When done well, learning design grabs participants’ attention like a great marketing campaign and engages them emotionally and intellectually to make learning stick. That’s the premise of “Think Like a Marketer, Train Like an L&D Pro,” a book written by our guests Mike Taylor and Bianca Baumann. In this episode, you will learn how to elevate traditional training approaches with marketing tools such as learner personas, journey mapping, and content strategy that come together in high impact learning campaigns.
Show Notes: Co-authors Mike Taylor and Bianca Baumann share some of the top takeaways from their book, “Think Like a Marketer, Train Like an L&D Pro,” to help you create experiences that learners crave.
- L&D can learn a lot from marketing. Marketers know the value of making an emotional connection with their audience —L&D should too. Applying marketing principles can help learning designers create experiences that boost performance and influence behavior.
- Learner personas are foundational, not optional. Understanding who learners are, what they need, and what motivates them is critical to designing content that resonates and sticks.
- Journey mapping helps deliver learning at the right moment. Mapping the learner journey allows L&D teams to support employees before, during, and after key moments—not just during formal training events.
- Content strategy drives behavior change. When personas, journey maps, and content strategy work together, learning becomes more targeted, improving proficiency and long-term behavior change.
- It all comes together in a Learning Campaign. Smaller, well-timed content—resources, nudges, and reinforcements—create more impact than one-time standalone training events.
- Success is measured beyond completion rates. True learning impact shows up in measuring performance, confidence, and on-the-job behavior—not just in LMS reports.
Learn more about Think Like a Marketer, Train Like an L&D Pro
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Powered by Learning earned Awards of Distinction in the Podcast/Audio and Business Podcast categories from The Communicator Awards and a Gold and Silver Davey Award. The podcast is also named to Feedspot's Top 40 L&D podcasts and Training Industry’s Ultimate L&D Podcast Guide.
Learn more about d'Vinci at www.dvinci.com.
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