Educators are constantly talking about learning styles. Some people are auditory. Others are kinesthetic. As a marketer, are you thinking about the learning style of your audience? I thought about this recently when I was looking for a quiet place. “Why would that matter?” you might ask. What would the level of noise in the room matter when it comes to learning styles? Well, it showed me that my learning style was not auditory. Read on to find out why I say that.
Most of my clients don’t think about the way that their clients learn about new subjects. Much the pity, because so many of them are actually trying to teach people something. If you have a new product that perhaps solves a problem in a new way, your top goal is educating your prospects. If you are in the education business, you must consider learning styles.
Don’t worry–I am not going to go all pedantic on you. All I am saying is that everyone has one or two dominant leaning styles. Some of us learn by reading, others by listening , yet others by doing. Your marketing can address all of those styles.
So, if you find that you have written a blog post that truly resonates with your audience–you really found something that hits home–that’s great! But what should you do next? Most of us would say that you should write another blog post on a similar subject. Well, maybe, but I have a different suggestion–that you should do a video or a podcast that is almost an exact replica of the blog post.
That might strike you as odd. After all, you already put that message out. True, but you probably overestimate your reach. Many people don’t read blogs at all–because it is not their style.
That’s what made me consider this post. I get sent tons of audio and video messages, and I listen to very few. Why? It’s not my style. I like to read. I don’t want to listen. Half the time, when I am communing with my computer, I am on a bus or a train or a plane or at a client location–so I am not ready to listen to your audio.
But you might say, “Just bring headphones!” That would work. But yet, I don’t have them. I don’t bring them when I am on the go. Why? Because I don’t want to carry them around.
But that isn’t really the reason. The real reason is that it is not my learning style. I like to read. If you send it to me in text, I will devour it. But I can’t even be bothered to carry around ear buds to listen to what you speak to me.
Everyone has one or two dominant learning styles. If you cater to many different learning styles, then you will reach a wide swath of your customers. If you pound away at the same style each time–not.
