RTO marketing fundamentals: key takeaways from our webinar with Yakk Digital

Most RTOs don't struggle because their training is poor. They struggle because they're not reaching enough of the right students at the right time. In a recent partner webinar, we invited Broden Johnson, Founder at Yakk Digital – a Gold Coast-based full-service marketing agency – to walk our community through the marketing fundamentals that drive consistent enrolments. Here's what was covered.

Why marketing matters more than most RTOs think

Marketing is often the first thing RTOs deprioritise when things get busy and the last thing they invest in strategically. Broden opened the session with a simple reframe: marketing isn't about promoting a product. It's about connecting the right student with the right course at the right moment.

If that connection doesn't happen consistently, most RTOs end up with what he called the "hope strategy" – relying on word of mouth and referrals, and hoping students find them. That approach can work for a period, but it's fragile. A new competitor, a change in compliance requirements, or a shift in referral relationships can dry it up quickly.

The alternative is building a reliable, predictable enrolment pipeline – one that generates inquiries consistently, regardless of what's happening externally. That starts with knowing who you're marketing to.

How do RTOs identify their ideal student?

Before any campaign can work, you need to know exactly who you're trying to reach. Broden's recommendation was to look at your last 50 enrolments and identify the patterns: who are these people, where did they come from, what motivated them to enrol?

From that data, you can build what marketers call an avatar – a detailed profile of your ideal student. Not a demographic summary, but a named, specific person. For a fitness RTO, that might be Steve, an 18-year-old finishing high school who wants to become a personal trainer. Or it might be Mary, a 45-year-old accountant looking for a career change.

The avatar exercise matters because different people have different motivations, different platforms they use, and different language that resonates with them. You can't talk to both in the same way.

Broden also suggested identifying the students you don't want to attract – those who don't finish courses, don't engage, or create friction – so you can deliberately avoid targeting them in your campaigns.

What is a marketing funnel and how does it apply to RTOs?

A significant portion of the webinar focused on understanding the student's decision-making journey before they enrol. Broden introduced the buyer's triangle to describe how people move from being unaware they have a problem, to actively looking for a solution, to being ready to take action.

This maps directly to a three-stage marketing funnel:

Top of funnel: how do you reach students who don't know you yet?

At this stage, you're reaching people who probably haven't heard of your RTO and may not have even Googled the qualification yet. The goal is simply to get them into your funnel by offering something genuinely useful – a free course guide, for example.

Ads at this stage should use longer-form copy that speaks to hopes, goals, and pain points. Video works well here because it can stop the scroll and tell a story in under 20 seconds. The call to action should be low-pressure: download something, not book a sales call.

Middle of funnel: how do you build trust with students who are considering their options?

These are people who've seen your ads, maybe visited your landing page, but haven't converted. They need more than information – they need reassurance. This is where testimonials, Google reviews, and user-generated content from past students become valuable. Video testimonials are particularly effective at this stage.

Ads here can be shorter. You don't need to reintroduce yourself. You do need to demonstrate that real people have gone through your course and had a good experience.

Bottom of funnel: how do you convert students who are ready to act?

This audience has seen a lot of your content, knows who you are, and is close to making a decision. The goal here is simply to push them to act — book a consult, register, or get in touch with your team. Copy is short and direct. The call to action is specific.

One important note: retargeting is what connects all three stages. Once someone interacts with your content – even for three seconds – platforms like Meta allow you to continue serving them relevant ads as they move through the funnel.

Why should RTOs market outcomes rather than courses?

One of the more useful reframes from the session: students don't sign up to do a course. They sign up to solve a problem – to become a PT, get qualified in a trade, or change careers. Your marketing needs to speak to that outcome, not to the course itself.

Broden's practical advice for building hooks and offers:

• Use numbers where you can. "Trained over 15,000 graduates" or "get qualified in six weeks" is more compelling than a generic headline.
• Create curiosity without giving everything away. Leave a reason for them to take the next step.
• Think about what's in it for the student. What are they getting? What problem are you solving?
• Consider whether you can offer any form of guarantee. Even a clear, honest statement about your outcomes builds trust with students who are hesitant.

Why do RTOs need dedicated landing pages for paid ads?

Getting the ads right is only half the job. Where you send people matters just as much. Broden was direct: sending paid traffic to your main website is usually a mistake, especially if your site has a full navigation menu, multiple courses, and lots of exit points.

A landing page is a single-purpose page with one call to action. No menu. No distractions. Just the offer, the proof, and the form.

He used an "ABCs" framework to describe what a good landing page needs:

• Authority: testimonials, client logos, graduation numbers, accreditations. Students need to know you're credible.
• Branding: consistent, clean, and recognisable. If your landing page looks different from your Instagram, that inconsistency erodes trust.
• Conversions: a clear, prominent call to action. Broden noted he's reviewed landing pages where businesses have spent significant money on ads — and forgotten to include a button that takes the visitor to the next step.

For most RTOs, a top-of-funnel landing page will have two conversion options: call us now (for students ready to act) and download the course guide (for those still in the consideration phase).

How much content do RTOs need for social media advertising to work?

A recurring theme in the session was that running one ad and hoping it works isn't how social media advertising operates. Meta in particular rewards variety – multiple videos, multiple angles, multiple messages targeting different motivations.

Broden's practical guidance: think about all the reasons someone might enrol in your course, and create content that addresses each of those reasons separately. Some students are motivated by career change. Others by earning potential. Others by flexibility. Each of those deserves its own ad.

The platforms themselves are also constantly changing. An approach that worked on Google Ads three years ago will perform differently today. Broden's advice was to treat platforms as tools – the goal is to be wherever your audience is, and to adapt as those platforms evolve.

Student referrals and loyalty

The session ended with a question from host Nick about using existing students as a marketing channel. Broden's view was that intentional referral programmes are underused by RTOs – and that the timing matters.

Rather than hoping graduates will recommend you, build a process that asks for referrals and reviews at the moment students are happiest – whether that's at course completion or a few months in. Make it easy for them to share. A structured approach to this, including emails, SMS, and follow-up calls, can turn your existing student base into a meaningful source of new enrolments.

What happens after a student decides to enrol with your RTO?

A note from aXcelerate: Yakk's webinar focused on getting students to the point of enrolment. What follows is our perspective on what happens next.

Getting a student to click your ad and submit their details is a win. But the enrolment experience itself is where RTOs can lose momentum they've worked hard to build.

Long, complex enrolment forms are one of the most common friction points. Students who've just decided they want to study with you can drop off when they're confronted with pages of compliance fields upfront. At the same time, RTOs can't simply skip those requirements.

aXcelerate's Learner Onboarding feature is designed to solve this tension. It lets RTOs capture essential details at the point of enrolment and collect additional information – prerequisite evidence, ID documents, digital signatures – after enrolment through a customisable post-enrolment form in the Learner Portal.

The result is a smoother experience for students and less manual data entry for RTO administrators. Matthew Bremner from Accredited First Aid Courses noted that Learner Onboarding reduced manual data entry to "virtually zero." Jacob Rudge from Kallibr reported 100% compliance and a 90% reduction in data entry since adopting it.

For RTOs investing in marketing to drive enrolments, it's worth making sure the enrolment process itself doesn't become the drop-off point.

How should RTOs think about marketing as the sector changes?

Broden closed with a reminder that the RTO sector is moving quickly. AI is shifting which skills are in demand. Student expectations around responsiveness, course delivery, and digital experience are rising. New competitors are entering the market.

The businesses that grow through this are the ones that stay close to their audience, keep their marketing current, and treat it as an ongoing investment rather than a one-off experiment.

FAQ:

Q: What is the most important first step in RTO marketing?

A: Understanding your ideal student. Before building campaigns, look at your existing enrolments to identify who your best students are, what motivated them, and what they have in common. That data shapes everything else – your messaging, your platforms, and your offers.

Q: What is a marketing funnel for an RTO?

A: A marketing funnel describes the stages a prospective student moves through before enrolling. At the top, they become aware of your RTO and the qualification. In the middle, they compare options and look for social proof. At the bottom, they're ready to act. Effective RTO marketing addresses all three stages with different content and calls to action.

Q: Should RTOs use social media advertising?

A: Social media platforms like Meta (Facebook and Instagram) are where many prospective students spend several hours each day. For RTOs, paid social media advertising can reach cold audiences who haven't yet searched for a qualification, making it useful for the awareness stage of the funnel. Results improve significantly when campaigns include multiple ad variations and are paired with dedicated landing pages.

Q: What is a landing page and why do RTOs need one?

A: A landing page is a single-purpose web page designed to convert a visitor into a lead. Unlike a main website, it has no navigation menu and one clear call to action – typically to download a course guide or book a consultation. Sending paid ad traffic to a landing page rather than your main website generally results in higher conversion rates.

Q: How do RTOs use testimonials in marketing?

A: Testimonials from past students work best in the middle of the funnel, where prospective students are comparing options and looking for reassurance. Video testimonials are particularly effective. Written reviews on Google also matter at this stage. Building a process to collect testimonials from students at the point they're most satisfied makes this a sustainable part of your marketing.

Q: How can RTOs reduce drop-off during the enrolment process?

A: One common cause of enrolment drop-off is lengthy upfront forms. Splitting the enrolment into an initial sign-up and a post-enrolment form – where learners complete additional compliance requirements after they've committed – can reduce friction without compromising compliance. Tools like aXcelerate's Learner Onboarding are designed to support this approach.