Recent Research Indicates that Most Companies Do Not Invest in Marketing Their Training Programs Internally

Mountain View, CA – October 1, 2008 – Expertus, a global provider of services that optimize the business impact of learning, today released the findings from its recent study, Internal Marketing for Corporate Training Programs. There were 73 qualified respondents, all internal corporate training and development professionals whose organizations widely varied in size, scope of resources, budget and other applicable factors. The full results report can be viewed here: http://www.trainingefficiency.com/system/files/Survey+Results_Marketing+Training+Internally_
Expertus.pdf.

Expertus found that while some organizations use marketing to improve training utilization, others do not place any emphasis on marketing. In fact, the lack of budget dedicated to marketing was shockingly low. The average budget was $6,660, which is around 43 cents per employee, per year – about the price of a postage stamp. Compare this to a typical training supplier, who can spend as much as $1,000 just to get one person to register for a class. In fact, 62% of these training departments allocated $0 to marketing.

“Although organizations everywhere are watching budgets closely, we found it interesting that promoting internal programs is such a low priority,” said Ramesh Ramani, Founder and CEO of Expertus. “This survey revealed quite a bit of interesting information about the lack of a formal presence of marketing in training organizations.”

Other key findings include:

  • Only 15% of respondents have a formal marketing plan.
  • Regarding staffing, respondents did allocate an average of 60% of one full-time person to marketing training and 10% of an outsourced position. However, 38% of companies had no one at all working on marketing.
  • While half of the respondents use different marketing activities for different types of training, 45% market all training programs alike. The remaining 5% do not market individual training programs.
  • The responses indicate that regardless of the technique (email blasts, posters, internal website updates, etc.), HR or training departments are responsible for conducting the majority of marketing activities, and external vendors are used less than 5% of the time. To varying degrees, internal marketing departments sometimes help support these marketing activities.
  • 60% of organizations that take the initiative to market programs measure the effectiveness of the marketing campaigns. For those that do measure the effectiveness of marketing activities, surveys are a prevalent source of information.
  • 73% use no incentives or rewards for participating in internal training programs.

“Training organizations are most effective when run like a full-service business,” added Ramani. “The fact that marketing is a weak link in the organization could explain why program participation and company-wide knowledge about training resources are lacking in many companies.”

To view the full results of the study and comprehensive charts, visit http://www.trainingefficiency.com/system/files/Survey+Results_Marketing+Training+Internally_
Expertus.pdf.

About Expertus
Expertus is the leading global provider of services that optimize the business impact of learning. For more than a decade, the firm’s 500+ learning management professionals have defined and implemented plans, processes and technologies that transform training organizations – creating measurable value for the world’s most successful corporations. Clients include ADP, Cisco, ConocoPhillips, EMC, Honeywell and Lockheed Martin. Every day at these and other companies, more than a million employees, customers and business partners are educated as a result of Expertus’ innovative business strategies, outsourcing services and technology-rich solutions.

Based in Silicon Valley, Expertus serves its clients from offices in the US, UK and India. For more information, visit www.expertus.com, or call toll-free 1-877-827-8160.