Are digital credentials the next viral social trend?

No organization spends money just for the sake of spending money. There is typically a business need behind a purchasing decision, and digital credentials are no exception. Perhaps you’re looking to engage your workforce, or you want to attract new members to your association. Maybe you’re part of a higher ed institution who wants to give a younger generation ownership of their learning. Those are all great reasons to create a digital credentialing program.

But what if you could turn all of those learners into brand evangelists, as well?

Digital credentials and especially digital badges (the visual representation of the skill itself) lend themselves perfectly to sharing on social media. Platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn have all made it very clear - status updates are ok, but sharing photos are better. Not only is the badge a representation of what your organization has to offer its learners, it’s also a representation of the organization itself. If someone earns a badge from your organization and goes so far as to share it with their personal networks, your organization benefits from branding representation with an audience you may not have had the chance to get in front of. That invaluable placement (or, about $8 per every 1,000 organic impressions, based on a conservative industry estimate) allows you to get more bang for your digital credentialing buck. Because your badges become the representation of your expertise and ultimately your brand, every time a new set of eyes see that badge on their social feeds, you benefit from a few (free) seconds of marketing.

Laying the groundwork for an impactful marketing campaign prior to launching your digital credentialing program is a great step to ensuring that your learners share their badges on social media. Our customer success team guides all new customers on how to engage new badge earners on social media, as well as how to encourage them to share their badges on social media.

If you’re interested in learning more about how to create an impactful marketing campaign through digital credentials, watch our webinar titled "How to Promote Your Brand With Digital Credentials," where you’ll hear how IBM saved over $10M in marketing costs by issuing digital credentials.