How an EdTech Brand Blew Its Budget Before the Real Test Began

CASE STUDY: PRODUCT BRAND OF A EDTECH PLATFORM FOR COMPETITIVE EXAMS

FOCUS: BRAND BURN RATE | AUDIENCE: INVESTORS IN SLUGGISH BRANDS

I helped an EdTech platform recover after blowing its budget on a fancy launch—without money for further momentum.

The Brand Challenge

This platform wasn’t a gimmick—it had real pedagogical value, built by former educators and top-tier engineers. It promised a differentiated experience in the high-pressure world of competitive exam prep. But instead of starting lean and growing strategically, the founders launched like a tech unicorn: paid webinars, glossy explainer videos, campus event blitzes, and partnerships with well-known tutoring influencers. The burn rate was staggering from day one.

Within months, the investor pool began to worry. The platform had visibility—but not viability. CAC was higher than forecast, and lifetime value was unclear because engagement beyond week four fell off a cliff. The product was solid, but the launch had overpowered the brand’s actual architecture. They had built momentum for day one—and none for day one hundred.

The Brand Insight

The EdTech category is brutal. Parents and students don’t just buy promises—they buy proof, clarity, and reassurance. But this brand had focused entirely on attraction, not conversion. Its language was aspirational but vague. Its interface was sleek, but students couldn’t find their path. Parents weren’t spoken to at all. No teaching community had been built to vouch for the system. The launch created excitement, but no handholds for trust.

What I discovered was this: the real test wasn’t the launch. The real test was what happened after students enrolled. Did they feel supported? Did they complete courses? Did they stay? The answer, worryingly, was no. The platform had no post-enrolment funnel. No ecosystem. No content rhythm. It had invested in stage lights, but not in a script.

The Big Brand Idea

My breakthrough came from flipping the energy: instead of continuing to throw money at visibility, I invested in credibility. I proposed repositioning the platform as a “study system with stickiness.” Every feature had to pass a test: does it help a student stay the course? I introduced a “Proof of Progress” layer across the experience—making completion visible, mentors accessible, and micro-achievements celebrated.

More importantly, I created a community-based influence loop. I activated educators—not as endorsers, but as curriculum shapers and co-content hosts. I shifted the narrative from “Look at us” to “Learn with us.” The platform went from being a product to becoming a path—and it started to attract the right kind of word-of-mouth.

The Brand New Strategy

I scrapped the endless top-of-funnel spend and built a layered strategy around retention-first storytelling. First, I created a high-conversion webinar series not led by founders, but by successful students and their mentors. These were raw, real, and insight-driven. Then I launched parent-specific explainers, simplifying the platform’s value in plain language. No jargon, no flex—just proof.

A dedicated “Exam Readiness Engine” was built as a side-product, giving away daily practice nuggets via email and WhatsApp—bringing back former trial users and nudging them back into the platform. Simultaneously, I built long-form blog content in collaboration with coaching centre owners, ranking for high-intent long-tail queries and creating credibility pathways for organic trust. Every channel now served engagement and enrolment, not just exposure.
Investors, reassured by the clarity and control of this new roadmap, agreed to bankroll the next phase of rollout.

10 New Content Directions

Here are 10 strategic ideas developed (and several executed) to support the new brand direction:

Student Story Webinars: Real learners shared their journey using the platform, building credibility through emotion, not branding.
Parent Clarity Campaign: A series of short videos titled “What Will My Child Actually Learn Here?” delivered via paid YouTube targeting.
Educator Endorsement Reels: Snappy, peer-to-peer reels from verified teachers on how they recommend the platform to their students.
Progress Tracker Visual Stories: Instagram and LinkedIn content showing the visual evolution of students’ progress dashboards in real time.
WhatsApp Practice Pings: Daily micro-tests with instant feedback delivered via WhatsApp to re-engage trial users.
Weekly Completion Challenge: A gamified streak program with rewards for weekly course module completions—shared publicly via user badges.
Coaching Partner Guest Blogs: Long-form articles from coaching centre collaborators explaining how they blended platform use into offline sessions.
Exam Countdown Email Drips: Timed email campaigns tied to actual exam dates, helping students prep without feeling overwhelmed.
Mini-Mock Campaigns: Free downloadable 5-question mock tests with tailored product CTAs—distributed across educational subreddits and Telegram groups.
Founder’s Retrospective Thread: A personal blog post series by the founder reflecting on what they did wrong at launch and how they rebuilt—humanising the turnaround.

Results Within 6 Months

Trial-to-paid conversion rose from 12% to 38% after the parent and educator campaigns.
Daily active users grew by 62% with the launch of WhatsApp micro-tests.
Monthly churn reduced by 48% through the completion challenge and dashboard redesign.
Content-led acquisition reduced overall CAC by 37% across paid and organic funnels.

CONFIDENTIALITY CAVEAT: This case study represents a confidential engagement. For privacy, specific brand identifiers, campaign names, and project phases have been withheld. It has been shared with permission while preserving client discretion.

Extra Tip for Broader Perspective

If you’re brand owner or manager seeking stronger brand performance, here’s a case study that could interest you: “From Battle Cry to Blur: The Wasting of a Plastic Protest Brand.“

And if you’re a solo expert looking to sharpen traction, this case study I worked on may resonate: “Why This Bird Expert’s Voice Vanished Without a Strategic Perch.“

Take your brand from stuck to full throttle − with one bold strategic shift

"One BIG IDEA can turn brand stagnation into unstoppable movement. Spots are limited each week—book your breakthrough session now."

Shobha Ponnappa

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