The Forgotten Element to Learning Program Success

This is the eighth of eight expanded articles from each of the points in the initial article in this newsletter, "L&D is Behind the Times: Here's How We Catch-Up." This article focuses on point #8: Build awareness a.k.a. think like a marketer.

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In L&D we are great at building the things. Learning solutions are our jam. We can design the heck out of a great program with tons of engagement and measurement to boot. But all too often that's where we stop. We forget to build awareness about the program itself.

And no... sending one email about a program with a link buried in the text, even if it includes a fun picture or logo, is not building awareness.

Building awareness happens slowly, over time. We can't tell someone about what we do one time and expect them to be engaged and excited or even remember.

We think about our talent development programs continuously. We know they are engaging, inviting, and powerful. We design offerings that we think will make a difference. But those who we know would benefit from participating don't live in this same brain space. They have other priorities, challenges and stressors. Their days are packed to the brim with meetings, deadlines, and problems to solve. I hate to break it to you, but even if they want to participate in our L&D programs, those other items will always take precedence.

When we send out a single message about a learning offering, even if that message is read or seen, it is quickly swallowed up by the inbox, the daily demands, and the work that must be completed.

Let's be honest, the only time "build it and they will come" worked was in the movie Field of Dreams.

If your intended audience doesn't know about the offerings, it doesn't matter how awesome they are. They could be the most engaging, empowering, and downright magical experiences, but they will never participate because that one message you sent was lost in the busyness of their day.

So, what to do? Think like a marketer.

Here are a few of the tips I've learned over time from experience and by paying attention to my marketing friends:

TIP #1: Include marketing as part of your creation process. Don't stop when you double-check that the content has met the outcomes. Marketing the program is just as much part of the program, and just as important (or maybe more) than the design itself. Add a marketing line item (or two or three) to your project design work and plan how you will get the word out.

TIP #2: Think in terms of campaigns. A campaign promotes a product through a variety of mediums over a period of time. Retailers would never dream of highlighting a new product once and neither should you. Think in terms of multiple touchpoints and multiple mediums for multiple weeks, months, etc. Yes, it will feel like overkill to you, but not to others. Hint: if others start to roll their eyes at you when you tell them the same thing again, that's a sign that you are saying it just about enough.

TIP #3: Include a simple, but strong WIIFM every single time. WIIFM or "What's In It For Me" refers to the reason someone would want to participate. This requires knowing your audience. Why or how will this program solve one of their challenges or ease some of their discomfort? Make the message simple, but powerful and then share it over and over again (see tip #2).

TIP #4: Provide nudges in the right places. This also requires you to know your audience. Where are they going? What are they doing? Where are they running into the challenges that you will help to address? Put nudges, reminders, or simple WIIFM messages in those places. It's even better if you can time them for exactly when they are needed. The ad for cold drinks on a subzero day won't do much, but the same ad outside on a hot day will be much more effective. It's placed right when and where it's needed. How can you apply the same principle to marketing your learning offerings?

TIP #5: Make it effortless. Years ago, I read a Gartner study on customer loyalty. It showed that the more effort a customer has to put into interacting with a product or service, the less loyal and engaged they will be. The same is true for your learning programs. If your program is difficult to find on the company intranet, in the LMS, etc. chances are good that it won't be utilized. In fact, it's more likely that the searcher will pursue another option or abandon the search altogether (remember that thing about competing priorities/lack of time). Make it easy to find and access when the searcher decides to look.

We can't expect our audience to read our minds and know how to use our offerings. That's not their job. Let's stop forgetting that building awareness is part of ours.

What would you add to this list of marketing tips?