Unlock the Potential of Podcasts: Retaining and Attracting Students to Your Online Language School

Online language schools need to remain current with new trends and resources to stay competitive. One creative asset to attract and retain students is through podcasts. Podcasts can help in many ways, especially in helping with lead nurturing and building "relationships" with customers. 

Podcasts have become increasingly popular recently. In this post, we explore the advantages of integrating them as a resource for online language schools, taking inspiration from two of LearnCube's Online School customers, Babbel and Alliance Française Madrid.

• Engage and Provide an Immersive Learning Experience

Podcasts offer a unique and immersive learning experience beyond traditional class settings. By integrating them into their resources, language schools can provide students with diverse content, including authentic conversations, interviews, and cultural insights. These audio resources allow students to sharpen their listening skills, enhance pronunciation, and improve comprehension while gaining exposure to native speakers in real-life situations.

Babbel, one of the most iconic language companies in the world, hosts podcasts in multiple languages. Podcasts allow users to engage with captivating stories and conversations. This approach not only deepens the learners' understanding of the language but also keeps them motivated and engaged throughout their learning journey.

• Offer Flexibility and Convenience

One of the key advantages of podcasts for students learning a language is their innate flexibility and convenience. Online language schools can leverage these attributes by offering episodes that students can access anytime, anywhere. Whether during a morning commute, a workout session or while cooking dinner, podcasts provide a flexible learning opportunity that seamlessly fits into students' daily routines. This accessibility encourages consistent learning habits and strengthens the bond between students and the language school.

Another example of an online language school offering a popular podcast is Alliance Française Madrid. Alliance Française Madrid are a renowned institution for learning French, has recognised the potential of podcasts to reach and engage its students effectively. By regularly releasing podcasts, called Podcasts en Français, covering various topics related to the French language and culture, they cater to the diverse needs of their learners and ensure continuous engagement outside the classroom.

• Authentic Language and Cultural Exposure

Learning a new language is about mastering grammar rules and building your vocabulary. It's also about understanding the culture and daily life of the people who speak that language. 

By listening to episodes periodically, students can get familiar with common sayings, expressions, and accents of native speakers. By listening to real and casual conversations, they can pick up on the subtle details of the language that are hard to learn from books alone. This helps students gain an authentic feel for the language and speak in a more natural way.

Podcasts offer an excellent opportunity to hear the language as it's really used. The more you listen, the more you discover about cultural references and unspoken habits. You start to understand jokes, expressions of emotion, and ways of showing respect. Students' listening skills get stronger too.

Babbel, for example, often features conversations between native speakers, enabling learners to grasp the intricacies of the language and cultural customs. This exposure improves language skills and fosters a deeper connection to the language and its community.

In summary, as the e-learning landscape continues to evolve, online language schools must adapt their marketing strategies to cater to the changing needs of their students.

Incorporating podcasts as a marketing resource offers many benefits, including enhanced student retention, increased engagement, and broader reach.

By following in the footsteps of language learning pioneers like Babbel and Alliance Française Madrid, online language schools can unlock the power of podcasts to create an immersive, convenient, and culturally rich learning experience for their students, paving the way for success in the competitive e-learning market.

Before you go... If you'd like to learn more about podcasts, and marketing your language business, check out the Get More Students podcast. In this podcast, Alex Asher, CEO of LearnCube, and Herbert Gerzer, founder of LURN Media, offer insights, inspiration and motivation to language school owners and marketing managers of education companies. Happy listening!