Sharing is working; guiding what's next isn't

The learner journey doesn't end when a credential is issued. Encouraging learners to use and share their credentials is an important first step, and it’s one where the industry continues to make progress. But sharing alone isn't enough. As learners continue building their skills and credentials, many are left to navigate what's next on their own, creating an opportunity for issuers to extend their impact beyond issuance.

Learners are sharing their credentials

Organizations have made meaningful progress helping learners activate their credentials. More learners report receiving guidance on how to use and share their credentials than in previous years (67%, up from 57% in 2024), and relatively few report significant barriers to sharing. As a result, credential sharing has become an increasingly common part of the learner experience.

The percentage of learners who share their credentials also serves as a useful industry benchmark. While many organizations see strong sharing rates, the most successful programs consistently outperform the average, suggesting that encouraging and enabling sharing remains an important opportunity to increase credential visibility and impact.

ServiceTitan built its 90%+ credential share rate on purpose: Every certified user who shares a screenshot or link to their shared digital badge gets access to a swag store, and top certification earners receive a custom varsity jacket at the company's annual conference. Learners’ shared digital badges have become an unexpected sales channel — now driving more than 11 click-throughs a week to ServiceTitan's product demo page.

"I was absolutely amazed at the number of click-throughs we get on credential referral links to our prospect demo site," says Danielle Combs, Senior Program Manager for Customer and Partner Relations at ServiceTitan. "We're actually getting deals; we're getting sales from it."

The learner journey doesn't end with sharing

For most learners, earning one credential is the beginning — not the end — of their learning journey. The vast majority (85%) expect to pursue additional credentialed learning over the next two years, reflecting continued investment in developing new skills throughout their careers.

When deciding what to learn next, learners rely on a variety of inputs, including guided pathways (53%), recommendations from their training provider (48%), and employer needs (31%). Translating how learners are deciding on their next course creates another opportunity for issuers to add value beyond the initial credential.

Learners want guidance on what comes next

While learners are eager to continue learning, relatively few organizations actively help them navigate that journey. Although 85% of learners plan to pursue additional credentialed learning, only a small percentage of issuers provide personalized recommendations for what learners should do next.

This represents an opportunity to extend the value of credentialing beyond completion. By recommending relevant learning pathways, complementary credentials, or career-aligned next steps, issuers can help learners build momentum while strengthening long-term engagement with their programs.

The opportunity is to treat completion as a launch point, not a finish line. As Wendy Palmer, Founder and Principal Consultant at Lifelong Learning Practice, writes: "The completion of a microcredential should mark the beginning of new opportunities rather than an endpoint."

One professional education program at a major research university put this into practice. The program surfaced relevant next courses on credential pages (its own and other issuers’ pages, via Accredible’s Recommendations engine) and prominently at the top of CourseFinder, a course search platform, instead of leaving learners to figure out what comes next on their own. Since launching the recommendations, they’ve generated over 5 million impressions with current and future learners — generating over 18,500 additional program referrals — and the share of credential earners who went on to take an additional course grew from roughly 35% to over 50%.

Earning a credential is only the beginning of the learner journey. Organizations have made meaningful progress in helping learners share their credentials, increasing visibility and reinforcing the value of their achievements. But learners aren't stopping there — they're already planning what to learn next. The opportunity now is to build on that momentum by helping learners navigate future learning pathways and continue progressing toward their career goals.