I love podcasts. They’re a great way to catch up on new trends and ideas as I drive, walk, or wait in line. One of my favorites is Leading Learning with Jeff Cobb and Celeste Steele. I just finished listening to Benchmarking for Learning Businesses where they discussed new research on what’s top of mind for associations and learning businesses in 2025.
The results of their recent survey align perfectly to what we, at HC, are hearing from our association partners. The study, which surveyed 120 learning businesses (with associations representing 53.3% of respondents), highlights key priorities and challenges for driving member engagement and certification growth.
Top Strategic Goals: Revenue and Growth
The survey found that increasing revenue (30%) and growing enrollments/registrations (28.3%) are the dominant strategic goals for learning businesses in 2025. Together, these two objectives account for nearly 60% of respondents’ primary strategic focus. In my experience, driving revenue and enrollments has always been a top priority, but what’s particularly interesting is what’s driving these goals. Organizations cited three main strategic drivers:
- Being seen as setting the pace in their field (59.3%)
- Meeting evolving learner demands (58.5%)
- Increasing financial sustainability (53.4%)
As the competitive landscape changes and technologies advance, learners and members can research and access resources from around the world. Being at the forefront of industry trends and providing the training individuals and enterprises need are key competitive advantages.
Addressing Key Challenges
The research identified several significant challenges that learning businesses face in achieving their growth objectives:
- Insufficient internal resources (53.8%)
- Limited marketing resources (40.3%)
- Increased competition (37.8%)
These challenges mirror what we’ve heard and observed from our association partners. People are stretched thin and don’t have the capacity to take on new projects. This is particularly true in marketing. Every event, resource, publication, membership offer, and industry story needs coverage and promotion using traditional marketing tactics, digital advertising, social media, paid and organic search, blog articles, and more. These marketing communications drive the revenue and enrollment strategies, and there are rarely enough marketers on staff to meet demand.
As we meet with associations to discuss how we can help develop and implement their certification and learning product strategies, we see their eyes light up when we mention our marketing support services. Associations need strong partners who can complement their internal resources and help them maintain and grow their industry leadership position.
Innovation and Investment Priorities
Looking ahead, learning businesses identified several key areas for investment:
- Enhancing marketing and outreach (58.6%)
- Increasing learner engagement (45.7%)
- Increasing partnership efforts (31%)
We’ve already talked about associations’ need for marketing support services, but engagement and partnerships are also important for growth. We have some great ideas around using data to drive engagement that we shared in a recent webinar: 4 Steps to Winning the Championship of Member Engagement. If you have an hour, it’s worth a watch! In short, I can summarize by saying that understanding your customers’ learning journeys and supporting their pathways through in-product and external nurture efforts is critical to improving the effectiveness of your learning products and improving engagement with your learners.
And let’s not forget about partnerships, which are important for reach and scale. Whether you work with independent instructors, colleges and universities, or corporate partners, this strategy expands your brand recognition, awareness, demand, and distribution by having others promote and implement your training program in their local markets. In HC’s experience, 45-75% of certification prep revenue is generated through our 800+ global training partners and 1300+ corporate partners.
Looking Ahead
The survey also revealed that workforce and employer needs ranked as the most critical trend impacting learning businesses’ strategy in 2025, with a strong focus on job readiness, upskilling, and reskilling. This aligns perfectly with HC’s approach to certification preparation and professional development, driven by an association’s professional body of knowledge, skills, and competencies.
As associations face these challenges and opportunities in 2025, having the right partner becomes increasingly important. With decades of experience, industry-leading learning products, and a comprehensive suite of services, HC is uniquely positioned to help associations achieve their strategic goals, whether that’s increasing revenue, growing enrollments, or maintaining their position as industry leaders in professional development.
There’s nothing we love more than helping associations meet their growth goals. If you’d like to learn more about our products and services, contact us at [email protected] or visit holmescorp.com.
