Adapting or completely changing the product is, to be honest, only half the challenge. The other half? Rethinking how you attract, engage, and truly connect with users in a new market.
I decided to add a second part to my first article about launching EdTech product in the USA by telling about the whole second layer of adaptation for us – growth and building a trust.
🎯 Our first assumption: trial courses would well good
When we initially entered the U.S. market, we expected users would want to explore the platform, features and how everything works on their own. And so, we designed the flow so that students could:
- Chose the course they want to try for free,
- Complete a free trial, including the theory and project,
- Book a call with sales only if they felt ready.
- Buy a full course if they like the free version at any time they feel comfortable, no pressure.
The idea was to lower barriers and offer total freedom – again, no pressure, no “pushy” sales tactics. It sounded right on paper.
But in practice? Again, it didn’t work.
Not that many users completed the trial and booked a call on their own. Even fewer enrolled without any human interaction.
🛠️ Why free courses didn’t work the way we hoped and what we tried
We believed that if a potential student could experience the platform firsthand – see the interactive elements, coding, and projects – they would want to continue and enroll in the full program.
We experimented:
- Splitting projects into stages (“complete a part now, get feedback, finish the rest after enrollment”),
- Collaborations with influencers,
- Experimenting with review SLA and its format.
Some of these tactics helped, but none truly bridged the gap between trying and committing.
When I was reflecting on “Why?” my take was that because “free” without any responsibility and commitment didn’t create enough emotional investment. And so, the hypothesis was that if students had no real commitment, it was too easy to walk away. Also, you really need to research the mentality of the user and market culture to know the difference in expectations. Users in Europe would have completely different expectations due to their initial educational system and edtech possibilities. In the U.S. market people expect another level of service so to speak from the private companies, including EdTech sector. And, apparently, giving them so much freedom and offering it alone was not the right approach. It was overwhelming. And again, it was something we had to change and start over.
🚀 Pivoting the attraction strategy: introducing early start model
What finally worked best was a combination of early platform access and thoughtfully designed human support.
We introduced the early start model:
- Students paid a small upfront fee,
- Got access to part of the real program,
- Had full access to tutors, community, and support.
At the same time, our sales advisors stayed in touch – not pushing, just supporting, answering questions, and helping students reflect on their goals. It wasn’t about selling courses aggressively.
It was about real, honest conversations:
- Is this the right time?
- Is this the right format?
- What is your real motivation?
Sometimes, the conclusion was: you don’t need a bootcamp. You just need a small course, and that’s okay. And I think it was one of those things that our customers and teams loved so much in our product vision.
But when the fit was right, commitment became real, because students made a small financial and emotional investment early on, and we matched it with real, human support and guided them along the way. And when they were ready after the fully immersive trial period, they made a very self-awareness decision.
📚 Using free products differently
, when we realized free courses didn’t drive enrollment directly, we shifted the strategy there as well.
We introduced mini-courses and launched them as standalone free experiences – not funnels specifically. There was no tutor support, no project review, no sales involved – just a way to try the platform casually doing a very short course, not a part of the longer one.
And actually they worked much better in that role: not as conversion drivers, but as brand touch-points.
As little, no-pressure experiences that created awareness and trust over time. But again, it didn’t really lead to a huge conversation rate, because we have already tried this format and learned that it was not successful as a lead magnet. However, this more simple format was great for another purpose – building a trust without a further student commitment and realizing that the product is legit even thought ehy were not going to use it themselves in the near future, but it potentially led to references.
⚡ EdTech growth in new market – some of key take aways
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Self-service is not always empowerment. Especially when big life changes are involved, people want a guide. And especially when it doesn’t fit well with this particular market culture and expectations. Double or triple check this!
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Commitment matters. Even a small financial investment changes how seriously students approach the opportunity. I know it can be tricky to ask for money when you are just in the beginning of the traction, but it’s better to present a gradually increasing subscription model or short-term fee access to test users interest and commitment.
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Cultural adaptation is emotional, not just procedural. Safety, community, and emotional support are as critical as product features.
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Transparency builds trust. Being honest about what your program is – and isn’t – creates better fit and better outcomes. It’s okay to tell some customers that this product might not be their best fit.
🚀 Reflexion
In Harvard Extension I learned that people actually get to learn now while they are doing something, but after they reflect on it without even realizing it – and it’s called a metacognition. And I think a lot of our hypotheses and new approaches were born not during teams retro and results analyzing, but during reflexion on it. And it made the other half of our learnings easier, so that we could anayze how our users think, feel, and decide. It helped build their entire journey (CJM) around that. After all, you have to build trust, not just build features. That’s when real growth happens.
