The adaptation or completely change of the product is, to be honest, only half of the challenge. The other half? Rethinking the way you attract, you hire and connect with users in a new market.
I decided to add a second part to my first article on the launch of the Edtech product in the United States by telling the whole second adaptation layer for us – growth and construction of confidence.
🎯 Our first hypothesis: trial courses would be good
When we initially entered the American market, we expected that users want to explore the platform, the features and how everything works for themselves. And so, we have designed the flow so that students can:
- I chose the course they want to try for free,
- Finish a free trial, including theory and the project,
- Book a call with sales only if They felt ready.
- Buy a full lesson if they like the free version at any time, they feel comfortable, no pressure.
The idea was to reduce barriers and offer total freedom – again, no pressure, no “arrogant” sales tactics. It sounded right on paper.
But in practice? Again, it didn't work.
Not that many users have completed the test and reserved a call for themselves. Even less inscribed without human interaction.
🛠️ why free lessons did not work as we hoped and what we tried
We thought that if a potential student could discover the first -hand platform – see interactive elements, coding and projects – they would like to continue and register for the full program.
We have experienced:
- Divide the projects in steps (“finish a part now, get comments, finish the rest after registration”),
- Collaborations with influencers,
- Experience with the SLA review and its format.
Some of these tactics have helped, but none have really filled the gap between trying and engaging.
When I thought about “why?” My point of view was only because “free” without any responsibility and without commitment did not create enough emotional investment. And so, the hypothesis was that if the students had no real commitment, it was too easy to move away from it. In addition, you must really seek the mentality of the user and market culture to know the difference in expectations. Users in Europe would have completely different expectations due to their initial education system and their Edtech possibilities. On the American market, people expect another level of service to speak of private companies, including the Edtech sector. And, apparently, giving them so much freedom and offering it alone was not the right approach. It was overwhelming. And again, it was something that we had to change and start again.
🚀 Pivotation of the attraction strategy: introduce the early start -up model
What ultimately worked best was a combination of access to the early platform and a carefully designed human support.
We have introduced the early start -up model:
- Students paid small initial costs,
- I have access to part of the real program,
- Had full access to tutors, community and support.
At the same time, our commercial advisers have remained in contact – do not pushJust support, answer questions and help students think about their goals. It was not a question of selling classes aggressively.
These were real honest conversations:
- Is this the right time?
- Is this the right format?
- What is your real motivation?
Sometimes the conclusion was: you don't need a bootcamp. You just need a little lesson, and it's okay. And I think it was one of those things that our customers and teams loved so much in our vision of products.
But when the adjustment was correct, the commitment became real, because the students made a small financial and emotional investment from the start, and we match it with real human support and guided them along the way. And when they were ready after the fully immersive trial period, they made a decision of self -awareness.
📚 Use of free products differently
Later, when we realized that free lessons did not directly produce registrations, we also moved the strategy there.
We have introduced mini -cours and launched them as experiences without autonomy – not funnels specifically. There was no tutor support, no project examination, no sales involved – just a way to try the platform by doing a very short course, not part of the longest.
And in fact, they worked much better in this role: not as conversion engines, but as brand contact points.
So few experiences without pressure that have created consciousness and confidence over time. But again, it did not really lead to an enormous conversation rate, because we have already tried this format and learned that he did not succeed as a lead. However, this simpler format was ideal for another purpose – to establish confidence without another student commitment and realize that the product is even legitimate, even if Ley was not going to use it themselves in the near future, but this potentially led to references.
⚡ Edtech growth in the new market – some of the keys take a little time
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Self-service is not always empowerment. Especially when the big changes in life are involved, people want a guide. And especially when this does not correspond well to this culture and to particular market expectations. Double or triple check this!
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Commitment is important. Even a small financial investment changes how seriously students approach the opportunity. I know it can be difficult to ask for money when you are just at the start of the traction, but it is preferable to present a gradually increasing subscription model or short -term access to the interest and commitment of testing users.
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Cultural adaptation is emotional, not just the procedure. Security, community and emotional support are as critical as the characteristics of the products.
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Transparency strengthens confidence. Being honest on what your program is – and is not – creates better adjustment and better results. It is normal to tell some customers that this product may not be the best.
🚀 Reflection
In Harvard Extension, I learned that people really learn now while they do something, but after they think about it without even realizing it – and this is called metacognition. And I think that many of our hypotheses and our new approaches were not born during retro teams and analyze the results, but during reflection. And that made the other half of our learning easier, so that we can anayser how our users think, feel and decide. It helped build all their trip (CJM) around that. After all, you have to establish confidence, not just create features. It is at this time that real growth occurs.
