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Let's Talk Community & LMS Integration
Happy new year! As we kick off 2024, I'm curious about how you're weaving communities and LMS platforms together to create engaging experiences for your customers. If you're running both, I'd love to hear about your integration strategy.
• Do you guide customers to the community first for connection and then the LMS for deeper product learning?
• Do your searches fetch both posts and training content?
• Do you use single sign on (SSO) to get from one to the other?
My previous org used an LMS for community and learning. My new org uses SFDC Sites for community and Docebo for learning, so I'm trying to figure out the best way to make it a seamless experience for customers. TY!
@Kristine Kukich will probably share when she can.
I’ve done this multiple times. I think it’s always important to make the system work seamlessly for customers, but I’ve found they can be understanding when you are transparent and put time into the relationship.
As with every resource available to customers, it’s really important for the Community Manager to know what they can access and how.
I’ve found that in a lot of cases, the LMS is shared with customers first, because they need certain certifications or training, but when Community is shared early in onboarding it might be first. I haven’t noticed a major difference in enrollment or participation based on this alone.
I did have the LMS include community a link where they could and share community links/resources in their documentation, course material, and emails.
From the community, it was very easy to find the LMS as well. We even created an integration for points earned from certifications.
We did not have a federal search, only community posts would show up, but when they mentioned the LMS or courses, I’d hyperlink it to make it easy.
We also used SSO but in the cases where I couldn’t do that (other roles) I made sure to share the links often, in onboarding for the community, across events, etc.
More than anything, I think it’s important to keep reminding members/customers what is available, so I would rotate links/opportunities/resources in and out of newsletters and pinned posts on the community.
Agree with Mary - single sign on between the two will be key. And federated search is something that I look for as soon as possible. I would also make sure that support and technical docs are a part of the equation so it looks like a triangle of content.
The challenges: (1) UI - different products look different, so it's important to try to get as close as you can in look, feel and behavior for everything. (2) badging and/or gamification - if you decide to go down this route, it can be hard to get the badging to be recognized between community and the LMS, and potential support comments. (3) content consistency - that's a lot of different people creating a lot of different things, so establishing some basic rules can help, even with community posts.
This is great, thank you! I like how you simplified the content by breaking it into the three buckets. Very helpful!
Thanks for asking this @Melissa DiBernardo I know a lot more of us are looking at ways we can further support the post-sales journey. Will you be owning education as well - or does this question come from a place of needing to focus on adoption or retention?