Free webinars, instructional videos, e-books, articles: these have been finding their way to the toolbox of digital marketers across various industries for some time now. If you haven’t used e-learning to give your marketing efforts an edge, you should definitely consider doing so.
Here are just a few of many pros of using e-learning for marketing purposes:
1. You build trust and create a relationship with your audience
By openly sharing knowledge and experience, you show that you’re willing to give back and create value without expecting something in exchange right away. This builds trust among current and future customers and helps create a genuine relationship that is not merely transactional.
2. You establish yourself as an industry leader
When you’re out there talking about what you do best and how, you show that you are competent, confident and truly passionate about it. You also demonstrate your interest in your industry’s broader landscape and your wish to become an active part of it, as well as your willingness to initiate dialogue with your peers.
3. You raise awareness about your products and services
E-learning is a great opportunity to present your products and services in a way that is both subtle and provides enough context for your audience to fully understand what you’re about. It’s also a great way to share your experience and provide testimonials from happy customers or describe your approach to solving particular types of problems that your audience faces.
Not convinced yet? Then take a look at the list below. These are some of my favorite examples for successful application of this strategy:
- Amy Porterfield: Digital marketing guru Amy Porterfield argues that building a relationship and creating value, even before you launch your actual offering is especially powerful, because when potential customers are ready to buy, they are already familiar with your offerings and feel like they can trust you. And this is precisely what she does. You can hear more in Episode 263 of her podcast Online Marketing Made Easy: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2ocn7Cqhra3vWgexu2Wgo?si=W50e71lCTvWo6nK_kuWTAQ
- Amanda Horvath: I’ve been dabbling with video creation recently and was looking for some guidance on how to achieve the best quality with as little resources as possible. Being able to produce quality video on a budget is absolutely key in both e-learning and digital marketing, so I highly recommend that you check out Amanda’s educational videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtdyc5E_4Tze3Fa7K0F8Otg
And one personal contribution:
- Novitska Consult: “Successful Sales of IT Products and Services” is mini-series I worked on for an IT Sales consultancy services. This is an e-learning project, that can easily be repurposed for digital marketing.