How to grow the "Zebra AI Class" app!

The app has been downloaded 28 million times in two years, and its monthly revenue has exceeded 300 million. How did Zebra AI Class achieve this? The author of this article analyzed the Zebra AI Class using the AARRR model, and took us through the growth path of the Zebra AI Class app.

Recently, Yuanfudao announced that it has completed US$1 billion in financing, with a valuation of US$7.8 billion, becoming the education company with the highest financing amount and pre-listed valuation, making it once again the focus of attention of education practitioners. Industry insiders previously revealed that Zebra English, which had achieved monthly revenue of over 100 million yuan in two years, also achieved monthly revenue of over 300 million yuan. Although Zebra officials have not disclosed the specific data of this business, it still cannot dispel the curiosity of the outside world and attract the attention of education practitioners.

This enlightenment education product, incubated by Yuanfudao, the first-tier K12 online education company, has not received an official response on its specific revenue performance, but according to data from various application markets, the app has been downloaded 28 million times in just two years. Among the more than 200 apps in the children's English category, it ranks in the top 10% in terms of downloads. Its development speed is amazing enough.

This article will use the AARRR model to analyze it, so as to provide some inspiration for relevant practitioners. Suitable for positions related to education app growth, such as marketing and ASO optimization personnel, growth products and operations, etc.

1. User Acquisition

The acquisition of new users is the starting point of product growth. The indicators generally used for measurement include: number of downloads, number of registrations or number of leads. Different business models may have certain differences in the indicators that they focus on. The figure below shows the download trend of Zebra AI Class in the App Store.

Zebra AI Class 2017.10.27 – 2020.3.4 Download trend chart

From the chart we can see that there were two growth peaks when it was first launched and around March 2018, followed by a period of stability, and then gradual growth. Currently, it has basically stabilized at around 6,000-10,000 daily downloads. By tracing back its operations and product actions, we found the following reasons for this trend:

• Initial launch – Company product traffic : In order to obtain a higher weight, user accumulation and guidance were done in internal company products such as Yuanfudao
• March 2018 – Joined the program : In 2018, Zebra joined the third season of Jiangsu Satellite TV's "Great Kids", and there was a peak in downloads.
• March 2018-early 2019: Rapid product iteration, basic operation system and curriculum system
• After 19 years: The courses and operation system have gained a relatively large reputation, and have a comparative advantage in brand to maintain stable growth

Zebra has various ways to acquire users, such as: app store ASO, placement, marketing activities, new media, etc. In general, the channels with the largest and relatively stable revenue are:

1. App store ASO optimization;
2. Internal product guidance within the company.

First of all, Zebra does a relatively good job in ASO optimization. Since its launch, it has been on the recommended position of the app store three times. The recommended position is the first page that users see after opening the app store. The basic traffic is quite large. It displays products selected from the app store. Only products with good experience, high download volume and high user evaluation will be recommended, which plays a significant role in acquiring traffic. As for the reasons behind this, I think the following points are worth referring to;

1. A large number of downloads are carried out in the early stage of launch to help the product accumulate original weight and ranking : According to the rules of the app store, there is a weight tilt in the initial stage of newly launched products. If the product is retrieved through these keywords during this period and downloaded and used without a large amount of negative feedback, it can be stabilized at a relatively good weight. From the download trend chart, we can see that after the product was launched in November 2017, it had a relatively high download volume in the app store. It may be to guide users acquired from the company's other products (such as Yuanfudao) to download new products or to perform certain keyword and comment maintenance. In this way, for a certain number of users that have already been accumulated, a similar approach can be adopted when preparing to launch a new product project; if the company has not accumulated users before, it should cultivate a group of seed users before going online.
2. The keyword coverage is relatively comprehensive, and high search index words rank well : In terms of keyword coverage, the following categories of words are covered: brand words (Zebra English, Zebra ai, etc.), core demand words (Enlightenment English, picture books, etc.) and competitive product words (Lebu Enlightenment, Jiliwulala, etc.). It is easier for brand words to occupy the top three positions, and they can be maintained at a relatively low cost; Zebra spends more energy on competitor words and core demand words. Currently, we can see that Zebra also appears in the second and third places for some competitor words, such as Lebu Enlightenment, Baowan, etc.
3. The app store has complete ASO information

Zebra AI Class App Store Information

Screenshot of Zebra AI Class App Store

Secondly, it is the diversion of internal company products. As a derivative product of Yuanfudao, a first-tier K12 education company, Zebra English not only has the support of other products in terms of traffic, but also has sufficient funds for investment, gathering users on WeChat and app products for services and further conversions. Therefore, more traffic comes from other internal platforms and traffic pools.

Internal traffic flow diagram of Zebra AI course (data source: third-party platform estimation)

There are two core paths for internal product diversion:

1) Guide active download: Users actively or passively come into contact with Zebra or Yuanfudao products ➡️ There is a guide to download the app link in the product

Website and WeChat guide automatic download

2) Passive download request: users sign up for a free or paid trial class ➡️guided to add a teaching assistant ➡️teaching assistants request to download the corresponding app ➡️course services are provided within the app

TA Request Download Process

These two methods provide more exposure for the app, and also use the app as a user entry point for centralized services and operations. This is conducive to forming a traffic pool for the product and guiding product downloads to further increase its weight.

2. User Activation

Some products on the market use successful user registration as an activation indicator. Considering that Zebra AI Class is a course-centered product, its activation can be based on the standard of "the user's first experience with a free or low-priced course." This allows users to feel the value of products and services and then purchase high-priced courses. The following figure shows the overall activation process for new users:

Zebra AI course app activation process

Step 1: Guest Mode

In guest mode, users can directly experience the modules and activity content of the tool section without registering. That is, Zebra FM, Zebra Sees the World, and Zebra Picture Book under the picture book tab. The difference between this method and other products such as Jiliwawa, which block mobile phone numbers after the startup page, is that on the one hand, this method allows users to feel the value of the product first, so that they can actively register their mobile phone numbers. On the other hand, Zebra did not adopt the telemarketing model and may not have forced customers to obtain mobile phone numbers.

Step 2&3: Register and log in with your mobile phone number

When users operate functions such as My Courses and My Settings that require personal information, the login and registration process will be triggered. At this time, the user will be asked to fill in the mobile phone number and verification. After completing the verification, the user will enter the child information filling page.

Step 4: Fill in your child's information

After registration is completed, you need to fill in your child’s personal information, including avatar, gender, nickname and birthday. This step is relatively cumbersome to operate on the user side. But from a business perspective, the more information collected, the more beneficial it will be for subsequent marketing conversions and services. When designing this aspect of the product, trade-offs must be made. For example, whether the field is necessary in this link and whether it is difficult for users to operate, so as to avoid user loss.

Step 5: Free trial class

After filling in the information, the 0 yuan course will appear on the homepage to guide users to experience it. In the design of this part, Zebra did not use more obvious methods such as pop-ups, but instead added 0 yuan courses to the original low-priced course area. This should be done to avoid excessive interference to users. However, in the picture book module, if the user has not yet received the free class, a pop-up window for free classes will appear after each picture book is completed (as shown below). This not only achieves the marketing goal, but also makes the user feel that they are receiving a gift after learning rather than being disturbed.

Picture Books – Free Lesson Pop-up

3. User Retention

One of the difficulties in learning products is to make learners willing to persist in learning . Because only by persisting in learning can you verify whether the product is effective for learning, thus forming a positive cycle. Because of this, Zebra proposed from the very beginning to provide " English classes that children want to learn on their own initiative ." In order to achieve this goal, Zebra has worked hard on both the internal and external factors that stimulate children's learning.

In terms of internal factors: attract children through rich story content and plots, and make them develop a strong interest . During the 5-day free trial course, the content learned every day has a strong story relevance. After finishing the day’s lessons, children will naturally have certain expectations for subsequent lessons. In addition to the main courses, Zebra also provides Zebra picture books, Zebra FM, Zebra's View of the World and activity content, selecting scenes from daily life or topics that children are more interested in, such as: A picnic, fishing, etc. At the same time, there is also a lot of parent-child interactive learning content in the event. For example: spend time with your family at home and experience children's yoga; make dumplings together during the winter solstice, etc.

In terms of external factors: incentive + reminder mechanism . In terms of motivating user retention, Zebra also adopts the commonly used PBL mechanism. This set of "Zebra Coins" combined with the gameplay of the mall is very popular among children and parents. Many parents said on social media that their children were very happy to receive Zebra Coins after answering questions. At the same time, they would continue to collect Zebra Coins in order to exchange for a favorite toy in the mall. The rules for obtaining Zebra Coins and how to exchange them are as follows:

Obtaining and redeeming rules

As can be seen from the picture, if the child needs to redeem the cheapest product, he or she will need to study for at least 5 days, which is the period of the 0 yuan trial class. Most of the products are around 60 yuan, which means a low-cost trial class – lasting about 1 month. This effectively drives parents and children to continue learning on the platform. At the same time, the product also combines a relatively strong learning reminder mechanism, such as app push, public account reminders and group reminders. In addition, if a child misses several classes in a row, parents will receive a "reminder" call from the teaching assistant.

Public account learning reminder

4. User Conversion

The conversion method of the app is based on Zebra's overall traffic conversion method, so before analyzing the app conversion, you need to understand and sort out its complete business logic. Zebra has three transformation products:

1. 0 yuan trial class: Generally, the trial period is 5 days, which is used to activate users
2. 49 yuan trial class : The general trial period is one month. It is the core way to switch to high-priced courses and also the product that Zebra has launched the most.
3. 2800-year course: The general learning cycle is one year, which is the core source of income for Zebra

The specific method and positioning are as follows:

Zebra AI Course Product Positioning

In terms of conversion, Zebra adopts a trial experience model: " AI courses (tools) + group services ", and the app serves more as a conversion entrance and tool. Because users rarely order an annual course of 2,800 yuan directly on the app, but instead place an order from the app after taking a low-priced trial course, the design of the low-priced courses is more important for the app. Then let’s take a look at how it designs course landing pages to impress users to purchase and experience it.

1. The 0 yuan and 49 yuan products are differentiated and valuable : the 0 yuan course is a benefit and gift for new users after registration, and the course service is the same as the 49 yuan course, except that the 0 yuan course is for 1 week and the 49 yuan course is for 2 weeks, which makes users feel valuable; in addition, the 49 yuan course comes with an enlightenment gift box with more physical items: 6 English picture books, 18-30 word cards, 1 exercise book, 12-18 audio word cards. Users feel that the prices of these items purchased on Taobao are similar, and there are courses and learning services, so they will feel that it is worth the money.
2. The course schedule and settings are clear, and the learning effect is easy to feel: the weekly learning goals, values ​​and daily learning content are displayed in detail; the strong sense of mission is conducive to parental supervision, and parents can also quickly verify and check the daily learning content
3. Using foreign teachers is in line with the preferences of parents: because the parents' generation has experienced poor English, they have a higher demand for oral expression when their children learn English. Teaching by foreign teachers makes parents feel that their children’s accents are authentic and their children can speak directly.

Partial screenshot of the 49-yuan trial class details page

Secondly, regarding group service conversion, you can check out “What is the experience class with a monthly revenue of 300 million like? In-depth analysis of the dark horse in the enlightenment world - Zebra AI Class. Part 1.

5. User Communication

Users’ willingness to introduce and spread your product to their friends is the greatest recognition of your product. Zebra, which mainly provides courses and group services, relies more on group services for dissemination, so there are relatively few ways to guide users to spread the word within the app product, which are mainly reflected in two aspects:

1. After each day’s class, guide the sharing;
2. Recommend gift activities in the homepage banner and "Me" tab

The picture below shows the process of guiding sharing. As learning check-ins have been banned and cooled down by WeChat, it is difficult to achieve good results with this method.

Course sharing check-in guide

The gift-for-recommendation activity is aimed at users who have purchased a 49-yuan trial course. This threshold setting is conducive to ensuring the quality of recommended users, because the recommender is already a user of the product and will only recommend it in the relationship chain if he or she recognizes the product. At the same time, for every user who recommends a course purchaser, the user can receive 1 diamond, which can be used to redeem vouchers or peripheral items.

Recommended gift activity process

Final Thoughts

As a dark horse in enlightenment education, the success of Zebra AI Class has many points worth learning for practitioners in the education category app:

1. Regarding growth, on the one hand, we acquire relatively stable users in the app store through ASO optimization. On the other hand, we leverage the advantages of our parent company to perform cold start and accumulate original users. At the same time, we also conduct marketing activities or other channels to acquire a large number of users in the short term.
2. In terms of activation and retention, set user paths and retention incentives based on the product's business model and key goals. Through the combination of incentive mechanisms and internal and external factors that stimulate children's interest, a positive and beneficial cycle is formed
3. For user conversion and word-of-mouth communication, we adopt a combination of products and services. While the product provides a smooth experience and rich content to dispel user concerns and promote selling points, it also adds the human factor of operation to make the product more warm and considerate, and to encourage user purchases, renewals and dissemination.

Author: Vivian

Source: Vivian