11 Tenets for Instructional Marketing Content

At Program 11, we’ve added techniques used by best-in-class instructors to our content development toolbox, and in the spirit of free-education for all, we want to share them with you.

Both professors and marketers are driven by the same goals: get their adult audience to pay attention, remember, and buy what they’re selling. The difference? Professors are formerly trained in research-based techniques to get their audience to learn better – techniques that aren’t always known or used by content marketers. In this article, which is part of our Instructional Marketing 101 series, we share 11 ways you can harness the latest in learning theory to uplevel your marketing.

1. Appeal to different learning preferences.
   What it means: Forget about “learning styles” (this was debunked long ago), learning preferences mean that we all like to learn different things well, differently. For some things, you may prefer to learn by doing; other times, you may prefer to learn by watching others. In some situations you may like a good narrative; in others, you just want the Cliff notes.

   How you do it: To reach the largest audience with your content, you need to account for a wide range of learning preferences. Include content elements like visuals, examples, social interactions, and opportunities to move and do.

2. Give your audience agency.
   What it means: Very few people learn well when they are forced to learn. So, when you’re creating content that is directly instructional, give your audience some control about what or how they engage with your content.

   How you do it: Allow them to choose different learning paths or pick and choose the content they want to consume.

3. Personalize the experience.
   What it means: In its purest form, personalization means acknowledging the identities of the individuals who make up your audience. But it also means acknowledging that your audience is human, by bringing humanity to your brand.

   How you do it: Don’t be a robot (or ChatGPT). Use informal language and a friendly tone. When you’re able, use your customers’ names and other personal information in your communications.

4. Be inclusive and accessible.
   What it means: Inclusivity and accessibility is no longer an option – it’s what your audience demands. Inclusion is making sure that your audience can see themselves in your content and that they like what they see. Accessibility is making sure no one is excluded from engaging with your content, regardless of identity or learning differences.

   How you do it: Select photos, videos, and narratives that positively reflect our diverse culture. Use person-first and non-ableist language. Reduce your reading level and avoid figurative language. And, of course, comply with ADA and WCAG 2.2 standards.

5. Add learning objectives to your content briefs.
   What it means: It takes planning to create good instructional marketing content, starting with your content brief. In order to absorb and process information, your audience must be ready to learn – and it’s your job to know what you want them to learn.

   How you do it: Every solid instructional marketing strategy is guided by learning objectives – what do you want your audience to learn, and what are the specific outcomes? Identify these before writing a word.

6. Make connections and build ladders.
   What it means: We don’t learn things in a vacuum; learning happens when we build connections between pieces of information. When you tie new material to what your audience already knows or what’s part of their lives, they’re more engaged and “get it” faster. This is called “accessing prior knowledge.” Scaffolding works the same way. It involves supporting your audience as they “level up” in their learning.

   How you do it: Direct your audience to connect the content to their own lives. Present your content in steps, starting with simple concepts and progressing to the complex. Pair user generated content creation with subject matter experts. Use badges or a reward system to track learning progress.

7. Keep it simple.
   What it means: If you believe the hype, humans have the attention span of an insect. It’s a wonder we get anything done! While this isn’t entirely true, there are plenty of things that compromise our focus (multitasking, boredom, overwork, Reddit). That’s why keeping your content scannable is a core tenet of marketing content. With instructional marketing content, simplicity if even more important because we don’t want our audience to just skim our material, we want them to understand, absorb, and retain it.

   How you do it: To minimize cognitive load (or the brain pain we feel when we’re learning something new), don’t overwhelm your audience with too much information at one time. Use simple language and avoid jargon. Organize your content into bite-size chunks. Finally, don’t overstimulate your audience with a ton of design elements. Dual-coding is important (see #9), but too many visual and auditory elements can lead to cognitive overload.

8. Give them some space.
   What it is: Spacing is the process of allowing time to elapse in between learnings so that your audience gets repeated exposure to the new information. By providing these breaks, you help reduce cognitive load (see #7), and you give your audience time to absorb and reflect. These activities are what gets new information to stick in our long term memories (and gets them to remember your brand!)

   How you do it: Chunk your material into smaller lessons (the recommended length varies by content type and audience– but the shorter the better!) and give your audience ample time to process what they’re learning. You can do this by offering your content as a multi-part series or by allowing your audience to pace their learning by pausing between chapters.

9. Combine words and pictures.
   What it is: People learn better when content combines different sensory inputs because, to put it simply, the combination triggers more activity in the brain. This principle, called the multimedia principle or dual-coding, is a standard and very effective practice in instructional design. Using this technique also helps you cover more learning preferences at once (see #1). Note that when done incorrectly or excessively, dual-coding can lead to cognitive overload.

   How you do it: Use both on-screen text and graphics, making sure to always keep linked content together. Avoid overstimulating your audience with competing narration, on-screen text, and graphics.

10. Encourage social connection.
    What it is: Humans are social creatures; even introverts are influenced by others. So it makes sense that, according to social learning theory, learning is strengthened when we watch, imitate, and engage with others.

    How you do it: Provide opportunities for your audience to interact with one another, either synchronously (like during break-out session in a live webinar) or asynchronously (like through social media comments). Find ways to incorporate real people – either through talking heads, testimonials, or narratives, into your tutorials.

11. Promote active learning.
    What it is: Active learning happens when your audience is involved in the learning process. It’s the opposite of passive learning (think about your college professor who just lectured the whole time… snore). The promotion of active learning is a key element of instructional design because it increases engagement and cognitive processing – both of which help content stick.

    How you do it: To promote active learning, focus on getting your audience to do something. It can be as complex as setting up a way for the audience to practice a new skill to something as simple as asking them to take a moment to reflect on a new concept. There’s no shortage of ways to include interactivity into your content – you just need to know your audience and get creative.