At Serebra we will feel strongly about practicing what we preach. Our employees believe in online training and regularly take the courses we offer to our clients. We figure if we want our customers to be excited about our product, then we better start by building excitement internally. This article from 37signals captures our thoughts on the matter: Marketing to your own team.
Developing an effective marketing campaign for your corporate training
Having an effective online corporate training program isn’t just about installing a Learning Management System (LMS) and uploading courses. If you build it, they won’t come. You need an internal marketing plan to get your staff engaged, motivated and on board with the program.
A successfully marketed training program will ensure your investment is fully maximized. You’ll increase the number of staff taking and completing online training. By training people in the skills they need, they’ll be more capable, efficient, and productive at their jobs. In addition, they’re likely to feel more motivated and appreciated at work. It’s a win-win for all!
Here are a few strategies we recommend to help you increase awareness and acceptance of your program, while ensuring maximum use of online training.
It’s important to think about marketing early on in the process – not after your LMS has been built and the courses are all set to take. We recommend you start thinking about an internal marketing strategy at the project initiation stage. This gives you plenty of time to map out an effective plan and to execute efficiently and effectively.
Develop your own training brand
Your company has its own unique brand, culture and product – your training program should reflect that. We highly recommend customizing your LMS with your company’s look and feel, giving your training program its own personality. Branding your educational portal will help make the program part of the company culture and can go a long way to helping learners adopt online learning. Plays on learning or training words mixed with terms related to your company or industry are always a good way to start!
No one wants to feel like they’re wasting time or doing a task that’s not helpful to their job. Be sure to select courses that are going to make a difference to your learners. Offer them skills that will make them more knowledgeable and capable at what they do. It’s also important to regularly update your courses to ensure they remain up-to-date.
In addition, and probably most important, show employees taking online learning directly impacts career growth and development. Clearly demonstrate to your staff that online learning impacts performance reviews, promotions, bonuses, and opportunity within your organization.
No program can be truly successful without someone championing it and pushing it along. The same goes for online learning. Find someone (this might be you!) who is passionate about learning and have them act as your in-house learning cheerleader. By simply demonstrating passion, that person will help make the program successful – passion is contagious! To really go above-and-beyond, have them become the “guru” of e-learning in your organization and:
Develop useful and interesting collateral
Pre-campaign: Items such as teaser emails, posters and a monthly newsletter will help get people interested and accustomed to the idea of online learning.
Launch: To make a big deal of the start of your company’s online learning program try some or all of the following:
Online learning is still new for a lot of people. They need to see that it’s simple, easy to use, and convenient. We suggest a hands-on demonstration to kick things off. Invite everyone to a free lunch and show them first-hand how easy it is to take courses online!
Ongoing: Once you’ve got things rolling, keep up the momentum!
Maintain executive-level support
The team at Serebra is crazy about learning - we like to read about it, write about it, and pass along things we think are interesting. We're committed to excellence, dedicated to innovation, and determined to make a positive impact on the world through our passion for education.
