Finance services for online up-skilling courses.

1. Marketing Plan:
Finance services for online up-skilling
courses
Under the guidance of:
Dr.KaushikMukerjee
&
Dr. SaritaBhatnagar
Marketing Management

2. Target Segment
Marketing mix of
the product
Plan for Branding
and Positioning
Service Strategy
and Customer
Relationship
Management Plan
Sales Projections,
Estimated Costs
and Estimated
Profits
Content Competitive
Strategy for Market
Penetration
Name of the
Product

3. Students
Working
Professionals
Institutional
E-Learning
Target Segment
School students (8th to 12th standard
College students (degree, diploma)
Professional studies (CA, CFA, FRM, etc.)
New recruits
5 to 15 years of experience
15+ Years of experience
Many corporations also avail online
learning facilities for their employees.

4. Segmentation is as follows
Geographic: The target segment in this regard would be Tier 1 and
Tier 2 cities mainly
Demographic: The target age group will be between 14 years to 50
years of age. Alternatively, it can also be used to target women and
improving the skill level of the women who are refrained from
getting a formal education.
Psychographic: Sometimes up-skilling is peer-driven or career-driven;
in this regard, the target segment can be students, professionals,
business operators, etc.

5. Name of the
Product
The name of the product must deliver the identity
and the function of the product and also be
appealing and easy to remember.
FinLadder
where ‘Fin’ signifies finance and ‘Ladder’
symbolizes upward movement, thereby signifying
up-skilling.

6. Competitive
Strategy for
Market
Penetration
SWOT Analysis
Strenghths Weaknesses
Opportunities Threats
The sector of financing online up-skilling courses is a combination of
two sectors, namely the 'financing of education' and the 'online
education sector'. Therefore, the SWOT analysis for the sector will be
based on these two constituent sectors.
·The online education sector has
established itself well and therefore is
highly preferred.
fin-tech is also gaining rapid growth and
online lending has evolved to be very
attractive over the years.
·Competition is high in both education
financing and online education sector.
·Similar products can be offered by
competitors.
·Highly cost sensitive sector, therefore
limited flexibility in pricing.
·It is a fast growing sector.
·Digitalization is becoming a norm given
the circumstances of the world.
·Threat of new entrants is high in the
sector.
·Regulation and policy changes by the
government are also a major threat.
·Debt recollection may become
troublesome.

7. Recommended competitive strategy for the company
Hybrid (Price + Differentiation)
This sector is highly cost sensitive and the sensitivity of the customers to the changes in
cost changes with respect to the segmentation, therefore the company needs to identify
and ascertain the cost tolerance of the segments it intends to target and offer an
improved cost alternative.
The threat of new entrants is high given the immense growth potential of the sector, and
the similarity in the products offered by competition, a company will have to differentiate
itself from the products of the competition in ordered to be considered. However, given
the limited flexibility in pricing of the product, this differentiation can majorly be achieved
in terms of the quality of the product. This can be ease of availability, flexibility in
repayment and customer service, etc.

8. Market penetration in this sector is best done in collaboration with an online
education/up-skilling platform as it will provide direct access to the service from the
course menu itself and aid in decision making of the customer.
We conclude from the Ansoff’s matrix, that there is a need for market development as it
is an existing product already being offered and untapped markets can be developed
such as the lower tier cities, towns and rural areas of the country by engaging more
people in up-skilling courses.
Flank attack strategy can be used to challenge established marketing players by
identifying their shortcomings and providing alternative products to fulfill them.
Although, the company will require strong funding to employ this tactic and establish
itself within this sector.

9. Marketing Mix of the Product
Product Price
Place
Promotion
The promotion of this service will be along with
the online education platforms. This will be a
mutually complimenting way of advertising as
finance service for online programs will also
increase the customers of the online education
platforms.
The pricing will differ based on the cost of the course
availed; the cheaper courses will carry higher interest
rates and as the price of the course increase, the price
of finance services decreases.
The rate of interest on loans availed will be between 8%
to 14%, as the banks offer education loan between 8%
to 10% usually, and fin-tech companies charge interest
rate of around 12% to 14% on loans.
Providing a low cost, easy to avail and flexible in
repayment financing service for online up-skilling courses.
The product will provide low cost EMIs for online up-
skilling courses on various online learning platforms. The
company will basically function as a fin-tech lending
company.
Preferably, the service will be provided in collaboration
with online education/up-skilling platforms and therefore
these platforms will provide a direct link to the finance
service.
Alternatively, a separate website may also be created for
potential customers who may wish to finance their
courses from websites/platforms which are not partnered
with the company.

10. Plan for Branding and Positioning
Branding: The branding of the product will be based on the sentimental value
of education in India and the benefits of up-skilling, giving the impression that
the customer can now subscribe to more courses and and consequently
achieve more in comparatively less time.
Points of Difference (POD): In this fast-paced world, we are always short on
time, there is never enough time to learn, and there is certainly no time to wait,
instead of waiting to be able to afford it, finance your up-skilling course, every
moment spent waiting, is a moment lost against the competition, let FinLadder
help you climb the ladder to your success by accelerating your learning’
FinLadder can symbolize itself as a ladder which will be a customer’s means to inch
closer towards a successful career.

11. Ease of Availability
Attempts must be made to collaborate with online education
platforms to provide direct access to the finance services from the
respective online learning platform itself. By incorporating it within the
algorithm of the online learning platforms, a candidate will be able to
access financing options of the courses right away on the learning
platforms itself, without having to navigate other websites.
Additionally, this will also help the company in collecting data
regarding the financing of courses, such as which courses are most
financed and which are least financed, thereby streamlining their
product placement even further.
Quickness of Service
The processing of requests will be automated and
objective, special emphasis will be placed on processing
of these financing requests immediately as often the
choice of whether to choose financing or not will also
depend on the processing time of such requests
Customer-need Based Approach
Customization of the product as per the needs of the
customer, such as the duration of repayment of the debt
and the extent of financing as a percentage of the total
cost of the course, etc.
Flexibility
This may be based on the pricing of the product,
which can be varied on the basis of segments.
Secondly, this may also be in the area of repayment
of debt by offering debt restructuring option
Service Strategy and Customer
Relationship Management Plan

12. Sales Projections, Estimated Costs and Estimated Profits
Volume of finance services availed on online courses will be either equal to or less
than the volume of total online courses subscribed.
Sales Projections:
The online education market in India was valued at INR 39 billion in 2018 and is
expected to reach INR 360.3 billion by 2024, expanding at a CAGR of 43.85% during
the period 2019-2024.
With an assumed initial supply of INR 10 million worth of financing ability of the
company, for the next three years, the company may expect to grow at a CAGR of
>25%, therefore the sales are expected to be upwards of INR 35.5 million.

13. Estimated Costs:
The costs are majorly in the area of online system development,
including the website, and on advertising for the product.
The average cost of developing a website comes out to be INR
100,000 in India and it will carry regular maintenance charges.
Most of the advertising will be done online, and in this regard, the
company is expected to spend INR 300,000 to INR 500,000 annually on Search
Engine Optimization, Pay-Per-Click Advertising, Social Media Marketing.

14. Estimated Profits
The rate of interest on loans availed will be between 8% to 14%, as the
banks offer education loan between 8% to 10% usually, and fin-tech
companies charge interest rate of around 12% to 14% on loans.
Taking the average interest rate levied annually to be 11%, and assuming
that the sales in the first year are worth INR 10 million, the interest levied
on it in the first year will be INR 1.1 million.

15. Thank you!
Submitted By:
Group 13
PGDM Batch 2021-23