It’s a no-brainer that you want your brand to connect with customers, but what about getting your employees to connect with your brand? Branding is a way to promote your voice, your values, and your vision, and an e-learning program is a great opportunity to remind employees of what your company stands for. Your brand represents the story of why, how, and what you do. It gives people reasons to buy from you, recognize and trust you – including your own employees.
Branding within E-Learning Programs
Incorporating branding into e-learning supports brand recognition and brand equity. Think about the way brands can be recognized instantly by seeing a logo or a specific color. By adding simple brand elements, you are not only reinforcing your brand's identity but also reminding participants of the meaning behind your brand and your brand's commitment to continuously improving.
Incorporating these elements displays that you care about their professional development by choosing to invest in a custom learning platform. Investing in a custom learning platform allows you to integrate your branding, your mission, and your voice without taking away from the learning content. It encourages employees to deliver results and incites a component of loyalty by showing your commitment to your employees’ career growth.
Individuals all have different ways in which they respond, some respond better to warmth and personalization rather than plain messages. Do you want your employees to be excited to interact with the brand and feel a sense of connectedness? Your employees will be more engaged in their training if it is customized to fit your brand. Integrating branding into eLearning helps to facilitate a sustainable learning experience that motivates employees to learn.
Four Steps to Incorporating your Brand
Use your colors and fonts
A simple but effective way to incorporate the company’s brand is by using consistent colors and fonts. Keeping a consistent font is not only the best business practice – but it builds recognition and continuity between your e-learning efforts and other company assets.
Use imagery that reflects the brand’s tone and messaging
Consider your brand's tone and messaging and ensure that those same themes are carried out through your e-learning content. What does your brand stand for? What causes are your employees or company leaders passionate about? E-learning is a great opportunity to amplify these and other key aspects of your brand.
Strategically incorporate your logo throughout the platform
Though strategically incorporating your logo throughout a learning platform seems obvious, it’s a technique to not miss. This promotes the brand and builds a connection with the employee.
Think about your corporate culture
Consider your corporate culture and incorporate aspects of it to make your e-learning programs more closely reflect real-life scenarios. E-learning modules featuring actors in suits and ties are unlikely to resonate with an office full of people in t-shirts and flip flops!
The Big Picture
Employee engagement can be the difference between a failed training initiative and a successful one. By focusing on the details you are creating trust, engagement, brand equity and recognition. Having these elements sets not only the employees up for success but builds the brand and creates an environment that allows you to stand out from other competitors. These investments in your company's brand and your employees can be a key differentiator for any business.