e-Learning Marketing

We know from experience: e-learning is not only a way for companies to impart knowledge, but also an effective marketing tool.

The primary goal of e-learning is the high-quality delivery of learning content. We have explained in detail elsewhere what elements are needed to achieve this goal – e-didactics, interactivity, storytelling or the targeted addressing of motivational factors. This time we will focus on an aspect of e-learning that is often ignored in the discussion: e-learning as a marketing tool. Well-done e-learning is much more than a high-quality continuing education option. Companies that invest in e-learning also strengthen their marketing clout – and on several levels. e-learning marketing acts as a turbo for internal and external communication measures. To demonstrate the power of e-learning marketing, we pick out three opportunities of e-learning marketing for companies below.

The time when companies could draw from a pool of experts is over. As a rule, today it is the well-educated applicants who can choose their employers. For companies, this means that they have to position themselves on the market as attractive employers – “employer branding” is the magic word. e-Learning can contribute significantly to this. Those who provide their employees with high-quality training measures in the form of e-learning offerings automatically strengthen their employer brand and gain a decisive advantage over the competition. If employees are regularly given the opportunity to train themselves independently of time and place, their loyalty to their employer is strengthened. This in turn can lead to higher motivation and better performance.

Even before employees join the company, e-learning can act as a marketing or HR tool. On the one hand, word gets around in the labor market when a company invests in up-to-date training for its employees. This acts as a magnet for knowledge-hungry professionals. On the other hand, e-learning can be integrated as a key element in the application process and help in talent selection. By attaching slimmed-down versions of job simulations to their job advertisements, companies give applicants the opportunity to play through work processes before they send in their documents. This relieves the HR department and increases the quality of applications. Our best practices show how e-learning marketing becomes a recruiting turbo in practice.

In the previous examples, we have dealt with e-learning marketing at the level of employees; now we will turn our attention to the level of customers. Let’s do this with an example: Let’s assume that a company manufactures complex products, such as software or technically sophisticated equipment. The customers are various distribution partners who sell the products to end customers. This is where e-learning comes into play: e-learning offers such as interactive operating instructions or video simulations, which are automatically supplied with the products, make complex products understandable and support sales partners in selling them. This results in three advantages for companies: Firstly, the products appear higher quality, secondly, sales figures are boosted, and thirdly, relationships with distribution partners are strengthened.

The possibilities outlined above clearly show that e-learning marketing is an interdisciplinary field. Not only the eponymous marketing, but also aspects from the sales and HR areas play a decisive role. For companies, this raises the question of how and where e-learning should find its place within the company. Do you need a separate e-learning department or should the training agendas be linked to marketing? Or is e-learning the best fit for HR? Unfortunately, there are no universal answers to questions like these. Where and how e-learning should be positioned in the company depends on size, available resources or company purpose. In any case, it is important that the interdisciplinary and cross-departmental character of e-learning marketing is taken into account when establishing it in the company.

As an e-learning provider with many years of experience in a wide range of industries, we know that it can be challenging to position e-learning within an organization. We help you with this, develop customized e-learning offers for you and find the best strategy for effective e-learning marketing.