The Do’s to Creating Effective Content for Field Sales and Marketing

You are looking to design a learning course that will have an impact on the learner. The good news is, you have a lot of resources at your fingertips to make it happen. Digital learning makes it possible to use audios, videos, graphics, presentations, polls, quizzes, and real-life simulations to get your learners engaged. Not only that, now your learners have the flexibility to learn at their own time. Nonetheless, there is a caveat. With the shift from traditional to the new modern ways of learning, there is confusion on how to get the results we all want when it comes to course performance. You have to put yourself in the shoes of your learners and create the best learning experience to offer the best material in the market. Here are a few do’s and don't when creating content for your challenge-driven course.

Do:

Be straightforward and to the point

A group of people has decided to take precious time out of their day to take your course. Reward them with quality written content. Your learners are already on information overload. Make your content easy to read and understand. Stay away from rants and information that does not directly relate to the topic at hand. There is such a thing as too much text. Don’t let unnecessary content get in the way of learning. Complicated explanations will get your learner nowhere.

Use storyboards to create an awesome learning experience

Storyboards are the way to plan the structure and framework of your course. Step into the shoes of your learnerс and see what value you can offer them throughout your course. The experience is just as important as the knowledge, if not more.

Make the content practical

The truth is if your learners wanted to just read theories and facts, they would’ve just opened up a blog or buy a book. People are enrolling in your training program to acquire more hands-on experience. Incorporate the idea of challenges to your training. Give your learners the chance to think for themselves with real case simulations. Put their new knowledge into practice.

Know your audience

The most crucial point in creating an effective learning experience is to know who is your training target. Get into their mind and understand their world. Figure out which KPIs they’re aiming to achieve, learn their terminology, use relevant visuals, tell interesting case studies, and share fun antidotes. Build a track that will make your learners excited.

Mix up the content

Using one type of content throughout your whole eLearning course is a great way to guarantee boredom and low completion rates. Get your class engaged by diversifying the type of content. Build the course as if you’re doing it for yourself. Learning is always more engaging when it includes a mix of videos, podcasts, challenges, text, and infographics. Leverage technology to the fullest.

Don’t:

Make it too complicated

People like simplicity. People also like the feeling of accomplishment. Receiving too much information at once makes things complicated, confusing, and leaves the learners overwhelmed. Break down your curriculum into easy-to-digest content. This increases the retention rate and will have your learners enjoy their learning journey rather than dread it.

Misguide your learners

Give your learners’ clear instructions on what to do on a given challenge and any other course activities. Ensure your learner understands what is expected from them to be successful in completing your training. Misguiding your learners will lead them to frustration and often will result in them leaving the course. Provide them all of the necessary information to be successful in your training.

Underestimate the power of feedback

Knowing how your learners experience your course is like finding the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Of course, it is always nice to read all of the positive feedback, but it is the negative feedback that will help your course grow. Look for ways to improve your training material. Remember, you want to create material that will bring value to your audience.

Forget to the power of proof-reading

The biggest pet peeve when it comes to creating content is the tedious task of proof-reading. This is a step in the content creation process that no one can ignore. Sure, you can place a bet on the idea that no one will notice your grammar and spelling mistakes. But believe me, with training material, this is never the case. Learners read your training material diligently to understand your course topic. Being laxed on writing mistakes can lead to huge consequences. For instance, your learners misunderstanding a concept due to a misplaced word. Eliminate the sin of writing mistakes by always ask a few colleagues to proofread your content, it is the little details that can make a big difference.

Put Your Content Live Without Testing It

You know the golden rule to presentations, set up and run through your slides before you present to reduce chances of mistakes and experiencing technical difficulties. Well, the same can be said for eLearning courses. Technical difficulties always find a way to sneak up and break everything. Don’t make the big mistake of putting your content live with detrimental mistakes. Check:

• Does all the content load?
• Does it all look correct?
• Do all the challenges work?
• Are the explanations to help guide the learner through the challenges covered in the previous content?

It’s true, the switch from traditional to modern learning is not fluid

There are things to consider when making content for digital learning. The format and culture of learning are changing. It is important to keep up with the latest trends and be open-minded on how you can incorporate it into your online course. Using these basic guidelines, you will guarantee quality in every piece of learning content you build, giving your learners an exceptional learning experience. Are you designing learning content in a way that will improve performance and minimize negative feedback?