Strengths
Cost & Payment Plan
A variety of payment plans allow users to select the plan that works form them. Also monthly plans allow users to opt-in and opt-out with very little risk.
Quality Learning Environment
The lessons, activities and overall structure of the educational environment are pedagogically sound. Ensuring that users get the best opportunity to be successful in their learning and thus return to review or learn new languages.
Unique Tools
Tools such as the review manager, which keeps track of vocabulary practice to optimize human memory, and the integrated speech recognition tool, provide users learning tools they cannot find anywhere else.
Social Media Tools
Babbel provides a variety of ways for learners to connect and interact. In doing so learners can find partners to practice their language skills and make their learning more interactive.
Variety of Access Points
Babbel can be accessed in a variety of ways depending on the users preference of technology and learning environment.
Rapid Growth
Approximately 1300 new users are signing up per hour according to Babel.com latest press release, and as such they have seen their user base grow 130% since 2012. These numbers are based on users signing up for the free trial, but regardless show the massive interest in Babbel.
Smart Acquisitions
In March of 2013, Babbel purchased PlaySay, an American language learning application. PlaySay was a Techcruch Disrupt Finalist and at one point was the number one ranked language-learning app on iTunes. Since Babbel is primarily based in Europe this gave them a large American user base, as well as a foothold in the American market.
The Market Space
Language learning is a massive market space and digital language learning is quickly becoming a significant portion of the market.
Weaknesses
European Focus & User Base
Lesson Nine GMbH is located in Berlin, and much of the company’s user base is in Germany. Similarly most of their advertising is focused on Europe, with two major advertising campaigns launched in Italy and France. The European market for language learning is growing but not as significantly of those in Africa and Asia. Lacking a focus on the two biggest and fast growing markets limits Babbel’s opportunity for success.
Limited Languages
Babbel offers fourteen languages and with the exception of Indonesian, all the languages are European. If you are interested in learning a language that is not offered by Babbel a user must use a different service. Expanding their language base, especially to include Asian languages is crucial.
No Real Time Web Classes
Unlike some of its competitors Babbel does not offer real time instruction from a language teacher. Though it has digital tools that can mimic some of the affordances of having an actual instructor, these tools are not as effective or efficient as a real instructor.
Opportunities
Expanding Social Media
Babbel has an unique social media feature that other language sites either lack altogether, or is deficient in comparison. There are definitely opportunities for this social media aspect of babble.com to be expanded and monetized. For example Babble.com could develop a pay to talk practice system and crowd source it, allowing native speakers to get paid and learners to improve their skills.
Expanding Market Place
Babble.com is currently making a push into the American market, and this will help them grow, but more importantly they still have the relatively untouched markets of Asia and Africa to expand into.
Expanding Languages
Language learning services depend on the languages they can teach. Babble.com has a relatively small language base compared to larger companies such as Living Language, so an easy way to increase their market share would be to expand the languages they have to offer.
Threats
Competition
The market place for language-learning is very competitive and this is doubly true for digital language learning. Many of the major language learning companies have the funds to develop quickly and the marketing arms that allow them to instantly have a global reach. In other words they can out compete Babbel by simply out spending them.
Duolingo
Babbel is more affordable than most digital language learning programs on the market, however it is not free. Duolingo lacks many of the features that Babbel has but it is free, and users maybe willing to accept an inferior product for a more attractive price point.
Over Expansion
There is a lot of room to grow for Babbel, however as it grows it needs to make sure that it maintains its quality. It is important that the learning environment remains uniform from language to language and that new languages are not added before they are ready.