Survey Reveals How Learning Organizations Reach Learners

Mountain View, CA – October 14, 2008 – Expertus, a global provider of services that optimize the business impact of learning, recently announced the findings from its survey, Internal Marketing for Corporate Training Programs. The study surveyed training executives to understand how companies use marketing to promote participation in internal training programs. Among the findings is a useful breakdown on the effectiveness and favorability of various marketing tools.

Respondents indicated that email blasts are the most effective marketing activity, followed closely by phone calls and management recommendations. Although using management recommendations isn’t a typical “marketing” technique, management buy-in on training programs clearly has an impact. The lower half of the list includes print newsletters, inter-office mail, and other methods requiring paper or printing.

The proportion of respondents who ranked marketing techniques as “effective” are as follows:

  • Email Blasts – 76%
  • Phone Calls – 71%
  • Management Recommendations – 68%
  • Seminars/Workshops – 64%
  • Webinars – 61%
  • Internal Training Site – 48%
  • LMS Notices – 46%
  • Posters – 46%
  • Direct Mail – 46%
  • Digital Newsletters – 46%
  • Inter-office Mail – 39%
  • Print Newsletters – 25%

View full results here: http://www.trainingefficiency.com/system/files/Survey+Results_Marketing+Training+Internally_
Expertus.pdf.

Respondents indicated that webinars, seminars and workshops that promote training programs receive the most favorable reaction from internal employees. Closely behind webinars and seminars is “management recommendations,” which also ranked highly as an effective marketing activity.

“It was terrific to see what techniques are tried-and-true across different industries and organization types,” said Ramesh Ramani, founder and CEO of Expertus. “While organizations’ marketing techniques will vary for a variety of reasons, we encourage the marketing of programs to internal constituencies – and utilizing management buy-in to full advantage.”

Other relevant findings include:

  • While half of the respondents use different marketing activities for different types of training, 45% market all training programs alike. The remaining 5% do not market individual training programs.
  • Responses indicate that, regardless of the technique used (email blasts, posters, internal website updates), HR or training departments are responsible for performing most marketing activities, and external vendors are used less than 5% of the time. In varying degrees, internal marketing departments sometimes help support these marketing activities.
  • 60% of organizations that take the initiative to market programs measure the effectiveness of campaigns. For those that do measure the effectiveness of marketing activities, surveys are a prevalent source of information.

The survey had 73 qualified respondents, all internal corporate training and development professionals whose organizations widely varied in size, scope of resources, budget and other applicable factors.

To view the full results of the study and comprehensive charts, visit http://www.trainingefficiency.com/system/files/Survey+Results_Marketing+Training+Internally_
Expertus.pdf.

About Expertus
Expertus is the leading global provider of services that optimize the business impact of learning. For more than a decade, the firm’s 500+ learning management professionals have defined and implemented plans, processes and technologies that transform training organizations – creating measurable value for the world’s most successful corporations. Clients include ADP, Cisco, ConocoPhillips, EMC, Honeywell and Lockheed Martin. Every day at these and other companies, more than a million employees, customers and business partners are educated as a result of Expertus’ innovative business strategies, outsourcing services and technology-rich solutions.

Based in Silicon Valley, Expertus serves its clients from offices in the US, UK and India. For more information, visit www.expertus.com, or call toll-free 1-877-827-8160.