Duolingo Customer Report

Duolingo Customer Report

Introduction The concept of learning a new language has greatly increased within recent years due to the evolution of digital technology. As humans get older their ability to learn new languages begins to slow down. It is for this reason that Duolingo believes it is important to open the minds of 16-22 year olds to learning new languages, as it can open new opportunities, overcome language barriers and enrich lives as a whole.

Duolingo’s mission is to develop the best education platform in the world and make it universally accessible, as well as fun.

For the purpose of resolving this challenge, we intend to identify the target audience suited for the app; this will then make us more equipped for the campaign. From research, a hypothesis has been developed, which is as follows: ‘Young people aren’t interested in independently learning a new language because learning languages at school has made it boring and uninteresting for them; therefore, young people would be more inclined to learn a new language with Duolingo as it is fun and keeps them engaged.’ Primary and secondary research has been conducted throughout this project to obtain qualitative and quantitative data such as, online articles, focus groups, surveys and customer profiles to understand the audience on a more personal level, in order to support the hypothesis.

Research The primary research we carried out consists of focus groups, surveys and customer profiles in order to gather in depth information, gain more personal insights and answer questions that have not been asked before. Focus groups have a welldefined advantage over other types of market research, because you can listen to someone's tone of voice and view their body language when talking, to better understand their perceptions on a certain subject. They also allow members to interact and influence each other during the discussion. Our focus group participants ranged from seventeen to fifty-one with five females and two males of Nepalese, Indonesian, Italian, Filipino & British ethnicity. There was a combination of college and university students, graduates, apprentices and full-time employees. When asked ‘How many languages do you all speak?’, the top response was two

languages (English and a native language). Two of the participants spoke only English and another two spoke 3+ languages. Four of the participants had used a language learning app in the past however, this was limited to Duolingo and Memrise. Their reasonings for using the apps were very varied, for example, educational purposes (GCSE revision), to impress an ex, learn about other cultures and because they were bored at the beginning of lockdown. When we asked those, who have never used a language learning app ‘What is stopping you?’, their responses included that it was too time consuming especially alongside a degree, the skill of learning another language is unnecessary when everyone else speaks English too and it is difficult to practise when others around you don’t speak the language themselves. The final question of the focus group was ‘What would encourage you to download Duolingo?’ to which they replied that the graphics were too childlike, so making them more mature and professional would be appealing to the target audience. Creating more advanced levels would be better suited for more experienced users, for example A level and University students. In order to obtain quantitative data, we conducted a survey and posted it on multiple online platforms to get a wide range of responses; this was successful because we received over one hundred responses. Below are infographics of the data we collected:

Customer personas were created for four types of Gen Z individuals aged 16-22 that would potentially use Duolingo. They can be viewed below:

Duolingo is the world’s leading free language learning app with over 300 million users worldwide offering 98 different language courses in 38 languages. On their website it states that their ultimate mission is to give everyone free access to a private tutor through technology in a fun way, so that people prefer picking up new skills over playing a game. Duolingo emphasises on gamification as their Unique Selling Point by mimicking the structure of video games in order to engage its users.

The main Duolingo competitors are Babbel, Memrise & Rosetta Stone. Some of the strengths Duolingo has over its competitors are that it offers more languages than its competitors do (38), sets daily goals for motivation and attracts the most users with its free, ad-supported version compared to any other learning app.

Duolingo has consistently been in the lead for google trends for being the most searched language learning app in the past five years. There was a peak during the start of 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic breakout, causing many consumers to spend the quarantine period as an opportunity to become productive by learning a new language.

The research we carried out supported our hypothesis, to a considerable extent.

Duolingo is the World’s most downloaded education app due to its fun and gamified approach to learning. This proves our hypothesis that making learning a new language fun and interesting entices people to download Duolingo. However, because of its vast audience demographic we are unable to decipher how many of Duolingo’s users are young people, so the hypothesis has not been fully supported by our research.

Problem One of the biggest challenges for Duolingo is getting younger people genuinely engaged with learning a new language; when considering reasons why 16-22 year olds are less interested than other age groups, there are various insights. Based on research we carried out, Gen Z’s online behaviour is very different compared to other generations, with the majority of them actively using mostly Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube and TikTok on a daily basis for entertainment purposes. As well as this, 1622 year olds have busy lifestyles including school, part-time jobs, university, social lives etc making it difficult to fit language learning into their schedules. Additionally, as humans get older their ability to learn new languages begins to slow down, which is why learning new skills is so important, especially from a young age. Hence, Duolingo has to find a way to encourage young people to weave it into their daily routine so they consistently pursue new language learning goals and boost their brain power.

Objectives (with S.M.A.R.T) Duolingo specifically aims to gain more downloads of the app, develop better brand recognition and media coverage, persuade consumers to switch from threats such as Babbel and Memrise over to the Duolingo app as well as improve growth of revenue. Producing a well-informed customer report is crucial in identifying the right demographics in order to reach the audience accordingly and meet the objectives; furthermore, it can result in creating a very successful campaign. Effectiveness will be measured through Key Performance Indicators, Return on Investment, impressions, social shares, media press and earned media. This will enable Duolingo to fully understand their reach and how they can progress as a brand to encourage more users. Duolingo will achieve their objectives by remaining a sustainable and refreshing brand; their audience is at the heart of everything they do which encourages brand loyalty from a wide variety of users. Duolingo regularly reaches out to their users through their social media platforms in order to gain feedback and take it under consideration to develop their services further, to greatly

attain the audience’s needs. For example, broadening the range of language courses available every so often. Due to the company’s major success over the years, it has gained access to many resources that allow Duolingo to realistically take its production and marketing strategies to their full potential. During these unprecedented times, the likelihood of Duolingo’s downloads increasing is immense as many people isolating at home are turning to Duolingo to improve productivity.

Tactics Duolingo achieves paid media through its in-app advertising within its free version as well as the Duolingo Plus version which costs £7.49 monthly for 6 months.

Additionally, Duolingo offers English Tests for £36.46 which is accepted by many universities. Underground billboard advertising and collaborations with other brands such as Angry Birds are other effective ways that Duolingo obtains paid media and attracts new audiences. The brand’s owned media is maintained through being active on social media platforms and interacting with users from all backgrounds to create a more inclusive experience; for example, ‘Let’s Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month’ and ‘Happy Indigenous People's Day posts’. The in-app streak feature also deepens customer loyalty and motivates them to consistently use Duolingo. Earned media is a great way to encourage and broaden audiences. Duolingo executes earned media by using tactics such as the Duolingo Push Campaign when they took advantage of the viral Duolingo Owl memes; this encouraged users to promote the app for free through word of mouth on different social platforms, especially Twitter. In order to strengthen their marketing, Duolingo could potentially push their advertising strategies further such as, increased TV (video) adverts and billboards in largely populated areas to promote the app, gain more users and interpret the audiences needs and wants even more.

Measurement and Effectiveness In order to create a prosperous campaign, it is important to understand how to measure its success rate. Ways that Duolingo have done this is by observing the Return on Investment (ROI); which in short means the ratio between net profit and cost of investment (sales growth). Duolingo has exceeded their ROI since they have surpassed the profit in comparison to the initial funding. Although only 1.75% of Duolingo’s users pay for its ad-free version, its base is so huge that revenue still hit $36 million in 2019.

Key Performance Indicators such as social metrics e.g. impressions, views, engagements and hashtag usage are also used to determine how well Duolingo is performing. Duolingo reaches out to its audience on a regular basis, especially via

social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram; this is another way for them to understand the campaigns effectiveness, which in turn can create positive change and increase brand awareness. Duolingo as a brand is already very established as it is currently the world’s ultimate language learning app meaning that their brand recognition is already strong. In 2018, Duolingo had a total of 300 million downloads, since then this figure has grown even further, especially during the Covid-19 Pandemic lockdowns. Reviews of the app are also positive with a 4.7/5 rating on the Apple Store and 4.6 on the Google Play Store.

Potential implementation In order to take the campaign further, our next steps will be to create a social media and a marketing plan, these will include a tease, launch and sustain idea for three different concepts as well as format, goals, distribution and social media launches.

Future proposals could potentially include new media, such as VR and AR, this would be a different concept allowing them to broaden their reach. To visualise the different concepts, prototypes will be created to determine the best approach towards the campaign. These could be in the form of social media posts, stories, videos, polls, print and billboard. Placement of prototypes is essential when creating a successful campaign, this is because it is one of the best opportunities for your audience to see and engage with the work, to gain new and creative ideas from their reception. Largely populated areas such as big cities are good for impressions, but too often people are distracted by other things going on and do not have the time to interact. Advertising in places more specific to 16-22 year olds such as schools, universities and shopping centres would develop a higher engagement rate and therefore a better prototype evaluation.

Conclusion Overall, the Customer Report has deepened our understanding of Duolingo as a brand and its target audience as well as how to meet consumer expectations. Being within the target market demographic ourselves has allowed us to fully empathise with consumers needs and wants. As times change, brands like Duolingo need to adapt alongside them, in order to fulfil the audience’s ideals. We believe that Duolingo has the capability to do this throughout the next ten years as its brand values are centred around its audience satisfaction and its download numbers are increasing every year as the top language learning app. The future of Duolingo could potentially involve regular use of VR and AR, as society would be even more technologically advanced than we already are. The graphics of the app may also change with the times as what is aesthetically pleasing now, may not be in twenty

years’ time. If we were to carry out research for another customer report, we would ensure the hypothesis is considered specifically within our research rather than generalised.

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[5] Duolingo. 2020. About Us. [online] Available at: <https://www.duolingo.com/info> [Accessed 10 November 2020].

[6] Duolingo Blog. 2020. Which Countries Study Which Languages, And What Can We Learn From It?. [online] Available at: <https://blog.duolingo.com/whichcountries-study-which-languages-and-what-can-we-learn-from-it/> [Accessed 17 November 2020].

[7]Duolingo Help Center. 2020. What Is Duolingo?. [online] Available at: <https://support.duolingo.com/hc/en-us/articles/204829090-What-is-Duolingo#:~:text=Duolingo%20is%20the%20most%20popular,scientifically%20proven%20to %20be%20effective.> [Accessed 10 November 2020].

[8] Duolingo Help Center. 2020. How Much Does Duolingo Cost?. [online] Available at: <https://support.duolingo.com/hc/en-us/articles/207362396-How-much-doesDuolingo-cost-> [Accessed 2 December 2020].

[9] En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Duolingo. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duolingo> [Accessed 10 November 2020].

[10] Guarnera, A. and Guarnera, A., 2020. My Honest Review Of Duolingo For Homeschool Language Learning â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Language Learning At Home. [online] Language Learning At Home. Available at: <https://languagelearningathome.com/blog/myhonest-review-of-duolingo-for-homeschool-language-learning> [Accessed 10 November 2020].

[11] Lee, D., 2018. Duolingo Redesigned Its Owl To Guilt-Trip You Even Harder. [online] The Verge. Available at: <https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/13/18137843/duolingo-owl-redesign-languagelearning-app> [Accessed 13 November 2020].

[12] Ng, T., 2019. Duolingo Launches First Ever Ad Campaign. [online] World Branding Forum. Available at: <https://brandingforum.org/marketing/duolingolaunches-first-ever-ad-campaign/> [Accessed 10 November 2020].

[13] Ungerleider, N., 2018. Duolingo Adapts Social Strategy to Reach Bilingual Users. [online] AList. Available at: <https://www.alistdaily.com/technology/duolingoadapts-social-strategy-to-reach-bilingual-users/> [Accessed 10 November 2020].

Appendix Duolingo has a strong value proposition, providing free language education and remaining the best in their market sector. This proves their abundance of experience and generated data is academically valuable because it can give beneficial insights towards human learning behaviours and trends.

Survey results

Google Trends

By Angela.K & Megan.C