Acquisition project | Graphy

Graphy is a SaaS platform for creators to create and sell their online courses. Course creators, coaches & teachers can use the in-built marketing and sales tools to grow their audience and increase revenue.

Solutions provided by Graphy to creators:

1. Create own website & mobile apps without knowledge of coding
2. Integrate live class & webinars on the platform
3. Unlimited learners can enroll
4. Sell to a global audience with ease

Graphy Business Model

1. Graphy charges a 10% commission on every transaction (seat sold) on the platform.
2. Graphy provides additional features like own Android & iOS Apps, custom domain for website etc. with 2 pricing plans - Launch plan (24,999 per year + 10% commission) & Rise plan (1,19,999 per year + 5% commission) for established creators.

Core Value Proposition

Monetize your knowledge by launching your online course in under 5 minutes using Graphy's AI-powered course builder without any coding or design skills.

Features & Functionalities of Graphy

Basic Features:

1. AI-powered website & course builder
2. Community for learners
3. Advanced sales insights
4. Integrated payment gateways
5. Marketing tools including email marketing

Advanced Features:

1. Build your own Android and iOS app
2. Custom domain for your website
3. Third party app integrations
4. Razorpay payment gateway
5. Host 3 live sessions at the same time

The basic features solve for the pain points experienced by first time course creators who don't have knowledge of coding or design and help them to launch their course quickly. The advanced features are for online businesses or established creators who wish to shift their online schools to Graphy platform. The features are at par with international platforms and the pricing is very competitive, if not lower, than most international platforms.

Understanding the Product

Explore the Product:

1. Launched my own website on Graphy named - The Productivity Coach, to understand the product and the features in detail.

2. Launched my own course with the help of the AI powered course builder within 5 minutes.

Research User Feedback:

1. Testimonials on the Graphy website.

2. Reviews on Producthunt:

Core value proposition:

Monetize your knowledge by launching your online course in under 5 minutes using Graphy's AI-powered course builder without any coding or design skills.

Understanding the User

The following ICPs are derived from 6+ months of user research and after speaking to all major users of the platform.

ICP 1:

Nidhi is a 38 y old Finance professional and Instagram influencer with 1M+ followers who stays in Canada and wants to enhance her personal brand by creating her own online courses. She is married and stays with her husband. She has tried creating a brand presence on LinkedIn as well. She doesn't know coding and needs help in creating her website, launching her courses and leveraging her social media base for selling her courses. The course she intends to create is targeted towards young working professionals in India who want to study or work abroad.

ICP 2:

Sharan is a 28 y old Consultant from Mumbai who wants to create his own online business as an alternate source of revenue. He is an Instagram influencer with 2.7M followers and also a LinkedIn influencer. He has already created a brand on Instagram and creates short form content for teaching Financial literacy. He is unmarried and creates content with his friends. He wants to start his online school on Graphy and wants help with course building, payment gateway integration etc.

ICP 3:

Rachana is a 42 y old educator who runs a successful online school for stock market trading. She plans to shift her website to Graphy platform since it offers competitive pricing with better features.

Understanding the market

The major competitors of Graphy are:

1. Thinkific - Commission per sale model is not there which attracts top creators; International platform
2. Teachable - Commission is just 5% as compared to 10% in Graphy which is more tailored towards top educators; International platform
3. Kajabi - Commission per sale model is not there which attracts top creators; International platform
4. Classplus - Indian competitor but features and benefits are less.

Market Sizing

Total Addressable market (TAM) - Number of people who teach online

The online education market in India is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23.06% from 2024 to 2029. Revenue in the Online Education market is projected to reach US$6.71bn in 2024.

Serviceable Market (SAM) - Number of people who earn more than 20,000 per month by teaching online

Obtainable Market (SOM) - Top educators in each category

Nailing Core Value Proposition

Monetize your expertise by creating and selling your own online courses using Graphy's AI-powered course builder.

Graphy is a product which has achieved Product Market Fit and now is in the Early Scaling Stage.

The focus here is to expand market reach through new channels and segments.

Experiment No. 1:

Content loops for discovery of Graphy by Instagram influencers

Experiment No. 2:

Product Integration with Influencer.in website

Experiment No. 3:

Referral Program to get more creators to sign up on Graphy

These 3 experiments have been detailed in the following sections.

Identify the Content Loop

There are many ways content loops that can be generated for Graphy.

Content Loop 1:

Hook - The creator gets featured in the weekly Sales Leaderboard along with Top influencers of the country and wants to share this with his/her audience.

Content Creator - Graphy is creating the weekly leaderboard and makes it in easy shareable formats across social media handles.

Distribution Channel - The content is spread by the Graphy user through Social Media channels like Instagram, LinkedIn etc.

Content Loop 2:

Hook - The learner dedicates a digital asset (eg. quill) to the educator (Graphy user) and the user wants to brag about it to his/her followers.

Content Creator - Here the content is created by the user (educator) in the form of IG story/ IG post/ LinkedIn post etc. in which he/she features the digital asset dedicated by the learner.

Distribution Channel - The content is spread by the Graphy user through Social Media channels like Instagram, LinkedIn etc.

Content Loop 3:

Hook - The user asks a thought provoking question (eg. Do you know the best way to make 1Cr savings) to his/her audience regarding the topic on which the course is based on.

Content Creator - Here the content is created by the user (educator) in the form of IG story/ IG post/ LinkedIn post etc. in which he/she shares Graphy link.

Distribution Channel - The content is spread by the Graphy user through Social Media channels like Instagram, LinkedIn etc.

Finding the Right Loop Type

Since Graphy is a SaaS platform, the digital asset called Quills will be unique and would stand out in the social media clutter. Also, users would want to brag about the gift/ dedication they received from their learners to show off how good an educator he/she is. There is also a visual image associated with this hook which appeals to the audience. Hence selecting Content Loop 2 - Quills, as the Content loop for this experiment.

Distribution of Content Loop

Since all the 3 ICPS selected are Social Media influencers who have 1M+ followers, we can use Instagram stories as the primary distribution channel for the content loop. This can also be shared on Instagram as a post or on LinkedIn as a post.

Quills as a Content Loop

Explaining the content loop with an example of the user engagement as follows:

In the below screenshot, Sukriti is the student of Nrupam's course and bought a Rs.100 copper quill (digital asset) and dedicated it to Nrupam on the website with a good testimonial about Nrupam's course. Nrupam shared a screenshot of this as her Instagram story and thanked her student.

Hook:

The Quill which was dedicated to the educator and the testimonial about the course.

Content Creator:

The educator who created the course.

Distribution Channel:

Instagram story of the educator.

Find the Right Loop Type

The hook is the dedicated Copper Quill along with the student's photo, name and testimonial. The content creator is the influencer (educator) and the distribution channel is Instagram's algorithm.

Flow Diagram

Launch and Analyze

Social media insights especially Instagram insights will be able to monitor the efficacy of this particular content loop.

The number of new cohort sales/ signups via this content loop has to be tracked.

Organic search is not one of the experiments selected for this early scaling stage company. Please evaluate the following sections:

1. Content Loops
2. Product Integration
3. Referral Programs

Paid advertising is not one of the experiments selected for this early scaling stage company. Please evaluate the following sections:

1. Content Loops
2. Product Integration
3. Referral Programs

Have tried to calculate LTV and other details to get an idea if this channel will work or not.

Calculation of Lifetime Value

Lifetime Value (LTV) = Average Order Value x Frequency x Retention

Assumptions (from basis user research):

For majority of the users, Graphy charges 10% commission on every sale.

Assuming an average of Rs.500 as pricing per seat and 200 seats sales per month, we can calculate LTV of a customer.

Calculation of LTV:

LTV = 0.1 x 500 x 200 x 12 = 1,20,000

Calculation of CAC:

Graphy spends around 10L per month on customer acquisition via Paid channels and adds around 500 creators per month.

CAC = 10,00,000 / 500 = 2000

CAC to LTV Ratio:

CAC to LTV ratio = 2000 : 1,20,000 = 1 : 60 which is very healthy for a SaaS platform.

The only issue here is that the LTV will be distributed over 12 months and won't be upfront.

Choose an Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)

Select Advertising Channels

The following channels can be selected for targeting the above ICP:

1. LinkedIn
2. Meta (Facebook & Instagram)
3. Google Search

Align with Product-Market Fit

Knowledge experts/professionals between the age of 30-40 years who want to share their knowledge and enhance their personal brand by launching their course is a user segment which has achieved the highest Product Market Fit. Hence this segment can be prioritized for Ad targeting.

Define Your Creative Strategy

Marketing Pitch

For ICP 1 (Nidhi):

Become a thought leader and share your expertise. Launch your own course within 5 minutes with Graphy.

For ICP 2 (Sharan):

Generate passive income by selling your online course. No coding or design skills required to launch with Graphy.

For ICP 3 (Rachana):

Leverage the power of community in your online classes. Shift your online course to Graphy today to avail the Diwali offer.

Ad Creatives

Execution

Google Search Ads

Identifying Complementary Products used by ICPs

1. Zoom/ Google Meet - Our ICP 1 (Nidhi) uses these products regularly to take classes for her students.
2. YouTube Engagement Rate Calculators like InsightIQ, Phlanx etc. - Our ICP2 (Sharan) uses these products regularly to check the engagement rates of his YouTube channel.
3. Video editing tools like Adobe Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve etc. - Our ICP3 (Rachana) uses these regularly to create recorded course content for her existing website.
4. Influencer Marketing platforms like Influencer.in, Creator.co, Grin etc. - Brands use these platforms to hire influencers for Influencer marketing campaigns. All our 3 ICPs (Nidhi, Sharan & Rachana) will be using these platforms regularly to find relevant projects.

Selecting Influencer Marketing platform Influencer.in for Product Integration of Graphy since it is used by all the 3 ICPs.

Scope the Customer Journey

Influencer.in

1. When will users encounter Graphy in their customer journey?

Creators/ influencers join this community to find relevant brand campaigns to work for. Once they search for their desired campaign criteria, at the bottom of the search results, product integration of Graphy can be done - "Monetize your knowledge by effortlessly launching your online course" with a CTA of "Launch your course on Graphy".

2. How the integration adds value to their workflow?

Influencer marketing platforms have limited number of live Brand campaign requirements at any point of time. In order to provide with an additional means of revenue to the creators of their community, they can integrate Graphy in their workflow. This will also help in positioning themselves well as a community which takes care of the requirements of its members.

Design the Integration Flow

With the help of WireframePro, I created a few design wireframes to showcase how a typical user will experience the product integration.

Before the Product Integration, when an influencer searches for relevant Brand campaigns in the platform, it will be shown as follows:

After the Product integration, the user discovers the product integration as follows:

Message on the banner - Monetize your knowledge by effortlessly launching your online course

CTA - Launch your course on Graphy

Graphy logo on top right corner of the black banner

In-app product window will open with a better version of the following creative and with Graphy logo.

Measure Success

Track the following metrices to measure success:

1. Impressions of the banner
2. Clicks on the CTA
3. # of Sign-ups
4. # of Websites published
5. # of Courses created
6. GMV

The objective is to create a referral program to leverage existing users of Graphy to bring in new users, through incentives.

Identify Customer Touchpoints

Customers experience AHA moments when they:

1. Effortlessly create their website within 2 minutes of signing up.

2. Publish their course with the help of Graphy's AI-powered course builder within 5 minutes.

3. When they get their first sale.
4. When all the seats of their cohort sells out.
5. When they get good testimonials from their students.

Define the Brag-Worthy Element

A few brag-worthy elements of Graphy are:

1. Effortless launch of a course within 5 minutes using AI.
2. Community feature to foster an entire community of students.

Define Your Platform Currency

1. Graphy charges 10% commission on every sale. Getting a discount on this commission will be a huge motivation for users to refer others. Here the motivation is Money.
2. If the users get a % of the GMV from the users they refer, it will be a huge motivation to them. Here the motivation is Money.
3. A weekly Graphy Top Creators Leaderboard (basis their GMV) will be huge motivation for creators to share on their Social Media. Here the motivation is Fame where they get featured with other famous top creators of the country.

Designing a Referral Program with the above insights

What will a referrer get?

A referrer will get 2% of the GMV earned by the new user in the first 3 months.

What will a new user get?

A new user will get Rs.5000 worth of Graphy credits which can be considered as a discount on the commission that Graphy charges on each set sold.

Determine Who to Ask for a Referral

The following happy flows would be ideal to trigger referral requests.

1. When 100% of the seats of a cohort gets sold, ask the user for a rating, and if the user gives a 4 or 5 star rating, trigger a referral request.
2. After the user completes teaching all the modules of the 1st course and publishes the 2nd course, ask the user for a rating, and if the user gives a 4 or 5 star rating, trigger a referral request.

Referral/ Partner Discovery

The referral discovery flowchart is as follows:

Referral Discovery 1

Referral Discovery 2

Since we are incorporating the referral triggers only for the above 2 major happy flows, a website pop-up would be the best way for the user to discover the referral.

Right after the above website pop-ups are triggered, emails should also be sent as a secondary referral discovery method.

Referral Creative for Point of Discovery

Referral Sharing & Communication

Since users typically use 1:Many messaging for sharing referrals in this context, social media (LinkedIn & Instagram) would be the best communication channel for sharing Graphy referral links. Also, social media is the place where all online creators are frequently present and where they look for alternate means of revenue generation. A third CTA button for sharing the referral link as an email can be given so that creators can share it with their community of students on Graphy.

Hence, the following 3 communication channels are to be used for sharing referral links by the users:

1. Instagram
2. LinkedIn
3. Email

Referral message copy on Instagram story:

Hey fam, now you can also monetize your knowledge by effortlessly launching your online course on Graphy. No coding or design skills required! Use my referral link [bit.ly/abcd] to gain Rs.5000 worth of Graphy credits.

Referral message copy on LinkedIn post:

Hi folks, now you can also monetize your knowledge by effortlessly launching your online course on Graphy. No coding or design skills required! Use my referral link [bit.ly/abcd] to gain Rs.5000 worth of Graphy credits.

Referral message copy on Email:

Subject line: Referral link for Rs.5000 worth Graphy credits

Hello,

Hope you are doing fine.

Here's a way to monetize your knowledge by effortlessly launching your online course on Graphy. No coding or design skills required! Use my referral link [bit.ly/abcd] to gain Rs.5000 worth of Graphy credits.

Regards

Tracking Referrals

A different tab is required for tracking the referrals by a single user. A referral tracking page mockup is as follows:

Welcome Banner: “Track and Grow Your Earnings with Graphy Referrals!”

Referral Stats Summary:

• • Total Signups: Number of users who signed up via your referral. A load more button can be given to display the signups via each channel - Instagram, LinkedIn, Email etc.
  • Total Published Courses: New users who have published at least one course. A load more button can be given to display the number of courses published by each new user.
  • Total GMV from Referrals: Aggregate Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) generated by all referred users. A load more button can be given to display the GMV for each new user for Month 1, Month 2 & Month 3.
  • Total Rewards Earned: Your total earnings from the referral program. This would be 2% of GMV by each new user for the first 3 months. A load more button can be given to display the GMV reward from each new user.

Referral Signups Table:

• User: Name or ID of referred user.
• Signup Date: Date they signed up through your link.
• Course Published Status: Indicator if they’ve published their course (Yes/No).
• GMV Generated: Amount generated by each user.
• Referral Reward Earned: Amount you’ve earned from each user’s GMV.

Referees will get app notifications and real-time Whatsapp message alerts which is triggered when a new user signs up using the referral code, publishes their first course and gets the first sale. A weekly GMV reward update will also be shared to the referee.

Referral Landing Page for Non-Users

The following landing page is designed to prompt non-users to sign up and launch their own online course. The USP of Graphy and the benefits are clearly communicated in this landing page.

Encourage Continuous Referrals

The following tiered reward structure can be implemented for the referral program. This can be communicated in the referrals dashboard.

1+ referrals - 2% of GMV of referred user for first 3 months

5+ referrals - 3% of GMV of referred user for first 3 months

10+ referrals - 4% of GMV of referred user for first 3 months

50+ referrals - 8% of GMV of referred user for first 3 months

After every successful referral, the app notifications and Whatsapp messages should be triggered to the user to keep them motivated and to communicate the tiered reward structure.

A sample Whatsapp message sent to the user Anya when her referred used sold a seat of Rs.5000 of their first course and Anya received a referral reward of 100 for the transaction is as follows.

Benefits of this entire referral program

1. Since the referral is being shared by the creators who have a good social media following on Instagram & LinkedIn, their followers, who might also be content creators themselves would be motivated to create their online course in under 5 mins and start earning money.
2. The referral tracking dashboard and the tiered reward structure motivates the user to refer more users.
3. The referral landing page prompts new users to try creating a course in under 5mins without knowledge of coding or design.
4. The 2% to 8% of sales from the referred users in the first 3 months is a very good motivation for existing Graphy users to refer new users of good quality since they are also getting a share of the revenue.
5. The new users get a referral benefit of Rs.5000 which is adjusted as a discount to the commission they give Graphy for each transaction. This is a good motivation for new users to start at zero cost.