Writing & Content Strategy for Udemy
Role: Content Strategist/Writer
Company: Udemy, San Francisco • Duration: November 2018 to January 2019
Introduction
In this project, I was commissioned to audit, restructure and rewrite some of the existing Instructor content to identify opportunities for consistency, simplicity and comprehension. Additionally, I had to design a user-centric content strategy for some of the newly added content pieces and write targeted marketing articles to promote the product and its benefits.
Problem
Udemy provides a comprehensive guide for their users on how to build their courses and publish them on their platform. Over time their user rating for the Instructor content had declined. Extensive user research and competitive analysis highlighted the need to re-design and restructure their Instructor content to make it more user-centric and intuitive. As a result, they planned to maintain four broad-level content interfaces for the Udemy Instructors:
Teaching Center - To include comprehensive and informative articles on teaching on Udemy and how to create and market Udemy courses. To include some promotional content on Instructor success stories too.
Help and Support - To provide student and instructor specific FAQs and information about popular topics and issues.
Instructor Community - To provide community support to the Instructors, an opportunity to network and communicate with fellow Udemy Instructors.
Trust and Safety - To include policy-related information about the Udemy Instructor community.
I was focused on the Teaching Center only, which included the following suite of articles:
Teaching on Udemy
Creating Courses
Marketing Courses
Success Stories
As a Content Strategist/Writer, I had a dual role to play:
Auditing & Rewriting existing content: When auditing the existing content with an objective to rewrite it, my role was similar to a Clean-up Artist. It was important to be consistent with the product voice and tone and stay true to the overall intent. However, it was as important to be aware of the big picture and add value to the final product that would resonate with the users.
Strategizing and Writing new marketing content: When designing a content strategy for the newly added content, my role was reminiscent of a Character Animator. To breathe life into a fresh piece of content and then weave it into the overall product story, it was important to identify the intent of the specific content and how it would fit into the overall user experience. Apart from consistency of language, voice and tone, I had to design a content strategy that would align with the user’s expectation and the product objective.
User Groups
In both the capacities, it was important for me to understand the product, the users and their needs. I was writing for three possible user groups, who had the same objective but different contexts:
Existing Instructors
Aware of online teaching and Udemy
Has a specific topic in mind to learn more about creating and marketing courses on Udemy
Might read the success stories to learn about best practices
Students to potential Instructors
Aware of online teaching and Udemy, but wants to know more about teaching on Udemy
Might have questions about creating and marketing courses on Udemy
Might read the success stories to find similar relatable stories for inspiration and be motivated to get started
New Instructors
Might not be aware of online teaching and Udemy, so might need a comprehensive overview of the benefits of teaching on Udemy
Might look for a comprehensive overview of the entire process of how to become an Instructor and create and market courses on Udemy
Might read the success stories to find similar relatable stories for inspiration and be motivated to get started
Content Framework
I analyzed the existing content and studied the user research findings to create a high-level Content Framework to decide the content purpose and strategy for each of the Teaching Center suite of articles:
Teaching on Udemy
Purpose: To mention the benefits of teaching on Udemy and an overview of the entire process of becoming an Instructor.
Strategy: Informative; Highlight the sub-topics to help the them skip to what they want to know.
Creating & Marketing Courses
Purpose: To provide information on creating and marketing courses on Udemy.
Strategy: Easily searchable, comprehensible and straightforward articles; Clearly mention the potential issue/topic in the article title; Highlight the sub-topics to help them skip to what they want to know; Provide in-line and related Teaching Center and Support links.
Success Stories
Purpose: To inspire and promote Udemy and its benefits.
Strategy: Share best practices - what worked and what could have been better; Share similar stories - highlight the similarity in the article title; Can use one of the three options to inspire the user to think:
“Its me”: Present a relatable story — more personal and emotional connect. We decided on this option because this one resonated the most with the larger group of users who might read the success stories.
“It could be me”: Highlight the diverse group of people opting to become Instructors on Udemy — builds curiosity.
“It could be anyone”: Highlight the no. of stories, rather than individual ones — a more generic approach. Even if they do not find their own story, they can still be inspired to think beyond their constraints without getting into specifics. However, there might be a lack of personalization and therefore, less connect.
Solution: Udemy Teaching Center
Check the new Udemy Teaching Center to view the entire suite of articles.