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All business owners would agree that customer retention is key to surviving and moving forward, especially in highly competitive markets like SaaS. To retain their clients, they spend a generous part of the company’s budget on marketing strategies and product development.
But there’s one more way these companies can successfully build loyalty and safeguard their position in the market– customer education. Customer training can really help companies with complex products create a smooth customer onboarding process and offer training resources that will facilitate product adoption and increase the chances that clients will make the product part of their daily routines.
This is where microlearning comes in.
Microlearning is a training delivery method where learning units are brief (“bite-sized”) – usually between 3 to 7 minutes. Microlearning’s key selling point is that it beats our notoriously short attention spans and keeps learners’ attention.
Despite the bite-sized modules, microlearning is effective as it offers condensed and essential-only information. Therefore, the learner focuses on what they need to learn without getting overwhelmed with peripheral information, achieving higher levels of knowledge retention.
Before we see how microlearning fits into customer education (benefits and best practices), let’s see how microlearning came into play and rose into prominence over the course of the years.
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The Rise of Bite-Sized Courses and Microlearning
The term microlearning was first mentioned in 1963 in a book called “The Economics of Human Resources” by Hector Correa. But it wasn’t until the mid-90s, with the dominance of the internet and the introduction of the first smartphone in 1994, that microlearning timidly appeared as a learning method.
In the late 90s, Google was launched and began changing the way we learn. People would ask Google a question, and several quick answers would appear in the response. The first form of microlearning is officially introduced!
In 2005, YouTube launched and further consolidated the rapid consumption of information and video usage as a way of learning – a medium used extensively in microlearning.
The first iPhone was released in June 2007, sealing the deal for microlearning with the parallel launch of educational apps – most of which offer bite-sized learning modules. The rest is history, with eLearning growing further in popularity after the pandemic in 2020. Today, there are more than 416,000 learning apps in the Apple store alone. “Education” is the third most popular category after “Games,” falling only slightly behind “Business.”
6 Benefits of Using Bite-Sized Courses for Customer Training
The learning experience matters in customer education too. Let’s see some of the most useful benefits of bite-sized learning that prove microlearning is an excellent choice for customer training programs.
1. Customers start using the product faster
One of the primary goals of customer training is to promote product adoption. But the longer it takes for a customer to start using the product, the less likely they’ll use it at all. Microlearning takes less time and effort than long-form courses, helping them get there faster.
Using bite-sized resources, you can break down features and functions to help customers start using your product and complete simple tasks before they explore more advanced features. For example, with a brief, animated how-to video, you can help them set up the software and create their account.
Then, they can gradually move on to complicated functions, always following a similar logic and mapping out a breakdown of steps.
2. Microlearning is effective in imparting practical knowledge
You don’t want to dwell too much on theory and background stories to demonstrate a practical task. Luckily, when there is not much theory involved and complicated learning objectives to meet, you can safely rely on microlearning.
Customers just want to know how to use your product. They need simplified, step-by-step instructions, either written or video. Because microlearning is laser-focused, it fits the bill perfectly. Just make sure to different types of content as people have different learning styles.
3. Customers can learn on the go
Modern learners often prefer to use mobile devices for learning at their own pace and time. Because they are…micro, microlearning resources are usually designed with mobile consumption in mind. This means that the content can be accessed on mobile devices and, most importantly, that it plays well.
In some cases, it might even make more sense for your customers to watch the elearning modules while on mobile than on desktop. For example, if your product is addressed to mobile users too and is usually installed on mobile, learners can learn and practice at the same time. If this is the case, you should seriously consider launching your own mobile app to deliver your customer training.
4. Resources they can use whenever they need
How great is it if your customers can access training resources right when they are about to perform a task and need instructions? Well, with microlearning, this is pretty much what happens because bite-sized content is very easy to consume and digest. There’s nothing to analyze or think about. That makes it all the more important to develop your customer education content with a mobile-first approach!
5. Bite-sized tastes better
It’s one thing to train employees and another to train customers. And although you should always make sure your training courses are…savory, there’s one more reason to do so in customer training – customers aren’t obligated to finish the training. That’s why you need to keep it short and sweet.
If you fail to engage them, you fail to retain them. The more complicated your product is, the more likely this is true. If they can’t go through with their training because it’s bland and boring, they may not be able to utilize your product and derive true value from it.
6. Customers are already overwhelmed
Customer training is best served as nuggets of knowledge rather than the main course. This is because your customers are already mentally and physically overwhelmed by their workload, family obligations, and the sheer amount of information that circulates on social media and the internet. Using microlearning as your learning strategy is one of the most suitable options to attract them to your course and get them to finish it too.
7 Tips for Creating Engaging and Informative Bite-Sized Courses
You probably already know why you should use microlearning in customer education, but perhaps you’re not clear on the how. We’ll unwind this for you. The following content development tips will come in handy when creating bite-sized resources.
1. Keep it short and sweet
It’s not just individual modules that need to be brief – your whole customer training program should also be brief. Imagine the customer signing up for the course and seeing it lasts 8 hours totally. That’s pretty demotivating for a busy person.
If you have multiple or complex features, create different courses for each feature or use case. Customers may not need to explore all these features, so let them choose what they want to learn and not scare them away with a time-consuming course.
2. Repurpose long-form content
A good practice to follow, both budget and timewise, is to use relevant content you already have. You just need to spice them up a bit. If you have a detailed manual or hosted a webinar for the product launch, you can rework them into infographics and instructional videos.
3. Go mobile-first
Mobile and microlearning are often combined in an instructional design. This is because bite-sized learning content is perfect for consumption on the go, which usually happens in between other tasks or during commuting when time is limited.
You can’t go wrong with customer education following a mobile-first approach. Make training as flexible as possible for your customers, so it’s more likely they’ll stick around to explore the course.
4. Use visuals and examples
A good rule of thumb is that bite-sized content should follow one of the core practices of social media content: it should be visually engaging. Think about colorful infographics or interactive videos that link to other resources or ask customers questions. Make your course feel less of a course and more of a fun-to-explore learning hub.
5. Add lots of quizzes
Don’t hesitate to enrich your course with short quizzes for fear of scaring or stressing clients. On the contrary, brief quizzes that assign clients simple tasks will help them learn faster and motivate them to put into practice what they learn on the course.
6. Reward with badges
Combine quizzes with small rewards to increase engagement and motivate learners to reach the next milestone in their learning journey. As small as that may sound, customers will appreciate the praise and the extra effort you added into making this more entertaining for them.
7. Monitor the results
At the end of the day, ask your customers how they prefer to learn. Add a course evaluation survey at the end of the program requesting feedback about the overall structure of the course and the learning material. Ask customers whether they managed to were able to use your product successfully or if they had to turn to your customer support team.
Go Micro for Big Results
Bite-sized learning fits in almost every type of training, even in the form of complementary training resources. When it comes to customer education, you don’t have to think about it twice: keep it short, and customers will stick around to discover your amazing product.
Your best ally? A user-friendly LMS that supports different types of content offers in-depth analytics and marketing features and allows you to create your own mobile app for even more flexibility for your learners!
LearnWorlds is up for the challenge, offering you a 30-day free trial to discover what it can do for you.
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Androniki Koumadoraki
Androniki is a Content Writer at LearnWorlds sharing Instructional Design and marketing tips. With solid experience in B2B writing and technical translation, she is passionate about learning and spreading knowledge. She is also an aspiring yogi, a book nerd, and a talented transponster.
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