6 Tips To Ensure A Successful First eLearning Launch
Imagine this scenario. After months of hard work, your team has finally managed to put together a high-quality eLearning course. But when you launch it, no one takes it, and all the time and effort you’ve spent on it go to waste. Whether this has happened to you in the past or it’s a frightening thought that’s keeping you from developing eLearning content, we have you covered. In this article, you will find 6 tips that guarantee your first eLearning launch is successful and makes a real difference in your company.
6 Things To Consider When Launching An Online Course
1. Make A Great First Impression
As with most things in life, first impressions matter in online training as well. For your employees or customers to take time out of their busy schedules and click on your course, you’ll have to find something to draw them in. Let them know in a few words what your eLearning course is about and how they would benefit by taking it. Think of it as a pitch to convince them to buy your product. Once they know that your course can help them solve a specific problem, streamline a process, or add value to their development, its success will be inevitable.
2. Build Excitement
A new eLearning course is an exciting thing, and everything should feel the same way. But how can you create buzz around your first eLearning launch? Take a page out of every major brand’s book. Technology companies announce their new products months in advance, singers share small clips of their new songs, and so on. You can create excitement among your audience with teasers that give a sneak peek of your course and describe its main selling points. There’s no need to make it detailed. Share enough to capture their attention and hype them up. Remember to release it just a few weeks before your launch so as not to lose momentum.
3. Timing Is Everything
Sometimes wrong timing is all that’s standing between you and a successful launch. Releasing your training course during an extremely busy time or a holiday will probably cause it to get lost in your employee’s inbox. Contrarily, if you take some time to discover the best moment to garner attention and create buzz around your company, the results will reward you. Moreover, you must let your employees know when they will find your course more useful. For example, if your course tackles product knowledge, suggest your employees take it before approaching a new client.
4. Run A Pilot
It can be hard to know whether your eLearning course is engaging and effective until people actually take it. To avoid unnecessary disappointment and complaints, consider running a pilot before you launch. Have a small group of people (ten or twenty) take your course and gather their feedback. For all you know, your course might be perfect, or it might need an array of small adjustments that are easy to make but will significantly improve its success and effectiveness post-launch. You can even take the course yourself. Stepping into the learners’ shoes will give you a whole new perspective and help you create a better learning experience.
5. Ensure Support From Stakeholders
The success of your first eLearning launch depends heavily on the support you will receive from stakeholders. This term refers to anyone who will be affected by the training course, from employees to leaders. If you convince them early on about the benefits and value of your project, they will be more likely to promote and support it when it is launched. Therefore, share with them the key advantages of your course and even involve them in the development process. Being asked for their opinion will get them more invested in finding out what the end result looks like.
6. Prepare To Manage Feedback
The final thing to keep in mind is how you’re going to handle feedback. When launching any new project in a business, and especially a training course, it’s important to have a system in place through which you can collect and analyze feedback. What that’s going to look like is up to you. Maybe you can conduct a survey or incorporate a review option at the end of the course. In any case, make sure to carefully filter this data and use it to optimize the experience for future users and eLearning programs.
What Happens After You Launch?
The pre-launch phase is obviously followed by post-launch, which also requires you to take some action to keep your eLearning program up and running. Keep engagement levels high by staying in touch with learners, offering tutorials, and updating content. Follow the tips we shared in this article and you will surely engage your audience and make your first eLearning launch a complete success.
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