New research from LearnUpon highlights a significant increase in organisational investment towards customer education, but also details the challenges companies face in scaling and measuring programme effectiveness.
The findings are based on a global survey of 602 customer experience leaders and practitioners from the United States, United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia. The data, collected by Censuswide, indicates that 92% of organisations are planning to grow their customer education programmes again in 2025, underscoring their rising strategic importance.
Programme scale and maturity
The study reveals that, despite broad recognition of the role of customer education, only 17% of organisations say their education programmes have reached what they consider to be true maturity. While many companies are committed to developing these initiatives, most are still evolving their approach and encountering operational barriers as they expand their customer base.
Of the respondents, 36% stated that customer education plays a critical role in scaling customer support efficiently amidst rapid business growth. However, for more than a third (36%) of organisations, customer education remains a reactive process. Teams in these organisations often extract content from different sources, use makeshift tools, and manage responsibilities across multiple departments, signalling a need for more structured strategies and dedicated resources.
Investment trends
There is a widespread increase in investment. Over the past year, 93% of surveyed companies reported raising their expenditure on customer education programmes. Of these, 33% indicated a significant increase, while 45% cited a moderate rise, and another 16% acknowledged a smaller upward adjustment.
This sustained commitment to developing educational initiatives points to changing attitudes. Organisations no longer view customer education as a supplementary support tool, but rather as a business priority closely aligned with customer retention, interaction, and satisfaction.
Brendan Noud, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of LearnUpon, commented on the changing dynamic, saying:
Customer education has evolved from a support add-on to a strategic imperative. This research confirms what we've long believed; that well-designed learning experiences not only improve customer satisfaction, but also drive long-term loyalty and business growth. As more organisations invest in education, the opportunity now is to shift from reactive programs to scalable, strategic initiatives that truly make an impact on customers and businesses.
Measurement and challenges
Despite the focus and investment, organisations are still wrestling with persistent challenges. According to the survey, 35% of companies cite difficulty in measuring the impact or return on investment (ROI) as one of their biggest hurdles. The lack of reliable metrics and analytics complicates efforts to illustrate the value of customer education to business stakeholders and secure continued funding for further growth.
Additionally, the adoption of customer education platforms remains limited. Only 25% of respondents reported using dedicated customer education platforms such as learning management systems. The majority continue to depend on generic tools, which may hamper their ability to drive engagement, adoption, and knowledge retention across the customer base.
Strategic objectives
Organisations are increasingly focused on making customer education a driver of business outcomes. The research found that for 44% of companies, making support more scalable is a key objective, while 41% prioritise customer retention. This figure rises to 53% among larger companies with over 500 employees, indicating a correlation between organisational scale and investment in education for retention purposes.
The survey also suggests that customer satisfaction, while important, is not regarded as the sole driver for these initiatives. Instead, businesses are concentrating on loyalty, adoption, and reducing support costs as their primary aims for educating their customers.
Outlook
The research indicates a growing consensus within the tech sector and beyond: customer education is rapidly evolving from an add-on service to a core strategic function. Most organisations anticipate continued programme growth throughout 2025 and beyond as they continue to refine their approach and seek more scalable, measurable outcomes.
