What's the Impact of Referrals on the Online Education Industry?

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed education forever. Students across the globe are logging into language apps, virtual tutoring, video conferencing tools, or online learning software and increased digital adoption coincides with a natural boost in customer referrals.  

There has been steady high growth and adoption in education technology, with global eLearning investments reaching US$18.66 billion in 2019 and the overall market for online education projected to reach $350 Billion by 2025.

And the dynamic shift to online learning isn't the only change in the education industry. If you’ve attended college (or had to pay for it) sometime in the last three decades, you’re probably as frustrated as anyone about the skyrocketing price tag. According to one report, the cost of college has risen 538% since 1985.

It's no shock that the online education and eLearning markets have exploded in recent years. Consider these numbers:

By 2022, the global eLearning market is projected to reach $243.8 billion

Over 6 million American students are studying partially or fully online

And, according to most expert projections, those numbers are only going to rise.

How is Referral Marketing Impacting the Education Industry?

As referral marketing experts, that’s a question we wanted to answer. So, we explored our data to see what we could uncover.

What did we find?

Not surprisingly, referral marketing is one of the highest performing channels in the eLearning industry. We were surprised, however, by just how quickly referrals created real, bottom-line value for the brands that use them effectively.

In fact, our data showed that in the first two months after an education or eLearning company launched its referral program, it generated (on average) these results:

What’s the takeaway from this data?

As we explain in our latest report, “Referral Marketing By the Numbers: Education and eLearning,” students and teachers who have a positive experience with an education or eLearning company are clearly eager to talk about it. And when they do, it tends to have a direct — and immediate — impact on brand awareness and bottom-line growth.

Referrals Aren’t Just Valuable in the Short-Term

While that’s good news for education and eLearning companies, the better news is that this impact isn’t short lived. Instead, our research showed an investment in referral marketing technology created sustained value over longer periods of time, as well.

How much value? Here’s a sneak peek from our report: 

To find out more about what that chart means and how it might translate to your business, check out the full report.