Creating a Successful Custom Training Program

In a large organization, it can be daunting to efficiently train new users in email marketing. Gaining the technical skills for navigating your Marketing Automation Platform (MAP) is a critical step, but only one piece that users must understand in order to be successful and responsible email marketers. It also requires knowledge of data privacy and commercial messaging compliance such as GDPR, CCPA, CAN-SPAM. And a command of industry-specific regulations and expertise in your organization’s brand standards.

It can be challenging to offer training across your organization and onboard users that may be new not just to your marketing platform, but also your organization, and perhaps to email marketing in general. But rest assured it can be done successfully. (Listen to Inspired Marketing: Training Users on Eloqua and learn how Medtronic has successfully implemented a custom training program.)

Custom training programs can streamline training for consistently and continuously onboarding new users. Of course that does mean committing to a training budget and resources. But it is an investment that pays off. Mistakes can be costly. And while training won’t eliminate mistakes – we are human – it should reduce those made in ignorance. Mistakes that break data privacy laws or industry regulations can be costly financially and negatively impact the reputation of and trust for your organization and brand. 

Benefits of Custom Training

With custom training you can incorporate use cases that are relevant to your users, explain the rules around governance and cover your organization’s best practices for email marketing.

In many cases, large organizations have a sandbox instance as well as at least one production instance. Conducting training in a sandbox instance mitigates the risk of novice users making customer-facing errors, and it also offers a training environment that replicates your live instance.

Custom training can cover company-specific topics including:

• Naming conventions
• Folder structure
• Templates
• Brand guidelines
• Data hygiene 
• Industry regulations and compliance

Training Delivery

Because people learn differently, offering both live and on-demand options for training is ideal. However, delivering all the information using both methods is a large undertaking. If you need to break it up, consider offering the technical training in both formats and presenting your organization’s specific regulations and best practices on-demand. 

Unless you are offering in-person sessions, break the training into multiple modules that are more easily accessed and assimilated.

Live Training

Online or in classroom cohort training offers the benefits of:

• Interactive session where learners can ask questions.
• A set time that requires a commitment and focus (easier to push on-demand training to “later”).
• Updates to the training script and presentation can be incorporated almost immediately.

On-Demand Training

On-demand training has the benefits of reaching learners:

• Any time and in any time zone – always available.
• On replay – if steps were missed or sections forgotten.

While you may consider recording a live training for your on-demand version, it is best to record a clean take. Questions during a live training, although may be helpful, can be distracting for an on-demand version.

Aligning the Right Training with Roles and Responsibilities

In addition to attending training sessions, access to a production instance should include proof of competency for certain skills such as creating and sending an email to a target audience. This is usually accomplished by requiring “homework” of the learners. Once the learner completes a series of tasks, such as creating a campaign, they submit their homework for review. The learner is either passed and given access to production, or given feedback and required to submit the assignment again until it is 100% correct.

Basic training provides the foundation for the general skills most users need to complete their day-to-day tasks. A complete training program should also include additional advanced modules that users can take to augment their roles and access. Access and permissions should never exceed the need or proven proficiency of a user.

Getting Started and Beyond

Before you think about launching a custom program, be sure you have the time, budget and resources. Launching and maintaining a custom training program is no small feat.

Get Ready 

Be sure you have identified a complete project plan which includes the necessary tasks and resources required to launch and maintain the custom training program: 

• Will you offer live and/or on-demand training?
• Will there be a cost to help offset the training program? If so, how much and how will it be charged?
• How will people sign up for training and progress through the process?
• Who will conduct the live training sessions and how often will they be offered?
• Who will record the on-demand training modules? How will they be recorded and edited?
• What topics will be covered for each session? Who will write the script and create the presentation materials?
• What other resources will be created and available in the training library?
• Where will the videos and training documentation be hosted?
• How will learners submit their homework and who will review it?
• How will learners receive feedback on their homework including when they are approved access?
• Who will provide the access and the correct permissions for each user?

And Go

Once you have defined your project plan, dig in and begin writing and recording. Acknowledge and cheer the launch of the program. As the training begins, the work continues.

In addition to the ongoing review of homework and answering questions by new users, the training itself will always be evolving. You will need to update it as the platform changes, rules and regulations are updated, and your company rebrands. This will impact your training scripts, on-demand videos and your library of training documentation.

Localized Training

When talking about global training, the ultimate program would include live and on-demand training across languages and regions. While there are obvious benefits for your users to be trained in their language and environment, it’s a multifold undertaking. Consider all the assets that need to be translated for each language: scripts and presentation materials, videos and training library documentation. You will need trainers who are both experts in the platform and speak the language. A regional resource will need to review homework, answer questions and maintain the training. While a very worthy goal, understand the total investment thoroughly before moving in this direction.

Offboarding

You’ve taken great care in training users to align with roles and responsibilities. You have invested in an efficient program to mitigate errors. At the other end of the process, don’t forget to revoke access to the MAP for users who leave the company. You may also want to consider a review of users who have not been active for a period of time, and disable their access as well. 

Relationship One has worked with numerous clients in setting up custom training programs from conducting live online and in person training to developing on-demand trainings. Let us know if we can help you develop your custom training program.

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