SPICY VIRALNESS: Deodorant maker, Old Spice, set new records for viralness last summer with a video campaign that reeked of virility. Edtech'ers don't need that kind of burst--instead, they need fast growth among users who will, um, stick. So what have we got?
Khan Academy tops most lists. It reported 3.5 million unique users per month as of October 2011, which is up 309 percent, year-over-year.
Other players are seeing accelerating growth, too: ePals, which launched as a for-profit site in 2006, had 6 million users earlier this year and has been aiming for 10 million by year end. (Stay tuned: earnings--and numbers--are due out at the end of November.) Quizlet, launched in January 2007, has 6 million unique visitors a month (and 32 million unique visitors over the last 12 months). EverFi, launched in 2008, reports 4 million students have completed its programs, up from 3 million earlier this year. Edmodo hit 4 million users as of late October. As of Labor Day 2010, Edmodo counted a mere 500K users. Finally we caught a glimpse of some numbers from ImagineK12 startup ClassDojo, that had a touch of viralness. Our spy camera broke down and we had to settle for a report of "thousands of teachers in 20 countries" are using it--just since its launch in September. But we're expecting to see more. (Got more examples to share? Let us know.)
Common to all these companies: hyper-responsiveness to customers. A particularly clever Edmodo tactic is referring to all teachers with school sanctified honorifics. Wouldn't you agree that's key, Mr. Borg?
