Customer education has unusually strong numbers behind it. A 2024 Forrester Consulting study found formalized programs improve top-line revenue by an average of 7.6%, lift adoption of trained-on products by 38.3%, and produce positive ROI for 96% of organizations. Those figures come from a real survey with a stated methodology, which makes them rare in this niche.
Here is the problem this page exists to fix. Most statistics in this niche circulate with no source at all. The famous “viewers retain 95% of a message in video” line appears in vendor guides everywhere, cited by nobody. Numbers from 2019 get quoted as current. Commissioned research gets dressed up as independent.
So this page holds itself to one rule. Every statistic below is dated, linked to the study that produced it, and labeled by who paid for the research. Where a widely quoted number fails that bar, we say so instead of repeating it.
Key Takeaways
– Formal customer education programs improve top-line revenue by an average of 7.6% and product adoption by 38.3% (Forrester Consulting study commissioned by Intellum, 2024, n=300).
– 96% of organizations report positive ROI on customer education investment (same study).
– 73% of customers use self-service at some point, but only 14% of service issues are fully resolved there (Gartner, 2024) – the gap customer education targets.
– On average, only 29% of a customer base engages with training annually (Skilljar 2022 benchmarks) – the biggest untapped lever in most programs.
– Several famous stats in this niche have no locatable source. We list them at the bottom so you stop citing them.
The ROI Statistics: What Customer Education Returns
The strongest dataset in this space is a Forrester Consulting study commissioned by Intellum, published in May 2024. It surveyed 300 decision-makers at US companies in February and March 2024. Commissioned research deserves a label, and it gets one here. Still, Forrester conducted it with a stated sample and method, which beats almost everything else this niche cites.
The findings, verbatim:
| Outcome | Figure |
|---|---|
| Average top-line revenue improvement | 7.6% |
| Organizations reporting positive ROI | 96% |
| Increase in adoption of products targeted by training | 38.3% |
| Customer satisfaction improvement | 26.2% |
| Increase in average lifetime value per trainee | 35% |
| Increase in win rates for new customers | 28.9% |
| Decrease in customer support costs | 15.5% |
Source: Forrester/Intellum study announcement, May 14, 2024.
Two notes for careful readers. First, an earlier 2019 edition of this research found a 6.2% revenue lift; the 6.2% figure still circulates in vendor content, but the 2024 study supersedes it. Quote 7.6%, dated. Second, respondents self-reported these outcomes. That is normal for this kind of survey, and still worth knowing before the numbers go in your board deck.
The Support Statistics: Why Education Beats Documentation Alone
Gartner’s customer service research explains why help centers alone plateau. This is primary-source material:
- 73% of customers use self-service at some point in their service journey – the willingness is there (Gartner, August 2024).
- Only 14% of customer service issues are fully resolved in self-service (same survey, December 2023 fieldwork). The remaining customers escalate to agents anyway, now more frustrated.
- 60% of customer service agents fail to promote self-service (Gartner, June 2025) – the loop reinforces itself.
- Self-service and live chat are projected to surpass traditional channels as top service technologies by 2027 (Gartner, August 2025).
Read together with the Forrester numbers, the story is consistent. Self-service absorbs question volume but resolves a minority of issues. Structured education cuts support costs (the 15.5% figure) by removing the repeat questions upstream. That argument runs in full in our education-first ticket deflection playbook.
The Engagement Statistics: The Benchmark Nobody Brags About
Skilljar’s 2022 Customer Education Benchmarks and Trends Report is a public survey report; label it as Skilljar’s own benchmark research. It contains the most honest number in the niche:
- On average, 29% of a customer user base engages in training annually. Seven in ten customers never touch the academy.
- Among programs with at least one LMS integration, 58% integrate with CRM and 45% with SSO.
- 76% of certification programs never require re-certification, even periodically – most “certified” customers were certified once, years ago.
The 29% engagement figure is the niche’s quiet scandal. It is the strongest argument for delivering education where customers already are (in-product, in the support Messenger, embedded in your pages) instead of in a portal they must remember to visit. That delivery problem is exactly what modern customer training software is built around.
Statistics to Stop Citing
These numbers circulate widely in customer education content and fail the sourcing bar. We checked.
- “Viewers retain 95% of a message in video vs 10% in text.” Quoted in major vendor guides with no citation. No locatable primary study supports these figures; media researchers have publicly questioned the claim’s origin. If you need a video-effectiveness stat, source one from a named study or skip it.
- “6.2% revenue increase from customer education.” Real, but stale – it is the 2019 edition of the Forrester/Intellum research, superseded by the 2024 study’s 7.6%.
- Vendor deflection benchmarks (“20-40% ticket deflection”, “40-70% with AI”). These are helpdesk vendors’ own claims with no independent methodology; each vendor counts “deflected” differently. Usable only when labeled as vendor claims.
- Uncited “customer education market size” figures. Market-size numbers in this niche trace to press summaries of paywalled analyst reports, often with conflicting definitions of the category. Cite the analyst house and year or leave it out.
How to Use These Statistics
Three practical rules keep your business case credible. First, quote the label with the number. “A Forrester Consulting study commissioned by Intellum found…” reads honest and survives due diligence; a naked “studies show” does not. Second, pair the ROI numbers with the engagement benchmark. A 7.6% revenue lift applies to customers your program actually reaches, and the 29% average reach is the constraint to attack first. Third, date everything – this space re-quotes old numbers for years, and a dated citation is how readers know you did not.
For the full picture of what these numbers mean for program design, start with our guide to customer education. If you are building the business case for a tool, the same guide’s measurement section covers which of these figures translate into your own dashboards.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the ROI of customer education?
The best available data: 96% of organizations report positive ROI on customer education (Forrester Consulting study commissioned by Intellum, 2024, n=300 US decision-makers). The same survey measured a 7.6% average revenue improvement, 35% higher lifetime value per trainee, and 15.5% lower support costs. Label the study when you quote it.
Does customer education increase product adoption?
Yes, and it is the largest effect in the dataset: companies reported an average 38.3% increase in adoption of the specific products targeted by training (Forrester/Intellum, 2024). Adoption gains concentrate on what you actually teach, which is an argument for training on your stickiest features first.
What percentage of customers actually use training?
On average, 29% of a customer user base engages in training annually, per Skilljar’s 2022 benchmark survey. Programs that deliver lessons inside the product or support channel rather than a standalone portal are attacking exactly this reach problem.
Are customer education statistics reliable?
Mixed. The Gartner service statistics are independent research. The Forrester/Intellum figures come from a methodologically stated but vendor-commissioned survey. Many other circulating numbers (the “95% video retention” claim, undated market sizes) have no locatable source at all. The reliable move is quoting dated, labeled figures – and dropping any stat that cannot name its study.
How does customer education reduce support costs?
The Forrester/Intellum 2024 study measured a 15.5% average decrease in customer support costs. The mechanism is upstream prevention: trained customers stop filing the repeat how-do-I tickets that documentation alone never retires. Gartner’s finding that only 14% of issues resolve fully in self-service shows how much of that repeat volume exists.
Sources
- Forrester Consulting study commissioned by Intellum – announcement (May 14, 2024)
- Intellum research summary of the 2024 study
- Gartner: only 14% of customer service issues fully resolved in self-service (Aug 2024)
- Gartner: 60% of agents fail to promote self-service (Jun 2025)
- Gartner: self-service and live chat to surpass traditional channels by 2027 (Aug 2025)
- Skilljar 2022 Customer Education Benchmarks and Trends Report (PDF)
