4 Steps for Acquiring Sophisticated Users through Education

The countdown is on for NMI's 'The Power of Programmatic' webinar on Wednesday 27th April. We're excited to engage with you all and to elevate the conversation around Programmatic Education!

To continue to introduce NMI we now bring you the following piece by our Senior Director and founder, Elise James-DeCruise;

4 Steps for Acquiring Sophisticated Users through Education

One million.

That’s the number of technology jobs that will go unfilled by 2020. Back in 2012, we recognized this skills gap and created the New Marketing Institute.

NMI educates the new generation of marketing professionals. We produce timely and customized content developed through a deep understanding of our clients' business needs and strategy.

At November's NYC Uncubed event, I presented on “Acquiring Sophisticated Users through Education.” I outlined four steps that are crucial for achieving success in learning and development.

Educate

Education cannot happen in a vacuum. Each aspiring marketing professional has a different background, education and base of knowledge. That’s why at NMI we focus on “meeting the learner where there are”—both in a figurative and literal sense. To educate, you have to know your audience. Address cultural, language and regional differences through localized and globalized training materials. Content must be relevant and timely to meet the needs of your individual learners and those of the digital marketing landscape.

Engage

The Educate step addresses the design of learning materials for users. Engage gets into the nitty-gritty of how you make learning happen, be it in a classroom, online or on-demand. Here, it’s even more important to know your audience. For instance, different global markets have different approaches. Approaching learning in bite-sized chunks helps any audience digest highly technical information. Learner feedback describes our facilitators as best-in-class, engaged and enthusiastic experts on their subject.

Empower

NMI’s courses are not designed as a long lecture format. The idea is not to dump a lot of technical information on students and talk “at” them. Best practice is to marry the engagement style described above with encouragement and enrichment. Listen, ask for feedback and provide relevant materials such as infographics, blogs and white papers. Also, let learners know that they can become the teacher. NMI’s Train the Trainer program is perfect for those eager to train on digital marketing and the technology that fuels it. Train the Trainer sets up participants to be facilitators of our courses.

Connect

We said above education shouldn’t happen in a vacuum. It goes for both the students and the teachers. Learning happens outside of the classroom on an ongoing basis. A team approach always holds more value than a siloed one. It takes a village—no one can educate the next generation of digital marketers on their own. We believe that building rapport with industry and non-industry influencers is the key to success.

Catch up with our last blog, 'Industry thought leaders share predictions for 2016' and look out for more over the coming weeks! Please do comment to share your thoughts on the topics discussed or to reach out for any further info.

Click here to register for our Webinar 'The Power of Programmatic', taking place on the 27th April. Don't miss this expert session on the essentials of Programmatic!

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