The global eLearning market was estimated at USD 210 Billion in 2021 and is anticipated to reach around USD 848.1M by 2030. Like every other major expanding industry, eLearning enterprises too need a marketing technology that revolutionizes how they communicate with customers.
The anticipated technology is Inbox Commerce. This article discusses how Inbox Commerce can completely reorient user engagement and revenue generation in eLearning.
Inbox Commerce presents a transformative opportunity for the eLearning industry, revolutionizing how educational content is accessed and consumed. By integrating commerce functionalities within messaging platforms Inbox Commerce offers unprecedented advantages.
Studies indicate that over 80% of internet users utilize messaging apps, presenting a massive audience for eLearning providers to engage with. By leveraging Inbox Commerce, eLearning providers can seamlessly offer course enrollment, personalized learning recommendations, and instant access to study materials—all within the familiar messaging interface. The real-time interaction capability of messaging apps also enhances learner sign-ups and engagement, and facilitates immediate query resolution. Net result: improved learning outcomes for all.
What is Inbox Commerce?
Inbox Commerce is a recent and robust innovation. It involves marketing products/services, engaging with customers, and conducting transactions inside messaging apps like RCS, WhatsApp, and emails.
This approach simplifies the customer experience, making it ultra-convenient for users to connect with brands. Users can effortlessly browse and buy products/services right within messages and emails.
As far as eLearning goes, Inbox Commerce brings website and app-like features to your learners’ message/email screens. The technology allows them to search for courses, read reviews, add them to a cart, sign up for a learning program, book time slots, view test results, track progress and scores, give feedback, and more – all within an RCS/WhatsApp message or email. Users no longer have to click CTAs and hop through multiple web/app screens.
With no redirects, Inbox Commerce cuts down on drop-offs/lead leakages.
Here are a few ways in which Inbox Commerce can help eLearning businesses grow:
Inbox Commerce via RCS (Rich Communication Services)
RCS serves as an advanced messaging protocol, elevating the landscape of text-based communication and multimedia interactions on mobile devices. It is crafted as an industry standard and is backed by an alliance of prominent mobile network operators, device manufacturers, and technology giants like Google.
Transforming the conventional SMS into a versatile marketing powerhouse, RCS facilitates bidirectional conversations between brands and customers, offering them mutual benefits.
Brands can leverage various functionalities within RCS, including read receipts, typing indicators, group messaging, and seamless sharing of high-quality images, videos, and files—all encapsulated within the messaging app. RCS also empowers users to engage in a feature-rich interactive experience without additional app installations.
Multiple surveys and market studies consistently highlight a particular consumer preference. A striking 70-80% users are seen to express a distinct inclination towards engaging with brands through private messaging rather than traditional promotional methods like emails and banner ads. In this scenario, the limitations of SMS – restricted one-way communication, absence of visual elements, and a limited character count of 160 – accentuate the significance of RCS. The innovative protocol helps businesses deliver rich, relevant content, seamlessly enhancing their connection with customers.
A few ways in which RCS can serve eLearning brands are:
Send class listings updates
Most eLearning avenues add new classes every week, whether in an existing course or a new one. Education providers can use RCS messages to update learners about new schedules each week.
Since dynamic elements power RCS, businesses can use high-res images, GIFs, and videos to display course/syllabus listings. It also enables users to sign up for new classes directly from the message, bringing a whole new dimension to user convenience.
Help learners stay on schedule
RCS messages can notify students of an upcoming class and allow them to access the schedules conveniently within the message.
Businesses can also send regularly updated information, such as downloadable course materials and guidelines, via RCS message.
Send personalized course recommendations
Depending on their course of choice, learners can benefit from similar or related programs on the provider’s site. With Inbox Commerce businesses can send course recommendations, complete with video descriptions and imagery, via RCS-powered messages.
eLearning providers can also configure messages to allow students to sign up for their chosen courses directly – without navigating to their website or app.
Enable seamless seat reservations
Do you have an upcoming educational event featuring a famous global speaker? Use RCS messages to help users book seats through their SMS inboxes. They can even view their confirmation, share it, or add it to their calendar straight from the message—no redirections required.
Inbox Commerce in WhatsApp
Like RCS, WhatsApp Business aims to establish direct and personalized lines of contact between brands and buyers.
Educational brands can use WhatsApp to send course-related messages, updates, and schedules, providing a one-to-one, informal and real-time connection with their audience.
To facilitate easy navigation, brands can use the WhatsApp ‘Click to Chat’ feature. It lets them integrate a direct chat link on their websites or social media platforms. Learners can access the WhatsApp channel by clicking on just one icon within a site or app.
Businesses can also send tailored messages to groups of eLearners instead of a single recipient using the WhatsApp broadcast lists. This feature sends program content, updates, and announcements to specific learner segments.
Besides, eLearning providers can easily integrate payment gateways with WhatsApp, so students can make payments without leaving the app. The official WhatsApp API can incorporate various payment gateways, such as PayPal, Stripe, Razorpay, etc., into the app.
In addition, WhatsApp Business can greatly benefit eLearning companies to drive better growth and provide superior eLearning experiences. Here’s how:
Answer questions instantly
If students have questions during a class, they can get direct responses on WhatsApp via the provider’s official channel. For example, a teacher delivers a lesson, and students have doubts. Instead of interrupting the class in the group chat, they can access answers from a TA on WhatsApp.
Not only do students get to clear their doubts, but they do so without disrupting the flow of the class.
Collect data about users’ priorities and goals
WhatsApp is ideal for speaking directly to users and identifying what they truly want. For example, send a review/feedback form via WhatsApp whenever a student completes a course. Ask questions about their experience and whether the course expanded their knowledge. Don’t forget to understand what more they would like to get out of the learning platform.
The user information thus collected will be a goldmine for personalization ideas. Understand what learners care about, and then you can make every effort to give it to them.
Streamline learner experience
Educational platform Doubtnut realized that a large percentage of its users needed help to access the app in its entirety. To enable better usage of its services, the brand adapted its services to WhatsApp so that people could use a lighter, more streamlined interaction with Doubtnut.
This strategy resulted in an approximate 224% increase in daily users in less than a year, a 260% increase in learner engagement, a 95% percent user satisfaction rate, and 1.8M daily messages to learners through WhatsApp.
WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app in the world. Used by more than 2 billion people and having a 95% open rate, it is the ideal channel to reach out to learners and improve their experience.
Support user learning beyond the classroom
Go beyond just allowing access to great classes. Any eLearning brand that goes the extra mile to help students with learning will definitely see returning users. With WhatsApp Business, you can offer such support in multiple languages, eliminating more learning barriers for people worldwide.
For example, Khan Academy faced challenges and delays in turn-around time using traditional email, SMS, and in-app notifications to resolve queries, drive adoption, and offer support to students, teachers, and parents. WhatsApp launched a multilingual chatbot to support students with FAQs and learning tools.
FAQ bots leveraging NLP engines allowed localization to languages such as Tamil, Hindi, and Kannada to increase regional adoption.
The result?
– 2X increase in read rates
– 55M global users reached through WhatsApp
– 3X higher student engagement
Using AMP email for Inbox Commerce
AMP for email is a framework through which you can embed interactive and dynamic features within an email, like forms, image carousels, text accordions, real-time data, quizzes, games, payment gateways, chatbots, etc. A user can open an AMP email and do almost anything they would do on a website or an app.
Users can scroll through courses, sign up for them, make payments, track class schedules and status, offer feedback, and do much more without leaving their email inbox. They don’t have to click through to any third-party site or an app – an action that often results in ‘lead leakage’. Naturally, Inbox Commerce is one of the most potent ways to increase course sign-ups and engagement.
Customize content to match learner preferences
Within AMP emails, brands can customize content for learners to access their specific preferences.
They can design AMP emails to provide customized interactions and information based on learner actions. The content images and placeholders can be altered in response to distinct activities.
Sending emails with the learner’s first name or offering rewards aligning with the learner’s previous interaction will further enhance customization.
Gamify offer to boost sign-ups
It’s easy to send in-email games using AMP. eLearning brands can create gamified offers based on learners’ preferences and attendance data.
Consider sending emails with simple games like a virtual ‘spin the wheel’. When users play the game, they win access to a free workshop (on a topic they’ve previously shown interest in) or a discounted price on the next course they take.
Provide detailed course descriptions
AMP emails can include and showcase large volumes of content and info within a limited space and yet keep the screen uncluttered.
Let’s take the example of an email with different course descriptions. It will include sections like ‘introduction’, ‘schedules’, ‘goals’, and so on. AMP emails can neatly display them in collapsible sections with headers. The user can click on each heading and expand detailed information, one section at a time.
You can also use carousels to create presentations for the course content index and its details.
Present live testimonials from learners
Nothing drives brand or business credibility like actual customers approving of it. AMP emails make it easy to showcase such acknowledgements through live testimonials.
The brands can also use in-mail forms to request testimonials from current and former learners and display them on their marketing emails as social proof. They can embed layout components to link to social channels where learners can see more testimonials by clicking a button.
Inbox Commerce assists with learning and marketing
Inbox Commerce is designed to be dynamic and interactive. Adaptation is built into its digital DNA, driving growth and development in every industry, including eLearning.
Inbox Commerce – RCS, WhatsApp Business, and AMP for email – seek to improve conversions by exponentially enhancing user experience. They bring convenience, novelty, and ease to every learner’s fingertip. Furthermore, by harnessing the power of chatbots, eLearning platforms can provide tailored course suggestions and timely support, creating a more dynamic and user-centric educational experience.
If you’re curious about what Inbox Commerce can do for your brand, contact us. Let’s talk about consistently increasing your course sign-ups, engagement levels, and repeat learners.
Understand how you can benefit from our expertise and experience. Serving over 6,500 customers across 40 countries, Netcore delivers over 1 billion inbox experiences every day – including 500 million emails and 700 million push notifications. Netcore’s AI is trained on 25 billion interactions, making it an invaluable asset for global brands.
