Many B2B software companies have created a product certification program as a way to educate their user base and simultaneously promote their brand. Some commonly known certifications include the HubSpot Inbound Marketing Certification and the Salesforce Certified Administrator. These programs typically consist of recorded classroom-style videos covering all aspects of the topic, and end with an extensive exam. Upon completion, the user receives a badge which can be added to their LinkedIn profile to promote their expertise. There are many reasons to consider a product certification program, four of which we’ve laid out below.
1. It is a unique way to encourage your users to learn how to use your software and stay on top of new updates.
Traditionally, most companies use some version of an FAQ page to address user questions. These sites often fall short of what the user is looking for and ultimately lead the user to reach out to their customer success contact or submit a help desk ticket. A certification program, if properly built out, can serve as a much more comprehensive and navigatable solution. Users want to be able to self help and certification programs are one of the only scalable ways for users to do so.
2. The LinkedIn Certifications section encourages users to take (and finish!) your courses.
You may have noticed the Certifications section on your LinkedIn profile. This section allows individuals to publicly share all of their relevant certifications, for example, the Hubspot Inbound Marketing Certification or the Procore Subcontractor Certification. This ultimately makes your users more incentivized to take the certifications because showing a badge on their LinkedIn profile makes them more marketable in their respective fields. At the same time, the more courses a user takes, the more informed they are on the product and the less likely they are to require assistance from your CS team or help desk.
3. It can be a free form of marketing for the company.
Building your support site in the public domains allows all of your content to be searchable by Google and can ultimately improve your SEO rankings. Additionally, all of your users with badges on their LinkedIn profiles are automatically marketing your product to their LinkedIn networks and legitimizing your software in the industry.
4. It can ultimately drive down help desk tickets and alleviate pressure off the customer success team.
With all of the content created for a product certification program, it becomes a great resource not only for people taking the exam, but for anyone troubleshooting an issue or trying to navigate the software. Ultimately, as more people become certified, it further legitimizes your program, and further educates your user base, driving down help desk tickets and freeing up your customer success team.
If you liked “4 Benefits of Creating a Product Certification Program” and want to read more content from the Bowery Capital Team, check out other relevant posts from the Bowery Capital Blog.
