Developing a learning management system (LMS) is a potentially lucrative business idea and opportunity. However, just like most other business ventures, developing an LMS is only a good idea when you can market it properly in order to drive sales.
The success of your LMS depends as much on the marketing strategy, as it does on the product itself. With cutthroat competition within the elearning industry, smaller LMS vendors may struggle to find their footing.
The job becomes even more complicated when your marketing strategy is outdated or is simply leaking conversions. Identifying areas of improvement in your marketing strategy can be the turning point to success for your LMS. Let’s jump into the marketing leaks that are often overlooked by LMS developers and marketers:
Overlooking the importance of a content strategy
The most common mistake that LMS developers make is to rely heavily on traditional marketing methods of cold calling and boring elevator pitches. When you are offering a smart, digital product, it only makes sense that your B2B content marketing strategy is also smart and digital. The digital marketing methodology is not about feeding the masses with your ads and hoping some of them would convert.
Modern marketing is all about finding targeted prospects, nurturing them with informative and valuable content, and eventually leading them down a funnel to convert them into paying customers. The first step of this process is to build a solid content marketing strategy. According to research, 80% of B2B decision makers consult a collection of articles before making a decision.
The takeaway here is quite straightforward, develop content that is meant to genuinely help your prospects and build an audience of invested individuals. If they are looking to upgrade the skills of their employees, tell them how this can be done efficiently with an online course. When you achieve this, you can further use your content to make your audience realise that your product will solve their problem most efficiently.
Overlooking the most efficient platforms for paid ads
Paid advertising plays a vital role in any holistic marketing strategy. However, many LMS providers make the mistake of spending their budget on generic PPC ads. While search engines like Google do command a significant audience, the right audience can often only be targeted with keywords.
On the other hand, niche specific PPC networks offer brands a unique advantage. In the case of learning management systems, LMS directories only attract a highly targeted audience that drives more conversions.
Opting to run your PPC campaign on a niche specific LMS directory has several other advantages:
- Direct product comparisons allow LMS developers to showcase the unique features that set them apart from the crowd.
- Most LMS directory algorithms are designed to deliver ads when users are most active during the day.
- Targeted traffic, coupled with timely advertising is the perfect recipe for better conversions.
Overlooking a social media presence
A robust and active social media presence is an absolute necessity for any business and LMS vendors are no exception. The e-learning market is fast becoming saturated, and it is critical for LMS vendors to realise the importance of being present on multiple platforms.
Since your audience is already present on the various social media platforms, it is an excellent opportunity to engage them with your content on these platforms. Start by identifying the platforms frequented by your ideal buyers.
Next, develop and publish content (just like in the first section) that they will love. Join in on their conversations and make your presence felt. This way, you will be able to turn social media engagement into traffic falling on your website, which is when you can start converting visitors into customers with your content strategy.
B2B marketing is more than just difficult
If you are not diligent about the efficiency of your B2B marketing efforts, you may risk losing precious marketing dollars. The three conversion leaks mentioned in this article are the most common mistakes made by LMS marketers.