As organizations aim to improve employee skills and stay on top of industry trends, the ability to successfully market corporate training solutions to learning and development (L&D) buyers is crucial. To achieve success in their L&D marketing campaigns, training vendors must understand their marketing mix.

A traditional marketing mix outlines the 4 P’s of marketing: product, price, place and promotion. This article explains how to identify these principles for a successful marketing strategy in the corporate training market.

Before You Kick Off Your Marketing Campaign

Before launching a comprehensive marketing campaign, the first step is to identify your L&D marketing mix, or the 4 P’s.

1.      Product.

First, identify what product you’re offering. Your L&D training solution may fall into one of the following categories:

• Learning management system (LMS).
• Online learning library.
• Leadership development.
• Custom content or course development.
• Learning strategy formulation.
• Information technology (IT) and technical training.

When deciding which product to market, consider the product’s value proposition as well as how it specifically resolves a problem in the market today.

2.    Price.

Setting your price can be tricky because you don’t want to price yourself out of what your audience can afford, but you also don’t want to undervalue your training solution.

For example, a strength, weakness, opportunity and threat (SWOT) analysis as well as a competitor review can help corporate training organizations identify the pricing structure of their courses, products or services.

Here are examples of what this structure can look like, depending on the type of solution you are offering:

Courses:

• Enterprise license.
• Per access.
• Per course.
• Per seat.
• Per training kit.
• Per instructor certification

Product (learning technology):

• Enterprise license.
• License per user or range of users.
• Software as a Service (SaaS) per user/period.

Training services (e.g., consultancy, coach/mentor):

• Service-based.
• People-based.
• Time- or sprint-based.
• Project-based.

3.      Place.

Choose where to market your training solution to maximize visibility of both your product and your brand. The goal is to put your product in front of consumers who are actively looking for solutions like yours.

L&D solutions are often marketed and sold in one of the following distribution channels:

• Digitally: 50% of L&D professionals say web search is a very important information source when looking for vendors.
• In person: 53% of L&D professionals say attending an industry conference is a very important information source when looking for vendors.
• On the phone: 54% of L&D professionals say a direct sales outreach is a very important information source when searching and selecting a vendor.

Additionally, marketers should consider both accessibility and localization when determining location. Providing accessible marketing channels as well as location-based considerations, like global reach and cultural differences, can allow viewers to easily consume the information you are providing. This removes a large barrier for viewers when attempting to read and learn from your content.

4.      Promotion.

Determine the channels and the messaging you will use to convince buyers to purchase your product. In L&D marketing, there are several channels that corporate training providers use to reach their target audience, including:

• Email marketing.
• Events (webinars, product demonstrations, conferences and expos, panels).
• Website (banner ads, articles, topic sponsorships).
• Content marketing (e-books, infographics).
• Social media.

Using a tool such as the L&D sales funnel can help guide marketers in selecting which channel they should use based on the buyer’s journey.

Another part of promotion is the messaging used to compel buyers to follow through with a purchase. This messaging should be curated based on the channel being used. In L&D, the message is often conveyed via thought leaders on social media or at events.

Translating the 4 P’s to L&D Marketing Success

Understanding and implementing the 4 P’s of L&D is essential for crafting a successful L&D marketing strategy. By defining your product’s unique value proposition, setting competitive prices, selecting the channels to sell your product and crafting compelling promotional messages, L&D marketers can optimize their marketing strategy to reach the optimal corporate training buyers.

If you need help marketing your training company, let us help connect you with over 250,000 learning and development professionals.

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