As a result of the need to drive enrollments in live virtual programs and self-study courses, and a general need to make training visible, marketing should be central to the work of training and development professionals whether they work internally or externally. But is it? And if not, what should training professionals do to market their products and services? In this session, you’ll learn about resources available to you and discuss how you should market—including the print, online, and face-to-face approaches most commonly used in marketing, and the key marketing messages.

1. Marketing Your
Programs and Services
Saul Carliner, PhD, CTDP
Professor
Concordia University
saulcarliner@hotmail.com

2. Opening Activity
Internal Focus External Focus
You manage a product training department. Your
group recently finished developing a series of
courses on the company’s strategic new product
for the company’s sales and support teams.
Although you are proud of the new courses, you
are also painfully aware that no one developed
training for customers. You had suggested it
when the program was planned but management
did not think your group had the expertise
needed to develop customer training. Two
members of your staff have prior experience in
customer training, but you never had the
opportunity to mention that in previous
conversations.
How might you promote:
1. The new internal training programs
2. Your staff as the vendor of choice for
customer training
You are president of a small, 8-person firm that
develops training for clients. Your group typically
handles development of e-learning courses that
your clients design. You have a long-term
contract with one of the major employers in your
metro area so this work is secure. But when you
have tried to suggest to your clients that your
team can design courses as well as develop them,
the clients have not pursued the idea.
How might you:
1. Expand your development business?
2. Move into the design business?

3. What you should learn
 Describe the percentage of resources that you should devote to
marketing (including differences for internal and external
trainers)
 Identify the most crucial programs and services to promote
 State when to promote different types of programs to drive
enrollments
 Identify the key print, online, and face-to-face approaches most
commonly used to market training programs and services.
 Identify the key marketing messages used to promote training
programs and service.

4. Results of 2017 study of training
practice
What’s working for internal and external trainers
generally

5. About marketing
Build and maintain awareness of your programs,
services, and capabilities
Necessary to generate revenue (work) for the
organization
Ongoing activity
–Primary or tertiary responsibility for external trainers
–Secondary or tertiary responsibility for internal trainers

6. How training groups generate revenue
Internal groups External groups
Type of Payment Percentage Type of Payment Percentage
Apportionment 93% Flat price 43.6%
Paid by the job 1% Different arrangement
with each customer
30.8%
Combination of the two 7% Time and materials
with limits
12. 8%
Sticker price 7.7%
Time and materials
without limits
5.1%

7. Percentage of resources devoted to
marketing
Percentage of Total
Budget
Internal Training
Groups
External Training
Groups
0% 38.5% 23.1%
1%-5% 43.1% 43.6%
6%-10% 10.1% 12.8%
11%-15% 3.7% 5.1%
16%-20% 0.9% 2.6%
21%-25% 1.8% 0.00%
More than 25% 1.8% 12.8%

8. Identify the most crucial programs and
services to promote
Internal trainers
Programs Services
Face-to-face*
Online self-study*
Blended
Live virtual
Design and development services*
Leadership development*
Organization development
Coaching
Facilitation of special meetings
Performance consulting

9. Identify the most crucial programs and
services to promote
External trainers
Products Services
Learning Management Systems*
Testing and assessment tools*
Authoring tools
Classroom support tools
Design and development services*
Needs assessment
Coaching
Performance consulting
Leadership development
Facilitation of special meetings
Evaluation
Organization development

10. Approach to promoting these services
Internal External
About even—between the entirety or
individual offerings
44.% 46.2%
As a whole 16.5% 28.2%
Individually 39.5% 25.6%

11. When to promote—when enrollment
peaks
Time frame Internal External
Between 10 and 12 weeks before the
course is scheduled
2.8% 12.5%
Between 8 and 10 weeks 3.7% 25%
Between 6 and 8 weeks 5.5% 12.5%
Between 4 and 6 weeks 14.7% 0%
Between 2 and 4 weeks 30.3% 0%
Between 1 and 2 weeks 28.4% 25%
During the week before the program 14.7% 25%

12. Promoting self-study programs
Internal External
Once per quarter 39.5% 66.7%
Once a month 24.8% 0%
Bi-weekly 3.7% 0%
Weekly 1.9% 33.3%
Between 2 and 4 times per week 0.9% 0 %
Daily 3.7% 0%
Other 25.7% 0%

13. Promoting services
Time frame Internal External
Once or twice per year 31.4% 0%
Once per quarter 37.1% 31.4%
Once a month 17.1% 20%
Bi-weekly 2.9% 8.6%
Weekly 11.4% 17.1%
Between 2 and 4 times per week 0% 2.9%
Daily 0% 0%
Other 0% 20%

14. What works? Online vehicles (internal)
Type % Using
% Find It
Effective
Blog 11 50
Catalog of products, programs and services 56 72
Email address for incoming inquiries 74 79
Email messages promoting the general capabilities of the training
group
56 76
Email messages promoting individual programs 94 90
Email messages promoting specific services 54 85
Email service such as Mailchimp 17 75
External social media such as Facebook and LinkedIn 18 67
Facebook page
Only asked a general questionLinkedIn profile
Twitter
Internal social media (such as Yammer) 31 60
Online portfolio of past projects 18 59
Schedule of upcoming programs 84 90
Web pages describing particular capabilities of your group 58 67
Website describing general capabilities of the organization 70 75

15. What works? Online vehicles (external)
Type % Using
% Find It
Effective
Blog 61 83
Catalog of products, programs and services 61 70
Customer testimonials 71 85
Email address for incoming inquiries 66 84
Email messages promoting the general capabilities of the training group 58 82
Email messages promoting individual programs 61 91
Email messages promoting specific services 63 96
Email service such as Mailchimp 47 94
Facebook page 63 46
LinkedIn profile 82 74
Twitter 58 50
Online portfolio of past projects 53 65
Schedule of upcoming programs 47 72
Web pages describing particular capabilities 89 88
Website describing general capabilities of the organization 100 89
White papers about your products or services 47 89

16. What works? Print vehicles
Type
% of
Internal
Groups
Using
% of
Internal
Groups
Find
Effective
% of
External
Groups
Using
% of
External
Groups
Find
Effective
Annual report 32 74 15 50
Brochure that focuses on the general offerings of the
training and development group
58 80 85 79
Catalog of programs and services 47 79 61 88
Flyers about individual programs and services 81 84 82 83
Posters 47 71 32 55
Schedule of upcoming programs 75 87 43 75

17. Also use 1:1 sales calls

18. The key marketing message
Improved performance
(internal and external groups)

19. So what should these groups do?
Internal Focus External Focus
You manage a product training department.
Your group recently finished developing a series
of courses on the company’s strategic new
product for the company’s sales and support
teams. Although you are proud of the new
courses, you are also painfully aware that no
one developed training for customers. You had
suggested it when the program was planned
but management did not think your group had
the expertise needed to develop customer
training. Two members of your staff have prior
experience in customer training, but you never
had the opportunity to mention that in previous
conversations.
How might you promote:
1. The new internal training programs
2. Your staff as the vendor of choice for
customer training
You are president of a small, 8-person firm that
develops training for clients. Your group
typically handles development of e-learning
courses that your clients design. You have a
long-term contract with one of the major
employers in your metro area so this work is
secure. But when you have tried to suggest to
your clients that your team can design courses
as well as develop them, the clients have not
pursued the idea.
How might you:
1. Expand your development business?
2. Move into the design business?

20. Take-aways
What’s the most important
thing you learned in this
session?
What one question remains?