What is a Learning Campaign?
Learning + Marketing = Continuous Learning
A Learning Campaign approaches learning initiatives more like how marketers manage their efforts. That is, rather than thinking of learning delivery and instructional design as applying to the Course or core content, with Learning Campaigns, the learning effort begins with the promotions of the initiative, and incorporates every step of promotion, delivery, core content and post content interactions.
Counter to how most corporate learning is developed, that is, in a linear fashion, a learning campaign can best be thought of like a spring. As the journey passes the same place, it is actually a different level of learning, which reflects and incorporates the new perspectives, insights, questions, and experiences, based on what has transpired before.
Thus, there is a progressive nature to the learning content being delivered, and it is to be delivered over time, not in one concentrated effort.
Furthermore, everything connected with the initiative is treated as part of the learning effort. This means that promotion isn't a one-shot email blast, for example, which simply announces the availability of new learning offerings. Instead, a multi-modality effort should be launched, which starts introducing content, benefits and rationales for why someone should care about learning and using this information. This promotional content actually starts the knowledge transfer and builds the "why" for someone to consume this learning.
The promotions and the core content will leverage personas, so that there is a degree of personalization, related to what matters to that individual, rather than what the learning department wants the person to know or do.
The efforts continue after the inaugural interaction (with a course, ILT, micro-learning, etc.), again referencing the idea of the spring. Learning isn't a "one & done." Rather, it continues to evolve and grow and feed on the new experiences and perspectives the learners have gained.
In addition, a marketing component continues beyond someone completing some core content. Rather than traditional approaches to spaced repetition, the communications for a learning campaign will accomplish this in a more applicable, persona driven, and relevant way. The ongoing benefits will be emphasized, and tying the content to real-world application, rather than a sort of private trivia game which tests if someone remembers a stat or isolated detail.
When combining the LMS with marketing automation, the best results can be achieved. Marketing automation tools are built to streamline the scalability and sustainability of delivering, tracking and optimizing interactions, so that future promotions and version deliveries are properly aligned with your learners. Additionally, these technologies integrate well with the companies' Business Intelligence tools, accelerating Learning's ability to prove ROI.
