Grab a scrap of paper and a writing utensil – it’s time to participate in something that will improve your courses.
- Think about a marketing campaign that you really like. What makes it stand out in your memory? Identify what works for you and write it down.
- Next, think about an effective learning experience. Why does it work and what do you remember about it? Jot down your answers.
- Now compare your marketing and learning responses. How similar are they?
Marketing and learning teams are, more often than not, working towards the same goal. Both disciplines give the audience a call to action and hope to inspire behavioral change that lasts. So, if we all want the same thing, it follows that we should all work toward that goal together.
Imagine the efficiency of a product launch where the marketing and learning teams combine their time and resources to create exceptional sales tools that serve a dual purpose. First, the tools educate internal teams on the product’s features and value to customers. These polished sales tools also create internal buy-in and generate excitement around the launch – successfully marketing internally while teaching at the same time. Second, the informed employees (think sales people and customer service advisors) can now talk expertly about the products that excite them and point customers to the corresponding, customer-facing, multi-media tools that support the message. All of this is doable when marketing and learning work together on a streamlined approach that delivers a consistent collection of collateral to all audiences.
The same strategy holds true whether we’re teaching the value of an internal process, addressing specific topic knowledge, or helping learners excel at a set of skills. Learners want the marketing messaging presented in an engaging media experience that evokes an emotional response and connects them to the content. Customers want the fact-based, behavior-driven interactions presented in a way that prompts them to buy a product they connect with. Organizations want crisp and consistent messaging for internal and external use that is efficient and effective. While the focus is slightly different for each group, there are echoes of the same elements in all of them. When we strategically offer all of these elements in one cohesive package, we can amplify its impact and gain a greater return on our development investment.
So, if you’re still truncating marketing and learning efforts, question the effectiveness of your processes. Think about your organization’s most successful marketing and learning projects and identify what they have in common. Use that as your springboard to brainstorm new ways of combining internal and external efforts that are, in fact, already striving to reach the same goals.
