Customer Success Marketing Strategies in EdTech: A Pilot Manual
Educational Technology (EdTech) is a rapidly growing market segment with the recent digital disruption being made due to the whole pandemic situation. The EdTech marketing strategies have been taken advantage of as it gives businesses an edge to utilize the internet-only architecture of driving business at its full potential.
In response to the 2020 COVID-19 school closures, 58 percent of education professionals now have a more positive view of EdTech (EdWeek)
EdTech companies like Byju’s, Udemy, Coursera, and UpGrad are essentially the main captors of the larger part of the market. The main components or Unique Selling Proposition (USP) behind any EdTech business are flexibility of time and a linear manner of education where individuals can get additional instructions and advice through personal trainers and teachers, where their availability depends on the program or the course the individual wants to purchase. And the number of people opting for such services has taken a rise on the heatmap.
Therefore, such demand must be reciprocated with the best in-house customer service support software and for that, we need to develop strategies that help in improving the success rate.
“Technology alone isn’t going to improve student achievement. The best combination is great teachers working with technology to engage students in pursuit of the learning they need ” – Arne Duncan (US Secretary of Education)
Why does EdTech require customer success strategies?
Education has evolved over the years just like any other segment with most of the materials being available on the internet and the marginal use of the textbooks and documents by the students. But what makes EdTech the demand of the hour, and why one should invest in customer success?
EdTech is expected to have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.1% year-over-year through 2027. (Grandview)
Let’s look at a few points on why businesses should place their strategies regarding customer success:
- There’s a huge competition with competitors such as Amazon which is constantly developing the E-book division. And, Kindle being the most used E-device with (90.5M) users in the US, ensures that students can acquire the required books at a minimal cost, lower than the markets and there’s no need for any physical space making things simpler.
It established Amazon Academy to assist students in preparing for the JEE (Joint Entrance Examination), which is required for admission to engineering colleges. Amazon will provide learning materials, live lessons, and in-depth assessments.
- Educational centers are looking for structured collaboration with an educational CRM system to make their life easier. The entire syllabus made out for such courses is written in a comprehensive and contextual manner where students and the teachers both find it as a reliable source while being enabled through a proper channel of online communication.
- Each subject has different requirements and when a customer asks queries regarding that, then it becomes a bit difficult for the agent if he’s not trained enough. It is important to know the required information a customer might ask before opting for a course. These things reflect highly apart from the benefits the course has to offer and create differentiation in the product.
Among the many primary motivations why EdTech requires customer success is to make a substantial degree of consumer engagement. Customer success is essential for getting the perfect solution for what a student or teacher requires and hence there’s a need for a proper strategy in place.
As of August 2020, the global education and training market is expected to reach $7.3 trillion by 2025. (Holon IQ)
Progressive Levels in EdTech Customer Success
The EdTech business is booming and there are no second thoughts about that, but the question is what makes it so distinct when all the competitors have to offer is the same thing and yet create a value-based product out of it?
There’s close edge competition with quality competitors putting out a variety of options in the courses that have been structured, which certainly makes it easy for a customer to choose. In such a scenario it all depends on the ‘Customer Success’ agents to make the change through their way of pitching and the domain knowledge they carry.
Therefore, Customer Success in EdTech has the following progressive levels: –
1.) Right Accreditation on the Label
Being recognized by a prominent university or having an authorized signature of a higher body generates interest from the customer. They seek clarity and hence make calls regarding queries related to the program while having a higher chance of getting converted. Because such a label makes them gain industry-level skills as well as reflects on their resumes or curriculum vitae.
2.) Ease of Access on Log-in
The creation of the account and the entire dashboard should be easy to understand and simple to use. It should be managed according to the purchased courses, course completion, learning hours, extra material, and the badges claimed for the exams. There should be a personalized section provided against the information taken at the time of account creation which makes the customer think they are important.
3.) Competent Customer Success Agents
Conducting proper training and developing a dedicated team of agents who are competent with the proper domain knowledge and can give customers a deep dive into the course as well as the website portal is important. The interaction should be thorough, clear, precise, and engaging so that it generates interest from the customer. And giving additional benefits to users who have opted for a higher degree of course or someone who has taken service over the years makes them feel close as their presence is taken seriously.
4.) Discounts on Variable Change
EdTech as a business runs on the 4P’s of marketing and the main one being ‘Pricing’. Therefore, discounts based on variable change are the only constant in this market. Whether it be off-season, the loyalty of customers, course level (Beginner, Intermediate or Advanced) is dependable on a lot of factors. But discounts have still been provided to run in a competitive market, even schemes such as the bundle of courses which are interrelated have been created to attract customers. Agents use these schemes to get the best out of the deal.
5.) Segmentation and Scaling
Segmentation is important for handling escalation with the level of account and the priority being listed in the customer success procedure. Having a dedicated customer success manager for each segment will help deliver a high level of personalized service with customization being provided as per user requirements to attain targeted goals. Scaling makes the return better in terms of effort being given. Segmentation will indeed aid in the accomplishment of goals such as spatial and temporal profiling, primary selection of university or education centers, age-based targeting, and more.
India’s education sector is poised to grow from the current $117 billion to $225 billion by FY25
Automation with Kapture’s CRM: An EdTech Marketing Strategy Amplification Plan for Customer Success
- Supervise each customer’s immediate requirements and procedures in order to assist them in reaching their targets.
- Establish one-of-a-kind customer lifecycle layouts through personalized, custom-tailored interactions.
- Increase a product’s recognition throughout all facets and operations using omnichannel communication.
- Provide opportunities for learners that are well suited to their prior knowledge and engagement, making it interrelated.
- Demonstrate how the operations of the department influence the success by instructional strategies whether it be Side-Conversations on the website with multiple customers at once or the Customer 360 database.
Customer Success in EdTech: A Required Forefront
When it comes to customer success strategies in EdTech, it’s important to ground in a balanced way. EdTech companies have become a prominent segment in today’s marketplace and there’s no doubt about it, and where there is a customer there’s a need to fulfill demands. Hence, the emphasis is put on the customer success team. It is true that technology used with responsibility while placed in the hands of a great teacher has a transformative effect.
If you want to know more about efficient CRMs like Kapture click here for a free demo.
