The Secret Lead Gen Engine You Haven’t Tapped—Your Academy

Welcome to this month’s Skillet! Back to school season may be here, but there’s one lesson you may have never come across in a training textbook. Let’s talk about something we don’t always associate with Customer Education: lead generation.

3 Ways CE Leaders Can Turn Their Academy into a Lead-Generating Engine

Sure, your Academy is crucial for onboarding and product training, but have you thought about how it could be one of your best channels for driving leads?

It’s not a distant dream—it’s happening right now for companies who’ve shifted their mindset, aligning education with marketing. We've got some behind-the-scenes tips on how you can make this happen, with real examples from customers like Kendall MacLean, CPA (inactive) from FloQast and our own Head of Demand Generation Nicole Penland .

We all know content is king, but if you’re not plugging your educational content into marketing, you’re leaving opportunities on the table. Educational content isn’t just helpful; it’s prime demand-gen material. Nicole Penland (Head of Demand Gen here at Skilljar) nailed it when she said, "Content is the fuel for demand." When your Academy’s content becomes part of your marketing strategy, you’re creating a whole new stream of high-quality leads that go straight into your sales pipeline.

?? What’s the takeaway here?

It’s simple: marketing teams are hungry for high-quality content that resonates with audiences. Your Academy has it, and when both teams collaborate, the outcome is gold.

But here’s the thing: too often, we create incredible educational material and then leave it to live in one place. Why not repurpose that content for lead nurturing? At FloQast, for example, they repurpose Academy content into webinars, email nurtures, and follow-ups that keep potential customers engaged throughout the entire sales process.

Here's what you'll need to set up to get going:

Here's what you'll need to do to get the technical task taken care of:

• Lead Scoring: Evaluate the lead based on their engagement level with academy content (e.g., course completions, certifications).
• Nurture Sequence: Enroll the lead in an email nurture campaign tailored to their interests, offering more relevant content like webinars or case studies.
• Follow-Up Offers: Send personalized offers, such as demos, consultations, or advanced product insights.
• Sales Hand-Off: If the lead is highly engaged, route them to sales as a Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL).
• Tracking and Optimization: Monitor lead activity and adjust campaigns for better targeting and engagement.

Here’s where it gets really interesting. Educational milestones—things like course completions, certifications, or even just course engagement—are not just great metrics for CE teams; they’re potential lead signals. Imagine your LMS is integrated with a marketing platform like Marketo or Salesforce. Every time someone hits a key milestone, it could trigger an automated marketing touchpoint or even a lead handoff. Suddenly, your Academy is actively generating leads, not just nurturing customers.

?? Here’s a tip from the trenches:

Think of your Academy like any other lead-scoring tool. Every interaction matters, and you should be scoring those interactions just like you would with any other marketing touchpoint. Not only will this give you visibility into who’s ready to take the next step, but it’ll also give your sales team actionable insights. Here are some examples:

• Course Completion (New Product Overview) – A prospect completes a course on a new product, signaling strong interest. Follow up with a demo or consultation offer for deeper engagement.
• Certification Achievement (Advanced Training) – A learner earns a certification in an advanced topic, indicating readiness for a purchase conversation. Use this to offer upsell opportunities for advanced tools or services.
• Repeated Engagement (Multiple Courses) – A prospect engages with multiple relevant courses. Use this behavior to nurture them with more product-specific content or a demo invitation.
• Webinar Attendance (Industry Best Practices) – A prospect attends a webinar on industry trends hosted in your academy. Position a relevant product as a solution to their pain points, guiding them toward a sales conversation.
• Interaction with Product-Specific Content (Upsell) – An existing customer accesses content related to a product they haven’t yet purchased. Use this to introduce a personalized upsell offer based on their interest in additional features or services.

We can’t talk about lead generation without talking about data. The best part about an Academy? You’ve got built-in analytics that tell you exactly what’s working. I’ve seen firsthand how data helps us understand which courses drive engagement and conversion.

?? Our advice?

Dive deep into your analytics and find those content pieces that are lighting people up. Then, double down. Use that insight to create more of what works, and—here’s the kicker—share those insights with your marketing team. They can take it and run with campaigns that complement what your Academy is already doing. Here are some of the ways you can get the right data in the right place:

• Set up API Integration: Use APIs for data integration. Connect learner data with your CRM or marketing platform.
• Define Data Mapping: Identify key fields (e.g., course completions, certifications) in an LMS like Skilljar and map them to corresponding fields in your CRM.
• Automate Data Flow: Consider middleware like Zapier or a custom-built API to automate the data transfer between your LMS and your CRM.
• Trigger Alerts and Nurtures: Set up triggers in your CRM to act on incoming data, like alerts for course completions or nurture sequences for prospects.
• Test and Optimize: Regularly test your integration for accuracy and make adjustments based on feedback from marketing and sales teams.

Now's your time to get the most out of your Academy—who's ready to try out a lead strategy? Let us know in the comments!

?? Cheers for Peers

Tiffany Taylor is at it again with some much-needed wisdom.

This weeks #TayloredTip: knowledge isn’t power, the successful application of it is. For my #customerreducation community, this is a great time to consider when you give customers the opportunity to actually apply what they have learned - whether it’s a quick knowledge check for certification or playing in a sandbox environment, this is a key component of learning.

?? Content Catch-Up

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

?? GUIDE—Product Education: The Unsung Hero Driving Higher Manufacturing Sales

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

??? BLOG—6 Key Steps to Secure Executive Buy-In?

?? Career Corner

On the market for a new gig in the education space? Here are a few roles you should keep your eyes on ????

• Director, Global Training & Enablement @ LogicMonitor
• Product Enablement Lead @ LogicMonitor
• Plus, this exciting new opp from Erik Martin for those ready to jump into the world of AI

? Coming Soon: Behind-the-Scenes with Clever's Profit-Driving CE Program

Curious how Clever transformed their support team from a cost center into a revenue-generating powerhouse? In an upcoming October webinar (registration opening soon!) Blair Mishleau from Clever Inc. will walk you through the exact steps they took to make customer education a key driver of growth, boosting NPS by 20% and cutting support tickets by 25%.

This isn’t about theory—it’s about real results. Learn practical, actionable strategies that can help you do the same.

Stay tuned as registration opens, we know this will be a can't-miss session.

???? ‘Til the next Skillet,

Caroline Van Dyke—Head of Content @ Skilljar