Introduction

You’ve determined that now is the right time to launch a customer education program for your SaaS startup or scaleup. But where do you begin? The journey from identifying the need to implementing a successful and scalable program involves several critical steps. Starting on the right foot can make all the difference between a program that simply exists and one that drives significant value for your customers and your business.

This guide is designed for customer success managers, education leaders, and SaaS founders looking to implement or scale a customer education program.

Here are the first steps you need to take to ensure your customer education program is built to scale and succeed.

1. Define Your Objectives

Before diving into content creation or tool selection, it’s essential to clearly define what you want your customer education program to achieve. These objectives should align closely with your overall business goals. Whether your aim is to reduce customer churn, accelerate product adoption, or improve customer satisfaction, having well-defined objectives will guide every decision you make as you build and scale your program.

Ask Yourself:

• What specific problems are we trying to solve with this education program?
• How will success be measured?
• What outcomes do we expect at different stages of the customer journey?

Starting with clear objectives ensures that your program has a focused direction and that every component is purposefully designed to meet those goals.

Common Pitfall: Avoid setting vague goals like “improving customer knowledge.” Instead, set specific, measurable objectives that align with your business goals, such as “reducing support tickets by 20% in the first six months.”

 

2. Start Small with a Minimum Viable Program (MVP)

It can be tempting to build an extensive customer education program from the outset, but this approach often leads to overwhelming complexity and slower time to market. Instead, consider starting with a Minimum Viable Program (MVP). This initial version of your program should focus on the most critical educational needs of your customers.

Key Steps:

• Identify the most common pain points or challenges your customers face when using your product.
• Develop content that addresses these issues directly, whether it’s through tutorials, webinars, or a knowledge base.
• Roll out the MVP to a select group of customers and gather feedback.

Example: One SaaS company began by launching a simple series of YouTube tutorials addressing the top five customer support queries. By starting small, they were able to quickly iterate on content and eventually expanded into a full LMS as demand grew.

Starting with an MVP allows you to address immediate needs quickly, test the effectiveness of your content, and iterate before scaling the program.

 

3. Choose the Right Delivery Methods

The methods you select to deliver your customer education program are crucial to its success. Start by understanding where your customers are and how they prefer to consume information. This might lead you to unconventional platforms that are more aligned with their habits and needs.

Key Considerations:

• Audience Preferences: Survey your customers to understand where they typically seek information. Are they more likely to watch a video on YouTube, read an article on your website, or prefer in-app guidance while using the product?
• Content Types: Consider the type of content you’re delivering. For example, video tutorials might be best suited for platforms like YouTube, while step-by-step guides could be integrated directly into your product.
• Scalability and Integration: While your initial delivery method might be simple, ensure that it can scale as your program grows. For example, if you start with YouTube videos, consider how you might later integrate these into a more comprehensive LMS as your needs evolve.
• Platform Flexibility: Avoid locking yourself into one platform too early. Instead, start with a delivery method that allows flexibility, and adapt as you learn more about your customers’ preferences.

Common Pitfall: Don’t assume a traditional LMS is the best option just because it’s popular. Starting with a more accessible platform like YouTube or in-app guides can help you meet customers where they already are.

 

4. Content Development and Curation

Content is the backbone of your customer education program. It’s essential to create content that is not only informative but also engaging and aligned with the customer journey. Start by focusing on the most common and critical aspects of your product that customers need to understand to succeed.

Steps to Take:

• Content Creation: Develop high-quality educational materials that address key customer pain points. This could include video tutorials, how-to guides, webinars, and FAQs.
• Content Curation: Leverage existing resources where possible. Repurpose content from other areas of your business, such as support articles or training sessions.
• Customer Feedback: Continuously gather feedback on your content to understand what works and what doesn’t, and iterate accordingly.

Pro Tip: Diversify your content types. For example, consider integrating quizzes or interactive elements into your tutorials to increase engagement and retention.

By focusing on content that directly addresses customer needs, you ensure that your program provides real value from the start.

 

5. Pilot and Gather Feedback

Before a full-scale launch, it’s wise to pilot your customer education program with a smaller group of users. This allows you to identify any gaps, gather valuable feedback, and make necessary adjustments before rolling it out to your entire customer base.

Pilot Phase:

• Select a diverse group of customers to participate in the pilot.
• Encourage honest feedback and monitor how customers engage with the content.
• Use this feedback to refine your content, delivery methods, and overall approach.

Feedback Loop: Establish continuous feedback loops during the pilot to ensure you’re constantly learning and adapting. This will help you make more informed decisions as you scale.

Piloting your program helps you fine-tune the experience and ensures that when you do scale, your program is as effective as possible.

 

6. Measure Success and Iterate

Once your program is live, measuring its success is key to ongoing improvement and scalability. The metrics you track should align with the objectives you set at the beginning.

Key Metrics to Track:

• Engagement Rates: How many customers are using your educational resources? Which types of content are most popular?
• Customer Satisfaction: Are customers reporting higher satisfaction after engaging with your program?
• Support Ticket Reduction: Has there been a decrease in the number of support requests since launching the program?
• Product Adoption: Are customers using more of your product’s features after going through the education program?

Pro Tip: Regularly update your content and delivery methods based on these metrics to keep your education program relevant and effective.

Regularly reviewing these metrics will help you identify areas for improvement and ensure that your customer education program continues to evolve and scale effectively.

 

Conclusion

Building a scalable customer education program is a journey that requires careful planning and execution. By starting with clear objectives, creating a focused MVP, choosing the right delivery methods, developing valuable content, piloting the program, and continuously measuring success, you can create a program that not only meets your customers’ needs but also scales with your business.

As you take these first steps, remember that customer education is an ongoing process. The landscape will change as your product evolves and your customer base grows, so stay flexible and be ready to adapt.

Ready to get started? Take a look at our Services or Reach out to us at The Learning Stack to discuss how we can help you build and scale your customer education program.