This industry insight is provided by Training 2012 Conference & Expo partner Citrix, providing e-learning platforms for development professionals.
Proper marketing is essential for the health and stamina of a successful training program, and — as people and businesses around the world unlock the power of social media to connect with colleagues, customers and competitors — training managers would be wise to get on board.
Marketing Practice #1: Expand your reach via social media
For both promotion and engagement purposes, social media offers a tremendous opportunity for training organizations. While enterprise training teams have been slow to embrace this concept, smaller organizations seem to have recognized the value of social marketing: In a recent study of small and medium-sized businesses by Osterman Research, Inc. and Quantum Leap Marketing, Inc., 64 percent of the organizations said they will increase their use of social media for promotion and engagement in the coming year.
How we can help: Citrix Online’s GoToTraining solution features social media integrations that allow you to market your classes via Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. You can share links to your registration page and course catalog in two clicks, making it easy to communicate with learners and broaden the reach of your learning offerings.
Marketing Practice #2: Put a monetary value on your training program
Training managers sometimes have a hard time conveying the business value of training programs to CEOs, CFOs and other decision-making executives, who often see learning programs solely as cost centers. As a result, training program budgets are among the first to be slashed in difficult times. But when you charge for your training offerings, you not only help cover your costs (and possibly generate additional revenue), but you also demonstrate the value of your training program.
Think of your learning program like other business transactions, where increased knowledge or enhanced skills are the goods (or services) that you are offering. Your training offerings represent an investment in the development and delivery of intellectual capital that is often critical to the success of your organization and, whether you train customers or internal staff, the value of your knowledge and intellectual capital should be communicated. A great way for businesses to assign value to their training program is simply to charge for it. By monetizing their training programs, businesses can transform their learning programs from cost centers to profit centers, allowing the program to grow and prove its value to the CEO and other executives.
How we can help: Citrix Online’s GoToTraining solution offers RevStream™, an integrated payment processing system that allows you to price your courses, market them to your customers, and collect and process payments automatically.
Marketing and monetization can be keys to the prolonged success of training programs. Sharing class specifics and course material with potential trainees via social media allows you to engage and connect before the session even starts. Additionally, thinking of your training programs as intellectual property enables you to market and sell them in ways that add value and revenue to the programs and your business.
To learn more or to see a demonstration of GoToTraining, visit booth 620 in the expo hall during the Training 2012 Conference & Expo.
