Refining the customer experience at i-to-i.com

This case is about a specialist travel and education company, focusing on the online TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) i-to-i.com combine many of the features blending accessibility, usability and persuasion. This case considers the challenges of delivering an effective design across different market for different audiences.

i-to-i background

i-to-i (www.i-to-i.com) is an international organization with offices in the UK, USA, Ireland and Australia. Around 20,000 people have selected i-to-i as they travel on venture to support 500 worthwhile projects in five continents and it has trained a further 80,000 people as TEFL teachers. This service is offered through the main site and also through a specialist online TEFL site (www.onlinetefl.com) on which is case focus.

The history of i-to-i

The founder of i-to-i, Deirdre Bounds, was inspired to create the company following a career break which took her to teach English in Japan, China and Greece and drive a backpackers bus in Sidney. The company initially started through creating TEFL courses eventually leading to organizing volunteer projects. Since 2003, the company has supported the i-to-i foundation, a registered charity committed to providing funds to the most-needy community and ecological projects in the i-to-i family. In 2007, i-to-i become part of the TUI travel group.

Proposition

The main features of i-to-i TEFL proposition communicated through its site are:

• International accreditation: i-to-i is externally accredited by the ODLQC in order to ensure that its courses are rigorously monitored and always meet the highest industrial standard.
• World-class reputation: i-to-i has four offices world-wide and has over 12 years experiences teaching TEFL.
• Partnership: i-to-i preferred TEFL course provider for STA travel, Opodo and Lonely Planet.
• Complete student support: students receive advise on how to get work abroad, how best to prepare for their time away and up=to-the-minute advice on current job opportunities.
• Highly experience lecture: all i-to-i lecturers have at least three years overseas teaching experience.

The proposition is backed by the i-to-i TEFL promise which is communicated on the site.

• We will beat any equivalent and cheaper course by 150%.
• If youre not entirely satisfied after the first seven days, we will give you full refund.
• Our experience, our high academic standards and the quality of our courses means that i-to-i TEFL certificates are recognized by thousands of language schools worldwide.
• Additionally, i-to-i can offer to help students find TEFL jobs abroad

Audience segmentation

The main segmentation used by i-to-i is geographic:

• UK;
• North America;
• Europe;
• Australia and New Zealand;
• Rest-of-world (same as UK).

Different brochures are available for each geographical area. Information is also collected on an optional basis about prospect age and status, although these are not used for targeting emails. Status categories are:

• Student;
• Employed;
• Self-employed;
• Career break;
• Unemployed;
• Retired.

Since optional information is restricted to certain lead tools it is not used to target emails. For weekend TEFL postcode/city is used to target courses to the nearest location of prospects.

Competitors

Some of the main competitors for online TEFL courses based in the UK and Australia include:

• www.cactustefl.com
• www.teflonline.com
• www.eslbase.com

In the US, competitors who also operate in the UK and other countries include:

• www.teflcorp.com/
• ITTP (International Tefl-Tesol-Online): www.tefl-tesol-online.come

Media mix

i-to-i uses a combination of these digital media channels to drive visits, leads and sales:

• Pay per click (PPC) (mainly Google AdWords);
• Social media marketing using Facebook, Twitter and i-to-is own traveler community;
• Natural search;
• Affiliate marketing;
• Display marketing;
• email marketing.

Customer experience and conversion process

Detailed content to help visitors decide on purchasing a course is available on the site. This include module outlines and videos. Specific landing pages are used to convert visitors from paid search or affiliate for examples.

A number of engagement devices are blended into the design used to generate leads, including brochures, TEFL tasters, an email guide and campaign promotions such as winning a course. Customers have choice of requesting a brochure (post or download), requesting a callback or a live chat.

Such leads are followed up through a series of welcome emails. Results are monitored nut emails are not proactively followed up on. There is no phone follow-up of leads due to the relative low value of the products, but site visitors are encouraged to ring or setup a call-back which often leads to higher conversion rates.

Marketplace challenges

The main marketplace challenges faced by i-to-i are:

• Increasing its presence and conversion effectiveness in a competitive market in different geographies.
• i-to-i has a good exposure in the UK, its primary market, but operate in a cluttered marketplace with price being the main differentiator (products are similar and some competitors are just as established etc).
• research suggest that there is good opportunity within the US, but exposure is more limited because of the cost of pay-per-click advertising and because presence in natural search favors the US.
• Rest-of-world sales (outside of the UK, USA, Canada, Ireland/Europe, Australia, New Zealand) are increasing and is believed to be a growing market. i-to-i seeks to penetrate these markets but in a cost-effective way that will not distract attention from the main markets.
• Increasing demand through reaching and educating those considering travel, who are not aware of TEFL courses and the opportunities they unlock. For example, many will look for casual work in the countries, e.g. in bars or in agriculture, but will be unaware of TEFL.

QUESTIONS:

1. Review the range of engagement devices on the i-to-i website to engage the audience to generate leads. In your opinion, which device is the most effective? Explain.