​ ICP prioritization table

Given the value to user, appetite to pay, frequency of use and TAM - We are prioritizing Young Professionals

Do you feel stuck in a job that doesn’t excite you or unsure how to break into a new career? Coursera is designed for learners like you—professionals and students ready to make a change but unsure where to start.

At Coursera, we understand your challenges

Whether its lack of practical skills, limited time or your ability to prove your expertise - we've got you covered:

• Practical job-ready skills: Coursera offers 7000+ courses, like Google’s UX Design Certificate or MIT's Machine Learning Specialization, which provide hands-on, practical, skills that you can apply the next Monday.
• Flexible learning: Our courses are self-paced and available across devices - so you can study when it suits you—no need to quit your job or compromise your commitments.
• Global certifications & projects: Coursera courses earn you globally recognized certificates from world class institutions like Google, IBM, Stanford, Yale etc. and help you build a portfolio that stands out to employers.

Coursera has transformed lives

Real learners have transformed their lives with Coursera—a retail worker transitioned into data analytics with a Google certificate, while a recent graduate with no coding background launched a tech career after mastering Python through a beginner-friendly specialization.

Tailored for All Skill Levels

From entry-level certifications to advanced degree programs, Coursera is designed to meet you where you are. Whether you're a student just starting out or a professional pivoting mid-career, we provide step-by-step guidance to ensure you succeed.

Join over 150 million learners to upskill yourself, boost your earning potential, and unlock global opportunities—all from the comfort of your homes. Your future starts today.

​

​Understanding Core Value Proposition

For young professionals who want to kickstart or switch careers, Coursera is the career-focused skill development solution that provides world-class, affordable, job relevant courses and certifications, helping unlock career growth opportunities without disrupting their busy schedules

Competitor Analysis

Market overview

• Professional learning market in India is ~4 Bn USD and growing at 8% annually. Expected to be 8-9Bn USD by 2032 (https://www.imarcgroup.com/india-corporate-training-market)
• As India's young population working in professional jobs is growing, the demand will continue to grow
• Key Trends:
• • Digital adoption : Accelerated adoption of the internet and digital tools across all spheres has significantly boosted e-learning platforms in India.
  • Focus on new-age skills: Rapid development around areas like AI, Data science, UX has led to multiple learners needing to upskill themselves to ensure they get opportunities
  • Focus on learning: Organizations are emphasizing on improving employees' skills.
  • Reduced requirements of traditional College degrees: With ever evolving technologies and newer companies focusing on skills, the requirement and sheen of standard academic degrees is becoming lesser and is being replaced by demonstration of skills which can be done via certifications/projects etc
• Tailwinds
• • Government Initiatives: Initiatives like Skill India and incentives for digital skilling boost the sector.
  • Remote Work: The shift to remote work has amplified demand for online learning and professional courses.
  • Rising IT Jobs: The growing IT sector in India, projected to create millions of new jobs, spurs demand for IT and tech-related upskilling
• Headwinds
• • Competition: Avenues for free content like YouTube and offline learning centres which provide a personalized experience

Market size

TAM

Coursera focuses on 2 cohorts - College students + working professionals

• College students in India = 40 Mn (All India Survey on Higher Education 2021-22)
• • Online learning adoption among college students = ~30% (KPMG)​
• Working professionals in India = 400 Mn (https://pib.gov.in/)
• • Working professionals in Indian service sector = 100Mn (https://pib.gov.in/)
  • Online learning adoption among working professionals = ~60% (KPMG)
• Avg ticket size = INR 2000
• TAM = ( 40Mn x 30% + 100Mn x 60% ) x 2000 = 72Mn x 2000 = INR 144 Bn = USD1.75 Bn

SAM

Coursera targets college students & working professionals who would consume courses in English, who are based in Urban areas and tier 1 cities with access to internet and devices.

• % College students in urban, tier 1 areas = Same as split of population in urban/tier 1 cities = ~40%
• • ~70-80% of these would have access to internet and smartphones (laptops/computers would be a subset of this)
• % Service class working professionals in urban/tier 1 areas = 60-70% given service sector jobs are mostly based in larger urban cities
• • ~90% of these would have access to internet and smartphones (laptops/computers would be a subset of this)
• Ticket size would stay the same
• SAM =
• • College students = 40Mn population x 30% online learning adoption x 40% english speaking tier 1 urban x 75% access to internet/devices = 3.6Mn
  • Working professionals = 100Mn population x 60% online learning adoption x 70% english speaking tier 1 urban x 90% access to internet/devices = 37Mn
  • Total users = 40Mn
  • Ticket size = INR 2000
  • SAM = 40Mn x 2000 = INR 80 Bn = ~USD 1 Bn

SOM

In the online professional learning market - the key players are Coursera, Udemy, Linkedin Learning, Upgrad, Simplilearn etc and multiple other players. Coursera is one of the oldest players and largest breadth of courses

With this, we can assume coursera can get at least 30% of the market given its high quality content tie-ups

SOM = 40 Mn x 2000 x 30% market share = INR 24 Bn = ~USD 300 Mn

Coursera is in Mature Scaling phase

1. Founded in 2012 - been around for over 12 years - 150Mn registered learners with over 25Mn learners in India
2. 5.8Mn site traffic monthly with 5.7Mn Organic
3. 7000+ courses across 100+ globally known partners
4. ~600Mn USD Revenue in FY24, with ~50% coming from India

Designing Acquisition Channel

​

Channels selected: Organic, referral, content loops

• Coursera had a good SEO base already with a domain authority of 84 and 5.8M organic traffic - hence would want to double down on it
  
  
  
• Learning is very heavy on recommendations and reviews - so a referral program, if done in the right intention can be useful
• Learning is a very high involvement purchase where focus is all about the credibility and quality of content. Content loops which make use of the high quality content which coursera has and helping others experience the content can be helpful

Organic Channel

Young professionals - User insights from calling

• Most users enroll for a course - paid or free - after some amount of research
• They usually start with Google and look for courses
• What matters is the specific course they are going for, not necessarily the platform (unless they already have a subscription)
• 2 primary reasons why they are doing courses
• • Get hands on learning to build understanding - build confidence in a domain
  • Get credibility in a domain - via a reputed/known course
• In both these cases, user has decided they want to learn something - focus is on picking the right course
• Search behavior
• • Look for courses on a topic: 65%
  • Look for specific course: 30%
  • Directly look for Coursera/Udemy: 5%

Search types

• Use case specific - These are most prevalent amongst users
• • Eg: GenAI Course, How to code, Learn digital marketing
• Use case topics - when users want to understand a topic - all of them leading to learning courses might be limited
• • Eg: GenAI, C++, Vlookups
• Competitor - These searches are when users want to go to a particular channel - Udemy, Linkedin learning - high volume
• Brans searches - When users want to go to a specific course or go back to Coursera

Coursera - Current Organic traffic performance

1. Coursera's SEO performance is awesome

• • High Domain Authority (84)
  • Massive organic traffic (5.7Mn) with over 170K keywords for which they rank

• • Organic traffic is 10% of overall

2. Coursera is better than its competitors on Organic traffic and performance

3. Coursera does well in "Course" focused keywords

• • Keywords which include the words "course" and "certificate" along with the domains
  • "Data Science Course", "Computer Course", "Cybersecurity Course"

4. Coursera STILL misses out on multiple keywords -

• • Coursera has over 200K keywords for which they dont rank at all where competitors rank

Given their DA - Coursera can easily improve their SEO to generate more traffic - But how??

Given Searches are topical in nature lets take "Python" as a subject and analyze search use cases and look for opportunities for Coursera

Key takeaways

1. Use case search: Need to double down
2. 1. This is the most direct search where user is looking to find a course - likelihood to click and trial are both highest here
   2. Coursera ranks very well on keywords which include the words "course" and "certificate"
   3. Coursera loses out on keywords which include "learn", "class", "beginners", "Tutorial". Current rank is between 20-50. which needs to be improved significantly. "Tutorial" is a BIG opportunity - which by itself can bring upto 13000+ monthly users - for Python alone
   4. Use case keywords listed in the table can increase traffix by over 30000 users per month - only for python. Similiar numbers would go for other courses too
3. Topic search: Can ignore for now
4. 1. Here users are looking for specific questions in Python, likelihood to go for a course may not be very high
   2. In such cases, coursera ranks high only in "Python basics" - Other keywords can also be explored, but not high priority
5. Competitor search: Focus
6. 1. This is one place where coursera needs to buck up! Most competitors rank on coursera but not vice a versa
   2. Coursera ranks 30+ on "Udemy", "Codeacademy", "Simplilearn" - and these keywords generate massive traffic
   3. While search to click rate would be low - site click to trial could be high because users are open to courses
7. Your brand: Coursera does well here - ignore

Organic search approach for Coursera

1. Double down on use case based searches

• • Get use case keywords for all the topics below, identify keywords where volume is high and coursera is lagging, create SEO content for those keywords
  • • Computer Science: Python, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Blockchain, Cloud Computing, Virtual Reality, Programming, and Cybersecurity.
    • Business: Leadership, Project Management, Marketing, Finance, Business Analytics, Entrepreneurship, and Business Strategy.
    • Health: Public Health, Healthcare Management, Mental Health, Nutrition, and Global Health.
    • Social Sciences: Psychology, Sociology, Philosophy, Political Science, and Education.
    • Arts and Humanities: Music, Philosophy, Literature, History, and Languages.
    • Personal Development: Productivity, Communication, Time Management, Creativity, and Learning How to Learn.
    • Engineering: Electrical, Mechanical, Civil, and Environmental Engineering, plus specialized topics like Robotics and Nanotechnology.
    • Data Science: SQL, Big Data, Data Analysis, Statistics, and R Programming.
    • Mathematics: Algebra, Calculus, Linear Algebra, and Statistics.
    • Design: Graphic Design, UX/UI, and Digital Media.
    • Environmental Science: Sustainability, Climate Change, Renewable Energy, and Conservation.
  • Focus on keywords for alternatives to the words "Course" for all these topics
  • • Classes
    • Learn
    • Tutorials
    • Beginners
    • 101

2. Strengthen competitor based searches

• • Start creating SEO content targeting competitors - they can be comparison articles, how-to articles etc.
  • • Linkedin learning
    • Udemy
    • Skillshare
    • Upgrad
    • Edx
    • W3schools
    • Codeacademy

(Understand what is already being done, what is working out well and what needs to be stopped)

Step 1 → Define the CAC: LTV ratio. If your product has a healthy CAC:LTV ratio, proceed with paid ads.

Step 2 → Choose an ICP

Step 3 → Select advertising channels

Step 4 → Write a Marketing Pitch

Step 5 → Customize your message for different customer segments to ensure relevance

Step 6 → Design at least two ad creatives (e.g., images, sketches, videos, text ads) that reflect your marketing pitch.

Insight: Recommendations/reviews are the biggest driver for choice for a course

• Before buying any course (or even if its free) ICPs spend time doing a lot of research - online, user reviews.
• In this case, any recommendations from friends, known people is extremely valuable (80%+ users mentioned it as the biggest driver of choice of course)

Referral Plan for Coursera

1. Customer Touchpoints

• AHA Moment: Users feel a sense of accomplishment upon completing a course and receiving their certificate. They are eager to share their achievement and knowledge with peers.

2. Brag-Worthy Element

• Certificate & Proof of Work: Users share their certificate on LinkedIn or their CV. Additionally, sharing their course project (Proof of Work) adds credibility to their learning. This is the brag-worthy content they’re excited to share.

3. Platform Currency

• Money: Given this is a learning platform, credits which can be used against a future course
• • Incentive: We plan to give Rs. 1000 Coursera credits for each successful referral, which can be redeemed for their next course or subscription. This provides an immediate benefit to users and encourages continued learning.
  • Tiered incentive: Anyone who refers 1 user successfully is shown the tier benefits. For every 5 users you refer, you get 1 month free subscription to Coursera Plus (6000 in value)
  • ROI - LTV for Coursera ~ 6000-8000. Therefore CAC:LTV = 1:7 here

4. Who to Ask for a Referral

• Target Audience: Users who have completed a course and rated it 4 or above. These users are likely to be satisfied and motivated to share their success.
• Timing: Referral request triggers immediately after users finish a course and receive their certificate. It’s an organic moment of pride and excitement, increasing the likelihood of sharing. This would be included in their "Share on Linkedin" screen

5. Referral Discovery

• Where & How
• • Course completion screen: After completing the course and receiving a certificate, when users click on "Share Certificate", they will see a prompt to recommend the course to their peers. Note: We need to validate they liked the course and hence, referral is shown when they click on share and not when they get the certificate

6. Referral Sharing & Communication

• Channels: WhatsApp and LinkedIn (most common for professional course recommendations).
• Message Example for WhatsApp:
• • "🎉 I just finished the AI Foundations course by Deeplearning.AI on Coursera! 🧠💡
    It’s super practical, and I feel it’s a must-have for anyone in the product domain to understand how AI is shaping industries.
    If you’re curious, check it out here: AI Foundations by Deeplearning.AI (custom url with my referral code)
    Let’s geek out on AI ideas together 🚀"
• Message Example for LinkedIn:
• • "🌟 Excited to share a milestone! 🌟
    I recently completed the AI Foundations course by Deeplearning.AI on Coursera. This course was a fantastic introduction to how AI is transforming industries and offered practical insights that are especially relevant for those of us in product management and tech.
    I highly recommend it to anyone looking to build a foundational understanding of AI’s applications and impact on decision-making.
    Check it out: AI Foundations by Deeplearning.AI (custom url with referral code)
    

7. Tracking Referrals

• Referral Tracking Page: Users can visit a simple, dedicated page within the app or website to view the status of their referrals.
• Referrals Page Design:
• • Pending Referrals: Shows the list of users who clicked the referral link but have not yet made a purchase.
  • Completed Referrals: Shows users who made a successful purchase via the referral link.
  • Credits Earned: Tracks the Rs. 1000 credits earned with each successful referral.
  • Tiered benefit: Anyone who has at least 1 referral is also shown the tiered benefit
  • • You're a super influencer! Refer 4 more friends to get a free Coursera Plus subscription for 1 month worth Rs. 6000
    • The links to share certificates are in the same screen for users to act instantly

8. Referral Landing Page for Non-Users

• Design: The referral landing page will be a slight modification from the course landing page - because the referral link will take the user to a course. Only difference will be the addition of the referrees certificate and name reminding that he/she has done it - you should too
• Landing Page Screenshot

9. Encourage Continuous Referrals

• Tiered Incentives: To encourage users to refer more people, create a tiered incentive system:
• • First Referral: Rs. 1000 credits.
  • 5 Referrals: Free Coursera Plus subscription for a month(worth Rs. 6000).
  • 10+ Referrals: Exclusive course discounts or early access to premium courses.
• Engagement Reminders: Send notifications after each successful referral:
• • "You’ve earned Rs. 1000 credits! Refer 3 more users and unlock Coursera Plus for free!"

Program

• When a user completes a course and if they like it, we ask them to recommend it to their friends - as part of their process to show off their certificate. This referral will have a custom URL which will trace back any purchase to the original user
• For every user who purchases a course, referer get Rs. 1000 Coursera credits
• No benefit for the referree
• Tracking this technically could be hard without a code. My point is i want this to be more of a recommendation as compared to a referral

Content Loop

User Insight

• When users are learning about a new domain (especially in foundational courses", while they would like to share their certificates on linkedin etc. - having real "Proofs of Work" is an extremely brag-worthy item that they would like to put on their Linkedin profile, on their CV etc.
• In most courses, while projects are there those projects are not made shareable
• If coursera projects were shareable and brag-worthy as proofs of work, users would want to share it themselves

Content loop

• Hook:
• • The need to be seen as knowledgeable. The idea of creating real Proofs of Work through Coursera projects that are shareable. These projects serve as tangible evidence of newly acquired skills and accomplishments that users want to display
  • Why it’s appealing: Learners, look for ways to demonstrate their competencies in an authentic, recognizable way. Rather than just sharing a course certificate, the projects are actionable evidence that showcase their practical learning and skill. Eg: If I see a friend who has just done a Hands-on AI course vs if I see a chatbot he created in the course, I would feel a lot more FOMO with the chatbot
• Content creator
• • Users are the creators of the Proofs of Work. These are real projects they complete as part of their course.
  • Coursera’s role: Coursera provides the structure and guidance (through courses and projects), but learners are the true content creators.
• Content Distributor:
• • Users themselves would distribute these projects via Linkedin posts, putting it on their LinkedIn profile and their CVs
  • Coursera's nudge: “Ready to show off what you’ve learned? Share your real-world project and let your Proof of Work do the talking!”

KPIs for Success

1. Share Rate:
2. • Percentage of users sharing their completed projects on LinkedIn, WhatsApp, and other social media platforms.
3. Engagement Rate:
4. • Likes, comments, and shares on the projects shared by users, especially on LinkedIn and Instagram.
5. Course Enrollment Growth:
6. • Tracking an increase in course sign-ups and enrollments after users have seen brag-worthy projects shared within their networks.
   • Correlation between user engagement (sharing projects) and enrollment spikes in related or similar courses.