Here is a hard truth about education programmes: just because you build it, does not mean they will come. Even the most valuable content will be ignored if it isn't effectively marketed to its intended audience. Engagement is a two-part challenge: first, you must earn the learner's initial attention, and second, you must create an experience that keeps them involved long-term.
This article provides a framework for both marketing your education and fostering ongoing participation.
Step 1: Market Your Programme with the "WIIFM"
Your customers are busy. To earn their time, you must immediately answer their unspoken question: "What's In It For Me?" (WIIFM). Your marketing messages must be relentlessly focused on the direct benefits to the learner.
Identify the WIIFM: For each learning journey, define the specific value proposition for the person taking it. Will it save them time? Make their job easier? Help them become a recognised expert on their team? This benefit should be the headline of your communication.
Communicate the Value: Use multiple channels to deliver this benefit-driven message with these specific tactics:
Prescribe, Don't Just Suggest: Equip your Customer Success team with "prescription pads": pre-written email templates that link to specific learning paths. When a customer has a problem, the CSM can "prescribe" the exact training that will solve it. If the CS team have a Customer Success platform or onboarding tool, get them to link your program there too. Get it automated if possible
Trigger at the Moment of Need: Don't wait for users to find your content. Use in-app notifications to offer a short guide on a feature the first time a user hesitates or struggles in that part of your product.
Leverage Social Proof: Include a quote or short case study in your emails from another customer who completed the course and achieved a specific result.
Step 2: Build an Engaging Environment
Once you have the learner's attention, you need to provide an environment that encourages them to stay and participate.
Foster a Community: As seen in many successful SaaS companies, a peer-to-peer learning community is one of the most powerful drivers of engagement. To bring it to life:
Host Live "Office Hours": Set up a weekly 30-minute drop-in session where learners can ask questions about the content. It’s a low-effort way to provide live support and build relationships.
Run "Ask Me Anything" (AMA) Sessions: Once a month, host an AMA with an internal product expert or a power-user from your customer base. This creates an event-driven reason for people to show up and engage.
Encourage Advocacy: Create clear pathways for learners to become experts and advocates. This can be through formal certification programmes that provide a valuable credential, or informal opportunities for them to share their knowledge within the community.
Use Gamification with Purpose: Leaderboards and badges can be effective, but only when they are tied to meaningful, skill-based accomplishments, not just passive content consumption.
Step 3: Measure Engagement That Matters
To understand if your strategies are working, you must measure meaningful actions, not vanity metrics.
Instead of just tracking email opens or page views, focus on metrics that signal true engagement:
How many questions are being asked and answered in the community?
How many learners are completing hands-on exercises?
What is the repeat visit rate to your learning platform?
Ultimately, you must tie these engagement metrics back to the business impact metrics we defined in Article 8. By correlating community participation or certification with customer retention rates, you can prove the tangible value of building an engaged learning environment.
Your Challenge: Take one learning journey you have mapped out. Write a single, compelling sentence that describes its value from the learner's perspective (the "What's In It For Me?"). Now, identify the single most effective channel to communicate that message to them at the moment they would need it most.