Targeted ads for education centres: trial lesson bookings, not just reach.
A parent scrolls Instagram in August and sees an ad for courses near home. A teenager watches TikTok and notices an IT school with a free first class. We set up campaigns for a specific audience and season, take enquiries in WhatsApp and the CRM and calculate the cost of each booked student.
Targeted ads in education work through the offer and the audience. Audience: each programme has its own — parents aged 25–40 for kids' courses, high-school students aged 15–18 for UNT and IELTS, young people aged 18–30 for IT and languages. Offer: “sign up for courses” does not work; “free trial lesson”, “20% off if you book before 1 September”, “0-0-6 instalments on the annual programme” do.
The second factor is seasonality. In August–September and January demand for courses grows 3–5 times. Campaigns for these periods need to be prepared in advance: creatives, landing pages, offers and budget are agreed 3–4 weeks before the season starts. In the other months the budget goes down but not to zero — maintenance campaigns keep you visible and build an audience for the seasonal surge.
We take enquiries via WhatsApp or a lead form with instant transfer to the CRM, where the administrator calls back within 15–20 minutes. Then we count not clicks but trial lesson bookings and paid courses for each campaign.
What targeted ad management for an education centre includes.
We develop offers for August–September, January and the off-season: a trial lesson, an early-booking discount, Kaspi instalments, a family pass. Each offer gets its own campaign.
Parents aged 25–40 with school-age children, teenagers aged 15–18 for UNT/IELTS, young people aged 18–30 for IT and languages. Geotargeting by the districts around each branch.
Videos of teachers and classes, student results (UNT scores, IELTS certificates), parent reviews, story formats. We test 6–10 variants and keep the best.
A trial lesson request in WhatsApp with a pre-filled message, or a lead form sent to the CRM within seconds. An auto-reply and a task for the administrator.
For IT courses, languages and IELTS prep — TikTok Ads with short videos: “a day in the life of an IT school student”, “how I got 7.0 on IELTS”. Audience aged 15–25.
Website and Instagram visitors who watched a video but did not book. A reminder of the offer with social proof — reviews and results.
Lookalikes built from the student base in the CRM — the cheapest bookings once the first 200–300 students are collected.
Cost per lead, cost per trial lesson booking, cost per paying student by campaign and programme. Weekly optimisation, a monthly report.
Campaign structure.
- “Kids' courses” campaign: parents aged 25–40, radius around the branch, trial lesson
- “UNT” campaign: parents of high-school students and students aged 15–18, August–May
- “IELTS and English” campaign: 18–35, instalments, graduate results
- “IT courses” campaign: 16–30, TikTok and Instagram, free first class
- “August–September” seasonal campaign: all programmes, early-booking discount
- “January” seasonal campaign: New Year resolutions, a new group starting
- Retargeting: website, Instagram, 50%+ video views
- Lookalike based on the student base in the CRM
Restrictions on advertising educational services.
Meta and TikTok require that ads for educational services do not mislead about learning outcomes: you cannot guarantee a specific UNT score or IELTS band, and you cannot play on fear with “fail the exam and you won't get into university”. We write creatives within these rules and pass review without account blocks. If the centre holds a licence for educational activity, we place it on the landing page: it is both a requirement and a trust factor.
How much a student from targeted ads costs.
Based on our experience and market data in Kazakhstan: a lead for a trial lesson costs ₸1,500–4,000, a booked student ₸3,000–8,000, a paying student ₸8,000–20,000 depending on the programme and city. In season (August–September) the cost per lead rises, but conversion to payment is higher too — people come ready to pay. The key point: if the administrator takes longer than 20 minutes to reply, half of the enquiries go to a competitor.
What affects the price of ad management.
Targeted ad management for one centre on one platform costs ₸150,000–250,000 per month; two platforms (Instagram + TikTok), several branches or two languages — ₸250,000–400,000. The ad budget is paid separately, at least ₸200,000 per month; in season (August–September) we recommend from ₸400,000. Setup is included in the first month; a one-off setup without management costs ₸150,000.
Video creative production is quoted separately. General terms are on the targeted advertising page.
The short version.
How much do targeted ads for an education centre cost?
Management from ₸150,000 per month plus an ad budget from ₸200,000. In season we recommend a budget from ₸400,000 — the algorithms have time to learn before peak demand.
When should we launch ads for August?
We launch campaigns in July: the algorithm learns for the first 2–3 weeks, and by August we reach the optimal cost per booking. Launch on 1 August and you lose half the season.
Which programmes should we advertise first?
Those with a clear offer and a quick decision: a free or discounted trial lesson. For UNT — start in March–April and July–August; for kids' courses — August and January; for IT and languages — all year round with peaks in January and September.
Do we need a website for targeted ads?
For lead forms and WhatsApp, no, but a course landing page with the curriculum, teacher and price lifts conversion 1.5–2 times. We often build a landing page alongside the campaign setup.
What do you count as a result?
Trial lesson bookings and paid courses for each campaign and programme, and their cost — via a link between the ad account and the CRM. Clicks and reach are not results.
Same service for other industries
Need trial lesson bookings? Describe your programmes and season — we will propose campaigns and a budget.
Tell us your city, programmes, branch addresses and when your next seasonal peak is. We will reply with a campaign plan and a forecast within 1–2 business days.