Using marketing to put the sparkle back into your training

Although I have been a Computer Application Training Specialist at Saint Louis University for 11 years, one of the challenges that I faced was low class attendance. To overcome faculty and staff apathy and unawareness, I knew that I needed to grab the potential customers' attention. Once I captured their attention, I needed to hold their interest long enough to make them aware of the service I was offering. Therefore, it was my goal to learn how to market the classes so that I could fight the apathy and attract potential and past customers to our computer application classe. To achieve my goal, I gathered as much information on marketing a training program. The research material helped me to realize that to be strategically sound the ad or advertisement must be carefully directed to a certain audience. Furthermore, in the creation of an advertisement, the use of careful wording and eye-catching headlines is critical. I wanted to target the objective and tailor the message so that I could appeal to the concerns of the consumer. Engaging the emotions of the consumer assisted in making the advertisement memorable, and improved consumer attitudes toward the product. The next step entailed selecting the right method of communicating the advertisement to the audience. The decision was made to send the advertisement electronically and via inter-office mail. Once the advertisement was delivered to the audience, a relationship was developed between the consumer and myself. I had to decide how I would manage the relationship and keep the lines of communication open. A decision had to be made as to who would handle the questions and enquiries that might be generated after the advertisement? How often would an advertisement be sent to the consumer? We were able to accomplish this by understanding the makeup of our audience, and committing to this new role. The results showed that the classes that were advertised more than doubled in attendanc. The purpose of this paper is to share my findings, to discuss the challenges, and my success in developing a marketing strategy to attract potential customers to our various computer application training classes.