Even with the massive need to upskill and reskill driving the demand for learning, professional training leaders are facing some of their toughest challenges yet. Whether managing online learning platforms or internal learning and development (L&D) initiatives, balancing day-to-day operations while keeping learners engaged, driving awareness for programs, and navigating tightening budgets can feel like a constant uphill battle.
Low engagement and course completion rates are significant concerns in themselves. Without meaningful engagement, learners are less likely to retain skills or knowledge, and the program's value diminishes over time.
But despite these obstacles, there’s a path forward. In this playbook, we’ll share five actionable strategies to help you attract more learners, engage and reenroll them, raise awareness for your programs, and demonstrate the ROI of training investments. Backed by the latest industry data from our State of Credentialing Report and real-life examples from companies like UiPath, Maven Analytics, Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers, George Washington University, American Board of Emergency Medicine, and MIT, this guide will empower you to drive measurable success in your learning initiatives.
Learners are eager to earn credentials. In fact, 60% of learners are more likely to complete a course when a digital credential is offered. And of those who have earned a digital credential, 96% consider it valuable for their career and 78% believe it increases their chances of getting a job offer — but only if it carries weight with learners and employers.
While learners didn't have an instant preference for digital credentials, our data shows that they wanted everything that only digital credentials can provide:
This poses a significant opportunity for training leaders — not only to maximize the value of their digital credentials via metadata but also to better communicate this value to learners.
As IBM's Digital Badge program founder and Digital Badge Academy co-founder, David Leaser, points out, “Anybody looking at a badge [or certificate] should be able to understand what it took to earn it, what kind of assessment the person took, what kind of rubrics were used, and all that should be verifiable.”
Showcasing the value of your badges starts with taking a comprehensive approach to your credential metadata; it’s the first thing employers will see when they click on a badge. UiPath certificates are great examples. As seen below, its Certified Professional credential:
Its digital credentials landing page is another way it educate earners on the value of its credentials, showing how UiPath certificates:
Other organizations communicate the value of their product certifications through email campaigns, using these touchpoints to share learner success stories, earner job statistics, and tips for adding digital credentials to job applications and professional profiles — elevating your brand in the process.
Today’s learners crave a curriculum that’s flexible to their learning styles and prepares them for the challenges they’ll face in their professional careers.
The State of Credentialing report revealed that 97% of learners want a series of linked modules or courses to help them master a topic, and 92% want projects and assessments as part of their coursework to apply that knowledge to real-world scenarios.
Unfortunately, what learners want to see in their courses doesn’t align with what issuers provide. Just 29% of credential issuers have learning pathways, and only 34% have built-in assignments and tests.
Addressing these gaps may seem like a daunting task. However, consider breaking down existing courses into focused skill modules and integrating content like webinars and guides. Pairing these with hands-on projects and assessments within a structured pathway allows for a flexible, comprehensive learning experience that builds skills progressively through interconnected microcredentials.
Visualizing the learning pathway and awarding digital credentials along the journey will increase learner retention and application, encourage learners to keep going, and reward them for staying the course.
Take Maven Analytics, for instance. They’ve broken down their Business Intelligence Analyst Certification into multiple short modules and integrated applied hands-on learning where learners hone their skills by solving real business problems. The blend of courses and projects creates a powerful learning experience that learners can’t get elsewhere. And each module comes with a digital certificate of completion that learners can add to their resumes and social media profiles.
A quick look at the Maven Analytics website, and you’ll see dozens of positive testimonials like this one from Andrew Hubbard:
“The outstanding Maven Analytics courses, well-crafted guided projects, and thoughtfully designed learning paths have been pivotal in my data analysis journey. The Data Playground is a remarkable tool, allowing for hands-on application of the concepts learned. The comprehensive content and engaging format have significantly enhanced my skills.”
Other issuers have taken a similar approach, seeing notable increases in learner engagement:
Though only a third of learners report finding their course via referrals, referrals happen in less direct ways — seeing badges on social media, resumes, personal websites, or email signatures.
In our State of Credentialing Report, issuers reported that the most significant benefit of adopting digital credentials is increased credential sharing online. Yet only 33% send a reminder to learners to open and share their credentials. Worse, almost half (44%) don’t recognize the learners who share their credentials.
When learners post about their credentials on sites like LinkedIn, they feel a sense of accomplishment. Plus, their whole network gets exposed to and potentially interested in your learning program.
The Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE) saw this firsthand, with a 123% increase in LinkedIn share rate. James Swisher, Director of Continuing Education at IISE, shares: “I think all of us underestimated the additional exposure Accredible’s credentials would give the Institute on social media. It helps other folks understand what kind of programs we offer and gets them thinking about a membership.”
But seeing these results takes more than sending one email. It takes:
Learners are busy and may not immediately open their credential email. Accredible’s Email Campaigns can help you remind earners about their credentials and make a case for sharing them on a cadence you feel comfortable with — without manually crafting and sending them each week or month.
Engagement on social media
Show that you are proud of your earners by liking, commenting on, and reposting their shares. And make it easy for people who see the posts to learn more about what your organization has to offer.
Consider offering a membership discount or a coupon for another course whenever an earner shares their credentials online or to your ‘credential influencers’ with high social engagement from their credential shares.
Several organizations have seen the benefits of incorporating Email Campaign best practices firsthand. After building credential view and LinkedIn share reminder email campaigns, InsideTrack, a leading provider of coaching services for higher education institutions, increased:
George Washington University’s College of Professional Studies had even more impressive results — particularly on LinkedIn. Its profile add rate went up by over 130%, and its LinkedIn share rate skyrocketed, increasing by over 580%. The team plans to launch more Campaigns, pinging students who get halfway through sharing their certification (to push them to follow through) or emailing past learners when new coursework rolls out (to increase reenrollment).
94% of learners want additional course recommendations to meet their career goals, but 1 in 4 don’t follow through. Why? Because they don’t know which course to take next. Adding course recommendations could motivate learners to keep learning, increasing enrollment and certification revenue.
Issuers are also missing out on another core value prop: connecting learners with future opportunities. 84% of learners want to be listed in an online directory of credential holders, but only 35% of issuers offer the opportunity.
The good news is that training and certification programs have a unique (and highly valuable) opportunity: if they can meet more learners’ expectations, they can convert them into lifetime learners.
First, review all of your existing courses and determine what the next step for your learners would be. Myriam Joseph, Assistant Director of Marketing and Business Development at MIT Professional Education, did just that. Her team reviewed 50 of the program’s top courses, noting the course or certificate learners should aim to take next and including them in the earned digital credential emails.
The team also provides course recommendations via Accredible’s Recommendations on digital credential pages (its own and other issuers’ pages) and prominently at the top of CourseFinder, a credential directory and course search platform. In doing so, MIT better markets its courses to new and existing learners, generating additional program enrollment and revenue.
With Recommendations, MIT Professional Education has generated over 5 million impressions with current and future learners — generating over 18,500 additional program referrals.
“Since we've started using Recommendations, we’ve seen a lot more learners who earned credentials take additional courses,” she says. “When we started, we had around 35% of learners return, but now we’re over 50% taking additional courses.”
Learners want to be spotlighted and connected to future opportunities, and organizations want to build an ecosystem or community of certified professionals. Creating a directory is a way to fulfill both needs simultaneously. For learning and development leaders, an internal directory helps you recognize and drive skill development and enables you to track employee skills inventory and progression for upskilling and reskilling opportunities.
Take the American Board of Emergency Medicine, for example. Using Accredible’s Spotlight feature, its branded directory has a whopping 45,700 members — all of whom have earned the board’s credentials and believe in their value.
And they do their part to recognize their learners, enriching their profiles with professional experience, work availability, and social media profiles. This makes it easier for employers to search for qualified candidates and for members to land new jobs.
Without data and insights, it’s impossible to understand how your program is doing, let alone refine it. But most credential issuers are flying blind. Only 54% of issuers track which learners complete a course, and less than 50% track critical data points like:
To make matters worse, many credential programs don’t track what happens after a learner earns their credential — behavior critical to continued participation and generating new business. Only 23% track which learners take additional courses, and just 13% of issuers monitor program referrals from shared credentials.
The first step is to start tracking what you can. Over time, you’ll notice patterns and be able to make adjustments accordingly.
It’s worth noting that manual analysis can be time-consuming (and error-prone). A digital credentialing software like Accredible automatically tracks credential KPIs for you, leaving more time to interpret and act on the data. Chris Dutton, Founder & Chief Product Officer at Maven Analytics, went all-in on Accredible reporting:
“We now use Accredible analytics as a diagnostic tool, digging into individual credentials or courses with lower-than-expected share rates, looking for clues as to how we can improve those metrics.”
That close monitoring has been a boon for the Maven brand. Since its Accredible implementation, Maven Analytics has increased its credential share rate on LinkedIn by 250%, reeling in more learners and amplifying its certification revenue.
Knowing what you can do to improve your training or certification program is one thing. Implementing those strategies is another — especially without a modern credentialing platform.
Accredible has helped over 2,300 organizations, including Google, IAPP, McGraw Hill, MIT, Skillsoft, Slack, and the University of Cambridge, increase learner engagement and drive program growth.
Want to lean on a digital credential partner you can trust? Find out all that Accredible has to offer by booking a demo today.
Schedule a demo and discover how Accredible can help you attract and reward learners, visualize learning journeys, and grow your program.
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Accredible is the world’s leading digital credential platform, enabling education and training leaders to increase learner engagement and drive program growth.
Accredible is the world’s leading digital credential platform, enabling education and training leaders to increase learner engagement and drive program growth.
