Written by Janine Pollack
August 31, 2021
MNI Blog / 4 minute read
eLearning isn't only changing the education industry—it's changing advertising too! Learn how to promote your eLearning business through online marketing.
Believe it or not, eLearning was already on the rise before the pandemic hit and pushed its popularity further ahead. This is because our world is ever-evolving and rapidly changing by the minute, making it crucial for skilled workers to keep up with the latest skills required to perform their jobs. This is especially true in marketing.
According to Forbes, Udemy President Darren Shimkus attributes eLearning's success to the common challenge of identifying emerging skills to compete in the global market. "We're in a world that's changing so quickly that skills that were valued just three or four years ago are no longer relevant." eLearning makes acquiring these skills easier, more convenient, and quick for marketers trying to keep up with the advertising industry. Here's how to implement eLearning, how to market online classes and build an online learning marketing strategy.
The Rise of eLearning During the Pandemic
When the pandemic hit, the education industry had to pivot in almost every way to adjust to the unexpected changes. This included taking students and teachers out of their realm of normalcy in classrooms and replacing them with online learning — everywhere! Moving forward, much isn't expected to change in terms of continuing with eLearning. When diving into what students want, YPulse found that 55% of college students say that schools should have a mix of in-person and remote classes. In fact, colleges have even had to pivot their advertising strategy to gain applicants.
Virtual learning has propelled the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and interactive media into course lessons, as students replace in-person classes with online demonstrations. According to Entrepreneur, digital learning platforms are providing more immersive learning experiences with virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) to "help students understand and retain more of the information [and] gain experience using complex equipment without the risk of making real-life errors."
AI has even driven the creation of software that allows K-12 students to now have more control than ever over their schedule and learning experience. The software examines where the student is and how they're doing with the information to better prepare their lesson plans in a way unique and specific to the student. Also, despite scheduled video calls with their teachers, students now have more time and responsibility to create their schedule for completing homework and classwork assignments.
How eLearning Has Disrupted the Advertising Industry
Education systems are far from the only industry getting disrupted by eLearning since the pandemic. eLearning has also made its way into advertising. This is because marketing training is such a challenge for companies, and eLearning allows companies to integrate online training to improve their sales and marketing.
According to Business Insider, "E-learning is the finest solution any company can opt for to boost the product knowledge, which greatly impacts the sales." This is because elearning digital marketing offers a host of additional benefits including but not limited to the below:
- Helping employees learn marketing on the go; on their own time
- eLearning is less expensive
- Convenience factor
- Personalized learning experience
How to Successfully Promote eLearning Businesses
The first thing you will need to do to successfully promote eLearning businesses is to make sure you know your target audience and define and retarget your audience. Ask yourself: Are you advertising tutoring programs for K-12 students? Their parents? Knowing your audience behaviors and interests will help you better retarget and convert the right users.
The eLearning Industry recommends doing the following after you know your target consumers:
- Sell your learner on the value and uniqueness of your course.
- Promote your course with previews and sneak peeks.
- Remember to communicate consistently with your target market.
- Implement A/B testing in your campaigns to keep up performances.
- Always collect and use feedback and endorsements.
Advertise eLearning Value Propositions
eLearning has successfully upended the education industry because of its flexibility and interactivity with students. eLearning capabilities are much more than they've ever been before now that advanced technology has allowed for more immersive and beneficial experiences to be incorporated into the online educational system.
Ensure to communicate the unique benefits of eLearning in ad campaigns by reaching your target audience with eLearning's unique value propositions. There's a good chance that many people don't know the incredible value online learning can now provide with advanced technology, including:
- Augmented reality
- Virtual reality
- Artificial Intelligence
All of which can give students a more realistic, in-person experience online.
Utilize Social Media
Both students and parents are online more often as a result of the pandemic. This is especially true for social media use. According to Statista, "There was a significant increase in the average time U.S. users spent on social media [after the pandemic]: 65 minutes daily, compared to 54 minutes and 56 minutes the years before." They also report that those changes are expected to "remain stable in the upcoming years."
With that being said, social media platforms are the perfect place to target your audience with eLearning opportunities. Not only are you likely to reach most of your audience as long as you're on the right platforms and trying to form real connections with personalized messaging, but social media provides you with the opportunity to use all forms of communication to promote eLearning — text, images, videos, etc.
Offer eLearning Course Previews & Free Trials
Considering users are wary of investing time and money into learning resources, offer your customers a sneak preview of your eLearning courses and provide information on why eLearning is good. You can do this by utilizing content marketing and testimonials to drive more interest and showcasing positive testimonials in email and other customer communications.
Unlike in-person schools, eLearning businesses have an easier time getting feedback from their users, so you should have plenty to share with your leads. You may also want to implement a feedback survey after each course. Then, you can use this valuable feedback to improve your business by listening to your current customers and making changes and adjustments where necessary. This will ensure that you are continuously improving your eLearning experience for students.
Follow the User Throughout Their Educational Journey
When it comes down to it, communications should be consistent throughout the school year. eLearning advertising should never cease once the user enrolls in a course but rather follow them throughout their educational journey. You can do this by offering future course recommendations, tutoring help, and resources to the student throughout their engagement.
Fortunately, you don't have to go at it alone. MNI Targeted Media's online advertising solutions offer a full-service team with great insight and resources into reaching the right people with your message, developing the perfect eLearning marketing strategy.
This blog is the first in a series of blogs on eLearning.
About the Author
@Janine Pollack is the Integrated Marketing Director at MNI Targeted Media and self-appointed Storyteller in Chief. As content lead for MNI’s Insight Lab, she leads numerous webinars to bring to life the brand's commitment to knowing more so we can do more. Prior to MNI she worked with Fortune 500 companies and world-renowned institutions on thought-leadership events and content.
