WHO SHOULD ‘OWN’ MARKETING FOR LEARNING?

It might come as a surprise to you, but here at MAAS we come up against naysayers every now and again…

The people who don’t believe that marketing for learning is a thing (welp, they’re wrong!)

The people that think they’re doing marketing for learning by sending one email, one time!

And indeed, the people who think marketing for learning is somebody else’s responsibility.

Of all the objections we’ve had, that last one is the one I can understand the most. Organisations have internal communications and marketing teams – who are skilled in marketing and communications, more than the average L&D professional – so shouldn’t marketing our L&D content lie with one of those departments?

I can see the argument. But I disagree. *Pretends to be shocked* While internal comms and marketing are indispensable in their own rights; they do not have the nuanced understanding of L&D, and they aren’t focused on persuading an internal audience (which we should be!) So let’s dig into this a bit more…

L&D vs. INTERNAL COMMS

L&D MARKETING IS ABOUT PERSUSION, NOT JUST INFORMATION

The main similarity between L&D and internal comms is our audience. We are all targeting our internal audience – the employees of the business. But despite this, internal comms still aren’t best placed to assist with marketing for learning. And that is due to the reason we communicate.

There are typically three reasons to communicate with an audience: to educate, to inform or to persuade. Internal communications teams are focused on informing employees about the happenings of the business, or important information. On the other hand, when we’re marketing our learning offering, we’re focusing on persuading our internal audience. We don’t just want to tell people what learning's available, we need to make them want to learn and answer the ‘what’s in it for me?’ question.

L&D vs. MARKETING

L&D’S AUDIENCE IS INTERNAL, NOT EXTERNAL

So, with persuasion on the mind, it might be quite easy to think “okay, marketing can help us then! They’re in the field of persuasion!” And you’re right, they are. But they’re not focusing on the internal audience – they’re looking outside of the business. Encouraging people to engage with your organisation, buy from you, use your services and so on.

And the truth is, your internal audience is likely incredibly different from your external audience. They have different needs, wants and pain points. And that’s why marketing isn’t quite the right fit for marketing L&D either.

CREATING ALLIES, NOT SUBSTITUTES

With that in mind, it’s clear to see why L&D need to own their own marketing, right? As learning professionals, we need to persuade our internal audience to get involved with learning. And as such, we need to take a slightly different approach to both internal comms and marketing.

However, that doesn’t mean we need to operate in a complete silo. Internal communications likely have a tonne of information on your audience, what works for them, what doesn’t, and indeed, what’s happening in the business. Where your marketing team probably has tools, tech and loads of ideas to share with you. So despite the fact we must ‘own’ our own marketing for learning initiatives – we should work with these teams to create real marketing magic (and great learner engagement 😉).

NETWORK EARLY, TO EASE COLLABORATION

For too long now, L&D have worked in silos. Typically, we shy away from networking with other functions. And other functions only come to us when they’re asking for another elearning course. If we want to build a powerful, collaborative relationship with internal comms and marketing – this has to stop. L&D professionals must begin to network early and often, build relationships throughout the organisation and most importantly, establish trust with these critical teams.

Trust building across teams is more than a nice-to-have when it comes to marketing for learning. When these teams – who typically hold the reins on your brand and marketing channels – trust you, you’ll realise that marketing your offering is much easier as well as more effective. No more begging to send out an email, if the powers-that-be are bought into why marketing your L&D offering is important, they’ll be more willing to click send for us!

OWNERSHIP EQUALS IMPACT

As tempting as it may be to shirk off our marketing responsibilities (I know… isn’t there enough on our plates already?!) the only way we’ll get real learning impact is by owning our marketing and controlling the narrative. It is up to us, as learning professionals, to spark interest and desire in our offering, instigate action and engagement, and create long-term advocates for learning within our businesses.

We know that learning is essential to organisational success. But we will be of no value to the organisation if nobody is engaging with our learning. So if you’re ready to build real, lasting engagement with your learning content – it’s time to put your marketing hat on.