit social media to unwind and engage in activities other than learning or work, so your content should be interesting and entertaining to grab their attention. It might be worthwhile to specifically target parents in your campaigns, as they’ll have less noise on their social feeds. Similar to Google Ads, keep an eye on the cost per click and track the number of students you acquire., A word of warning though, if the ads aren’t working make adjustments fast or consider discontinuing them, as they can get expensive quickly

🚀 Conclusion: How should you start marketing a tutoring business?

Start applying business principles to your tutoring side hustle to differentiate yourself from competitors and increase your chances of success. Start by establishing a website, leverage free channels to create awareness, and gradually invest in paid advertising as your business grows. With effective marketing strategies in place, you can maximize your tutoring business’s visibility and attract a steady stream of students