You’ve heard the old phrase, “Content is King.” But in our current enterprise learning landscape, it really should be updated to “Custom Content is King.”
Today, top companies are investing heavily in content. Many have discovered the power of content marketing to attract online visitors and convert them to leads and, eventually, customers by delivering informative, useful information. Fewer have taken the next step and leveraged the same tactics to train employees and existing customers. Whether you’re teaching a client about your new software, aligning employees on branding standards, or assisting an inbound lead generation program, custom content is what enables you to back up your conversations with powerful follow through. Without it, there is an inevitable disconnect.
In the past, generic e-learning was delivered to an end-user sitting behind a desktop. Today, people consume all kinds of content from many devices including laptops, tablets, phones and even watches. People digest new information in streaming feeds on social media. The paradigm has long since shifted. Today’s best content is an art form that must play well on all devices. It includes video and microlearning, as the message must capture the intended audience in increasingly shorter time periods. It has to meet the client wherever they happen to be.
Custom e-learning courseware can benefit clients, employees and marketing initiatives.
For existing clients, custom content will continue to educate them on your solutions and capabilities as your business evolves. If done right, it can give them a mechanism to contribute to the next generation of improvements.
For employees, the benefit is staying up-to-date and knowledgeable about company branding, new products and services, and the ability to position your solution in a unique way. Your employees are the living face of your organization, and it’s crucial that they know, better than anyone else, what you do, how you do it, and what makes your company the best there is.
On the marketing side, making rich, engaging content available through multiple channels helps build brand awareness and can help you capture potential clients. Busy executives searching for solutions go to the web first to research and in most cases are attracted to content that resonates with them. The same is true of employees and your existing customer base.
One recent example of custom content in action saw a well-known hospitality golfing company create a virtual environment for an upcoming tournament. Based on the user’s role and permissions, a person would enter this environment and experience what it would be like to be on the green. From a marketing perspective, attendees could view the clubhouse and grounds and even take a swing from the tee box. From management’s view, each person would be able to see their work area, determine staffing needs and play multiple scenarios for the event. And employees and volunteers could benefit by seeing where they would be stationed and practice their tasks in a simulated environment. This use of custom content, which can take many forms, provided countless benefits and contributed to the overall success of the tournament.
Because the company had invested in multifaceted multimedia that was unique and specific to their goals, they were able to engage potential customers, managers and employees from the same interface.
