The learning and development department at many companies is out of sync with how people consume content. Whether they are employees or clients, people now respond to and consume content in new ways. In a world of Google, SEO and user-generated reviews, companies are increasing their branding efforts to participate in the broader discussion customers and other influencers are having about the brand.

Not being part of that conversation would leave them unnoticed in a world of complex digital marketing. This is why many of our clients are taking lessons from marketing, learning how to position content, present their culture and brand, and keep people’s attention. While many companies are still only looking at completions, the way your learners talk about, share and repurpose your content is another measure of success.

In this new landscape, we see the following:

• Our internal employees are no different from our customers, bloggers and opinion makers we try to influence with marketing content. How learners evaluate the quality and usefulness of such content must inform how we approach designing training and educational content. As consumers, learners are used to widespread marketing campaigns driven by rich media and informative content, often with contributions from outside experts and other consumers.
• We are vying for our learner’s attention in a noisy environment filled with content we don’t control. We are competing with external marketing, and must struggle to stay consistent with brand-based communication pieces and active C-level communication that reach our learners through social media.

Meeting the Challenge

We believe that training organizations can and should rise to the opportunity this new landscape demands. If we accept that the content we create for internal usage must be as noticeable as and deeper than what we market, then we should start evaluating our efforts along those lines. For example:

• Is our design consistent in look and feel with our branding and marketing visuals?
• Do we provide learners with shareable objects they can reuse or distribute from the courseware?
• Do we incorporate rich media or gamification elements to create more engagement with our content?
• Does our content create moments of insight for our learners about our brand and its products? Is it adding to existing content in a deeper or more thoughtful manner?
• Are we short and to the point? (With the understanding that short content can stand on its own, and long content is rarely consumed in its entirety).

Changing how we design will meet our learner expectations by aligning us with the way content is consumed. The opportunity rests in our ability to cut through the noise. We have often heard that content on our clients’ LMS becomes a graveyard for learning that never happened. To avoid content graveyards, we can follow some of the best practices leading companies are using to stand out.

• Create a landing page that looks and feels like your marketing websites to introduce your content.
• Think of your learning or curriculum as a campaign, much like in marketing. It is your job to create awareness and build motivation and enthusiasm, giving your audience an opportunity to engage and have a voice.
• The investment your company makes in educating employees is part of your brand. Consumers like buying products from good companies, and good companies empower and train their team members.
• How well is your training organization branded internally? Does your training come across as a necessary evil, or does it become a place for employee engagement and learning?
• Much like in marketing, best-in-class training organizations encourage brand ambassadors. What your learners will get out of the training is a reflection of the worth you are producing for your organization.

So how is your training branded internally? Does your education content stack up to your marketing content?

Is your company doing all it can to engage employees? Read the whitepaper Engaged Employees Provide the Best Customer Experience.