Your marketing team is key to reaching new audiences and keeping consumers engaged with your brand. Certainly, the professionals you choose to be part of your team will influence your success. Yet, it’s equally vital to ensure all employees receive effective training to help them thrive.
This isn’t just about implementing strong learning protocols following onboarding. The best approach is to create a culture of continuous learning within your marketing department. With some planning and resources, you can ensure your professionals are always operating at their peak ability.
Let’s examine this idea a little further. Why is continuous learning important and how can you implement it?
Why Invest in a Culture of Learning?
There’s no doubt that building a solid culture of learning represents a significant investment. What is the incentive to dedicate resources to developing your marketing teams, rather than expecting them to pursue their own learning goals?
Some of the key potential benefits of supporting continuous learning include:
- Improved productivity and engagement: The most basic benefit of continuous learning is the impact on employee productivity and engagement. You’ll be regularly developing and refreshing their marketing skill sets. This gives them the tools to work more efficiently and with greater interest in their tasks.
- Boosted employee retention: Professionals today tend to prioritize employers who are committed to investing in employees’ professional growth. Creating a culture of continuous learning in your marketing department and throughout your business is a key demonstration of this. As a result, you can find your efforts yield better employee retention.
- Greater adaptability: The marketing sector is constantly changing, particularly as a result of technological developments. By continuously improving and updating your team’s skill sets, you’re helping them to be more agile professionals. This empowers them and your business to adapt more effectively to change.
It’s important to remember that gaining the benefits of continuous learning doesn’t just require financial investment. Your company also has to commit time and expertise to the process. The human resources (HR) department and company leadership must collaborate on devising and implementing formal training programs. It’s also vital to regularly assess how effective these programs are and make adjustments accordingly.
Utilizing Formal Courses
Formal courses are a valuable learning tool. They provide a structured framework to provide your marketing team with new skills and, in some cases, certifications that enhance their careers. Thanks to the rise of the digital landscape, you don’t just have to arrange in-person training sessions for your entire team. Greater accessibility to e-learning courses means that you can individually tailor ongoing education programs so each member of your team can develop at their own pace.
As part of a continuous learning culture, it’s wise to offer access to courses in a range of different marketing skill sets. These could include:
- Web design: Online materials are likely to be key to successful digital marketing campaigns for the foreseeable future. Classes in web design can introduce your team members to the fundamentals of everything from user experience (UX) development to creating responsive sites. Over time, continuously taking courses can see them further upgrade their skills to include website animation and JavaScript coding. This education enables marketers to produce dynamic sites themselves and collaborate more effectively with other web design professionals.
- Data analytics: Having a solid understanding of how to collect, analyze, and interpret data is vital in today’s marketing landscape. Courses in data analytics can strengthen your marketing team’s knowledge of key marketing metrics, analytics software platforms, and the communication of results through visuals. This enables your marketing team to plan relevant campaigns and respond to changes in consumer behaviour.
When using formal courses, it’s important to still take an individualized approach for your team members. Each marketing professional will have specific skills gaps to fill. Not to mention that they’ll have their own preferences for learning methods. Ensure that your business leaders work closely with marketing employees to gain a solid understanding of what each individual’s needs are.
Facilitating Mentorships
Mentorship is one of the most important tools for continuous learning. A good mentor is a regular presence in your team members’ professional lives. They pass on knowledge and support employees through the challenges they’ll face. Part of your ongoing development program should include finding and facilitating appropriate mentors for each member of your marketing team.
Some approaches to this include:
- Internal mentors: Providing mentors either from within the marketing department or the wider business can be effective. It means that employees have convenient and consistent access to their mentors in their day-to-day working lives. It also means that the values of the business get passed on. Senior staff members can be a good source of continuous learning and guidance. However, it’s also worth considering the value of peer mentorship for sharing skills.
- Industry mentors: Providing opportunities for marketing teams to connect with mentors in the wider industry is invaluable. They can get access to more diverse skills and perspectives, which benefits both workers’ careers and your business. It’s wise to facilitate mentorships with industry figures who already have solid connections to your business. This helps ensure that your employees get access to trusted professionals who understand the values of your company.
Remember, though, that the success of mentorships can depend on the relationships between the mentor and mentee. Consider how the personalities of each pairing might mesh and the goals that they can effectively work together on. It’s wise to set up an initial meeting between the mentor and mentee so everyone can get a better sense of how likely the relationship is to succeed in the long term.
Conclusion
Continuous learning empowers your marketing teams to thrive in ways that boost your company’s success and their own satisfaction. There are various tools you use to build a culture of education. Formal courses and mentorships are among them. That said, each company and its marketing team is different. Be open to regularly collaborating with employees to create and improve learning programs that are positive for everyone involved.