How can the education industry efficiently acquire customers through Chinese Douyin promotion?

For educational institutions, achieving low-cost and high-efficiency customer acquisition has long been a challenge. In recent years, many have turned to short video platforms, yet they often struggle with rigid ad formats, uninspired content, and overly sales-driven copy—all of which make it difficult to build a trusted brand image.

To truly activate users and achieve effective lead generation, educational institutions must move away from traditional methods such as mechanical discount promotions and pushy advertising. Instead, they need to build a more human-centered and value-driven content marketing system.

The education industry typically involves high-value purchases and long, complex decision-making processes. Live streaming has proven to be an effective tool for capturing leads and driving conversions.

Heima Programmer adopted brand live streaming as its main strategy for lead conversion. On one hand, it leveraged user-oriented quality content—such as live interaction sessions—to boost engagement and attract traffic. On the other, it established a complete lead operation logic to facilitate user conversion.

Content-wise, the brand’s live streams were divided into two main types:

• Instructor-led streams focused on building the instructor’s IP image through interactive Q&A, addressing real user problems, and increasing brand visibility. These streams made full use of the instructor’s existing follower base to deliver practical value.

• Host-led streams emphasized lead collection and course promotion, utilizing multi-product scripts and situational visuals to stimulate purchase intention.

In addition to building a solid foundation for content production and operations, Heima also rapidly scaled its strategy by replicating the model across branch accounts. These accounts successfully attracted a large number of new leads, with minimal overlap with traditional offline marketing efforts. Currently, an increasing portion of Heima’s new student enrollments come from Douyin, effectively reducing acquisition costs compared to ground promotions.

Steps to Advertise on Douyin

1. Open an Account: Choose the Right Method

There are two ways to open a Douyin Ads account:

• Through a Douyin agency: Work with an experienced advertising agency or partner. Provide promotional materials and your domain. The agency will help you complete the required certifications and open the account. Once done, you’ll receive login details and can start depositing funds and launching ads.

• Through Douyin’s official platform: Register your own account, bind a mobile number, and submit entity qualifications for review. Once approved, you can start advertising.

2. Deposit Funds: Meet the Minimum Requirement

Douyin requires a minimum pre-deposit of ¥10,000 for official accounts. Agency fees may vary, so the required amount might differ when working with a partner.

3. Qualification Review: Prepare Documentation

Before launching ads, you must undergo a review process. Commonly required documents include business licenses, legal representative ID, and industry-specific qualifications.

4. Launch Ads: Choose Your Advertising Method

Douyin has its own ad management platform where you can create and manage campaigns independently. Alternatively, you can work with a specialized third-party agency that understands target audiences and can create more user-centric ad creatives—leading to better performance.