How L&D teams can fix low completion rates by ‘marketing’ their training

Most L&D teams struggle with completion rates of non-mandatory training.

But another discipline already has a solution to this: marketing.

I believe every training has to be marketed.

Because how learners perceive training has a big impact on everything.

From completion rates to satisfaction scores.

From behavior change to business results.

That’s why we made "marketing the training" a crucial step in our learning design framework.

A simple communication plan focuses on informing learners that training exists.

"Customer Communication Skills is now available in the LMS."

But marketing goes beyond that.

It connects training to the learners’ problems.

It shows the value of learning the topic not just for their day-to-day, but also for their career.

And it keeps the training top-of-mind.

By doing all this, it creates anticipation.

So even the same training can become more effective with good marketing.

Only because the learner's perception changed before they opened it.

So how can L&D teams market their training like a marketer?

Here’s how we do it in 5 steps:

1. Start with the target audience

A marketer never launches a campaign without knowing who it's for.

The same applies here.

Who are the learners?

What do they struggle with daily?

What language do they use to describe those struggles?

Understanding the audience allows your marketing to get specific.

A training marketed to "all customer-facing employees" feels distant.

But a training marketed to "new customer service managers handling their first escalation calls" feels like it was built for them.

The more specific you get, the more relevant the training becomes.

2. Get clear on the value proposition

Most training announcements lead with the course title.

"De-escalation Techniques.”

That tells learners what the training is.

But it tells them nothing about why they should care.

A value proposition answers "what's in it for me?"

So instead of the topic, lead with the problem the training solves.

"How to stay calm and confident when a customer conversation gets heated.”

Same training.

But a completely different reason to show up.

And go beyond the day-to-day.

Show learners how this connects to their growth.

Their development plan. Their next role.

When people see training as a career investment, they are more likely to complete it.

3. Map out the internal touchpoints

Every company has different channels where employees pay attention:

• Email

• Slack/Teams

• The intranet

• Town halls

• Manager one-on-ones

• Digital signage in break rooms

Before you build your marketing plan, map these out.

Get help from the internal communications team if necessary.

In our experience, using multiple channels is much more effective than relying on a single one.

4. Plan how to bring it to the ‘market’

With your audience defined, your value proposition clear, and your channels mapped, you can build a real marketing plan.

Decide when to start.

You don’t have to wait until the training is finished.

As soon as the learning objectives are clear, you have enough to start building curiosity.

Think of it as pre-sustainment.

In the same way reinforcement keeps learning alive after the training event, marketing creates anticipation before it.

Some questions to guide your plan:

• What gets communicated before launch, at launch, and after?

• Which channels and touchpoints are we going to use?

• Who owns each action? The L&D team? Department heads? Managers?

• Which leaders can champion the training in their own meetings?

• What are the events happening in the company in the next 6 months? How can you use them for marketing the training?

• Is there an internal creative or communications team you can partner with?

• What does the post-launch plan look like? How do you keep the training visible after the first week?

5. Produce the enablement material

The last step before executing the plan.

Produce the material that brings everything to life.

Here's what we typically include:

• A short trailer video to be shown before an all-hands meeting. Think of it like a movie trailer for your training. 60 seconds, visual, and designed to create curiosity.

• Manager talking points. A one-pager with key messages so leaders can bring up the training in their own words, in their own meetings.

• Micro-learning samples. A 30-second video tip or a quick "did you know?" fact from the course, dropped into Slack or email as a free taste. Once learners get a sample, they're more likely to commit to the full program.

• Personalized email invitations segmented by role.

• Post-launch nudges. Success stories from colleagues who applied the training. A skill of the week. Light reminders framed around benefits.

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Most training gets built, announced, and forgotten.

Because some L&D teams do a 'communication' plan that only tells people that training exists.

But if you think like a marketer, you can make people want to take the training.

You can keep it top of mind and get more learners to take it.

So the next training program you design, go beyond a communication plan.

Marketing the training is as important as its content.