Happy customers who know all about your product’s best capabilities stick around longer. Not only that, they also tell others about it.
That means, you spend less on ads and aggressive sales to acquire new customers. Instead you rely more on referrals and upselling to boost your bottom line.
That’s why you need a customer education program to help users succeed with your SaaS. In this guide, we’ll give you our seven best customer education tools to hit the ground running.
But first, let’s get the basics out of the way.
Customer education is instructing users on effectively using a software to maximize its benefits. It includes providing resources like tutorials, webinars, and documentation that help users understand the product features and navigate the interface.
A good customer education strategy aims to:
It empowers customers with the knowledge and skills needed to navigate your product independently, ensuring they can fully leverage all capabilities to meet their needs and goals.
Customer education is not simply about fixing problems retroactively or answering questions only when users are stuck. It's not a one-time help session or a quick fix for a specific issue.
It's not a sales pitch either. The focus of customer education is on teaching and helping, not on selling more features or products.
More importantly, it's not a passive process where users are left to find relevant information on their own. A customer education program actively guides and supports users through their journey.
So, how do you build a customer education program? With a good tech stack.
The right customer education platforms can make a huge difference for your team and users alike. Here’s how 👇🏻
A good tech stack automates and personalizes the onboarding process. This means customers can quickly learn exactly what they need to start using your product effectively, cutting down on the time it takes for them to see the value in your service.
Tailored onboarding paths based on user roles or industries can make this process even more efficient.
You can strengthen users’ understanding of your product with a full-fledged academy—a learning hub with relevant courses, webinars, and resources for your users.
When customers understand the ins and outs of your product and find answers exactly where + when they need, they're more likely to become long-term users. This deep understanding transforms them from casual users into product champions.
With the right customer education tools, you can deliver timely in-app guidance and help users not just use your product, but master it. This kind of contextual guidance encourages continuous engagement with new features and more advanced functionalities of your product.
The result? Higher success for your users, and deeper product adoption for you.
AI chatbots, in-depth knowledge bases, and community forums make customer support scalable. Users get instant answers to common questions, reducing the need to contact a support agent. This self-service approach empowers users to solve problems independently and improves their confidence in your product.
Investing in good customer education platforms can save money in the long run. Fewer people will need to call for help, and you can build a community of users who help each other, sharing tips and advice. This creates a supportive environment around your product.
We’ve shortlisted these seven tools to build your customer education program from the ground up.
Appcues is a flexible and user-friendly platform for creating personalized product experiences, particularly for user onboarding. You can create tailored onboarding processes to guide users to discover the value of a product more quickly and maximize user activation.
The tool also offers detailed reporting to stay on top of user behavior. What’s more, you can access multiple targeting options to tailor your onboarding processes to specific user segments, such as new users or trial users.
Floik is an all-in-one solution for creating interactive product showcases to educate and delight users. You can create explainer videos, step-by-step guides, and walkthrough demos to make your SaaS fully self-serve with:
You can create your self-serve setup in minutes by capturing different aspects of your product in action. Then edit these resources to fine-tune your messaging and convert your recording into multiple formats.
WorkRamp is an all-in-one platform to fulfill employee and customer learning needs. You can centralize learning resources for various functions, including talent development, customer education, sales enablement, and compliance training.
WorkRamp uses AI to streamline and enhance the learning process, making it a forward-thinking choice for businesses aiming to educate their customers and partners effectively. You can also create content in several formats and get detailed analytics to understand the ROI of your training programs.
Slack is a widely used communication platform for creating organized spaces for conversation, collaboration, and knowledge sharing. You can create a dynamic community for users to interact with each other and with your team.
It's also a space where users can get quick responses to their queries, share feedback, and stay updated on product developments. Besides, you can integrate your Slack workspace with multiple platforms and automate routine tasks to build a low-maintenance community ecosystem.
WalkMe is a Digital Adoption Platform (DAP) that specializes in enhancing the in-app user experience. Its primary function is to overlay on any SaaS application, identifying points where users may encounter difficulties and providing real-time, personalized guidance.
You can use this tool to streamline the user journey, reduce friction, and improve overall user engagement. The platform also allows you to meet users where they are, whether on desktop, mobile, or web.
Other in-app guidance tools to check out
Rapidr is a product feedback platform ideal for capturing, analyzing, and prioritizing customer feedback. You can collect user feedback from various sources, ensuring that all customer insights are centralized and easily accessible.
The platform's ability to analyze and prioritize feedback is a key feature, helping product teams focus on building features that align with customer needs and expectations. On top of that, Rapidr also provides a public product roadmap, enhancing transparency and managing user expectations effectively.
SurveyMonkey is a feedback collection tool known for its ease of use and flexibility in creating surveys are its standout features. With SurveyMonkey, you can quickly design, distribute, and analyze surveys to understand your users' needs, preferences, and experiences.
SurveyMonkey also provides robust analytics tools to help you interpret the data effectively, turning responses into actionable insights. You can use this data to rapidly adapt and evolve your product based on user feedback.
You need a customer education program to foster long-term relationships and sustainable growth. By equipping users with the knowledge and tools they need to fully leverage your product, you can enhance their experience and build a community of power users!
With these seven customer education platforms, you have all the options to build a robust tech stack. Start building your customer education ecosystem today!