Five-figure sales boost for Tees Valley edtech startup following investment

A North East digital education startup has seen a five-figure sales boost after investing in its digital branding.

Vocabulary Ninja has seen a five-figure increase of its year-on-year sales growth and 35 per cent increase in annual subscribers following an investment into digital activity.

Based in Billingham, Vocabulary Ninja enlisted the help of digital marketing agency Colehouse Communications to develop its online platform and increase brand presence after securing funding from the Tees Valley Collaborative Networks Fund.

Founded by Andrew Jennings in April 2017, Vocabulary Ninja provides a range of products to support pupils, teachers and schools across skills such as vocabulary, reading, spelling and grammar, curriculum, maths and writing.

With the funding, Colehouse Communications has redeveloped Vocabulary Ninja’s marketing strategy, refreshing the overall brand identity and developing a new e-commerce website.

Andrew Jennings, director of Vocabulary Ninja, commented: “The current demand for online learning is growing everyday and will only grow at a faster rate due to the pandemic we find ourselves part of.

“Our plan to bring innovative, experiential digital media based on knowledge linked to proven pedagogical teaching and learning theory is crucial in ensuring pupils retain experience gained, a main inspection focus of Ofsted.

Regarding the firm’s investment into digital branding, Andrew continued: “Colehouse Communications has helped us to really improve our existing offering and the skills from Steven and the team have been invaluable.

“Being able to work with someone local has also been a huge bonus, Steven understands the Tees Valley landscape and his success with other regional businesses is one of the main reasons I chose to work with him.”

Steven Cole, managing director of Colehouse Communications, added: “We began working with Andrew during the first lockdown and we were immediately excited by his passion for both education and students in our region.

“Andrew had already done a fantastic job in building a great reputation within his industry and getting Vocabulary Ninja to a strong position, but it was at the point where the online experience had grown out of control and become really disjointed.

“Our aim was to come in and bring everything together by creating a more positive user experience, particularly given the focus on remote learning at the moment, as well as increasing brand presence.”