Top 6 Marketing for Learning Tips from Our Most Popular Podcast Episodes

This blog was originally published on 24th January 2023. It has since been updated to reflect our current most popular podcast episodes.

It has been over three years since we launched the Marketing for Learning® podcast, and begun our mission to help L&D professionals implement effective marketing for learning strategies in their organisations. But now we’ve got a whopping 113 episodes under our belt, we thought we’d give you a handy top-tips takeaway from our most listened to episodes. So let’s get stuck in, shall we?

Tip 1: Use marketing for learning to address awareness issues

L&D professionals spend a lot of time talking about their engagement problems. But the truth is, the challenge starts before then. More often than not, L&D have an awareness problem, which is why effective marketing for learning is crucial to gaining attention. Because how can somebody engage with something if they haven't got a clue it exists?

For example, I absolutely love Starbucks' Peach Iced Tea. Some days I wake up and think ‘hmmm, I really fancy a Peach Iced Tea”. But that’s only happened within the last six months or so. And that’s because before then I didn’t know this drink existed. But thanks to a very eye-catching advert in a Starbucks shop window I tried it. And the rest, they say, is history.

This is the exact situation your audience is in. If your learners do not know about your learning offering, how can they engage with it? And you might be thinking “oh, this doesn’t apply to me” because you sent out an email about your learning offering… but the truth is, one email, one time, isn’t enough. Instead, you need to be consistently front-of-mind and present your offering to your people in a multitude of ways. You never know which marketing tactic is going to get an individual’s attention. Take a leaf out of Starbucks’ book – because you could bet your bottom dollar the poster I saw was not their only marketing around Ice Teas!

🎧 Listen to the awareness problem episode now.

Tip 2: Develop a marketing mindset

My one rallying call for L&Ders is this: It’s time to start thinking like a marketer. And the truth is, this has very little to do with doing any marketing at all. Instead, it’s about putting your audience first and being curious. You have to ask a lot of questions; Why? How? Who’s going to benefit from this? What’s in it for them? You have to champion your audience; How does the product/service* help them? Does it meet their needs? Are we appropriately setting their expectations?

Of course, adopting a marketing mindset will allow you to do better marketing. This will stop you pushing out communications that simply say “There’s a new course in the LMS” (yawn… that’s not going to get anyone out of bed in the morning, is it?!) Instead, a marketing mindset will help you publish communications that tap into the needs, wants and pain points of your audience, and get them to take action!

🎧 Listen to the marketing mindset episode now.

Tip 3: Ensure your product x market fit with a value proposition canvas

If you want marketing for learning to really work, you have to make sure your product x market fit is strong. And in layman's terms that means: making sure your product (i.e. everything you offer through L&D in your organisation) meets the needs of your market (i.e. your employees, or learners if you must). And the best way to ensure your product x market fit? Using the value proposition canvas.

The value proposition canvas (VPC) gives you a holistic view of your entire learning market – including your product and your audience. This snapshot view ensures that your product is living up to your audience’s expectations while also ensuring you’re delivering learning that meets the business needs.

🎧 Listen to the value proposition canvas episode now.

Tip 4: Create learning campaigns

This tip directly addresses L&D’s age-old habit of sending one email notification to learners and expecting results. Instead of a one-hit-wonder approach to marketing, learning campaigns unify your message and enable you to consistently deliver this message over a period of time.

To create a learning campaign that truly works, you need to focus on 6 key areas:

1. Goal definition

2. Audience identification

3. Defining your channels and hook

4. Quantifying your resources

5. Planning and executing your campaign

6. Testing and iterating!

Want to learn more about campaigns and how they’ll change the games for your organisation? Get listening to episode 4 of the marketing for learning podcast now.

🎧 Listen to the learning campaigns episode now.

Tip 5: Develop learner personas

I’ll admit, I’m shocked this episode is in the fifth spot. Because I truly believe that learner personas are the backbone of making marketing work for L&D. So what are personas? Simply put, personas are a semi-fictional representation of your target audience. They’re built on research, both qualitative and quantitative, and are designed to help L&D professionals gain a deeper understanding of their employees.

And it’s not just about marketing, personas can also help with your learning design and strategy. So what are you waiting for? Get creating your personas now.

🎧 Listen to the personas episode now.

Tip 6: Answer the ‘what’s in it for me?’ question

We have mentioned ‘what’s in it for me?’ (WIIFM) in every podcast we’ve recorded. Literally. Not because we’re a broken record, but because it is that important. By answering this question from your audience’s point of view, you will be able to craft a message that truly gets them to do whatever you want them to do. Let’s look at an example:

NOT answering the WIIFM:

“Please find our new course on productivity in the LMS. This should take you no longer than 50 minutes to complete”

Answering the WIIFM:

“Want to save three hours a week? Then this productivity course is for you”

See the difference? The most important thing with this tip is to remember that you are answering the WIIFM from your audience's perspective. So that may be your learners, colleagues or peers. What are they going to get from your learning intervention?

🎧 Listen to the WIIFM episode now.

But these are just the tip(s) of the iceberg

Okay, sorry for the terrible joke. But it’s true. These six marketing for learning tips just skim the surface. If you want to learn more about how you can apply marketing to your L&D function, check out the rest of our podcast episodes, or how about checking out our Marketing for L&D training opportunities? Let us help you take your employee engagement to the next level.