The past year has shown us the importance of digital training. More and more B2B companies today are opting for an eLearning approach when it comes to B2B digital training. Not only that, but skills in marketing have also shifted dramatically in the past couple of years. In this article, you will not only learn how companies are using B2B digital training to its’ best extent but also:
- How skills in marketing have shifted in the last couple of years
- Upskilling and reskilling
- Microlearning
- Gamification
- Learning Management Systems (LMS)
After that, we’ll go over a few conclusions about the current state of B2B digital training, and why it should be the choice for you.
How skills in marketing have shifted in the last couple of years
Marketing skills are shifting. Mobile, marketing automation, and social media skills are far more important nowadays. It seems that in the next couple of years, marketing automation will become one of the most well-paid and important skills.
Microlearning
Learning in small doses is the way of the future. Art Kohn has written in his book ‘’Brain Science: The Forgetting Curve’’ that within an hour people will, on average, forget half of all the information that was presented to them. After 24 hours, 70% of the information will be forgotten, and within a week, it will go up to 90%.
That information has made several companies head towards a microlearning approach. But what is microlearning? While there’s no official microlearning definition, all microlearning-based training shares one key characteristic: being very, very short. This could either be small learning units or short-term learning activities.
Microlearning delivers short bursts of content for learners to study at their convenience. Content can take many forms, from text to full-blown interactive multimedia, but should always be short.
Here are some microlearning content examples:
- Text (phrases, short paragraphs)
- Images (photos, illustrations)
- Videos (of the short variety)
- Audio (short snippets of speech or music)
- Tests and Quizzes
- Games (e.g. simple single-screen challenges)
Gamification
One of the best ways to learn new things is by disguising them as ‘’not work’’. By making training fun, it is much easier for people to learn new things.
Gamification is the application of game-design elements and game principles in non-game contexts. It can also be defined as a set of activities and processes to solve problems by using or applying the characteristics of game elements.
Games and game-like elements have been used to educate, entertain and engage for thousands of years. Some classic game elements are:
- Points are used as visual identifiers of progress
- Badges display achievements
- Leaderboards are used to present competitive placement
Cisco invested heavily in a social media training program for its employees and contractors in 2014. The program consisted of 47 courses. Most of the participants were confused as to where to start. Therefore, the organization planned out a gamify technique by increasing the levels of the certification. They planned out three main levels—strategist, specialist, and master—along with four sub-levels.
Ever since gamification was adopted, almost 13,000 courses have been completed by 650 employees.
Blended learning
Blended learning is an approach to education that combines online educational materials and opportunities for interaction online with webinars. It requires the physical presence of both teacher and student, with some elements of student control over time, place, path, or place.
When applied to B2B digital training, blended learning usually involves:
- A portion of the learning occurs online, with the student being able to manage the pace at which they learn
- Another portion of the learning is instructor-led, usually conducted through webinars, allowing remote learners to engage more easily
Blended learning is beneficial for B2B businesses because:
- It reduces face-to-face training costs, such as travel, accommodation, and printed training materials.
- Companies can use varying eLearning methods, such as webinars, gamification, etc., which result in better learner engagement.
- Blended learning is a more efficient and cost-effective way to train, you’ll see a quicker and greater return on investment.
- It’s also easier to track exactly who has or hasn’t, completed training
Upskilling and reskilling
Let’s take marketing automation, one of the fastest-growing skills by importance.
To give you an idea of how important marketing automation is about to become, by 2025 at least a quarter of companies will merge marketing and sales into one single department, which will report to marketing automation.
About 75% of companies are struggling with recruiting qualified marketing technology employees, especially since marketing automation is a relatively recent concept whilst also growing at an incredibly rapid rate. 55% of companies who don’t use marketing automation do so because they do not have the expertise to do so. So what can you, as a B2B organization, do?
One way is to partner up with agencies that already do this well and that can help you ramp up the skills of your team while also helping you throughout the process.
“Agencies are a prime source of external perspective and innovation for martech teams” *Gartner 2020
Learning Management Systems
A learning management system (LMS) is a software application or web-based technology used to plan, implement and assess a specific learning process. It is used for eLearning practices and, in its most common form, consists of two elements: a server that performs the base functionality and a user interface that is operated by instructors, students, and administrators.
Typically, a learning management system provides an instructor with a way to create and deliver content, monitor student participation, and assess student performance. A learning management system may also provide students with the ability to use interactive features such as threaded discussions, video conferencing, and discussion forums.
Learning Management Systems are beneficial to a wide range of organizations, including higher education institutions and corporations. The primary use of a learning management system is for knowledge management (KM). KM refers to the gathering, organizing, sharing, and analysis of an organization's knowledge in terms of resources, documents, and people skills. However, the specific role of the Learning Management System will vary according to the organization's training strategy and goals.
Popular enterprise-level Learning Management Systems include Adobe Captivate Prime, Docebo LMS, TalentLMS, iSpring Learn, and eFront.
Employee training and onboarding are some of the most common use cases for a Learning Management System in a corporate environment. In this case, the Learning Management System is used to help train new employees by providing opportunities to access training materials across various devices. New employees can be recognized when they add their knowledge and feedback, which will, in turn, help employers understand how effective the training courses are and identify areas where new employees need more assistance.
Learning Management Systems can be used for extended enterprise training purposes as well. This includes customer, partner, and member training. Customer training is common in software and technology companies where users need to be taught how a system works before they can use the new product. Providing ongoing customer training will also help improve customer experience and increase brand loyalty.
Another common use of Learning Management Systems in corporate environments is for employee development and retention. The LMS can be used to assign the necessary courses to current employees to ensure they are developing effective job skills, remain informed about product changes, and maintain relevant knowledge through new product and compliance training.
Thoughts on B2B Digital Training
Marketing skills have shifted in the past couple of years. Areas such as social media marketing, mobile marketing, or marketing automation are much more valuable now than they were a few years ago, with marketing automation well on its way to becoming the most important marketing skill you can have.
At the same time, many companies have trouble finding qualified marketing automation employees, due to the lack of people who possess such skills. There are many ways to start B2B digital training nowadays. It can be done through blended learning, microlearning, gamification, learning management systems, or even a mix of the four.
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