As a marketer, you create content you hope will educate, inform, and nurture your audience. But if it’s not optimized to engage, it can fail to connect.
Instructional designers take the guesswork out of educational content—which makes them valuable partners as a marketer. They have the insight and expertise to transform the content you want to teach, train, or build trust into a super engaging experience that sticks. And the results can be the difference between high conversions and content that falls flat.
Wherever you want to level up your educational efforts, these pros are your secret weapon. We spoke with instructional design pro-Shari Cruz to give you the inside track on how your marketing team and other departments in your organization can leverage an instructional designer.
First, what is Instructional Design and when do you need it?
“Instructional design (ID) is like engineering for training,” says Cruz. “IDs plan and design instructional materials based on learning principles, so the results are both functional and attractive to the learner.”
And those principles are important. You wouldn’t easily learn to drive by reading a book, just like you wouldn’t get directions to dinner by listening to a podcast. It’s the basis of learning theory and a big part of the role of an instructional designer.
Instructional designers use sophisticated learning theorem to identify how people absorb and retain content. Then, content is transformed into an experience optimized for that audience. And their expertise can be valuable across a variety of projects.
Say a marketing department is creating an internal brand guide that explains the brand’s voice, looks, feels, and company culture. They could work closely with HR and an instructional designer to create internal training that, in today’s social media-driven world, ensures anyone who represents the brand online is doing so in the right voice. “A brand’s voice starts internally,” says Cruz, “and that begins with effective onboarding.”
Whether you have internal training and want a fresh view or an external expert opinion, partnering with an ID can ensure it connects.
An Instructional Designer can help you meet key content objectives
If you’re creating any kind of educational content, an instructional designer can make all the difference in optimizing it to boost customers’ engagement, loyalty, and satisfaction. And because of the systemic nature of their field, it’s easy to engage an ID consultant on a flexible basis. They can apply their process to nearly any objective or educational content you have.
Start by asking yourself: What are your primary objectives for creating educational content?
Your intent may be to:
- Teach customers how to use your product or service
- Improve engagement with your mobile app
- Smooth out user experience issues
- Onboard users in a way that promotes better adoption
- Convert learners into customers
- Train employees or promote ongoing education
- Change attitudes, perceptions, or behaviors
Even if you’re a training wiz, their expertise, insights, and objective opinion just might be the fresh perspective you need to push your efforts further. They can jump in on projects of any size, especially big, complex learning initiatives that may require months of research, user testing, and collaboration with your SMEs.
Once you have your objectives in mind, an instructional designer can identify the best way to meet them. They can help you create content from scratch, or transform your existing information into the method that is easiest for users to understand, absorb, and retain. This might be:
- An explainer video
- An e-learning course
- A quiz
- An interactive game
- Instruction manuals (printed or digital)
- Onboarding flows for software or an app
- A simulation (using AR or VR technology)
Have educational content that’s getting low engagement? “Revamping material that isn’t working is very common for an ID consultant,” Cruz says. “Sometimes it’s improving old materials with new technology, or starting from scratch.”
Tap an Instructional Design pro to improve engagement—in marketing and beyond
IDs can be important partners anywhere in your organization, whether your learners are internal team members, or your external audience. “We can be plugged in at almost any department in a company to create or improve training materials,” Cruz notes, adding “Rather than dedicating internal resources, leveraging an ID allows you to focus on the content of the training—where you’re the expert—while we focus on the strategies, which we are experts in!”
Here’s where your team can get back in the driver’s seat and do what they do best, but with fresh perspectives and plans. “Relying on an ID to come in and use their expertise to create quality training frees up internal resources, enables successful growth, and minimizes the production gap commonly seen in onboarding new employees.”
Ready to partner with an independent instructional designer on a flexible basis? Post a job today to get started.
