Build It and Help Them Come to It

Most organizations invest in training, recognizing that when employees buy in to the company’s vision and have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to improve their job, the entire organization succeeds. Not all organizations invest in marketing their training programs as they invest in marketing their services. With a clear plan to build excitement and “market” the value of your training activities, you can maximize the return on your training investment. It’s as simple as, increasing training utilization to increase the knowledge within your organization. We have engaged national audiences ranging from 2,000 learners to 700,000 learners. Below are some of our award-winning methods.

Keep the learner in mind as you design
It is critical to think about the end-user before, during, and after training is launched.

Ensure your learners take advantage of available training by keeping two things in mind during the design phase: accessibility and content value.

First is accessibility. Evaluate how easy is it for learners to find the training portal and how easy is it to find a course relevant to their job. It’s best to begin with the end in mind by working with your technical teams to provide a user-friendly and frictionless training environment. With thousands of courses available, the search functions must be easy to understand and the navigation must use common language. Removing the friction points will ensure that learners can complete their desired task within the training portal successfully. Creating an accessible training experience will keep your audience coming back for more.

Second is the value of the training content. Create a compelling reason for learners to take the training. The training experience itself must also be compelling. How will it help them be successful on the job? What really is in it for them? Do they receive additional compensation, a “pat on the back,” or even a certificate for completing or passing the course? Would they recommend the course to a colleague?

Include only the information they need to know; avoid the temptation to dive into irrelevant details that overwhelm learners. In today’s fast-paced world, you have no more than seven seconds to grab your learner’s attention and another 15-20 minutes before you lose their attention again, so keep your courses brief and to the point.

Create a pilot program
Challenges are inevitable with any training system. Test your system in a small, diverse group first.

Once you’re ready to build excitement and truly market your training, keep in mind the varying audience needs of different generations. Younger generations may have skepticism about the need for training, while older generations may want to stick with established instructor-based training methods. Start with a campaign to help each user group understand the online system. Walk through the system’s navigation with a cross-section of your learner locations and roles. As you do so, you’ll find natural barriers. Once identified, think of ways to improve what the learner experiences, making it easier for all to accomplish their tasks.

Challenges are inevitable with any training system. Include contextual help at the trouble points within the system, such as a pop-up screen that directs users to the next steps. You can also use the tracking functionality of most learning systems to understand how the training is used and where your audience still faces barriers in completing or finding the training.

Build excitement
How you share the message is just as important as the message you share.

Take time to design the message, including words and pictures to clearly demonstrate the message. Some organizations include a theme or specific campaign to build excitement and get employees involved. Have fun and get creative with the message development, and then carry the creativity into the launch plan and beyond.
We’ve seen organizations take various marketing approaches, but here are some of our favorites:

• Create a launch kit, which may include a “backpack” filled with printed and electronic reference materials as a training preview.
• Send e-mail teasers leading up to the training launch, and place posters in high traffic areas within your office.
• Plan a launch or demonstration day, where users can interact with features of their training and ask questions in-person.
• Provide an incentive or create a competitive atmosphere. For some businesses, friendly competition is the best motivator. Offer a prize to the first 25 people who complete the training, or lunch with an executive to the team who achieves the highest score.

Cut through the noise
Make your training standout from the rest, and show your employees why it’s important to them.

Today’s workforce has to do more with less. They are under pressure to accomplish much more with less time and less money. Marketing your training shouldn’t add more pressure to their workday; it should provide a clear direction on how training can make them successful. Help them cut through the noise by offering training options that connect to their needs. Rather than wondering why behaviors haven’t changed, plan to launch training in an engaging way to ensure that the training you provide is accessible with relevant content.

Keep it alive
Once you have their attention, you must work to keep it.

As you begin to peel back the layers of your audience needs, they will begin to provide clear directions for the next steps. Each step will provide more data to keep your audience learning.