How to internally market your LMS

A common issue organisations run into when they invest in a new LMS is a lack of user engagement. For many businesses, their LMS will be the most expensive part of their learning strategy, but just because you’ve spent the money, that doesn’t mean your job is done – in fact, far from it. A comprehensive launch and internal marketing strategy can spell the difference between LMS success and failure, so we’ve put together some ideas to help you make the most of your learning platform.

Consider all your channels

Most organisations communicate with staff across multiple channels, which can include email, the intranet, instant messaging, chat programs like Slack and social media. Many companies make the mistake of hiding a link to their new LMS in a monthly internal newsletter, or sending one email on launch day and then never mentioning it again and wondering why nobody is using it. Instead, think about a multi-channel communications strategy – plan a series of emails spanning several weeks, ask managers to drop links into chat programs and create an eye-catching banner for the front page of your intranet. If you’ve spent the money on a new LMS, don’t let it go to waste by letting it sit unused.

Take it offline

Poster campaigns may seem a bit retro, but they can actually be surprisingly effective. A bright, smart series of posters displayed prominently around your workplace provide a useful and constant reminder about your LMS. While an email can get buried in a busy inbox fast, the poster will be constantly visible. Think about putting them in frequently used areas such as the kitchen, next to the water cooler or in meeting rooms. If the URL for your LMS is long and cumbersome, you could consider using an online tool to create a short URL for easier printing and access.

Gamify the experience

Some organisations find success when they add incentives to learning engagement. For instance, all employees who login before a certain date or complete a certain course could be entered into a prize draw, or you could create a leaderboard with points gained for completing activities, reaching goals or achieving certain scores in assessments. This can help foster a sense of friendly competition, and drive engagement as users make an effort to earn points and rise through the ranks.

Recruit learning ambassadors

Identify early and enthusiastic adopters of your learning platform and ask them to become learning ambassadors. This could mean that they help you drive engagement in their own teams, or you could work with them to market the platform by creating some content with them. This could be anything from asking them for a quote about their experience of using the LMS to be used in internal marketing to using them as a case study which can be shared across the business (such as identifying their achievement of certain learning goals and how this relates to an overall improvement in their performance). Consider rewarding ambassadors to show your appreciation for their efforts, and be vigilant about spotting other employees who appear particularly engaged with your LMS to become future ambassadors.

Plan beyond the launch

No doubt you’ve been counting down to launch day for a while, but rolling out a new learning platform involves a lot more than making a splash on day one and expecting it to be enough. Instead, you should drip-feed content through to your learners over the following weeks and months. Communicate when you upload relevant new content (especially compliance training), and make a point to highlight any important deadlines (such as for certifications). Creating a series of emails upfront is a good way to ensure consistency across your messaging, and to keep users coming back for more content over time. Keeping the LMS fresh in learners’ minds is the best way to boost engagement, especially if you’re constantly providing new resources to help them progress towards their learning and career goals.

How do you market your LMS? If you’re looking for inspiration, take a look at how A.G. Barr’s internal marketing campaign led to unprecedented LMS engagement.