Customer education can make or break the trust you’ve worked so hard to build. But too many brands treat it as an afterthought.
Here’s an example. Not too long ago, I subscribed to one of those advanced DNA testing services that promise to help you make better choices for your life and health. The company’s website mentioned a health issue I struggled with, so I was sold. I paid the somewhat hefty fee, uploaded my 23andMe genome into the system, and waited for the results, which I assumed would come through email.
But they didn’t come. I logged into the platform. Nothing there. No instructions. No FAQs. So I emailed support. Support said it’d take up to three days to receive my reports. “Great,” I thought. “Take my $160, waste my time, and then make me wait.” The initial trust that led me to fork out the cash now had cracks in it.
We’ve all been there. You buy something new, you’re excited or anxious or hopeful, and then—nothing. No welcome email. No guidance. No customer education. Just a “good luck” and a receipt. That moment? It’s where trust goes to die.
Smart business owners know better. They don’t assume people will figure things out on their own. They help customers learn before, during, and after the sale. And they don’t treat education like support. They treat it like a strategy—because it works.
Of companies with formal customer education programs, 84% report better customer retention and other amazing results:
- 7.6% average revenue growth.
- 38.3% more product adoption.
- 15.5% reduction in support costs.
When you care enough to educate your customers, they also stay longer. They refer more often. And they have better outcomes. My experiences led me to research how smart founders use education to reach the top of their markets.
Now, I’ll share what I learned with you.
What counts as customer education?
When I think “customer education,” my mind first goes to tutorials, webinars, and help docs. And yes, those are part of it. But customer education shows up all along the journey, whether someone’s new to your world or a longtime customer.
Here are a few examples of where and how to use educational content across the customer journey.
1. Before they buy, lean on “know, like, and trust”
Your customer education goal before someone buys is to beef up your know-like-trust factor. First, get buyers to know you by attracting their interest. Next, help buyers grow to like you by introducing yourself in your voice and staying in touch. Finally, build trust by sending truly useful demand-gen-type content.
Imagine a financial readiness checklist that helps first-time homebuyers understand what they need before applying for a mortgage, or an honest blog post that answers questions people are too embarrassed to ask their doctor.
The best brands don’t gate this knowledge. They give it away freely because they know teaching builds authority, even if it doesn’t immediately result in a sale.
2. During setup and onboarding, create clarity and confidence
This stage is about confidence; it’s where first impressions form.
That DNA company I mentioned tripped up here. You’re almost guaranteed to lose customers if they don’t understand what they bought or how to use or access it.
Include a warm welcome in your onboarding: a guided setup, an email sequence, a Loom walk-through, or a short YouTube series. Setup and onboarding set the tone for the relationship ahead. Each step reinforces the value your new customer just bought into.
Imagine an interactive checklist that walks new customers through their first successful experience step-by-step or a personalized video message from the founder explaining what to expect in the first 30 days.
3. After they’re established, reinforce value and progress
Education doesn’t stop after customers are using your product or service. As you’ll discover in the Wuffes’ case study just a few paragraphs away, education actually matters most after customers are established. It’s when the novelty has worn off and the real work of habit formation begins. Without ongoing education, customers can struggle to see progress or value, leading to churn.
The goal here is reinforcement: helping customers see progress, troubleshoot hiccups, and stick with you. Customers are more likely to stay when they see how their purchase is helping them or when they understand what to expect next.
Customer education here could be troubleshooting guides that address questions before they become frustrations or advanced tips that help long-term customers get even more value from their purchase.
4. While they’re learning and using, embed help where they need it
Some of the best education happens in the quietest ways. When you embed help right where customers need it—through in-product tooltips, walkthroughs, or contextual guidance—you reduce friction while upping the odds that customers will actually use what they paid for. Let customers teach each other through forums or communities, and you’ll build loyalty while reducing your need to provide support.
Here, customer education might look like smart suggestions that appear just when customers need them most, and user-generated content showcasing creative ways to use your product.
Here’s a graphic that captures and summarizes this education-through-the-journey spirit.
Now, let me introduce you to a few brands that treat customer education like the result-generating strategy it can be. When you see their results, I think you’ll want to use customer education, too.
Case study: Building loyalty through strategic customer education
I’ve long heard that the most powerful businesses spring from founders who’ve lived through the problems they’re solving. When personal pain drives business decisions, customer education turns into mission, which is precisely what happened with Wuffes.
In 2020, pet owners Joshua Savinson and Samuel Venning realized there was more marketing than substance in the pet supplement industry. The products on the shelves made big promises but offered little science. Most formulations seemed designed for profit margins, not pet outcomes.
The problem wasn’t just theoretical for them. As dog owners who’d watched their own pets struggle with mobility issues, they knew the consequences of ineffective supplements firsthand. “I’ve been the one carrying my dog up the stairs,” Venning says. “And I’ve also been the one who waited too long to start supplements. I don’t want our customers to feel that regret. That’s why we built Wuffes.”
Wuffes, their answer, is a science-first pet health brand built on research from equine and swine joint care—two fields known for their precision and advanced approaches. Savinson and Venning knew exceptional ingredients alone wouldn’t be enough—all the brands out there said they offered “the best” ingredients. That’s why the pair decided to differentiate by helping pet parents understand what they were buying and why it mattered.
“We saw an education gap,” Savinson says. “Most pet parents didn’t know what to look for in a joint supplement. They were choosing based on price, not clinical data. We wanted to change that, not by lecturing, but by teaching as part of the experience.”
So, how does a pet supplement company turn education into a business advantage? Wuffes’ approach starts before customers even make a purchase.
A quiz that doubles as a data engine
One of Wuffes’ most essential tools is a pre-purchase quiz that asks prospective customers about their dog’s breed, age, weight, symptoms, and mobility history.
On the surface, the quiz guides people to the right product and dosage. But behind the scenes, it’s much more. The quiz feeds directly into Wuffes’ research and development process, flagging trends across breeds, surfacing the need for new formulations, and revealing where customer expectations didn’t match reality. “We’re constantly learning from the quiz responses,” Venning says. “It’s helped us refine packaging, adjust messaging, and even change ingredient levels. Customers feel seen, and we get smarter.”
Vortex Capital also uses education as a differentiator. This boutique advisory firm gives every client a playbook covering investor psychology and pitch structure—”all the things that normally take five phone calls to figure out,” says co-founder Dimitri Dieterle. Rather than leaving clients to work through complex fundraising processes on their own, Vortex proactively addresses the questions and concerns that typically derail deals. This educational approach helps clients understand how investors think and what they’re really looking for. The result? Clients feel prepared, deals close faster, and referrals follow.
Post-purchase, the teaching continues
After someone buys from Wuffes, the education deepens. Early emails tell customers what to expect in the first 15, 30, and 60 days. Two weeks in, an emailed survey asks pet parents if they’ve noticed changes in mobility or mood. The email also includes tips on troubleshooting, like ways to encourage consistency and adjust the dosage slightly for a better response.
Seven days before a subscription renews, Wuffes sends a message prompting customers to reflect on their experience and confirming billing. “You should be seeing early signs of improvement,” the message might say. “Look for easier stair climbs, longer walks, or a smoother gait.”
The goal at this stage is retention, but it’s also recognition. Wuffes wants customers to notice improvements in their pets. That recognition turns users into believers and repeat buyers into loyal advocates. “When people leave reviews saying their 12-year-old Mastiff is playing again, or their 9-year-old Husky is running like a puppy, that’s when we know our approach is working,” Savinson says. “It’s not just about the supplement. It’s about helping people see the change happening right before them.”
This approach has turned education into Wuffes’ stickiest feature: 86% of customers choose subscriptions over one-time purchases. It’s not discounts driving that number—it’s understanding. While too many subscription businesses focus on discounts for saving the deal or making cancellation harder, Wuffes makes continuation easier and more valuable. They flip that script entirely.
The approach works for more than pet supplements, too. Wellness brand Zoul treats every touchpoint before and after the purchase as a chance to offer wisdom. “Even if someone never buys, we want them to leave feeling stronger,” says founder Dr. Ddnard Napattalung, explaining that Zoul’s approach to educational content is conversational and raw—no polished videos, just real stories shared freely, creating genuine brand-customer connections. “Our educational content feels like a conversation between equals, not a lecture,” says Napattalung. “It creates true engagement because we’re also learning alongside them while we share.” That engagement has led to a strong Zoul community that feeds long-term growth—just like with Wuffes.
Transparency and third-party validation
Wuffes is also conducting North America’s largest clinical trial on joint supplements for large-breed dogs. The study measures pain response, range of motion, and overall mobility in osteoarthritic pets. This move is a big deal in an industry where “clinically tested” often means a company tested an ingredient in isolation or on another species. “We wanted to go further than testing just one ingredient,” Savinson says. “We’re testing the full product because that’s what customers deserve.”
The education layer here is just as important. Wuffes publishes key findings, shares updates with its community, and explains what the results mean in plain language. No vague charts. No fluff. Just progress you can understand.
For your business, this might mean being transparent and sharing customer data, case studies with metrics, or third-party verification of product or service effectiveness. The key is proving your claims with evidence that customers can trust and understand.
Your turn: Getting started with customer education
You might be wondering how to bring more strategic education into your customer experience. You don’t need to launch a whole academy or hire a curriculum team. Just follow these pointers.
- Start early. Don’t wait until someone buys to educate. Use your website, social posts, and lead-gen content to teach.
- Examine your customer’s journey. Where do people stall or churn? Add a single educational resource there.
- Review your setup and onboarding. What assumptions are you making about what people know? Find and fill those gaps.
- Ask your support team: What questions do people ask again and again? Turn the answers into short videos or swipeable guides.
- Consider your emails. Are they reminders or reinforcements? Could they do more to teach, guide, and remind?
- If you’re already creating content, consider one question: “What would help someone understand this better and faster?” That’s the start of education—and, by the way, what I do with every single one of my articles.
When you teach well, people are more likely to champion your products. I’ve seen this happen time and time again in my own life, as well as with brands that treat customer education like what it is—a relationship builder, a trust multiplier, and even a lever for growth, a lever, by the way, that costs way less than throwing money at paid ads.
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