India’s online higher education and professional upskilling market is projected to reach ₹41,500 crore by FY2028. But the real shift is not just growth—it is how learners make decisions. TimesPro CMO Kshitij Jain says education marketing is now caught between performance-led acquisition and the longer, harder job of building trust.
New data makes the challenge concrete: 63% of Indian online learners feel overwhelmed by the number and similarity of courses. Search and YouTube still dominate initial discovery (77%) and detailed research (73%). That makes education a high-involvement, high-consideration category where a course can mean significant money, months of time and career expectations.
From transaction to journey
Jain argues that education has historically been a category where patience was expected. That has changed because consumers now experience instant gratification everywhere from quick commerce to insurance. “The consumer expects speed, while the category requires time,” he says. Marketing must therefore manage a journey—research, consideration, evaluation—rather than simply driving a transaction.
The comparison with healthcare is telling: certain quality and institutional processes cannot be skipped just because consumers want immediacy. But Jain expects technology to gradually compress steps, much as insurance automated manual processes. If admission requirements can be converted into clear parameters, AI and automation could reduce the time from application to admission.
Why performance marketing hits a ceiling
Performance marketing can still generate enrolments, but Jain is clear that it cannot build long-term loyalty. With technology changing job and skill requirements rapidly, lifelong learning is becoming a necessity rather than a differentiator. That creates an opportunity for education brands to build relationships beyond single courses.
Loyalty, he says, comes down to the learner experience and what the brand does after the course ends. Useful content, communities and continued learning opportunities keep a brand relevant. Performance marketing may drive the first transaction; it cannot carry the relationship.
Gen Z is reshaping the funnel
Jain describes millennials as time-poor, while Gen Z and Gen Alpha are increasingly attention-poor. Gen Z has grown up on snackable digital content and makes choices and rejections much faster. They are more likely to rely on influencers, peers, communities and online conversations when evaluating a course. Brands must establish familiarity and credibility through these touchpoints before performance ads can convert.
Three shifts reshaping learner decisions
- Discovery: Search, YouTube and increasingly AI tools are narrowing the consideration set.
- Decision: Familiarity, trust, word of mouth and confidence in the brand still close the sale.
- Experience: Tangible proof—learning platforms, projects, peer networks—becomes the real evidence of value.
Personalisation that means something
Jain rejects the idea that personalisation must be segment-of-one. Instead, it should start before a course is chosen: helping a young professional weigh banking versus hospitality is very different from guiding a senior executive between leadership and AI programmes. It then needs to continue inside the learning experience, because early-career learners may value hands-on tools and case studies, while senior executives may value global exposure and industry networks.
AI will change discovery, not the final decision
As every brand uses the same language around AI, personalisation and flexibility, differentiation becomes harder. Jain predicts that learners will increasingly ask large language models for the three best programmes for a career goal. But discovery and decision are different. AI may surface options, but trust and familiarity still determine the final choice.
The winning formula, he says, combines AI-driven discoverability, brand trust and a more tangible learner experience. Offline interactions, peer communities and measurable outcomes give consumers evidence beyond advertising claims.
For marketers, the implication is clear: invest in experience and proof, not just promises. The brands that win will be those that can demonstrate the experience actually delivers on its claims.
Source: SocialSamosa
