{"id":599,"date":"2019-11-18T16:29:33","date_gmt":"2019-11-18T13:29:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chatra.io\/blog\/?p=599"},"modified":"2020-12-18T10:48:54","modified_gmt":"2020-12-18T07:48:54","slug":"turn-knowledge-base-into-customer-education-academy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chatra.com\/blog\/turn-knowledge-base-into-customer-education-academy\/","title":{"rendered":"How to turn your knowledge base into a customer education academy"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is a guest post from\u00a0Anthea Papadopoulou.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In today\u2019s uber competitive markets, each company is fighting for their customer\u2019s attention, time and budget.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, what if I told you that you can nail all three of those with a single solution?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Launching an academy is the single most powerful action you can take for building awareness, improving lead capture and growing customer education, while also offering an additional revenue stream.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why is that?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An academy offers credibility and positions your company as an industry leader, it is the perfect customer education vehicle after your <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/chatra.io\/books\/building-a-customer-service-team\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">customer service team<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and you can also sell your expertise for an extra revenue stream.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And, it all starts with a single course.<\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although it might seem like a big undertaking to create an academy, there are several resources you already have that can do the work for you. In fact &#8211; <\/span><strong>your knowledge base<\/strong><b>, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">can be easily turned into an online course with the right tools.<\/span><b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Especially if you already <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onehourprofessor.com\/start-blog\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">have a blog<\/a>, help center, YouTube channel, ebook or any other content for that matter, you have everything you need to turn your company\u2019s collective knowledge into an online course, and use it to create a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/chatra.io\/books\/ultimate-guide-to-customer-loyalty\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">loyal customer base<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is what great companies are already doing, which helps them be established leaders in their respective domain.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/academy.hubspot.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hubspot Academy<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/academy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ahrefs Academy<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/academy.softomotive.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Softomotive Academy<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All you need is the right tool and a guide (like this one).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To start with, you will need two things; the content and a course platform you can white-label.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You don\u2019t have to start from zero. You can create a course using the material you have already have in hand.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The content is there. All you need is to refine it, and then add some more to fill in the gaps.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s that simple.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to re-use your knowledge base<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Be it your blog content, your email marketing sequences, or canned customer replies; all of this material is great to use.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Find engaging, user-friendly and easy to remember educational content you have already shared and can be repurposed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Where to look for content:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2014 Blog Posts<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Your blog posts are the first source of knowledge to use in your course. Look for long, informative posts that provide real value and use them as valuable texts in your course.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Each blog post can be a section or a pdf unit of your online course. Blog posts can be a small lesson or broken down into multiple smaller ones.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2014\u00a0Articles from your Help Center<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Articles from your help center are great for <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.learnworlds.com\/create-online-course\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">creating online courses<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that help people onboard to your product\/service. You can turn simple users into experts of your product.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Add a course certificate at the end of such as course to add a sense of achievement or to certify someone as an expert. These certifications look great on a LinkedIn Profile or resume!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2014\u00a0Canned Responses and FAQ pages<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Your support team probably has gathered several canned responses they send to clients multiple times per day. Use those responses along with the support articles for an extensive product education!<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Welcoming and educating users on the use of your product will reduce operating costs by cutting the workload of your support team.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Also, frequently asked questions (FAQs) are perfect for online courses. Their answers are a valuable source of information which shouldn\u2019t be missing from your course and they can be repurposed without any edits.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2014\u00a0Ebooks, Checklists &amp; Guides<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Have you written any ebooks about your market? Ebooks are highly valuable, but courses are perceived as even more valuable pieces of content.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Use them to create the first sections of your course.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Break down ebooks into smaller lessons and add some relevant quizzes to make them feel more like a course.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2014\u00a0Email Sequences<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Automated email sequences are already designed to educate and onboard new customers. Re-use the content as an online course that leads to the first success your users will get with your product.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Use the content from those sequences to create an informative course. Similarly to your email sequences, the content of the course can be released in intervals e.g. every week. This is called a drip-feed course. This way, your users will follow a path to small wins and eventually master the use of your product.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2014\u00a0Webinars \/ Video Calls<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>One-on-one personal consultations or webinars where many users can join are great for introducing new users to your product. If you already have a few webinar recordings or your customers have agreed on recording the personal video calls, these are prime material for reuse.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With some quick edits, you can have video added to your course without the need to write a scenario, shoot and spend hours editing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Those calls are now transformed from single-use for a handful of people into scalable sales and retention processes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2014\u00a0Videos on YouTube<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Lastly, apart from text, are the essential videos! Do you already have a YouTube channel?<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Use every video from your channel that fits your courses. Videos make for much more interesting educational material.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-600\" src=\"https:\/\/chatra.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/ahrefs.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"836\" height=\"599\" srcset=\"https:\/\/chatra.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/ahrefs.png 836w, https:\/\/chatra.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/ahrefs-300x215.png 300w, https:\/\/chatra.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/ahrefs-768x550.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 836px) 100vw, 836px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Ahrefs reuses content from their YouTube channel to their academy.<\/em><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How can I use all this content?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To narrow down all those ideas into a teachable subject is a difficult job. However, it can be done by following specific steps to turn them into an online course.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are the steps to organize your content into a coherent course:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2014\u00a0Choose a good course topic<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>First, find a subject you can master. You can ask your readers to comment and vote on the best subject. It might be a good idea to use that blog post as a pre-registration hub and ask your readers to sign up for your upcoming course.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2014\u00a0Decide on the content<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Outline each learning section on a piece of paper. Each section should convey precisely the route of the course as well as the subject contents in a simple yet straightforward manner. A great teaching technique that could help you organize your content appropriately is storyboarding.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2014\u00a0Set goals<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Learning goals are the heart of a course and need to be made clear at the planning stage. They tell the learners what they will know and be able to accomplish at the end of the course. They will guide you in organizing and creating the material you need, in order to achieve the goal of the course.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2014\u00a0Add a certificate<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Certificates give added value to your course, a sense of achievement to the student and certify your expert users as such. Expert product users with certification can act as promoters of your products. They can suggest or implement your product internally to their organization or offer their services in relation to the product. See how Hubspot certifies users and the market for Hubspot certified freelancers.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-601\" src=\"https:\/\/chatra.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/hubspotacademyjpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1212\" srcset=\"https:\/\/chatra.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/hubspotacademyjpg.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/chatra.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/hubspotacademyjpg-300x227.jpg 300w, https:\/\/chatra.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/hubspotacademyjpg-768x582.jpg 768w, https:\/\/chatra.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/hubspotacademyjpg-1024x776.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sample Certificate from the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/academy.hubspot.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hubspot Academy<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Creating the perfect course structure<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What separates courses from any other type of content is a combination of several types of media alongside educational reinforcement. In simple words, having a combination of text, video and quizzes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here is a sample course structure. Repeat the structure for as many sections as needed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Course Subject<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Section 1 &#8211; Focusing on one topic or goal<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Intro Video<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Short Video on a specific subject (1-5 minutes each)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Text (ebook, pdf, etc) &#8211; repeating the knowledge of the video in a different form<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Test of knowledge (quiz, exam, challenge or assignment)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">End with a final test and a certificate of completion.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s that easy!<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Creating an Online Academy really benefits you<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Creating a step-by-step course promotes a gradual structure of knowledge and helps you to educate your customers. An academy is a collection of courses all enhancing your brand image and establishing you as a market leader!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But, there are several other benefits:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Y<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">our students can see the beginning, the middle, and end of your information, contrary to web pages, blogs, or email campaigns. And a good course platform tracks progress letting people know which activities are completed, so they know where to return and how to move forward towards a goal.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An online academy creates a strong customer community, increases conversion rates, reduces your customer churn, and increases user satisfaction.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Online courses give the opportunity of self-discovery. Learners can freely navigate your content at their own pace and scope instead of passively absorbing it.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Are you ready to launch your own customer education academy?<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>About the author:<\/strong> Anthea is a Course designer and Content Creator for the LearnWorlds team. She has years of experience in instructional design and teaching, with a Master of Education (M.Ed.) focused in Modern Teaching Methods &amp; ICT (Information &amp; Communications Technology). Anthea has created most courses for the LearnWorlds Academy and is frequently writing about elearning.<\/span><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is a guest post from\u00a0Anthea Papadopoulou.\u00a0 In today\u2019s uber competitive markets, each company is fighting for their customer\u2019s attention, time and budget. So, what if I told you that you can nail all three of those with a single solution? Launching an academy is the single most powerful action you can take for building [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":602,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[55,49,56],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chatra.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chatra.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chatra.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chatra.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chatra.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=599"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/chatra.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":675,"href":"https:\/\/chatra.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599\/revisions\/675"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chatra.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chatra.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chatra.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chatra.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}