Episode Transcript
[00:00:10] Welcome to the Natural Marketer podcast. I am your digital marketing specialist and host, Victoria Smith, the hashtag natural marketer and owner of V. Smith Media, a digital marketing company based out of Oakland, Tennessee. This is a guide to help small businesses create a valuable digital footprint. Affordably, I believe that innovation makes businesses stronger. I strive to provide solutions that help small businesses thrive, and my core foundation is built for growth, simplicity and value for every business I partner with. Each episode is a new overview of elements that develop a valuable digital footprint for any small business owner.
[00:00:49] In this episode, I will introduce you to the untapped power of learning content and how small businesses can use it to expand their brand and leverage their expertise to drive awareness and sales.
[00:01:01] In today's digital landscape, small businesses face the constant challenge of standing out from the crowd. While traditional marketing strategies can be effective, often one overlooked approach offers a multitude of benefits. Creating learning content did you know that learning content is simply any form of media that informs, educates and empowers your target audience? It goes beyond traditional advertising, focusing on providing valuable knowledge that resonates with your customers needs and interest. This fosters engagement, builds trust and ultimately positions your brand as a thought leader in your industry.
[00:01:39] There are many benefits to why a small business should consider learning content.
[00:01:44] Here's my top reasons why learning content is a great way to build trust and establish expertise. By providing valuable information and insights relevant to target audience, your businesses position itself as a reliable source of knowledge. Offering free learning content, especially on topics related to your industry and services, demonstrates your commitment to helping customers, not just selling to them. This fosters trust and strengthens brand perception, making customers more likely to choose you over competitors.
[00:02:19] Learning content boosts brand awareness and customer engagement. It's a powerful tool for increasing brand awareness, sharing informative blog posts and social media, embedding tutorial videos on your website and hosting engaging webinars can significantly expand your reach. This attracts new customers who are actively seeking information and positions your business as a thought leader in the field.
[00:02:42] Furthermore, learning content fosters deeper communication with your customers. Interactive resources like quizzes and polls encourage audience participation. Building stronger relationship with your customer base, responding to comments and questions further strengthens the connection. Creating a sense of community around your brand.
[00:03:05] Learning content drives sales and lead generation. While the primary focus on learning content should be the educate and inform, it can also indirectly lead to increased sales and lead generation. By providing valuable solutions to common problems and showcasing your expertise, you position yourself as a Goto choice for customers seeking specific products and services. Additionally, strategically placed call to actions within your learning content can prompt users to take the next step. This could involve signing up for a free trial, scheduling a consultation, or subscribing to your newsletter, ultimately generating valuable leads for your sales team.
[00:03:45] And finally, learning content creates long term value. The benefits of learning content extends beyond immediate sales. By building trust, establishing brand authority and encouraging your audience, learning content creates long term value for your business. Fostering positive customer relationship increases brand loyalty and encourages repeat business to you. Moreover, a consistent flow of valuable content keeps your audience engaged and coming back for more, creating a loyal customer base that fuels sustainable growth.
[00:04:18] So now, before you move on, let me remind you to bookmark the natural marketer podcast as your trusted resource for learning content and resources for small businesses and any expertise that's naturalmarketerpodcast.com. Next, we're going to discuss the art of educating and engaging. Let me give you a deep dive into learning content for marketing for your small business.
[00:04:41] In the everevolving landscape of marketing, capturing attention and building relationships with customers is paramount. Gone are the days of intrusive sales pitches. Today's successful brands are informing, educating and engaging their target audience. This is where learning content comes to the forefront, acting as a powerful tool to nurture leads, build trust and ultimately drive conversions.
[00:05:03] Learning content goes beyond simply providing information. It's about creating experiences that educate, engage and empower your target audience. Effectively crafted learning content addresses specific pain points, answers questions your customers may have and positions your brand as a thought leader in the industry. The key lies in the learning cycle. This model outlines how individuals will hire new knowledge and skills. By incorporating elements of the learning cycle into your content, you can create a truly impactful experience.
[00:05:36] Here are the key stages of a learning cycle and how content marketing can address them.
[00:05:43] Step one planning this stage involves identifying a need or gap in knowledge. Content like blog posts and articles that address common customer challenges can initiate the planning phase.
[00:05:56] Step two acquisition here, individuals actively seek information to fill their knowledge gap.
[00:06:04] Compelling videos, infographics and downloadable guides can facilitate this stage.
[00:06:10] Step three application learners apply the acquired knowledge to solve problems. Case studies, tutorials and webinars can guide them through practical applications.
[00:06:21] Step four evaluation learners assess their understanding and the effectiveness of learning experience. Interactive content like quizzes, polls and surveys can be used for the evaluation phase. By thoroughly integrating elements of the learning cycle into your marketing strategy, you can transform customers from passive viewers into active participants in their own learning journey.
[00:06:43] Learning content comes in a diverse range of formats, each catering to different learning styles and preferences. Here's a closer look at some of the most popular types of learning content, obviously the most popular is blog posts. There are versatile platforms for sharing in depth information, industry standards and insights optimize them with relevant keywords for search engine visibility.
[00:07:08] SEO to attract organic traffic.
[00:07:11] Articles similar to blog posts, but often published on third party websites like LinkedIn, Facebook or industry publications.
[00:07:20] This can broaden your reach and establish your brand as an expert beyond your own domain.
[00:07:25] Ebooks and white papers offer longer downloadable resources that delve into specific topics. They are excellent lead generation tools and establish your brand as a trusted resource as information infographics visually appealing summarizes a complex data. Infographics make information easily digestible and shareable on social media.
[00:07:48] The most popular today is video content. Educational videos encompass various formats like explainer videos, product demonstrations or interviews with industry experts. They engage viewers and cater to visual learners, webinars and live streams, offering interactive learning experiences where you can answer questions and foster real time engagements with your audience.
[00:08:13] Podcasts like this one, of course on demand audio series offer a very convenient way for listeners to learn while multitasking. Case studies and customer testimonials showcase successful partnership and the value delivered to customers. Social proof builds trust and demonstrates your expertise and obviously, interactive content quizzes, polls and other interactive elements not only educate, but also gather valuable data about your audience's preferences.
[00:08:44] Remember, the best format depends on the target audience and the message you want to convey. Consider the demographics, interests and preferred learning styles of your ideal customer when crafting your content strategy.
[00:08:58] You can always get more information by following the natural marketer Digital Footprints 101 blog@vsmithmedia.com for more resources, articles and tips on this topic.
[00:09:13] The power of learning content lies in the ability to resonate with your target audience. Here are my explanations of why tailoring content is crucial for success.
[00:09:22] Learning content increases engagement. Content aligned with your audience's needs and interests will naturally be more engaging. People are more likely to consume, share and act upon content they find relevant and valuable. Learning content builds trust and authority. By addressing specific audience pain points and offering solutions, you can establish yourself as a trusted resource and demonstrate your expertise in the field.
[00:09:48] Learning content improves conversions. Content that speaks directly to your audience needs is more likely to nurture leads and drive conversions.
[00:09:59] When your content offers solutions or guidance, customers are more likely to trust your brand and consider your products and services.
[00:10:06] Learning content is effective segmentation. Tailored content allows you to segment your audience, creating targeted campaigns that resonate with your specific demographics or interest. This results in a more effective use of marketing resources and higher ROI. Return on investment techniques for tailoring content create buyer Personas develop detailed profiles of your ideal customer, including the demographics, challenges and preferred learning styles. Do audience research, conduct surveys, analyze social media conversations and monitor website traffic patterns to understand your audience's interests and needs and most importantly, keyword research. In today's world of algorithms, keywords are the key, no pun intended, to getting the keys in front of everybody. So make sure you do your keyword research.
[00:11:03] Learning content ideas for bottled business assess overcoming common challenges small businesses are the backbone of the global economy, but they also face unique challenges, from attracting customers to meaning finances. Staying competitive in today's market requires resourceful and a strategic approach. This is where learning content comes into play, offering businesses a powerful tool to educate, engage and empower their audience.
[00:11:31] Challenges that small businesses face are often building brand awareness, attracting leads and converting customers customer retention and loyalty establishing quality content marketing as well as social media marketing understanding of their finances and day to day operations and productivity.
[00:11:55] Learning content ideas for these common challenges can be very effective if your challenge is building brand awareness. Consider these content ideas. Blog posts share industry trends, insights and thought leadership pieces to establish you as an expert. Use infographics to visually convey your brand, story, values and unique selling proposition, and of course, video content. Creating engaging videos like company introductions, product demonstrations and customer testimonials will drive more awareness of your brand.
[00:12:31] If your challenge is attracting leads and converting customers, consider ebooks and white papers. They offer valuable downloadable resources in exchange for contact and information generating leads. Utilize case studies which showcase successful client projects to demonstrate your expertise and build trust with potential customers.
[00:12:51] Offer webinars and live streams to host educational webinars on topics relevant to your target audience. Capturing leads through the registration next, if your challenges, customer retention and loyalty, consider content ideas like email newsletters to share exclusive content, industry updates and specific offers to nurture existing customer relationship.
[00:13:14] Create a loyalty program that rewards repeat customers engaging brand loyalty extend customer appreciation campaigns to express gratitude to your customers through personalized messages, discounts and inclusive content.
[00:13:30] If your challenge is content marketing, then you should consider ideas like blog posts to share industry news, tips and tricks guest blogging, which allows you to contribute guest posts to relevant websites to expand your reach and build backlinks and create curated content, which is valuable content from other sources, adding to your own commentary or insights.
[00:13:53] If your challenge with social media marketing content ideas should be behind the scenes, glimpses offer a peek into your company's culture, team and daily operations.
[00:14:03] Consider social media contents to giveaways that encourage engagement and brand awareness through interactive contents and last, user generated content campaigns encourage customers to share their experiences with your brand. Building a sense of community if your challenge in your business is financial management, consider ideas like blog posts offer practical advice on topics like budgeting, saving and managing cash flow webinars that host on financial planning, tax strategies and bookkeeping best practices and of course, ebooks and white papers to provide downloadable resources on specific financial topics relevant to your business.
[00:14:46] And if your challenge is operations and productivity, consider blog posts that share tips on time management, project management and team collaboration video tutorials for demonstrating how to use your products and services effectively and last but not least, case studies to showcase how you have helped other businesses improve their operational efficiency.
[00:15:10] Now that you've got the scope of the opportunities to present learning content now, here are my top picks for learning content success stories. My number one pick is Maz. This SEO company established itself as a thought leader through their blog, the Moz blog, offering valuable content on SEO, content marketing and digital marketing strategies. I get their email daily.
[00:15:34] HubSpot this inbound marketing platform built a strong brand reputation on their extensive library of educational content, including blog posts, ebooks and webinars covering various aspects of marketing and sales.
[00:15:49] I am a HubSpot educated marketer for years still continue to use their content, and most marketers do. They are one of the top trusted resources in marketing.
[00:16:02] Grammarly this grammar checking tool gains significant traction through its engaging social media presence. They share educational content on grammar, writing and communication skills, attracting a large and loyal customer base. If you don't have Grammarly inside your software, you probably should connect it today because it's one of the most powerful grammar checkers inside.
[00:16:27] It's better than that of the ones used within Google Docs or what's it called? Microsoft Word. That was the one I was looking for. I couldn't think of the name, but you get the idea now that you have your choices, benefits and success. Voice of learning content let's chart your course for creating a content calendar for ongoing learning content. This is going to be pretty in depth, but it's going to be a high level overview.
[00:17:01] I just want to make sure you guys are aware of planning and the resources behind it because failure to plan is a plan to fail. That's how I look at life in the marketing industry. A failure to plan is a plan to fail.
[00:17:17] In today's knowledge driven marketplace, learning content has become a powerful tool for businesses to engage and educate their target audience. But consistently creating valuable content can be a daunting task. This is where a content calendar comes in. Acting as a roadmap to your plan and organize your ongoing learning. Content creation so why should you use a content calendar? Going back to what I just said, a failure to plan is a plan to fail. A content calendar offers several key benefits. It's a great organizational tool. It keeps your content creation organized and streamlined, ensuring consistent content flow across various platforms. Planning it helps you plan ahead, allowing you to research topics, schedule content creation, and anticipate potential challenges. Collaboration if you work with a team of content calendar facilitators, easily collaborate by assigning tasks, tracking deadlines, and ensuring everyone stays on the same page.
[00:18:16] And of course, it builds consistency. It promotes consistent content publishing, which is crucial for your audience engagement and brand awareness. I'm going to tell you guys, if I did not have my content calendar for the year already outlined, I would be in line to fail because there is so much content that I love to share and educate my listeners, readers, followers, clients, et cetera. It is important to today's marketing world because there are so many channels that you must engage on. So when you're building your content calendar, I'm going to give you some step by step guide to creating content calendar that works well. And I'm also going to provide you a link in the description for this podcast to give you a link to a template that I acquired via Coschedule. Co schedule is one of my platforms that I love and trust. It is my trusted resource for planning out content. It allows me to create not just my social media, but also my blog content, my email marketing all in one place, but it also provides me analytics as well. So if you're looking for an online content calendar creator, Coschedule.com is a great resource. I trust them, I use them. It is my day to day and you should really pick it up because you can start out free and then it goes up from there. If you want to connect a couple of channels social media channels, you can use it for Google Business profile, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, all the above. But you can start out free with two channels. And you can also incorporate your WordPress website as well as your email marketer, whether it be Mailchimp, constant contact, Activecampaign. Those get added on at no extra cost, so they're not considered social channels, they're your integration. So it works fabulously. I actually just started another client on there, my partner trim radio, and I love it for them because we have so much going on with the radio station that we have to build out that plan. So consider coschedule.com and I'll give you the link for that as well in my description for the podcast. Obviously I get affiliate commissions for that, so please be aware that they are an affiliate of mine and I do use them building your content calendar here is my quick step by step guide to creating your content calendar that works.
[00:20:48] Define your goals and audience start by defining your content marketing goals. If you don't have them, you should definitely consider smart goals. Do you want to generate leads, build brand awareness, or educate your audience? Understanding your goals will guide the type of content you create and channels you utilize. Next, clearly define your target audience. Who are you trying to reach with your learning content? Understand their needs, interest and preferred learning styles will help you tailor your content accordingly.
[00:21:21] Step two choose your tools there are various tools available to create your content calendar, from simple spreadsheets to dedicated content management software. Choose the tools that fit your needs and preferences, ensuring it will ensure it has the features like task management, deadline setting and collaborative opportunities if necessary. Again, that's where co schedule comes into play. Choose that one.
[00:21:47] Identify important dates and events. Always make note of upcoming holidays, industry events and relevant awareness days that your content can be tied to. This can create opportunities for timely, engaging content pieces.
[00:22:03] Step four, brainstorm and plan content ideas based on your goals, audience and identified dates. Brainstorm your various content ideas because considering diversifying your content formats like blog posts, videos and progress to cater to your different learning styles, obviously. Step five, you want to fill that calendar. Start scheduling your content creation by assigning each piece to a due date platform for publication and content format. Again, that goes back to co schedule. You want to utilize it, be realistic with your timelines and allocate sufficient time for research, content creation and editing. Let me touch on that real quick. I plan my year out every October, so October I'm creating for the next year, so October 2024. I'm building my entire content goals and strategy for 2025 by December 1. I am already working on January and February content, getting the research done, creating the channels that I want to promote it on, and extending that out. And then by January 1 when the year kicks off, I'm actually effectively planning and marketing for the next two months thereafter. So March and April is already being put together, so I'm always two months ahead in my planning for my content because there is so much in marketing. Obviously I have so many different markets that I market to and obviously I have a lot of different clientele. So working with the different platforms definitely makes it easier for me, but I always fall back on my co schedule as well as my content spreadsheet that allows me to plan out the year. So you're going to get that in just a minute.
[00:23:47] Step six maintain an update. Your content calendar is not a static document. Regularly monitor progress, track performance, and adjust your strategy as needed. Analyze your audience engagements and refine your content based on their preferences. So for instance, most people think about Super Tuesday, which just happened. Super Tuesday is probably the most political primary of the year. So a lot of people adjusted marketing to relate to that because obviously this year, look at what Taylor Swift did yesterday she put out there. Don't just vote for people that are based on your party. Vote for people know, look like you or act like you. So she put out there in her marketing campaign that hey, I'm a voter, you should be too. But she is such an influencer in today's generation that her words resonate so they listen to her. I'm not going to say, unfortunately, because she is very popular, but we shouldn't listen to celebrities to make those choices. We should listen to experts and things like that. But anyway, you get the point. You should adjust your strategies based on that.
[00:24:54] Here are some additional tips for that. And sorry I'm getting scattered, but it's such an important topic. You always want to repurpose existing content. Don't reinvent the wheel every time.
[00:25:05] When you have so much content like I do, you can repurpose it month after month or year after year. Because if you don't make it effective, then it's not worth using. So whenever I build my content, for instance, infographics. Infographics are timely so they need to be updated. But then you've got cheat sheets. Cheat sheets can be updated on a regular basis, but they are pretty much a static document. Your cheat sheet for building a website, your cheat sheet for content marketing, they're pretty static type of thing, so you can use them year after year.
[00:25:41] Promote your content. Always remember that after you created it, you must put it out there. It's not just something that people are going to pick up easily because there's so much out there. So remember, you don't just create the content, actively promote it across your social channels, email, newsletters and relevant online communities, I. E. My podcast. So again, you must promote that content. And last but not least, remember to track and analyze the results because you want to know how that content landed with people. So by following these steps and adapting them to your specific needs, you can create a robust content calendar that serves as a cornerstone for your ongoing learning. Content creation remember, consistency and adaptation are key to keeping your audience engaged and building a powerful brand preference through valuable learning content.
[00:26:30] Start planning guys. It's effective.
[00:26:33] A failure to plan is a plan to fail below click on the link below for a content template for your content creation that I use regularly. Update on Google Sheets for your convenience. That link is in the description below. Make sure you click that link.
[00:26:49] It is a zip file that you can download, but it goes into word into Google sheets or you can use it in Excel as well.
[00:26:58] All right, now you have the basics on what learning content is, ideas that I have brainstormed and outlining the content. Now it's time to captivate the learner with your key elements of gauging learning content. In today's era of information overload, simply presenting information isn't enough for it to be absorbed and retained. This is particularly true in the realm of a learning content where the goal is not to just inform, but to truly engage the learner and foster their understanding. So what makes learning content truly engaging?
[00:27:33] Here are the key elements that will captivate your audience and transform your content into a powerful learning experience.
[00:27:41] The first element is relevance and value. At the heart of engagement lies relevance. Your learning content should address the specific needs and interests of your target audience, understand their pain points, challenges and goals, and tailor your content to provide value in addressing them. This could involve offering practical solutions, presenting new perspectives, or simply making complex topics easier to grasp, I. E. This topic alone.
[00:28:10] Element two is obviously storytelling, where humans are hardwired to connect with stories. Weaving narratives into your learning content can make information more relatable, memorable and emotionally impactful. Using compelling narratives, case studies, or even financial scenarios to illustrate key concepts and connect with your audience on a deeper level.
[00:28:32] Element three interactive elements passive learning is easily forgettable. Interactive elements encourage active participation and enhance engagement. Consider incorporating quizzes, polls, simulations or even gamification elements to keep your audience actively involved in a learning process.
[00:28:51] That is a fabulous idea. Element four is visually appealing. Design make sure in today's visually driven world, aesthetics matter.
[00:29:01] Use clear and concise language. Incorporate high quality visuals like images, infographics or videos and ensure a user friendly layout to create a visually appealing learning experience. Remember, visual appeal is not only enhances understanding, but also improves overall learning experience. So don't just request an AI image guys, that's my point.
[00:29:25] Element five is offer a variety of formats. Catering to different learning styles is crucial. Don't stick with just one format. Offer a variety of content formats like blog posts, videos, infographics, podcasts and even interactive exercises. Like the cater to different learning preferences and keep your audience engaged. That's where a learning management system comes into play.
[00:29:47] Element six is authenticity and passion. If you're like me and you talk about teaching, you want to make sure that your experience is authentic and you have a passion for what you're teaching.
[00:29:59] I hope that it comes across that I love what I do in marketing and I love creating the content and engaging with people. But most importantly, I love executing plans for my clients and obviously making their bottom lines bigger. And of course, making my bottom line bigger. Money drives everything, right guys?
[00:30:19] So element six of authenticity and passion let your authentic voice shine through. Infuse your content with your passion for the subject matter and genuine desire to share your knowledge. This will create a connection with your audience and make your learning experience more engaging.
[00:30:36] And most importantly, is element eight, your calls to action. Don't leave your audience hanging at the end. Include clear calls to action that would encourage them to take the next step, whether it's applying their newfound knowledge, exploring further resources, or subscribing for more learning content. By incorporating these elements, you can create learning content that truly engages your audience and fosters understanding and drives meaningful learning outcomes. Remember, engaging learning content is not just about conveying information, it's about creating a journey that empowers individuals. It ignites their passion for learning. Now that you've drafted out the elements of your learning content, it's time to craft content that captivates. Using these best practices for effective content creation. In today's digital age, content reigns supreme. Whether you're managing a website, social media pages or online store, consistently creating high quality content is crucial for engaging your audience and achieving your goals. However, navigating the content creation landscape can be overwhelming. To help you stand out. Here are some of the best practices that I follow and you should consider following. The first practice is for any area of marketing is to know your audience. The golden rule applies to everything you do online, and content creation is no exception.
[00:31:59] Before you start churning out content, take the time to understand your target audience. Who are you trying to reach? What are their interests, needs and pain points? What kind of content are they already consuming? And by understanding your audience, you can tailor your learning content to their specific needs and preferences, ensuring it resonates and drives engagement.
[00:32:21] Practice two define your goals. Once you understand your audience, define your content goals. What do you aim to achieve? Do you want to increase brand awareness, generate leads, drive sales, and establish yourself as an industry thought leader? Having clear goals allows you to create content that strategically aligns your objectives and measures it successfully.
[00:32:43] Research and plan we've gone through that very thoroughly today. But don't just jump into content creation blindly. Conduct thorough research on your chosen topic and identify relevant keywords to optimize your content for SEO. This will increase discoverability of your content and track organic traffic. Additionally, planning your content calendar in advance helps you ensure consistency and streamlines the creation process. Going back to that content calendar. Guys, priority number four. Proprietary is quality in the sea of online content, quality reigns supreme.
[00:33:19] Always strive to create well researched, accurate information content. Pay close attention to the grammar, spelling and punctuation.
[00:33:27] Invest in high quality visuals such as images, infographics or videos to enhance your content and improve your user engagement.
[00:33:36] Always remember to promote and share.
[00:33:39] Be consistent and authenticity is key. One of the biggest trends running today in marketing is authenticity and transparency.
[00:33:51] Always remember to let your unique voice and personality shine through your content. Don't try to imitate others. Your audience is looking for genuine connections. So being authentic, transparent and passionate about your topics, chosen topics and your authenticity will resonate with your audience and build stronger relationships. By following these practices and consistently finding your approach, you can create compelling content that engages your audience, achieves your goals and establishes your presence in an ever evolving digital world.
[00:34:21] Remember, content creation is a journey, not a destination.
[00:34:25] Enhance the learning process, experiment and stay passionate about crafting valuable and engaging learning content that truly makes a difference in your audience.
[00:34:37] So now that you've drafted your ideas, crafted your content, now it's time to measure that impact by unveiling the power of learning content. Tracking content creation shouldn't be a one way street. Regularly track and analyze your performance of your content using analytics tools. This allows you to understand what resonates with your audience and what needs improvement based on the data, refine your content strategy and adapt ever changing online landscape.
[00:35:09] Off topic, there is one client that I work with that they are so passionate about, making sure that they are constantly getting that traction coming in, that they're always adding blogs. I think they post on their team in their office. They have 16 people. Believe it's 16. It might be less than that, but it's no more than 16 people. Each one of those people is required to do a blog post for their content. So they are constantly adding content to their website. That drives awareness and they're sharing it out constantly. So between those 16 people, I think twelve of them actually write the content and of their writing that allows them to generate the leads and things like that for what they call their round robin sales team. And it has been so impactful. Their website generates probably 12,000 hits a week, if I believe that was the last number I looked at. Yeah, I think it's about 12,000 hits a week. But because they're using content to drive awareness and educating their people about their specific industry, they're seeing such an impact. And that is relevant to what I'm talking about because they are looking constantly at their analytics. I get an email from the boss probably about once a week going, hey, did you see this? Did you see this? Hey, don't forget to fix this. Little things like that. But they are so passionate about what they do that they're making sure that they're staying on top of it. And I do that with all my partners. I want to make sure that they are passionate about the results and it's not just a stagnant thing. So remember that when you're looking at it.
[00:36:46] So going back to the topic, obviously we're talking about measuring the basis of learning content. In today's knowledge driven world, learning content has become a vital tool for businesses of all sizes. However, simply crafting informative and engaging content is only half the battle. Measuring the impact of your learning content is crucial for understanding its effectiveness, optimizing your strategy and ultimately achieving your desired outcomes.
[00:37:16] This is the importance of measuring learning content impact and exploring the key metrics to track for informed decision making.
[00:37:26] I don't know why I couldn't get that out. Why measure investing in learning content development necessities a commitment to measuring its effectiveness. So why are you going to create it and not see what the outcome is? So here's why.
[00:37:40] If you measure it, you're going to justify your investment. By measuring the impact helps demonstrate the return on investment of your learning content.
[00:37:49] By quantifying the value of your content delivers you to justify further investment and secure necessity resources it improves content quality. Effective measurement provides valuable insights into what resonates with your audience and what needs improvement. Analyzing user engagement and learning outcomes allows you to consistently refine and optimize your content, ensuring it delivers the maximum value.
[00:38:16] It allows you to align with your strategy. Measuring the impact ensures your learning content aligns with your overall business goals. By tracking relevant metrics and you assess how your content contributes to achieving objectives like increase brand awareness, lead generation, customer engagement and employee upskilling.
[00:38:36] It informs future content development options. Data gathered from measuring impact becomes the foundation of informing future content creation strategies. Understanding the audience preferences and learning content outcomes helps tailor future content to better meet the needs and desired goals.
[00:38:58] So what are the metrics that you needed to look at. So here it all depends on the overall purpose and learning of your learning adaptives. However, here are some key metrics across various categories.
[00:39:14] Content consumption metrics include traffic sources track where your audience is discovering your content website, social media, email marketing track unique visitors and page views. Monitor how many unique individuals visit the page that you created, how much time are they spending on that page. Analyze how long your audience spends engaging with each piece of content, indicating their level of interest and depth of engagement.
[00:39:42] Completion rates for longer content like videos and online courses, track the percentage of users who complete the entire experience, not just how long they spent looking at it.
[00:39:55] User engagement metrics includes downloads, social shares, comments and feedbacks, and obviously click through rates if your content includes calls to action. Links like the website pages, landing pages, and product information. Track the percentage of users who actually click on these links, indicating their intent to learn further or take desired actions.
[00:40:17] Metric three for online learning outcomes metrics through your LMS system your LMS is your learning management system. Obviously, pre and post assessments of your course, quizzes, scores and feedbacks from that, and surveys and feedback forms from the online course and lastly, business metrics. Business impact metrics include lead generation track the number of leads generated through your learning content, such as sign ups, free trials, demos, or product consultations demonstrating the effectiveness of your content and attracting potential customers.
[00:40:54] Customer retention and satisfaction. Always analyze customer attention rates or satisfied surveys to see if your learning content contributes to improved customer relationships or brand loyalty.
[00:41:07] Check your employee satisfaction and performance for internal learning content aimed at upskilling customer or employees. Monitor employee satisfaction with the learning experience and check any measurable improvements in job performance, productivity or skill development.
[00:41:25] So, let's go beyond the numbers.
[00:41:27] While mathematical data plays a crucial role in measuring impact, don't overlook the importance of qualitative feedback. Analyze user comments, testimonials, case studies to gain a deeper understanding of how your learning content has impacted of individuals and businesses. This perceptual data paints a richer picture of the value your content delivers beyond the numbers on a spreadsheet and finally a treat. Here is my tools and techniques that I use for measurement. Utilizing the right tools and techniques can streamline your content. Measurement always remember to use a website analytics platform. Obviously, the most popular today is Google Analytics, which provides a comprehensive insight into the website traffic, user behavior and content.
[00:42:17] If you're if you're going more in depth with learning outside of the traditional the blog posts, the infographics, et cetera, et cetera, you might consider a learning management system.
[00:42:30] If you use an LMS system to deliver your development built in, I prefer thinkific and I have a bonus for you. Click the Thinkific link in the description to get a free trial of Thinkific learning management system on me to allow you to explore building a webinar, an online course, or other tools that could be valuable to your content creation. If you're a person that wants to educate your audience with your knowledge expertise, thinkific is a great platform to get started on that. And a bonus is you are hearing it first here. Breaking news breaking news. I have created my first online course for small businesses. Yay. Finally, after two years of considering back and forth what to do, where to go, what's in the next step? The 15 day small business master class boot camp is going to be available May 1.
[00:43:34] So for March and April, you are going to get an opportunity to pre register for the 15 day master class. For small businesses, this is going to be a 15 day course that allows you to update your content and update your awareness for your company. So if you're a small business interested in updating your information, your content, your brand, your everything, then this is going to be a great masterclass for you and I hope to see you there. You can go to vsmith Media to learn more about this. And as a bonus for my podcast listeners, I will be giving out a 10% discount on the next episode. So listen for the next episode for that podcast discount for the 15 day master class. I look forward to hearing you guys again. Seeing you guys again.
[00:44:36] Whatever, you get the point.
[00:44:38] I am off for today. I thank you for listening. I thank you for being a great audience and if you have questions, always remember, you could email me, the natural marketer at V. Smith Media, to answer any questions you have.
[00:44:53] Book a discovery, call, anything you want to do. I am here to answer your questions. I love what I do. I hope that it resonates. And remember, I plan to fail. Failure to plan is a plan to fail. Don't forget that. A failure to plan is a plan to fail. Thanks guys.
