The ASTD Pittsburgh 2004 E-Learning Survey results indicated that many companies are taking steps to market their courses to their learning audiences, but there were still some avenues left unexplored and a few responders were frustrated with a lack of participation.

If we want to show true return at the business results level, the individual learners have to want to learn, and then apply this knowledge in the workplace.
Like selling a product or service to consumers, we need to think in their shoes. Why do you buy a product or service at home? Most buying decisions can be boiled down to items that 1) reduce pain or 2) increase pleasure, or both. While that may seem like an obvious statement, it is sometimes overlooked, especially with internal employee programs. W.I.I.F.M. (What’s In It For Me) should be built into every part of an e-learning strategy.

Marketing Plan

As part of an overall e-learning strategy, the marketing plan can borrow techniques from traditional marketing. We will take a look at some of the basics of marketing a product or service, and adapt it to meet the specialized needs of internal marketing for e-learning. Keep in mind that some of the traditional principles will apply directly, such as if you are increasing customer awareness through e-learning.

Objectives

Like all good plans, we will start with the objectives. What are we trying to accomplish? Most likely, you want to increase participation with your e-learning offerings. Granted, the end goal is really to increase business results, but this is beyond the scope of the marketing plan by itself. The overall e-learning strategy should contain the business results objectives.

The marketing plan objectives should always be measurable. If we decide to increase participation in a certain course, we could say “Increase participation in the XYZ course by 50% by 12/31/2005.” Then, we’ll have to decide how we’re going to measure this. With most Learning Management Systems, there is a reporting system that can query the database for numbers of participants, time spent, test scores, etc. This is probably the most common means for measuring participation.

The Five P’s
Any marketing professional should be able to rattle off the 5 P’s from memory. This breaks the marketing plan down into focused sections to aid us in our development of the plan:

Product
In regard to e-learning, the product is usually either the learning portal or the courses inside.

Positioning
Positioning is typically an external term to describe how you rate amongst other competitors in terms of price, perceived value, and reputation. In e-learning terms, there could still be competition for attention with other employee programs, such as Corporate Wellness programs, or high priority operational tasks.

Place
In traditional terms, place means the distribution channel for getting your product to consumers. For e-learning, this decision is probably already made for you, with the intranet or internet as the distribution channel. If you deliver e-learning via CD, you will need to spend more time considering the best distribution channel.

Price
If you do not charge for courses, this would be irrelevant to you. If you do charge directly or indirectly, pricing goes in hand with positioning, and should be low enough that your customers participate at the rate you specified in the objectives. Pricing is a tricky proposition, and I recommend making a purchase at the corporate level so that e-learning is free to all employees, if possible. Even with a price tag of $0.00, it is still a challenge to get employees to spend their valuable time.

Promotion
Promotion is the mix of advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, and public relations a company uses to pursue its marketing objectives. In e-learning terms, this means a mix of internal advertising, word-of-mouth, and managerial clout.

Internal e-learning advertising is complex. A full gamut of paycheck stuffers, lunchroom signs, online and traditional newsletters are just a few of the methods that you must use to reach out to potential learners (Figure 1 displays a list). Use as many mediums as you can afford, so that you can be sure to reach all of your audience, and the mediums will help to reinforce each other. This is the carrot at the end of the stick, encouraging employees to better themselves and increase their performance through e-learning.

Presentations at meetings
Emails
Flyers or paycheck stuffers
Intranet pages
Newsletters
Physical bulletin boards
Posters in training or meeting rooms
Incentives, such as prizes or certificates

The Big Stick method is Managerial Clout, and it’s a realistic part of corporate politics. Senior management involvement in e-learning strategies is key when employees see their fearless leaders caring about the initiative and supporting it throughout the company. When a message comes from the Chief Learning Officer, asking for (or demanding) more participation, it gets more attention, and some folks will only join if and when it becomes a requirement. One effective way of getting laggards to participate is to send a detailed participation report to managers on a regular basis. Just the fact that subordinates know that they are on a report is enough for some. Others will need further encouragement from their managers and colleagues.

Target Market

Most professionals know what a target market is, and I’d venture to say that most have heard of the categories in Figure 2. These target categories help the e-learning marketing team to understand what motivates each group to participate. For example, the innovators want to think that they’re trying something new, while the late majority and laggards want something that is tried and true. The laggards want testimonials and case studies from other departments or divisions. In-depth knowledge of the target market and their motivations is key to developing an effective marketing plan.

Innovators First 5% - 10% that adopt the product
Early Adopters Next 10% - 15%
Early Majority Next 30%
Late Majority Next 30%
Laggards Remaining 20%

Execution

Executing your marketing plan is just as important as creating it. You may plan to design brochures that are appealing to your target market, but if you do not use a skilled designer, they may be appealing only to you. With a positive attitude and a clear plan, the marketing team should go out and deliver the message through multiple means and discuss the initiative with anyone who will listen.

Results and Measurement

When measurements are established and the marketing plan is launched, the team should begin measuring results right away. By keeping an eye on the measurements, you will be able to make adjustments along the way for things that are working or not panning out.

Non-traditional methods

E-Learning does have some of its own unique challenges, and therefore non-traditional methods may be used. For example, one of the best ways to increase participation is to create a culture that encourages and appreciates people who take advantage of e-learning opportunities on company time. Mentoring, online community, and blended learning are other non-traditional e-learning specific methods that work when planned and executed properly.

Marketing e-learning is about thinking of your learner base as customers. Their commodity is most often time, and the marketing plan should help your customers to make the decision to spend time with your e-learning program, so that they will increase their pleasure and reduce their pains. Overall, you’ll have a happy and more productive workforce if your e-learning program features intuitive systems, engaging content, and a marketing program that lets them know what’s available and, always . . .W.I.I.F.M.

Sheldon Murphy
E-Learning Consultant
Solid State Learning
www.sslearn.com
sheldon@sslearn.com
724-452-6945