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The customer education landscape
Who gets offered training, who actually uses it, and how formats and staffing have shifted since 2019.
2024 Research Report · Forrester Consulting × Intellum
Customer Education Benchmarks, Trends & Total Economic Impact
Intellum commissioned Forrester Consulting to survey 300 customer education decision-makers. The result is the clearest picture yet of what education programs cost, what they return, and what separates the programs that win.
- 48-page report
- Three-year ROI analysis
- 2019 vs. 2024 comparisons
Download the full report
Every chart, every benchmark, and the full findings.
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The headline numbers
Customer education pays for itself. Fast.
372%
Three-year ROI from a customer education program, modeled for a $1B composite organization
7 mo.
Payback period on the program investment
96%
Of organizations have broken even or seen a positive return on customer education
38.3%
Average increase in adoption of products targeted by training
Source: A commissioned Total Economic Impact™ study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Intellum, May 2024. Base: 300 US customer education decision-makers.
Spending trend
Investment has nearly tripled since 2017.
Average annual spend on customer education rose from $401K in 2017 to $1.1M in 2024. Decision-makers expect it to double again, to $2.2M, by 2026.
Where that money is going has changed too. The full report breaks down the shift in formats, staffing and partners since 2019.
Base: 300 US customer education decision-makers. 2026 is respondents’ projection.
Inside the full report
Five chapters. Dozens of benchmarks.
Compare your program against 300 peers, then use the data to build your business case.
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The benefits, measured
Ten business outcomes, from lifetime value and win rates to support costs, plus a three-year ROI analysis.
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The challenges
98% of teams have hit obstacles. See which ones are most common, and which hurt satisfaction and demand.
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What high-success programs do differently
How the top performers formalize their programs and work with vendors, compared side by side with the bottom.
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The future of customer education
AI adoption timelines, the use cases teams are planning, and where budgets are headed next.
Plus
Five recommendations from Forrester
Practical next steps, the full methodology, and respondent demographics.
Get the full reportHigh success vs. low success
The best programs nearly double the results of the rest.
High-success organizations see a 52.4% lift in adoption of trained products. Low-success organizations see 28.3%. The full report shows the gap across eleven outcomes, and the two decisions that drive it.
High successLow success
Increase in adoption of products targeted by training
10 more outcomes in the full report
Unlock the benchmarksAbout the research
Independent data from 300 decision-makers.
In February and March 2024, Forrester Consulting surveyed 300 US customer education decision-makers at enterprises and small and mid-size businesses, on behalf of Intellum. The study refreshes a 2019 Intellum-commissioned study, so many results compare five years of change.
Respondents
300
Fieldwork
Feb–Mar 2024
Conducted by
Forrester Consulting
Cite this research
Forrester Consulting. “Drive Business Success Through Customer Education: 2024 Customer Education Benchmarks, Trends, and Total Economic Impact.” A commissioned study conducted on behalf of Intellum, May 2024. https://www.intellum.com/resources/2024-customer-education-forrester-report
Journalists and analysts: please link to this page when citing statistics from the report.
Frequently asked questions
What is the ROI of customer education?
Forrester’s Total Economic Impact™ analysis modeled a customer education program at a composite organization with $1 billion in annual revenue. It found a 372% three-year ROI, a net present value of $14.1 million, and a payback period of 7 months.
How much do companies spend on customer education?
Average annual spending on customer education reached $1.1 million in 2024, up from $401,000 in 2017. Decision-makers expect it to reach $2.2 million by 2026.
Do customer education programs pay off?
Yes, for nearly everyone. 96% of organizations surveyed have at least broken even on their customer education programs, and 86% report a positive return.
Are companies using AI in customer education?
More than half of decision-makers say their organizations already use AI in their education programs, and 95% expect to within 18 months. The full report details the planned use cases.
Get every benchmark. Build your business case.
Download the full 2024 report and see how your customer education program stacks up.
Download the Full Report