Marketing Strategy and SWOT Analysis of Udemy
The pandemic has made most people get used to online education. For some people, it even became the new normal, the way education should be. Lots of people prefer learning from the comfort of their home, in their room, leaning on a soft pillow. But online courses have been around a lot longer. People benefited from it way before the 2020 norm of school. It has its challenges too, though. One has to search well enough to find the best fit for them class-wise and instructor-wise. Today, we are going to talk about an online education platform, Udemy.
Before all else, we are going to analyze Udemy’s mission and vision statements.
The mission statement of the company is as follows.
“To make quality education more accessible and improve lives through learning”.
Universities and schools are expensive. People go into debt to be able to afford a college degree. And then, even when they get high-paying jobs, the enjoyment from their earnings gets thrown out of the picture. Because they have to make monthly payments to make up for their university years.
Some may prefer to go that way because a face-to-face university experience is worth both and the time. However, as already mentioned, for some others, offline school is not comfortable. Whether it refers to finances, mental health, comfort, is another story.
But what matters is that there is always an option for anybody that wants to learn something new. One can develop so many skills and so much knowledge through the courses that Udemy offers.
The prices of these courses are so affordable. As if that was not enough, there is even a wide range of cost-free classes. All you need now is motivation and a healthy mindset.
We may not realize it while it is happening, but education is an amazing tool. It brings so many great outcomes in the long run that each and every one of us surely utilizes.
Now, we are going to quote the vision statement of the company.
“To let anyone enter that marketplace, in the same way, that blogging let anyone with a computer publish online”.
In the past, people had to obtain a journalism degree to publish their articles. It was a complicated and worthwhile process. But then a new thing happened where anyone could share their thoughts. It did not occur that long ago but we do not think about it that deeply anymore. We do not realize that the power of social networks has changed so many so-called norms.
So, if that can happen, then why can’t the education system be so casual as well? The belief that this company holds is that everybody has something to learn and teach. Yes, it is a big responsibility. However, if a person is mature enough to pursue an education, they surely are aware of what is to come.
Further along, we are going to unravel the archetype that Udemy belongs to with the help of an Instagram post.
This post is pretty self-explanatory and to the point. The photo holds the main idea while the caption elaborates about the topic more. The photo talks about how to become a web designer. The font is pretty big and the background is blue, so it is pretty likely to gain attention. Once someone is interested, they will find their way to the caption of the post.
In this day and age, there is so much information laid out on the internet. Anyone has a say, they can post whatever they desire, and others will see it. So when it comes to gaining knowledge, it can get overwhelming. It may be hard to find the direction that is best suited for you.
So, that is why Udemy has got you covered. This company provides courses that are supposed to make your life easier, as we already have mentioned. Another thing learned from this post is that other than offering numerous courses, Udemy also has a blog page. This is another great thing about the website. If someone quickly needs to do some research, they will not have to take a full course to do so.
So, a Web Design expert wrote a blog post for a beginner’s guide regarding web design. It can help one understand whether they are even interested in this sphere in the first place.
Now, what can we gather from this post?
Most importantly, intelligence is a big factor. The mission, vision, and this post now as well, make it obvious. This company is all about learning, learning, and learning.
Being knowledgeable is one thing, but being best at what you do is another thing. It is important to master what you do and that is what this post tells us.
Also, the continual absorption of knowledge is the last hint we get. There is always something new out there that we may not be aware of.
At this point, it becomes clear that the archetype Udemy belongs to is the Sage.
What do we know about this archetype?
Desire: the discovery of truth.
Aim: to use intelligence and analysis to understand the world .
Strategy: seek out information and knowledge, become self-reflective and understand thinking processes.
These are the messaging levels of the archetype.
Level One: confusion, doubt, deep desire to find the truth
Level Two: search for absolute truth, desire for objectivity, looking to experts
Level Three: skepticism, critical and innovative thinking, becoming an expert
Level Four: wisdom, confidence, mastery
The Sage archetype might provide a suitable identity for your brand:
- it gives expertise or knowledge to your clients
- it assists customers or clients to think
- the brand is based on a new experimental discovery of esoteric knowledge
- the quality of the brand is backed by hard data
- you are distinguishing the product from others whose condition or performance is questionable
Next up, we are going to discuss the SWOT analysis of Udemy.
Strengths
Course material variety: The courses in this platform are not only taught in the international language. Other than English, the course materials come in many other languages. This makes Udemy accessible for a variety of people from all sides of the world.
Easy to enroll in courses: Applying for a university degree is pretty challenging and complicated. You have to take a couple of exams, and fill out an application form. But enrolling in an Udemy career-oriented course is so much easier.
Certificates after course completion: Later on, if you need to prove your background for a job opportunity, Udemy will provide you with a certificate. That is of course after successfully completing your course.
Student reviews and ratings: It is always helpful to know what you are signing up for beforehand. Looking through reviews that other students left for a specific instructor or course is beneficial. Students can freely leave reviews for the newcomers.
Weaknesses
Not accredited: This platform is not accredited. While some workplaces do not fully care about that, some others are pretty strict. That, unfortunately, means that some workplaces may not view Udemy certifications as reliable.
Higher price range: For online, the prices of the Udemy courses can be perceived as quite high. Some of the courses may be as affordable as 50$. But on the other side of the spectrum, there are courses that cost 200$.
Course set dates: While you are the consumer, you have to adapt to the schedule that they are offering. You can not switch the timing or the dates. You have to follow the planned-ahead agenda.
Content customization: Anyone can switch up a thing or two about the available content put out in Udemy. This means that the spread of unreliable information becomes much more of a possibility.
Opportunities
Targeting local and regional education: A lot of people are starting to prefer online education to traditional education. Focusing on local and regional areas with these courses could be a smart move. It could possibly attract more students.
Growing number for online student enrollment: More students are inclined to apply for online courses these days. Even students that are currently pursuing a degree and are interested in learning something else along with it. So that acts as a great opportunity for online teaching platforms.
A variety of student profiles: Some people are working, some are parents in their mid-forties, but still want to learn something new. Online education in that case is considerably convenient. Most of the time, making the schedules of online courses not clash with personal duties works perfectly.
Threats
Competition: There are many other online platforms offering a great number of courses. Some of those courses may be even more affordable than Udemy. Thus, understandably sometimes people choose to go with another program.
Difficulty with quality instructors: Most of the time, instructors enjoy the real-time experience of teaching. Some of them consider face-to-face communication to be the highlight of their job. Thus, it becomes hard to reach professors that are willing to teach online.
Lastly, let us watch this video which will help us reveal the segment that Udemy has chosen to target.
The video holds a pretty motivational message. It shows different people in different places, participating in an online course. Whether they join the class on the train, from bed, or while working out, it is still suitable. Thus, everything that you set your mind to, you can achieve. You can learn all the difficult codes, musical instruments, and yoga poses.
Again, we see that the people in this video are smart. They are all engaging in some sort of activity that requires brain muscle.
Then, we see everybody striving for intelligence. After all, it is the personality and mentality that make people attractive.
And of course, the continuous learning pattern is another part we gather from the video. When it comes to knowledge, you can never reach perfection.
All of these key points direct us to the segment that Udemy has chosen to target, which is Conscious Progressives.
Lifestyle and values:
This segment is commonly pretty intellectual. They always look for new ways to absorb new knowledge like a sponge.
Sometimes Conscious Progressives are impulsive but that is a very unlikely situation. Most of the time, they calculate their decisions.
It is important that this segment is attractive. Attractiveness, however, holds far more deepness inside it than physical appearance. Attractiveness is about what a person holds inside. It is their personality, mindset, intellectuality, and knowledge.
Conscious Progressives are sociable. But they still manage to gain deep and valuable friendships. They enjoy regularly going out with their friends. The place of the meeting really does not matter, it could be at a bar, but it could also be at home.
This segment believes that its way to success is education. People in this segment are either still pursuing education, or freshly done with it. A huge part of their self-confidence is mindfulness.
Conscious Progressives like to set an example for the people around them. That refers to colleagues in the workplace, classmates, and even friends.
A good career is important and all. But it should never be achieved at the cost of self values, or great sacrifices.
In their workplace, they like to be challenged. That allows them to grow in their career even more. They strive for the development of the company they work for. Because prospering something bigger than themselves is a great doing.
Family is central to this segment’s life. The family’s opinions are what matter. Conscious Progressives want their loved ones to recognize their success.
When this segment gets into a relationship, it is most probably going to last. Their significant other has to somehow be similar to them.
Attitude towards shopping:
Most Conscious Progressives pay particular attention to ads. Ads should be entertaining. But they should also build trust between the consumer and the brand.
This segment cares about the function of the item more than the appearance. Of course, it is preferable for a clothing piece to look nice. But if it is not comfortable, hence not functional either, then Progressives will not buy it.
Conscious Progressives prefer quality over quantity for sure. They may even sometimes go out of their way and buy something luxurious. But again, investing in a luxurious piece would not be for the sake of looking cool. It has to be something that this segment would use in its everyday life.
Other interesting facts:
Conscious Progressives
- are socially active
- have an intellectual outlook
- are avid readers
- are inquisitive about the world we live in and are regularly on the lookout for something new and unique to discover.
- do not want to be mainstream, but are also not far away from being mainstream
- are above average media, and radio consumers
- read the newspaper for staying up to date with everything happening in the world
- use the internet a bunch
And there you have the Marketing Strategy and SWOT Analysis of Udemy. Online education has entered a whole new level. Thus, learning more about it could contribute to serious decisions that a lot of people are about to make. Hence why in this blog we talked about the different tips and tricks this platform uses to stay relevant. Please make sure to visit our main website where we continually share blogs about more companies.
