Do you remember? The process needed when identifying, implementing, and then ramping up a marketing automation platform is a huge undertaking by itself.  But setting up your system is not enough; once you have the platform, you need your team to learn how to use it.

Often, at the point of MarTech education and training, there are one or two staff whom, at the very least, have familiarity with your new platform and how it works.  But the concern of training is not a idealistic “one and done” problem to fix.

The reality? Your team will have new members, whether from turnover or growth, and you will need to prepare for new staff to learn how to use your Marketing Automation Platform (MAP), as well as to learn how to use it the way YOUR organization does!  The size of your team will impact your training approach – smaller teams are more capable to be nimble and carve out time for training. Larger teams will likely use the platform under a more-structured lens, adding complexity to the training plan.

Below are a few guidelines to help you create the training plan that works best for your organization.

Roles and Responsibilities

Have a plan when it comes to MAP use. In some organizations, many users complete their campaign/program needs by themselves, completing what they need in the platform. This provides less team accountability, increases owner risk, but leads to faster turnaround times and targeted context.

In other orgs, campaign/program builds are more of a divide-and-conquer team approach – ie. Marketing managers setup campaigns, the design team builds the assets, and the ops team hits the “activate” button.

Regardless of the implementation methods used by the staff, it is essential that you clearly define the roles and responsibilities, that will assist grouping staff for training sessions, and when building your training agenda.

Level of Expertise

In-House expertise is not created equal – what level of expertise do your in-house staff currently have? You’re off to a great start if you have a super user in-house who also has the right skillset to train others!  Give your super user some time and space to think through the best way to tackle training for the team – they can determine the schedule, groups, agenda and what materials will be needed.

Other Training Options

Don’t have the in-house expertise to implement your MarTech system’s training plan? Most platforms offer generic training of their product, either online or via a type of training pass that gives you access to scheduled sessions.

Some platforms have free videos you can watch and plentiful online communities where many users before you have asked questions and received detailed answers on how to accomplish tasks.

Partners, like Definitive Results, offer customized training to meet your team’s needs and provide the training in your own instance.  When working with a trusted Partner, you can choose a Train the Trainer approach, have the entire team trained at once, OR feel confident that an expert team are using the optimal approach that fits your team’s make-up.

A handbook is a great tool to combine the how-to’s of your platform with the specifics of your organization’s use of the system.  This can be treated as a live-document, updated regularly and provided to new employees so that they have a reference on their desk as they become acquainted with the company and operational processes.

Regardless of your approach to training, we are here to help support your team; our MarTech experts can help you with figuring out the best approach for your organization, achieving the results you’re searching for!