G2 University Certifications: A Behind-the-Scenes Look

If you look at G2 University (G2U) today, it’s a one-stop shop for courses providing best practices, how-tos, and getting started guides. It also hosts three on-demand certifications for marketing and sales professionals to get qualified and maximize their G2 experience.

But, rewind the clock to early summer of 2023, and these certifications were nothing but an idea, a guiding light that we were reaching toward. 

G2U was still a work in progress, and while the vision was clear, the road to realizing it was just beginning.

The beginning of G2U

When I joined G2 as the Customer Education and Marketing Manager in August 2022, G2U was just about to launch. In my first month on the job, G2U was introduced to the world, marking a significant milestone for the company and a new domain of responsibility for me. The initial launch focused on providing key courses to our users, but we knew from the outset that offering certifications would be the next step in building our university.

The goal of adding certification options for learners was always in our sights, but first, we needed to build our course catalog and ensure that the content we were offering was both comprehensive and up-to-date. Offering certifications would help increase engagement and establish certificate holders as G2 experts. We also knew that leaning on the need to show off accomplishments and the ability to share certifications would spur others to want to join in on getting certified. 

This period was heads down and all about laying the groundwork—developing courses, refining content, and making sure we were delivering real value. The team knew that by working hard to have a solid foundation, we would be able to successfully launch the new certifications to the public with the biggest splash possible. 

The push begins

In April 2023, the focus shifted. 

With a clear deadline of June 2023, we dug deep and began the dirty work needed to bring G2U certifications to life. 

This was not a task that could be accomplished alone. It was a highly cross-functional project that involved collaboration across multiple teams, including design, copywriting, brand, comms, marketing operations, and dev. 

To get everyone on the same page, we kicked off the project with a meeting involving all key stakeholders.

Defining the certification paths

The first major decision was defining the certification paths to offer. After much discussion, we decided on three distinct paths that would allow learners to become G2U certified: 

• Foundation: Become a G2 Super User. Master everything from profiles through reports and category taxonomy. A must for any G2 user. 
• Marketing: Learn how to optimize and measure the impact of your G2 profile, generate more reviews, build stronger relationships with your customers, and learn best practices for leveraging review content in your marketing campaigns.
• Buyer Intent: Learn how to build a buyer intent strategy, set your team up for success, and maximize the impact of G2’s Buyer Intent to generate more leads and close more deals.

These certification paths were designed to cater to the different needs of G2 users, providing structure and taking them on a learning journey that aligned with areas most relevant to them.

Once the certification paths were established, the next step was to categorize our existing course catalog to fit the details of each path. This involved a careful review of all available content, ensuring that each course was correctly aligned with the learning objectives of the certification it supported.

 We wanted to make sure that learners would have a clear and logical progression through the material, ultimately leading them to certification.

Creating quizzes, videos, and expanding access

With the certification paths defined and our courses categorized, it was time to spice up the learning experience. 

I took the lead creating quizzes and videos to accompany the courses. Adding these interactive elements helped reinforce the material and test learners’ understanding. These elements were important in making the certification process both engaging and valuable to learners.

Around this time, we also made an important decision to open up G2U to customers and prospects. 

Originally, G2U had been available only through my.G2, which is only accessible to customers. However, we recognized the impact of increasing prospects’ knowledge of our products and the potential to reach a broader audience by allowing them to access the certifications too. 

To create this, we designed a dedicated landing page with a form that prospects could fill out to gain access to the courses and certifications. This also allowed us to track who was requesting access to G2U outside of the analytics given in our LMS. 

Designing the look and feel

With the courses and certification paths well underway, our attention turned to the look and feel of the certifications themselves. This was a collaborative effort between myself and the design team, where we worked closely to develop certificates and graphics that would be visually appealing and reflective of G2’s brand. 

Given that the launch was planned for June, we decided to incorporate a summer school theme into the design, adding a playful yet professional touch that resonated with our audience.

The summer school theme carried through into the copy that accompanied the launch. Working together with our copywriting team, we crafted messaging that was both informative and entertaining. This theme was particularly evident in the email we sent out on launch day to all customers and prospects, which played on nostalgic summer memories while highlighting the value of getting certified.

Here’s a glimpse of the email we sent:

Internal testing and finishing touches

Once the courses and certifications were fully completed, we moved into the testing phase. We opened up the certifications internally, inviting any interested G2 employee to take the courses and provide feedback. This internal beta testing was crucial, as it allowed us to identify any issues or areas for improvement before the official launch. 

We set a two-week deadline for feedback, giving us enough time to make any necessary updates based on the insights we received.

The final countdown

As the launch date approached, the final pieces began to fall into place. The courses were polished, the certification paths were finalized, and all promotional materials were ready to go. 

On June 14, 2023, we officially launched G2 University Certifications, marking the culmination of months of hard work and collaboration.

Our launch strategy included a series of coordinated communications to ensure maximum visibility. In addition to the launch day email, we followed up with an additional email, two social media posts, a blog announcement, and in-app notifications within my.G2 to direct users to G2U. 

This multi-channel approach helped us reach a wide audience and drive engagement with the new certifications.

The learning continues

Looking back on the journey from concept to launch, it’s clear that the success of G2U Certifications was the result of teamwork. 

As G2U continues to grow and evolve, we remain committed to providing top-notch educational resources and certifications that help professionals take off in their careers. The launch of G2U Certifications was just the beginning, and I’m excited to see where this journey takes us next.

Want to start (or continue!) your own G2 University journey? Click here to dive into the courses and certifications that we’ve created with you and your goals in mind.