By Anna Darafeja
This article is edited from a Modlingua internship assignment submitted in July 2018. It presents the author's proposal from that period, not a description of current Modlingua courses, fees, hiring or programme terms. An unsupported general statistic about students has been removed, and the AIDA terms have been clarified with a published source.
How could Modlingua promote its short-term professional courses to people around the world? In my assignment, I wrote a business plan that used social media, the AIDA model and the experience of Modlingua's current and former interns. This article summarizes that proposal.
Who the courses could reach
I described three possible groups. Students who study languages or translation may be keen to add practical skills to their studies. Working adults may want to develop professionally while employed full or part time. Retirees may want to apply what they know or learn something new. Because the courses are delivered online, the audience is not limited to one location.
Competitors and Modlingua's advantage
I saw online language and translation schools and similar course providers as the main competitors. The advantage I identified was that Modlingua's programmes bring together people from many countries on a worldwide platform, while many comparable courses are aimed at a local audience.
The proposed way to carry it out
The plan was to form a group of interns who would promote the courses in their own countries. The most active and capable interns would be selected, and any payment would depend on results, for example a minimum amount that grows with the number of new learners they attract. After a promotion period, the director could decide whether they continue or move on.
In the second stage, newly attracted learners would pay a teaching fee and could later be considered for promotion work, based on performance. Each team would help the next one, so the plan created a cycle in which new people keep learning Modlingua's methods and bringing fresh ideas. These were the author's proposals and did not describe any existing employment arrangement.
Benefits the plan aimed for
For interns, I expected experience and a possible route to further work. For Modlingua, I expected a steady flow of promoters and a stronger brand. Messages shared by interns who know their local audience could also reach readers more effectively than one generic message.
Applying the AIDA model
AIDA stands for awareness, interest, desire and action. Smart Insights discusses it as a way to plan communication that moves a person from first noticing an offer to acting on it. In my plan:
- Awareness: build on Modlingua's reputation in the translation field and on its director, Mr. Ravi Kumar, as founder and teacher.
- Interest: ask current and former interns to share their experience, in writing or on video.
- Desire: use web platforms and social media to spread information, and choose interns with active social media profiles for promotion tasks.
- Action: find motivated people, give them promotion tasks and keep moving between interest and action so interns can answer learners' questions while the promotion continues.
Why multilingual interns matter
The plan depends on people. Interns who speak several languages can adapt a message for the audience in a specific country, using what they know about the local situation for translators. A team with first-hand experience of the company's methods also makes localization easier.
Key takeaways
- A promotion plan starts with a clear picture of the audience and the competition.
- AIDA gives a simple order for planning: awareness, interest, desire, action.
- Local, multilingual voices can make a message more relevant than one generic text.
- This article records a 2018 student proposal and should be read that way.
Related reading: Modlingua's intern profile for Anna Darafeja (Latvian-Chinese-English) is at modlingua.com/interns/981.
