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1. Online Learning Blog Best Practices April 2017
2. CLIENT has the most prolific blog in the space and develops content in a creative spirit that aligns well with the company’s core values. However, there are multiple tactics CLIENT should look to implement through its blog, learning from its competitors: 1. Ensure the Blog is Part of the Sales Channel: Position the blog as part of a strategic sales-focused “funnel” (e.g. General Assembly) that is a portal for customers and future customers to become part of the community. Currently there is not clear “ask” of the reader such as joining the “community” or signing up for an email list. There is an opportunity to add email signups to the blog page and having a consistent strategy across all channels (e.g. popups, banners etc…) 2. Leverage Medium & Increase Distribution Channels: CLIENT has an 14,200 existing followers on the Medium platform. Consider cross posting current blog content on Medium (CLIENT has an existing publication, but has not posted since 2015). In addition CLIENT should look for opportunities for its leadership team and other content creators to write articles and post through other channels to increase distribution (e.g. Udemy with Fortune and Inc) 3. Highlight Longform & More Popular Posts: Currently the top of the blog page highlights the latest posts in reverse chronological order. There is an opportunity to highlight higher quality posts or longform featured content to quickly engage reads that land on the site 4. Consider Increasing Business/Product Updates: Some competitors use the blog to share business updates or product enhancements. CLIENT could consider increasing sharing of this type of content, especially to continue to engage with current customers/followers 5. Continue to Innovate: Given the strong brand image and mission around video, photography and other creative content, CLIENT should continue to look for “out of the box” approaches to communicate to its audiences that push the blog channel further Executive Summary
3. Competitors Assessed: Top Content Types Business Updates / Community Events Industry Perspectives & Student Stories Industry Perspectives & Career Insights Creator stories Business & Product Updates Weekly links & CEO/VP of Talent Original Content Most common content posted on blog:
4. Udacity and Udemy are most active bloggers but still post much less than CLIENT On average, 41 posts per month, more than 3x all competitors CLIENT
5. Lessons to learn from competitors #4 High Quality Data- Driven Content #3 Personal Story Driven Content #1 Consistent & Diverse Content / CEO & CXO Content #2 Expanding Reach Through Medium #5 Push for e-mail signup and links to product offerings
6. #1 Udemy consistently rotates five types of content on its blog Cross-Published Original Content Instructor Stories Influencer/Guest Blogs (e.g. Seth Godin) New & Featured Courses Weekly Links
7. #1 Udemy - CEO & VP, People write original articles and cross publish on Fortune.com and Inc.com On Fortune.com: On Udemy Blog:
8. #2 Udacity has built a strong social following on Medium • Cross-posts content from its regular blog on medium • Has most followers of any competitors (50k) on medium • Has established a publication that has blog content plus additional posts
9. #3 Coursera is increasing focus on the blog and prioritizing personal stories Coursera is increasing its blog activity # of Stories Percent Learner Story 19 54% Career Guides/Insights 5 14% Product Updates 4 11% Community/Events 5 14% Coursera Conversations 1 3% Employee Announcements 1 3% With a heavy focus on stories & insights
10. #3 Coursera - Stories tied to their courses
11. #4 General Assembly has consistent high-value content Hands-On Applications Industry Insights Data-Driven Insights
12. #5 General Assembly consistently pushes for readers to join community, signup for e-mail and explore products Signup Prominently Featured on Blog Pop-ups on Bottom of Page as Scrolling Mobile Pop-Ups Links to Programs in All Posts Pop-ups on Bottom of Page as Scrolling
13. Additional Ideas to Consider Mozblog: More prominent personalities on blog homepage and liking of posts Udemy: Weekly/Monthly Links of Thoughtful Content for Readers
14. Benchmarking: Blog Page Features Features: Homepage: Multiple Articles Homepage: Chronological Vertical Posts Link to Products Blog Articles Featured on Homepage Subscribe E- Mail Link Udemy ✓ Khan Academy ✓ Coursera ✓ ✓ Masterclass ✓ Udacity ✓ ✓ ✓ General Assembly ✓ ✓ CLIENT ✓ ✓ ✓ Opportunity
15. Benchmarking: Individual Post Features Features: Share Links Share Count Comments Ability to “like” Post Udemy Khan Academy Coursera ✓ ✓ Masterclass ✓ Udacity ✓ General Assembly ✓ ✓ CLIENT ✔ ✔ ✔ Opportunity
16. Exploring Medium as an additional Blog platform
17. Brands are taking advantage of Medium to increase distribution of Blog # of Medium Followers 50k 1.4k 38k 14.2k
18. OKCupid has migrated a successful blog to hosting on Medium • Has taken data insights into platform to help its users be smarter and more informed with data • Its content aligns well with its user base (young, curious, progressive) • Have moved their blog to fully hosted on the Medium platform • Have multiple topic areas
19. General Assembly On Medium • Cross-posts content from its regular blog on medium • Has second most followers of any competitors (38k) • Has established “The Index” publication that also includes posts Pushes readers back to website to sign up via email
20. Udacity On Medium • Cross-posts content from its regular blog on medium • Has most followers of any competitors (50k) on medium • Has established a publication that has blog content plus additional posts
21. Appendix
22. Coursera • Visual • Focused on stories • Has “sub-blogs” focused on business, educators and product/feature improvements and updates • Also have an additional “Tech Blog” that talks about building the business
23. Coursera: Four Targeted “Sub-Blogs” • Case studies, insights and interviews on how Coursera is being used in business • Insights from educators, teachers and conferences • New feature and product enhancement announcements “Tech Blog” • Posts on building the company • Technical / engineering posts • Coding challenges
24. General Assembly • Regularly posts content • Cross-posts on Medium • Very consistent, high quality and data-driven content • Content focuses heavily on industry perspectives, career insights and stories from leaders in fields related to their courses
25. Masterclass • Positioned as “news” rather than a blog - not easy to find • Very limited content - focused primarily on a contest they held and some business updates
26. Udacity • Posts content most consistently of any competitor (~12 posts per month) • Prominent links to subscribe and enroll on blog • Cross-posts on medium
27. Udacity content driven by “chief words officer”
28. Udemy • A weekly digest of news • Stories of instructors • Highlights of courses • CEO and VP, People are regular content contributors (also cross-publish in Inc. and Fortune)
29. Udemy - Diverse, Consistent Content Cross-Published Original Content Instructor Stories Influencer/Guest Blogs (e.g. Seth Godin) New & Featured Courses Weekly Links
30. Udemy - “Friday News Roundup” Weekly post - topics include: • Work & independence • Creativity • Personal development • Interesting articles • Learning
31. Khan Academy has de-prioritized blogging Has all but abandoned blogging # of Stories Percent Community / Events 12 40% Product Updates 10 33% Business Updates 4 13% Industry Perspectives 4 13% Blog is mainly used for updates on events, products and the company
32. Khan Academy • Simplest blog - page features full length blog posts • Posts focus on business, product and community event updates (e.g. contests)