Six steps to creating a successful
school program
Lesson 1: Why Market Research?
Written by Sadichya Pradhan

Riding the influencer wave: How to get your resources into the hands of Aussie teachers.

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Over the years, we have crafted the perfect recipe for creating a successful school program. With each adding their own flavour to the mix, the six key ingredients are:

1. Market Research
2. Teacher Resources
3. Student Resources
4. Raising Awareness
5. Delivery Platform
6. Impact Evaluation

It all starts with market research, the first ingredient on the list. In this blog, we will delve deeper into why market research is important and how to conduct it like a pro!

At the core of every successful school program is market research. Whether you are launching a new program or updating an existing one, it is crucial to understand your audience and know the market landscape, before you go full steam ahead with production. Market research will help you identify teachers’ and student’s needs, discover gaps and opportunities in the market, reduce risks and make better decisions. Let’s take a closer look into how each of these elements will assist you in building stronger classroom connections and higher student engagement.

Identify teachers’ and students’ needs: Market research allows us to directly engage with teachers and collect feedback crucial to the development of a successful program. By understanding the dynamic needs of time-poor teachers, we can gain valuable insights, empowering us with the right tools and strategies to tailor the program to meet their expectations.

Discover gaps in the market: Identifying market gaps will inspire more innovative ideas leading to more brand recognition among the teaching community. By understanding the issues that prevail in the education sector, you can develop unique student-centric solutions that can be effectively integrated into their lesson plans, setting your program apart from the crowd. Through our market research, we discovered that teachers lacked the confidence to locate relevant and accurate resources. Our work with Lendlease on the Figree Hill Education program saw us partner with Dharawal language experts and local elders to incorporate the Dharawal language into the classroom.

Reduce risks: Developing a school program is a mammoth task, requiring precision planning and a deep understanding of the educational landscape. It is best practice to gather relevant and accurate data before taking the plunge to minimise any risks. Teacher feedback is crucial to ensure your message aligns seamlessly with the curriculum outcomes, maximising chances of higher program engagement.

Make better decisions: Market research will help pave the way to developing a successful school program with confidence and assurance. It aids in the decision-making process when creating teacher and student resources, planning marketing campaigns and selecting optimal platforms for program delivery.

Now that we’ve covered the ‘why,’ let’s dive into the ‘how. How to conduct market research like a pro!

Our approach to market research is simple but effective. We believe in asking the right questions, finding the right people and getting the right mix.

Finding the right people: It is vital to involve the right people in your market research to ensure the feedback and opinions are reflective of your target audience. The right group of people will provide valuable expertise and experiences that will help you define and optimise your strategies for developing an excellent school program.

Kimberlin Education has a large network of school and industry contacts with whom we can connect. We also believe in bringing together our whole education team of qualified teachers and gathering insight into their experiences related to your research topic. This gives you some great initial foundations on which to base the research.

Getting the right mix: The number and mix of schools differ by state; dividing the target list proportionately will ensure results that are representative of the country as a whole. Engaging respondents solely from the same state or school could lead to research results that are skewed and inaccurate due to the lack of diverse opinions and insights.

At Kimberlin Education, we tailor the messaging and audience list to find the right mix of people, maximising the value derived from your market research efforts.

Asking the right questions: With multiple target audiences, you need to ensure that the questions are relevant to each group. Branching questions enable you to flow participants to the right questions for them.

We have a team of experienced teachers who will expertly craft the right set of questions to ensure a comprehensive collection of all relevant information from your target audience.

To put this all in a nutshell: market research provides valuable insights into your target audience, serving as a guide to shape your product to match their needs. If you feel like you are ready to get on board, get in touch with us so we can start the journey together.

Stay tuned for lesson 2 where we will guide you through the importance of quality Teacher Resources in your school program.