AnnounceKit is a product announcement and changelog tool that lets e-learning companies like CG Boost notify students about new courses, tutorials, and updates — all from a single, centralized widget embedded on their site. CG Boost, a Blender 3D education platform serving thousands of aspiring CG artists, adopted AnnounceKit to replace scattered newsletters and social media posts with one seamless announcement hub. The result: 50+ posts shared, fewer missed updates, and time saved on manual outreach.
| Company | CG Boost |
| Website | cgboost.com |
| Headquarters | Salzwedel, Sachsen-Anhalt |
| Industry | E-Learning |
| Features Used | Standalone Feed, In-App Feed, Announcement Bar Booster, Pop-Up |
About CG Boost
CG Boost is a Salzwedel-based e-learning company founded by Zach Reinhardt, a professional 3D artist and instructor. The platform offers premium online courses for Blender, the open-source 3D creation suite used by animators, game developers, and digital artists worldwide. CG Boost brings together three core offerings under one brand: CG Boost Academy (structured online courses), CG Boost Challenge (community contests for 3D artists), and CG Boost Magazine (tutorials and videos).
The platform serves thousands of aspiring CG artists at all skill levels — from complete beginners picking up Blender for the first time to intermediate artists looking to sharpen specific techniques. With a mission to help people tell their own stories through 3D animation, CG Boost publishes new course material, tutorial videos, and platform updates on a near-continuous basis.
That high publishing velocity — multiple updates per week across courses, YouTube, and the challenge platform — is exactly what created the communication challenge that led Zach to look for a dedicated announcement tool.
The Challenge
E-learning companies such as CG Boost often face a struggle to announce updates to their customers, especially when there is a high velocity in the improvement of training sources. With many course updates each week, it becomes harder and harder to announce this news and stay in touch with customers.
“AnnounceKit gave us the tools we needed for a reasonable price, to easily keep our audience and customers up-to-date.”
Zach Reinhardt, Founder and Lead Instructor at CG Boost
Since CG Boost is updating their courses regularly, and they post new content on different platforms like YouTube, they had a hard time getting everyone interested up-to-date with their recent news and updates. Zach Reinhardt stated that “First we created a public Notion page, which had the problem that people could not subscribe to updates. Then we looked into Beamer, but it was lacking some features we needed.”
They also tried sending out newsletters or updates on social media and in communities. However, their audience had no centralized place to check for updates and new content. So many people were missing out on new additions to their courses or new videos on YouTube. This led them to have fewer people convert into customers.
The Solution
AnnounceKit gave them the tools they needed for a reasonable price, to easily keep their audience and customers up-to-date.
With a mission to educate, CG Boost uses AnnounceKit to have a single place for product updates and feature announcements, in which their customers can see the new videos, sources, tutorials, and other news.
“The main purpose was to keep our audience up-to-date with all new content and updates in one place,” said Zach Reinhardt. And since they implemented it on all their websites, one can access it from anywhere on their site. With the small notification icon popping up on their landing page, which is also highly visible, no one will miss the updates!
“If you want a hassle-free way of getting everyone in your audience on the same page — what is new and what updates you have — AnnounceKit is a great choice.”
Zach Reinhardt, Founder and Lead Instructor at CG Boost
They wanted a place to announce product updates with customers and gather feedback from them to improve their product. Since they can now collect user feedback with each AnnounceKit post, they can see how happy people are with the updates and content they post.
They use features like standalone feed and in-app feed widgets to inform all of their audience about their fantastic news, and they use eye-catching widgets and pop-ups to take the attention of their audience.
How CG Boost Set Up AnnounceKit
One of the most practical aspects of CG Boost’s AnnounceKit implementation is that they deployed multiple widget types across their entire site network — ensuring that every visitor, regardless of which CG Boost property they land on, sees the latest announcements. Here is how each feature fits into their workflow:
Standalone Feed
CG Boost uses the Standalone Feed as their primary announcement hub — a dedicated page-style changelog that lives on their site and is accessible at any time. This is where Zach’s team publishes new course drops, major platform updates, and milestone announcements. Because the Standalone Feed is always visible (rather than requiring a click to open), it works especially well for students who visit the site specifically to check what is new. It also makes the announcement history browsable, so a student who has been away for a few weeks can quickly scan everything they missed.
In-App Feed Widget
The In-App Feed is embedded directly in the CG Boost Academy interface, so students see a notification badge the moment they log in. When Zach’s team publishes a new lesson, updates an existing course module, or adds a community challenge, the badge increments and catches the student’s eye without any interruption. This is the key mechanism that reduced the number of students who were missing updates — the notification is in-context, visible at the exact moment a student is thinking about their learning. AnnounceKit’s in-app widget approach means no extra email needed; the update reaches the student exactly where they already are.
Announcement Bar Booster and Pop-Up
For time-sensitive announcements — a flash sale on a new course bundle, a deadline for the monthly 3D challenge, or a major platform change — CG Boost deploys the Announcement Bar Booster and Pop-Up widgets. These surface high-priority messages at the top of the page or in a focused overlay, ensuring that even casual visitors who don’t click the notification icon cannot miss critical news. Zach’s team keeps these reserved for genuinely important announcements, which preserves their effectiveness and prevents notification fatigue.
The Outcome
“Before using AnnounceKit, we had a hard time getting everyone interested up-to-date with their recent news and updates,” Zach says. That’s why they chose AnnounceKit to keep their audience engaged.
Across CG Boost Academy, CG Boost Challenge, and CG Boost Magazine, the CG Boost team builds stronger and deeper relationships with their customers through AnnounceKit’s all-in-one platform to announce product updates.
Lastly, Zach’s experience with customer support speaks to AnnounceKit’s hands-on onboarding: “One thing that satisfied me the most was the super quick and helpful customer support. Since due to my lack of knowledge in dealing with code, I had some issues implementing the AnnounceKit widget on some of my sites. The team at AnnounceKit quickly took over and set everything up for me. And they are listening when you have any feedback on how to improve it.”
“Our audience had no centralized place to check for updates and new content before using AnnounceKit.”
Zach Reinhardt, Founder and Lead Instructor at CG Boost
Results: What Changed for CG Boost
Since adopting AnnounceKit, CG Boost has seen concrete improvements in how their audience stays connected with the platform. The most measurable outcome: 50+ posts shared through AnnounceKit, which previously would have required 50+ separate email blasts, social media posts, or Notion page updates — each with inconsistent reach and no way to know who actually saw the news.
Beyond the post count, Zach’s team reports several qualitative wins that matter to a fast-moving e-learning business:
- Fewer missed updates: The in-app notification badge ensures active students see new course material on their next login, eliminating the gap between “we published it” and “students know about it.”
- Time saved on manual outreach: Publishing once to AnnounceKit replaces the need to send emails, post in communities, and update social channels separately. Zach’s team now publishes once and reaches everyone.
- Feedback loop enabled: AnnounceKit’s reaction and feedback features let students respond directly to announcements, giving the CG Boost team signal on which updates resonate most.
- Consistent cross-platform presence: Because the widget is deployed across all CG Boost properties, a student visiting any part of the platform sees the same up-to-date announcement feed.
For an e-learning platform where course content evolves weekly, the ability to communicate updates reliably — without relying on students to check email or follow social accounts — has a direct impact on student engagement and course completion rates.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did CG Boost choose AnnounceKit over other tools?
CG Boost evaluated several options before choosing AnnounceKit. They first tried a public Notion page, but it did not allow students to subscribe to updates. They then looked at Beamer, but found it was missing features they needed. AnnounceKit offered the right combination of widget types (standalone feed, in-app feed, announcement bar, pop-up), pricing that fit a growing e-learning business, and hands-on customer support that helped Zach’s team get everything implemented without requiring deep technical knowledge.
Which AnnounceKit features does CG Boost use?
CG Boost uses four AnnounceKit features: the Standalone Feed for a browsable announcement archive, the In-App Feed widget for in-context notifications inside CG Boost Academy, the Announcement Bar Booster for sitewide banners on time-sensitive news, and the Pop-Up widget for high-priority alerts. Together, these four touchpoints ensure that every student — regardless of how they interact with the CG Boost platform — has a way to see the latest updates.
How does AnnounceKit help e-learning platforms announce course updates?
AnnounceKit is a product announcement and changelog tool that lets e-learning platforms publish updates once and surface them across multiple on-site widgets simultaneously. Instead of relying on email open rates or social media algorithms to reach students, the in-app feed badge appears directly inside the learning platform at login — the highest-intent moment for a student. The standalone feed acts as a persistent update log that students can browse at any time. This combination is especially effective for platforms like CG Boost that release new content frequently and need students to act on updates quickly.
What results did CG Boost see after adopting AnnounceKit?
CG Boost has published over 50 announcements through AnnounceKit since adoption, replacing what would have been dozens of separate emails, social posts, and community updates. The team reduced the number of students who were missing new course content, saved significant time on manual outreach, and gained a direct feedback channel through AnnounceKit’s reaction features. Zach Reinhardt specifically highlighted the customer support as a key differentiator — AnnounceKit’s team handled the technical implementation directly when Zach encountered widget setup issues on certain sites.
Is AnnounceKit a good fit for online course platforms?
Yes — AnnounceKit is a strong fit for any online course or e-learning platform that publishes updates frequently and wants students to stay current without relying on email. The in-app feed widget integrates directly into learning management interfaces, the standalone feed works as a persistent changelog students can reference, and the announcement bar and pop-up widgets handle urgent communications like enrollment deadlines or new course launches. CG Boost is one example of an e-learning platform that has made AnnounceKit its primary student communication channel for all product and content updates.
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