When I tell people I taught English as a second language for years before switching to digital marketing, I usually get a polite nod followed by “That’s… quite a change.”
The assumption is that teaching and marketing are completely different worlds. One is about education, the other is about selling.
But after spending months learning digital marketing while building this portfolio, I’ve realized something: Teaching prepared me for marketing better than any business degree could have.
- The Assumption Everyone Makes
- What Teaching Actually Taught Me About Marketing
- Skill #1: Understanding Your Audience
- Skill #2: Explaining Complex Ideas Simply
- Skill #3: Creating Engaging Content
- Skill #4: Measuring What Works
- Skill #5: Building Long-Term Relationships
- The Skills That Don't Transfer (And That's Okay)
- Questions About Switching from Teaching to Marketing
The Assumption Everyone Makes
Teaching, while generally respected, also has its fair share of stereotypes to overcome.
There’s a small but vocal contingent that says “those who can, do; those who can’t, teach.”
Teaching has also been politicized in recent years, with critics dismissing teachers as flunkies who force their political agendas onto young minds.
What most people don’t realize is how tough teaching actually is. Unpaid hours, stressful paperwork, prep work, and classroom management. Most teachers buy their own supplies and go above and beyond their job duties and pay rates.
If there’s one thing successful teachers have in abundance, it’s grit.
What Teaching Actually Taught Me About Marketing
Teaching is actually what led me to marketing in the first place.
I was tired of online platforms for teaching English. They take a huge cut of your pay, have subpar customer service that can cost you business, and can be unhelpful with technical issues. Most teachers put up with these problems solely because new student acquisition is so difficult.
Fed up, I started thinking about how to find my own clients. That’s when I first started learning about digital marketing.
I read 100M Leads by Alex Hormozi, which first introduced me to the concept of the marketing funnel. Platforms handle the top of the funnel. They run ad campaigns and bring in curious students who are then led to a list of potential teachers they can shop for.
I was good at converting students once they came to the platform; what I didn’t have was awareness outside of the website. My solution? I started a YouTube channel and blog, creating content for intermediate speakers who wanted to learn about American culture. The idea: give out maximum value for free and build an audience.
While I had the drive, I didn’t see much success. In retrospect, I spent too much time on content that wasn’t properly SEO optimized. But it taught me about researching your customer base, identifying pain points, and catering to them relentlessly.
The more I pursued learning about digital marketing, the more I realized it was a more sophisticated version of what I’d been doing in teaching all along.
Skill #1: Understanding Your Audience
Finding Out What Students Actually Need
During first trial lessons, students typically had general goals: wanting to sound more native or wanting better casual conversation skills.
I had students take assessment quizzes beforehand to gauge fluency. Then I’d make small talk with them about hobbies, interests, and work. During these preliminary chats, I would gauge how they actually performed in conversation. Sometimes students aced tests but floundered in real conversation.
What I found peculiar: many students weren’t aware of their actual barriers to fluency.
For one student, pronunciation was strictly what kept him from natural conversations. He was quite fluent otherwise. But after trying to shift our lessons to pronunciation, he showed apprehension and asked if we could go back to our usual conversations.
Many students wanted to do what they were already good at and avoid challenges.
I didn’t know what to do. I knew they wouldn’t meet their goals that way, but on the other hand, it was what they wanted, and they were paying me.
I started to realize I had pigeonholed myself as a casual teacher through how I advertised and the expectations I built with my students. If I wanted to upgrade my business, and demand higher pay, I needed to take a “coach” approach. I needed to track my students’ progress with metrics and set goals.
This lesson showed me how important branding and congruency are. From the beginning to the end of the customer journey, you must ensure consistency.
How This Translates to Marketing
In marketing, you have customer surveys, buyer personas, and demographic research. A marketing team needs to know who customers are, what their goals are, and what barriers stand in their way.
If your audience is young, single women with corporate jobs, you wouldn’t market to them the same way you’d market to blue-collar men with families.
There’s a constant need to understand your demographic, even better than they know themselves. This is where analytics matter. Surveys only address needs customers are aware of, but analytics show their actual behavior: where you lose people, where you win them.
Just like how YouTube algorithms track behavior and tailor content to keep you on their platform, marketers must do the same.
A YouTube user may say they hate “rage bait” content, yet data could show opposite. What actually holds their attention might be videos that upset them.
It’s important to know not just what customers think, but how they behave. They are often two different things.
Skill #2: Explaining Complex Ideas Simply
Breaking Down Grammar for Non-Native Speakers
Despite how counterintuitive it sounds, I don’t teach strict grammar rules until students can already wield the material. It’s like my blog post about the importance of doing versus getting lost in “learning.”
How would you define “got” or “get” to a non-native speaker? Explain “to get ahead,” “You got me good,” or “When will you get here?”
Trying to explain this practically is nearly impossible and promotes overthinking. I teach students phrases they can use in real life. They may not define “get,” but they know “get away from me” means “go away.”
A lot of teaching English is about instilling confidence. Students hire you because you’re a safe person to fail in front of. Once they gain confidence and can wield a concept, that’s when I teach grammar rules.
How This Translates to Marketing
People aren’t aware of what they actually respond to. Someone may think of themselves as purely rational, unaffected by advertising; doing their own research, not swayed by emotion.
However, this might not be the case.
“Good plastic surgery doesn’t look like plastic surgery.” By the same logic, good marketing doesn’t look like marketing.
Car ads could list specs and performance data, but that’s not what drives action. In the awareness phase, what matters is getting straight to the point and being memorable. It’s more impactful to be funny, sexy, or strike an emotional chord.
I keep the same principles in mind when writing these posts. People aren’t solely after information. Their attention spans need catering to. They need payoff; not just information, but the feeling of having had an experience.
Once customers reach the consideration stage, informational material becomes important. They’ll act if they feel they’re making an informed choice and can trust your brand.
Skill #3: Creating Engaging Content
Keeping Students Engaged for 60+ Minutes
It’s crucial to use varied approaches in teaching. You must identify the strengths and weaknesses of your students, then strategically push them by challenging their weak points. However, it’s also important to balance this approach with playing to their strengths so that they don’t lose confidence or get frustrated and hit a wall.
To maintain attention, I also use a variety of media. I engage students in reading, conversation, listening, and writing. I try to hit every sense possible. Different perspectives and mediums paint a bigger, holistic picture. Focusing too much on one form of content can become boring, alienating, and limiting in scope.
How This Translates to Marketing
Different content is needed at different phases of the customer journey. Display ads and short-form content work for when potential customers are in the awareness stage, but their needs change the further down the funnel they go. At the consideration stage, thoughtful long-form content becomes more important as customers seek to inform themselves about the brand and their products/services.
It’s a delicate balance. You don’t want to overwhelm them with information, but don’t also don’t want to let them lose interest when they can’t find substance underneath punchy calls to attention.
According to the Obvious Agency marketing firm, successful strategies use mixed formats like blog posts, videos, infographics, and social media to engage audiences at different stages.
Skill #4: Measuring What Works
Adapting Based on Student Feedback
In language teaching, standard assessments measure fluency in six categories (A1 beginner through C2 advanced). Smaller, pointed assessments tease out weaknesses that don’t show up on the generalized tests.
I took notes after each lesson. If students passed through activities easily or struggled. I’d ask them for feedback, but most of the time, struggles were evident.
A big measure: holding onto assignments that students initially failed. I’d work with them on skills, then have them retry the assignment at a later date to see if they had improved their skills at all.
For students preparing for fluency exams, I’d administer practice tests. Results spoke for themselves thanks to strict grading rubrics.
How This Translates to Marketing
Analytics is marketing’s backbone. Without data, marketers are in the dark. This is why Google Analytics matters.
Without it, you may assume you’re losing customers because of low search rankings, when the real issue is slow mobile load times, leading to cart abandonment.
According to Marketing LTB, 83% of marketers say data-driven marketing significantly increases customer engagement. Just like I tested and retested students, marketers use A/B testing to continuously improve based on what actually works.
Skill #5: Building Long-Term Relationships
Getting Students to Come Back
The key was being personable. I developed real relationships with students. Some I still miss and wonder about.
I maintained a professional persona but was big on building rapport. Usually, I’d start my lessons with small talk, both as a warm-up exercise and in a bid to get to know them better and vice versa.
I always followed up after classes, asking if they enjoyed their time and if there was anything specific they’d like to focus on next time. I wanted them to feel like they were getting their money’s worth.
Sometimes students are too polite to give feedback unprompted. Knowing this, I made sure they had multiple opportunities to give me critiques and feel in control of their education.
How This Translates to Marketing
Marketing teams do the same. It’s not as personal as one-on-one teaching, but teams create email sequences to follow up on experiences, give customers opportunities for feedback, and make them feel valued.
Being personable matters for brands. Marketing efforts personalize approaches to target specific demographics, their pain points, and goals.
Relationship marketing often trumps transactional marketing. Once customers are emotionally invested, they return as long as they feel valued and like the business cares about their experience.
According to the Harvard Business Review, increasing retention rates by just 5% can increase profits by 25% to 95%. This is why brands invest in email nurture sequences, loyalty programs, and personalized marketing.
The Skills That Don’t Transfer (And That’s Okay)
What I’m learning from scratch:
- Technical SEO and keyword research
- Google Analytics and data visualization
- Email marketing platforms
- Paid advertising
- Marketing automation tools
- WordPress and CMS
These are learnable technical skills. I can pick them up in 3-6 months through courses and building this portfolio.
What’s harder to learn, and what teaching gave me, is understanding people. Knowing how to communicate, build trust, adapt to audiences, and measure what’s working.
Technical skills are the easy part. Human skills are the foundation.
Questions About Switching from Teaching to Marketing
Do I need a marketing degree to transition from teaching?
No. According to The American Marketing Association, 70% of digital marketers successfully transitioned from non-marketing backgrounds. What matters is demonstrating relevant skills through a portfolio, certifications like Google Digital Marketing Certificate, and articulating how teaching experience applies to marketing. Focus on building proof of abilities rather than collecting credentials.
How do I position teaching experience on a marketing resume?
Reframe using marketing language: “Developed customized content strategies for 40+ students based on individual learning styles” or “Tracked progress using data-driven assessments and adjusted approach based on metrics.” Use the STAR method to show outcomes, not just duties. Check out my guide on writing a career change resume for examples.
What marketing roles are best for former teachers?
Content marketing, email marketing, customer education, and community management value teaching skills highly. These require explaining complex ideas simply, building relationships, and creating engaging content; all things teachers excel at. Entry-level content marketing roles typically pay $50k-$65k and often welcome candidates with strong communication backgrounds.
How long does it take to transition from teaching to marketing?
Plan for 3-6 months of active skill-building and job searching. Spend 1-2 months learning fundamentals through free resources or Google’s Digital Marketing Certificate. Use 1-2 months building a portfolio. Dedicate 2-3 months to active applications while continuing to produce content. Timeline depends on weekly time commitment and your local job market.