Summary
Unity, the world’s leading platform for creating and operating real-time 3D experiences, is committed to empowering a new generation of 3D creators from all backgrounds. As part of its social impact program, Unity wanted to offer free platform licenses and training to students and educators around the globe. By partnering with SheerID, the Unity team was able to streamline its existing student offer, expand access to include teachers and institutions, and see a 50%+ increase in offer conversions.
Challenge
Unity knew that early access to its platform, along with training on how to create 3D experiences, helped prepare students for high-growth jobs and introduce its product to potential longtime users. An existing student offer showed signs of success, but verifying eligibility for it was challenging.
Impatient students would abandon the offer since it sometimes required a dozen steps and could take from a few days up to a few weeks. And teachers, a key audience that would champion the platform to their students, were left out altogether.
“Our educator community is really great, and they can be vocal sometimes,” said Leslie Hernandez, Unity’s senior product marketing manager. “They were asking, ‘My students are getting this awesome product from you—why are we not getting it too?’”
Unity needed to find a way to extend the offer to educators while streamlining the verification process for everyone. The company wanted to partner with a vendor who could also help them scale the program globally to give more students and teachers free access to its valuable tools and training.
We got qualitative and quantitative feedback that our existing verification process was too long for our students. We needed something simpler and faster.
Solution
The Unity team began searching for a provider that had experience verifying teachers. SheerID quickly caught their attention as they observed how effectively other software companies used its Audience Network to extend similar offers to educators. The team began to investigate what the application process looked like from their customers’ perspective and found that SheerID checked all their boxes.
“We always take the user’s point of view. Will they find the verification process easy, or will it be cumbersome and drive them to a competitor?” said Leslie. “With SheerID, I knew students and teachers could be verified instantly, get a license immediately, and be ready to roll.”
With SheerID as a partner, Unity set up free individual licenses for students and educators, complete with complimentary access to a marketplace of ready-made components they could use to build 3D experiences more efficiently.
Unity was also able to add a third licensing option that issued up to 200 licenses to every eligible institution through an education grant program. SheerID protected all three offers from discount abuse by ensuring only eligible students and teachers were able to obtain them.
With a streamlined process, protected offers, and an expanded audience, Unity began to spread the word across its website, social media accounts, and retargeting ads with confidence.
With SheerID, I knew students and teachers could be verified instantly, get a license immediately, and be ready to roll.
Results
Partnering with SheerID made a huge impact on successful sign-ups for the Unity student offer. The team saw a 50%+ increase in conversions, with more than 95,000 new students verified by SheerID in the first six months.
Teachers are an inherently smaller audience, but a very engaged one. “We have a Unity Teach Community on Facebook, and educators are our champions,” said Leslie. “They post and share about how Unity has impacted their teaching, and give each other tips and strategies on how to make the most of their free plan.”
After new users sign up, they’re invited to the Unity Learn platform, where over 3,400 self-paced tutorials help them master Unity. Around 40% of students and teachers join the learning platform after first acquiring the license.
This deeper engagement enhances educators’ and students’ skills in real-time 3D development. “Unity’s approach gives every learner the ability to prepare for high-demand careers and makes it more likely they’ll keep using the platform after they graduate,” Leslie said.
The impressive growth of their student offer led Unity doubled-down on their education program. The company renewed a multi-year contract with SheerID that also enabled them to extend the offer to students and teachers in even more countries, including Japan.
Partnering with SheerID has made a big impact on our business. I have monthly meetings with our customer success managers, and right from the get-go, the whole experience has been great.