How “Talking the Teacher Way” Helped Edpuzzle Increase Revenue and Reduce Churn
Project Summary
When Edpuzzle changed its business model, it was a chance to generate referrals and sales conversations. They needed help executing their marketing in a way that resonated with teachers.
“It was great to work with someone who knows how to speak with teachers, and understands the teacher point of view, finding the right words to explain what we wanted.”
Xavi Francas, Head of Growth, Edpuzzle
Working with Head of Growth Xavi, I helped them avoid confusion, get referrals, and create new leads. Through email marketing, in-app notifications, and better web copy, this campaign helped Edpuzzle exceed revenue goals for 2018.
About Edpuzzle
- San Francisco and Spain-based startup helps teachers “make any video your lesson.”
- Provides a platform of tools to edit videos, embed question, record custom audio notes, and more.
- Currently serve 1.4M teachers and 25M students.
Challenge: How could Edpuzzle maximize growth while announcing a change?
Edpuzzle used to have a “freemium” model, but the team noticed the limit on features wasn’t best for their users. They decided to open all features and put a cap on video storage. Existing users with many videos were granted unlimited storage as a “thank you.” The new paid option would be called Edpuzzle Pro.
This presented a challenge and opportunity:
- Announce the change without confusing anyone (“Oh no, will I have to start paying?”)
- Encourage teachers to refer Edpuzzle to their colleagues (to earn free storage)
- Get teachers to make intros to admin and start sales conversations
Solution: Engage Teachers by Speaking Their Language
I worked with Edpuzzle to launch an email marketing campaign to existing users to announce the change, encourage referrals, and maximize sales conversations. We also had to update their website copy to clearly communicate the new model.
I consulted with Edpuzzle team to revise their pricing page and ensure it clearly communicated their product options to schools leaders and teachers.
As the Edpuzzle team created drafts of their emails, I consulted with them to revise the language, and find the final message that was easy to understand for teachers.
Additionally, I helped the team create in-app notifications to encourage re-engagement for the new school year, and revise their pricing page to clearly communicate the new business model.
According to Xavi, my role was to ensure their marketing encouraged teachers to take action:
“It was great to work with someone who is a teacher, who knows how to speak with teachers, and understands the teacher point of view. Finding the right words to explain what we wanted.”
Results: Increased referrals and “more pleasant, more simple” sales conversations
“Overall the results have been very positive,” Xavi said about the new business model campaign. Xavi notes that the email campaign reached or exceeded each of its goals.
Edpuzzle users began referring new teachers to the platform, spreading positive PR about Edpuzzle in their schools.
“And that’s something they have not done before,” Xavi said. “Thanks to this approach, the communication, and the way we’ve talked to them, that’s helped a lot.”
The campaign also led to more quality sales conversations with school leaders. Xavi says talks “are a lot more pleasant, a lot more simple” because teachers have made the introductions.
“The success of this campaign, announcing these changes and asking for help in getting conversations with admins has triggered positive results in terms of revenue,” Xavi said. “We’ve been exceeding the goals that we had, which were aggressive goals.”