5 Academy re-marketing lessons learned from the pros (so you don't have to)

Welcome to this month's Skillet! I'd be remiss to not mention how fast summer has flown by—or is it just me? That means H2 is upon us, and likely some (dare I say) 2025 strategizing.

That's why we've brought a special topic to the newsletter—makeovers.

While we've got quite a few ingredients lined up for you this month (skip to the bottom for industry buzz, content catch-ups, etc.), we’re zoning in on one of our most frequently asked questions: ‘How do I give my Academy a much-needed makeover and market it well?’

In our recent webinar with leading connected risk platform AuditBoard (recently acquired for over $3 billion), I got the chance to chat with Robyn Smerek (Kim), PMP & Elyce Ladany to get the skim on how they went about their relaunch project.?(Fun fact: They aimed their launch day for April 1st—no joke!)

So, whether you’re looking for more engagement, expanding offerings, re-branding, adding certifications—we’ve got it all. Before we jump into their 5 lessons, take a quick look at this sizzle reel of their new Academy:

1. Top Challenge: Content Overhaul and Navigation Simplification

One of the biggest challenges is dealing with an existing body of content that might be outdated, unorganized, or not aligned with user needs. Simplifying the navigation and restructuring the content to be more user-friendly and accessible is crucial.

?? Top Tip: AuditBoard faced issues where users found it difficult to navigate their Academy, leading to some mixed messages and under-use of their great content. The challenge is not just about creating new content, but making sure that the existing content is easy to find and relevant to the user’s role and experience level. We’ll get into how you can design for different roles a bit later on.?

Here's a quick snippet from Elyce Ladany

2. Team Collaboration: Cross-Functional Involvement

Team Involvement: A successful relaunch requires close collaboration across multiple teams. You'll need to work with:

• Instructional Design: To revamp and create content.
• Product Marketing: For aligning learning paths with user personas and ensuring content is relevant to specific roles.
• Design/UX: To ensure the academy’s visual and navigational elements are aligned with your brand and user-friendly.
• Customer Success/Support: To gather insights on what users struggle with and what content is most needed.
• IT/Development: For any technical updates, including platform improvements and integration.

??Top Tip: AuditBoard worked extensively with their art directors, product marketing team, and customer experience team to ensure that the academy redesign was comprehensive and met the needs of all stakeholders. Even if you’re working with a smaller team, be sure to map out every team your project will touch so that you don’t run into blockers further down the line.?

3. Timeline and Process: Plan, Execute, Buffer

Timeline Example (this really can depend on the team and size of project, so don’t feel too confined by the dates—take them as inspiration):

• Planning (2-3 months): Start with a content audit and mapping out new structures. Define your learning paths and certifications. During this phase, gather input from all relevant teams and stakeholders. Bonus: they recruited real beta testers as to not bring their own bias into the redesign.
• Execution (2-4 months): Work on content creation, UX design, and platform updates. Beta test with a small group of users to identify any issues.
• Buffer (1-2 weeks): Have a soft launch internally and make final tweaks based on feedback. Use this time to address any bugs and ensure all elements are functioning smoothly.
• Launch: Coordinate the public launch with a major company event or marketing push to maximize visibility.

??Top Tip: AuditBoard emphasized the importance of a buffer period before the official launch to address any unforeseen issues and to ensure the launch goes smoothly. After all, we’re human and you’ll want some time to QA and get real-time feedback.?

4. Marketing Strategy: Align with Major Events and Tap Into Internal Channels

A huge learning for the AuditBoard team was to be in lock-step with their marketing team, and pull in all the best marketing strategies to make sure their Academy was a success. A lot of education leaders excel at creating the right content, but can struggle to adequately get learners to their great work. This is where you need to put on your marketing hat.?

Marketing Process:

• Pre-Launch: Create anticipation with teasers and internal announcements. Engage users through beta testing and gather testimonials.
• Launch: Time the launch with a significant event (e.g., user conference) to build hype. Use all available channels—email, social media, internal communications, community platforms—to promote the launch.
• Post-Launch: Keep the momentum by continuously promoting the new features and content updates. Offer incentives like certifications, badges, and exclusive content to keep users engaged.

??Top Tip: AuditBoard successfully timed their launch with a user conference, which helped generate significant attention and engagement. They also used multiple internal and external channels to promote the new academy AFTER launch. After all, it’s not one-and-done. You’ll want to set up multi-channel drivers to your Academy over time through email, in-app notifications, social pushes, etc. to keep your audience coming back for more.?

Here's a quick snippet from Robyn Smerek (Kim), PMP :

5. Proving Success: Metrics and Continuous Improvement

Relaunching or making over your Academy isn’t just for the sake of it—it’s to increase learner engagement, and ultimately increase happy & loyal customers. Emphasis on loyal as that’s a direct line to revenue for your business. So, make sure your leadership team knows the impact.?

Proving Success:

• Key Metrics: Track active users, course completions, certification rates, and user feedback. Look at how these metrics correlate with broader business outcomes, such as customer retention and product adoption.
• Feedback Loop: Continuously gather feedback from users and make improvements. This could involve updating content, refining navigation, or adding new features based on user needs.
• Long-Term Tracking: Compare performance metrics before and after the relaunch to demonstrate the impact. Present this data to stakeholders to justify the investment and secure future resources.

??Top Tip: Don’t just stop at learner metrics—sync with your CRM and broader business metrics to prove the impact of more trained customers on things like NRR, churn, and NPS.??

Thanks again to our amazing contributors Elyce Ladany & Robyn Smerek (Kim), PMP from AuditBoard, I could chat with you all day! There’s so many more amazing tips in the on-demand recording so we suggest blocking some time on your calendar, grabbing a snack, and pressing play to get more behind-the-scenes tips.

?? Industry Buzz

While we're chatting to education experts day in and day out, we can't catch all the news ourselves—take a look at what other folks have been sharing:

??AI in Customer Education: Shoutout to LearnExperts & Sarah Sedgman for sharing stories around AI’s impact on shortened content production cycles (music to all Education pros’ ears).

??Why ‘Learning’ Has to Change: Dave Derington takes us through why the old-school way of training just won’t cut it, and what you can do to get ahead.

?? Bonus: Shoutout to Blair Mishleau 's typical ‘2% Better’ series, of which he’s taking that time back to help others become more than 2% better this week by volunteering. After all, learning can’t just be on-the-job, it’s for the better of others?

?? Content Catch-Up

Missed our recent webinars, guides, and blogs? Here’s what you need to know:

?? GUIDE—The Secret to Scaling Customer Experience: 9 Tips for Boosting Customer Outcomes with Education

?? WEBINAR—Education + Marketing: Uncover hidden opportunities to add value

??? BLOG—The 101 of Partner Training for Manufacturing ?(Spoiler—if you want more content like this, keep your eyes peeled for an interactive guide built just for you coming out next week. )

?? And Finally, Where You Can Find Us (In-Person!)

While you can always find chatter and insights from us across LinkedIn, webinars, guides, you name it…we’re hitting the ground running this fall at a number of events. Here’s what we have coming up near-term (with more to come)! We can’t wait to see some of you there.

?? LSX - partnering for Life Science eXecutives World Congress: From 9/11 -9/12, you can find us at the LSX Conference. It gathers leaders from the US biotech, medtech, and healthtech sectors to network, showcase innovations, and explore partnership opportunities. Stop by our booth to see how Skilljar is helping shape the future of education in this space!

?? TSIA Envision: While it may feel far away, the yearly TSIA Envision event is coming up—you won’t want to miss it. We’ll be there from Oct 19-21 at our booth, as well as sharing key insights at the Expo. Grab your ticket while you can, and get in on the fun.?

?? See you in September,?

Caroline Van Dyke , Head of Content @ Skilljar ?