How to design a high-conversion training camp from scratch?

I've been receiving a lot of inquiries about boot camps recently, so I decided to review an article that provides some useful information on how to actually run a boot camp. Do you often encounter this situation: your boss says: Think of a product or knowledge training camp to help us screen high-quality users and convert transactions. Then you will be very confused, where to start? How do you design a good operation plan for a training camp?

This article will clearly analyze and disassemble through my own practical cases + theoretical thinking.

When studying many cases in other industries, you should actually see its essence when disassembling it. The essence is to use methods for the purpose. For example, in order to close more advanced training camps, we usually use mid-term and late-stage recommendation and promotion models in the training camps. In this area, I found that promoting the training camp during the expert’s answers is often the best effect. If the expert is not available to answer, there are other ways, such as inviting others to learn group buying, rebates, coupons, limited-time promotions, obtaining information, gifts, etc. Each method has a suitable user group. All we have to do is to find the method and reason, and use the most suitable method to close our own users.

The training camps I have done include short-term experience camps, higher-priced advanced training camps, and ordinary simple training camp models. Each model will bring different detailed operation methods. Because we know our goals and then refine our solutions, it will make us clearer and more natural when doing training camps.

1. Purpose of the training camp

First of all, training camps also need to be classified. Currently, the training camps on the market can be divided into: traffic-generating type (taking Baowan English and Changtou Academy as examples), conversion type (taking Zebra AI and Xueersi as examples), and service type (high-customer-order types such as Xiaonengxiong and Chaos University). In addition to the knowledge-paying type of training camps, there are also some training camps that are product-based, focusing on selling conversion products and achieving high customer orders.

Different training camps have different purposes, so they use different methods, and they also have different ideas in the process design of each operation.

If we analyze the overall framework of a training camp, it is generally inseparable from the following parts:

The overall framework of a training camp is a combination of product side + operation side + sales side. In a company, operations and sales are bundled together, but product and operations are necessary.

The product side mainly reflects: the design of course content, posters and the arrangement of teachers, while the operation side is more important about user delivery, experience, interaction and conversion. The two complement each other to form a good training camp.

How to design a training camp course: A good training camp cannot be separated from a good product manager, or in other words, it cannot be separated from a good course design. In today's increasingly competitive environment, a good poster and good copywriting can bring a lot of growth to the training camp.

For example, the following two training camp course posters:

It is obvious on the poster that the layout and design of the yellow poster are more obvious, and the copywriting and language are clearer. If you want to buy it yourself, you will definitely look at the yellow poster at first sight.

A good course poster design includes:

Content + Gift Value-added + Form

If the content part is a traffic-generating course, then it must be content with high universality and a relatively low threshold. For example, it should be a topic that novices and newbies can participate in. As long as this topic has highlights and resonance, the willingness to pay will generally be higher.

As for the value-added part, we can still see from the poster above that it must be the extra surprise value that can be brought to users beyond the content part, such as resource docking tables, delivery schedules, and even knowledge cards, notes, summary content, mind maps, etc., which can all be given as value-added parts. If the cost can be covered, some will even be given in the form of physical objects to increase the possibility of users placing orders.

I have summarized many common fission posters on the market. Generally, the content and design are in the following format, which is more practical. The main colors are mostly bright yellow, blue and red.

In the interactive and community part of the entire training camp, three points must be made clear:

1. The content of the activity matches the entire training camp and is consistent with the theme, and completing this activity is helpful for user learning, such as checking in, completing homework, etc. And it must be a behavior that users can recognize.
2. The threshold for participating in activities is very low, and users do not need to spend a lot of time and energy to complete it. Because once users need to spend a lot of time to complete the task, it means that fewer people will complete it, and the final effect will be poor. Therefore, when we design this kind of interaction, we often do it in the form of selecting questions and answering them, checking in, and completing simple assignments. This method can not only be easily solved with a mobile phone, but also will not cause too many difficult problems in the process, and is suitable for most people. Before this, I organized an activity called a reading training camp, where parents were asked to shoot videos of parent-child interactions and upload them. This was also a relatively simple way of implementation.
3. The start time of the activity is very important. Generally, we will choose to release this kind of activity throughout the entire training camp on the morning of the first day of formal learning, or after the opening ceremony in the evening. Moreover, this behavior will generally become the first action to officially start learning, so that after users have a behavioral habit of interaction, they will not find it particularly cumbersome in the subsequent continuous process. It is very important to let users develop good habits. For example, if we are teaching a class, we usually ask users to complete it once before the class.

The form part is divided into recorded broadcast and live broadcast, and some of this part is further divided into voice + picture, or pure voice, pure video, text and other methods. Using different methods and carriers will have different feedback and effects. We used to often use voice + picture format, which is relatively simple and quick. However, with the advent of the 5G era, many institutions will adopt video + live broadcast format, which is very helpful for user interaction. When students can see a real teacher, it is a completely different feeling from listening to the teacher speak. But for teachers, such requirements are very high, because not only must they be able to speak standard Mandarin, but they must also have good looks, be able to express themselves, and be emotionally rich and not embarrassed.

The path that users take when entering the course is also very important. We call it a touchpoint. In the entire user entry path, the fewer the conversion steps and the clearer the jump, the better the effect.

The following is a reference for how users enter the path:

We usually set this process clearly before operating the entire training camp. A good training camp must be determined by the combination of each link. Therefore, at the front end of the training camp, we must do more user experience and testing, and even bring our own friends to test together. Each process will affect the group entry rate and conversion rate.

If fission is required, the path of fission must be very clear. For example, which touch point to use for fission and what the interest bait is all need to be clearly set.

Generally, the most commonly used fission is before the trial course. If it is after the trial course, it is basically in the form of group buying. Therefore, the front-end fission methods we often see are: inviting X people to give gifts, giving gifts for distribution rankings, and giving gifts for sharing in circles. It is very important to make good use of interest bait to achieve fission. Courses with high conversion rates and exposure rates will use similar methods to achieve fission of front-end users.

User experience details:

When users enter the entire training camp process, no matter what the purpose is, the most important thing is the user experience. If the user experience is good, the subsequent conversion rate will be high.

Here is a formula for your reference:

Conversion rate = user experience + trust endorsement + emotional consumption

I will break down the user experience below, starting with trust endorsement and emotional consumption.

Trust endorsement refers to the user's trust and familiarity with the entire training camp teachers and institution. If the teachers are professional enough, the institution or brand is well-known enough, and the positive reviews are high enough, then the conversion rate will naturally be higher. Here we often use some methods to enhance trust endorsement, such as posting user reviews, introducing the professional background of teachers, introducing the brand of the institution, etc., so that users can trust us as much as possible.

Emotional consumption refers to the conversion of users. How to promote user transactions is very important, because the action of placing an order means that your training camp has achieved most of its goals. Therefore, in the transaction link here, we often use the community atmosphere and some pre-placement methods to achieve conversion.

In utilizing the community atmosphere, we often use methods such as letting users chain together to place orders, or sending users’ purchase screenshots. This method will allow more people to see and buy. We also often use methods such as urging orders, such as setting a limit of 20 people, with 2 vacancies left, or the registration deadline is 8 pm tonight, with only 15 minutes left! This kind of rhetoric is very helpful in concentrating transactions.

In an entrepreneurship training camp that I once participated in, we first used the closing ceremony group to release advanced training camp courses, then used small groups to follow up individually with consulting project model recommendations, and finally used telemarketing to help users close orders. (Although I didn’t buy it because it was too expensive). However, the data shows that in a group of 158 people (including their staff), more than 20 people have purchased advanced courses with a per-customer price of 4,000 yuan. This data is a very large number in a 15-day training camp. Not only did the teachers comment and grade the courses, the customer service staff also gave friendly reminders to attend the classes, and issued certificates of honor for completed assignments. Every part was done very well. As a 199 front-end traffic training camp, I feel that the experience and transaction methods are very accurate.

The pictures below show the course in progress and the 1V1 individual consultation.

I have broken down the 9 experience details that users need to pay attention to during the entire training camp process as follows:

1) Course Content

The quality of the course content is very important. If the course itself is not worthwhile, or the content does not bring people a sense of value, then even if the subsequent links are good, the conversion rate will not be high.

The requirements for teachers and course design here are relatively high. Teachers need to be able to understand users' pain points and provide users with solutions. We have found in past experience that if the course content is to improve a user's skills, or can bring some future value to the user, or solve some of the user's pain points, this type of course will have a relatively higher user experience.

2) Learning process design

The design of the overall learning process will promote the user experience. For example, whether I review the homework first or check in first, then review, and then do the homework, will affect the user experience details.

3) Learning interaction and feedback

Interaction and feedback during learning are very important links, because human nature is actually lazy. Therefore, it becomes very important whether there is a teacher, teaching assistant, or class monitor supervising during learning. We have calculated data before. If students can complete the course, they are more likely to sign up for subsequent high-order courses, and their course reviews will increase.

Therefore, during the learning process, it is necessary to interact and provide feedback and comments with users in a timely manner, and to operate the entire community in a refined manner.

4) Design of learning difficulty

During the entire training camp learning process, learning is generally gradual, and we often use some gamification thinking methods to enhance the user experience. For example, fighting monsters to level up, team combat PK and so on.

The knowledge and content given to users at the beginning must not be extremely difficult to understand and obscure. Even if such content is very important, please put it at the end. People's ability to digest and absorb is limited. Within a limited time frame, it is important to first inform users with simple cognitive content so that users can accept your thinking from the beginning and gain some knowledge.

The process from simple to complex is what needs to be designed throughout the learning process.

5) Sense of ceremony, sense of value, and sense of play

We usually say that a good training camp cannot be without a good sense of ritual, because the sense of ritual can bring users a very important experience. Once users spend time and energy in this training camp, the experience and conversion rate will be improved. If you give, you will expect more in return. Here I will break it down into three parts.

Sense of ceremony: The sense of ceremony is basically reflected in: whether the monitor or teaching assistant notifies in advance before joining the group, filling in information, welcome ceremony and self-introduction after joining the group, reminders and welcoming teachers before class, completion of check-ins, whether the camps in the interactive comments and homework sharing and comment sessions are neat, and the design of the award ceremony or PK award ceremony after the training camp.

Sense of value: The sense of value is reflected in the content knowledge acquired throughout the entire course design. Some courses that do a good job of providing a sense of value will provide supplementary classes, interactive Q&A, Easter eggs, and even coupons and physical rewards. By combining a variety of rewards and content, users can feel that their purchase is of great value, which will help with subsequent conversions and experience.

Game feel: The game feel has been mentioned in the previous article. Commonly used methods include team group PK, selecting class leaders and team committee members, upgrading check-in points, and even quick response. These can bring users an interesting and fun experience. When users feel that the learning process is interesting and fun, and they can also learn knowledge, then the experience will naturally not be bad.

6) User benefits

In the implementation of the overall training camp, what can users gain from the entire learning process? Here we often conduct user surveys and feedback, and adjust the content of the overall training camp appropriately according to the feedback received from users, so as to try our best to make users feel rewarded and improve their experience.

Here we often use methods such as sharing of additional content. In many cases, the content users gain is not just used in simple teaching in the training camp. There are two forms of sharing of additional content here.

The first type is sharing by teachers or class leaders. This type of sharing usually outputs very useful information and provides thought-provoking discussions.

The second is the internal invitation system, which invites students to share within the group. Because this type of sharing is done by students, more people will listen to the sharing, and it is also very valuable for internal student interaction. Selecting appropriate, active and outstanding students to speak is a very important step. Allowing users to create content can bring better user benefits to the entire training camp.

7) Training camp rhythm

During the training camp, it is very important to control the rhythm, which will be analyzed in detail in my future articles.

In the training camps we have conducted before, there were cases where students complained that they could not keep up because the daily lectures were too heavy. A good training camp rhythm must be able to drive each link and make students feel easy and feasible.

For example, when designing daily content, try not to design it all in a class mode. You can intersperse it with question-and-answer sessions, comments, and interactive games. This will make it easier to control the rhythm and provide a better user experience.

Whether it is an advance notice of classes in the group or the release of registration information, there must be a unified response script. This takes advantage of people's herd mentality. When people reply together, you will find that the activity and participation of the community will increase.

8) Community environment

A good community atmosphere is very important. The reason why we run training camps instead of serving users individually is not to save trouble. In fact, what is more important is to allow everyone to interact, create social scenes, and have a better learning atmosphere. Here, when you see someone checking in, you will also be motivated to do the same learning check-in. Therefore, in the process of building a community, it is very important to control the entire community atmosphere. Usually, we will use some water armies and excellent KOL students to help us maintain the community environment.

The water army here is also a very important part. Such accounts often imitate all possible social behaviors of the students, try to edit the words and scripts that need to be used in advance, drive the learning atmosphere in the group, and thus attract more people to learn and interact together.

Once someone in the group talks about related learning topics, we must communicate as much as possible to guide more active topics. This will be reflected in the high frequency of interactive topics and high-quality responses among group members.

9) Teacher-student interaction

The interaction between teachers or teaching assistants and students will also affect the user experience. Because if there is a deeper interaction between teachers and students, the subsequent conversion experience will be higher. In fact, most students come to study for the teachers. The teachers’ trust and endorsement are generally established in a more authoritative way, which is a natural advantage of teachers. It’s just like when you go to the hospital, you usually hope to see a well-known old doctor.

During the implementation of the training camp, AB testing must be done, and the course content and the design of the training camp links must be constantly polished and reviewed frequently to gain a deeper understanding.

For example, I have participated in some community courses with three classes, which started with user experience services, including the trial class, group entry ceremony, community check-in, class reminders, community sharing, teaching assistant comments, interactive services, user testimonials, and finally promoting transactions. Every step makes people feel like they are going with the flow and are willing to pay.

High-frequency interaction in the training camp is very important. If every link can give users a good experience, then the training camp can basically be considered half successful. In all training camps, users must be encouraged to pay more and gain accumulated benefits in the community, so that their subsequent experience and conversion will be higher.

It is critical to build a good training camp scene.

In short, there are many key links in running a good training camp, but there is one law that will never change: details determine success or failure.

Author: Fan Xiaoqing of the Red Teachers Association

Source: Fan Xiaoqing from the Red Teachers Association