WHY: You don’t need us to tell you how important having a strong Twitter presence is. It’s how your members read the news, connect with friends (and strangers!), and keep up-to-date on their industry. Tweeting is a no-cost way of getting the word out about your elearning programs to your members. It can build up excitement for an upcoming course by getting the conversation started, and it can spark new interest in existing courses by reminding members about them. The sharability of tweets also helps you reach potential learners who don't know about your courses. So the truth is, not using Twitter as part of your outreach approach just isn’t an option anymore.

WHEN: To ensure that your tweets are consistent and well-timed, it’s important that you establish a daily schedule. Try planning out your tweets in three-week phases, especially if you've recently launched a course. Here is a suggested schedule:

• Week 1 of the campaign: Three tweets per day: one between 10am-11am, one between 3pm-4pm, and one between 6pm-7pm
• Week 2 of the campaign: Two tweets per day: one between 10am-11am and one between 3pm-4pm
• Week 3 of the campaign: One tweet per day: one between 3pm-4pm

If you're doing a three-week campaign leading up to the launch of a course, you'll want to reverse that order: in the first week, tweet once a day. Then in the second week tweet twice a day. And finally, in the week leading up to the launch, tweet three times a day!

WHERE:  Where will you tweet from? Scheduling software like Hootsuite allows you to schedule your tweets ahead of time in one sitting, so you don’t have to worry about being out of the office or forgetting when and what to tweet weeks down the road. Hootsuite’s basic scheduling functions are free, so we encourage you to give it a try. If you would still prefer to tweet manually, make sure to create calendar reminders for yourself and your team to stay on schedule.

WHO: Make sure you identify who will be responsible for each of the following steps in the process:

• Creating a tweeting schedule
• Researching what’s hot in the twittersphere, which keywords to use, and related articles and blog posts that complement your courses
• Writing out tweets and checking that they fit in the character limit
• Scheduling tweets or tweeting on the spot according to the tweet schedule

People involved could be anyone in social media, marketing, communications, education, and of course, yourself. Consider your resources and figure out who would be best for the job.

WHAT: 
Explain...

• Why taking this course is important and what new skills can be gained through the course
• Why taking this course in the online environment is beneficial
• If you have more than one course or session in your catalog, mention what each session topic is and why it’s relevant (tweet at least 1-3 times for each course or session)

Use...

• Compelling statistics to catch people's attention
• Photo or video attachments
• A conversational tone that is approachable and friendly

Hashtags:

• Key terms relevant to your industry (e.g. #RealEstateEd #CME #Legal)
• Event names if your content was recorded at a conference (e.g. #ChicagoAGM #Conference2014)
• Trending topics that you can tie into your programs (e.g. If there is a spring deadline for registrations and the hashtag #Spring2014 is trending, make sure to use it!)

Links:

• A five minute preview! Hook readers in with a quick way to find out more about the course
• Your online learning system homepage
• Articles about the benefits of online learning

Your organization’s website is arguably the most important marketing tool to attract new online learners and generate sales. Your organization has full control of the website content and you don’t have to pay advertising fees like you would externally. Best of all, you already have potential learners right where you want them—at a computer and receptive to information about your organization’s programs. Don’t let them slip through the cracks! There are simple things you can do to seamlessly convert wandering website visitors into valuable online learners.

Take a minute to read through this checklist of things you can do to optimize your website’s marketing power.

Checklist: Are you doing a good job of marketing your online learning programs through your website?

Takes one click to move from the following pages of your website to the learning portal

• Homepage -> Learning portal
• Education page -> Learning portal
• Events page -> Learning portal

Visuals of the learning portal (e.g. screenshots of the course) are clearly noticeable when people first enter your website

• Website visitors should not have to scroll or click anything to see the visuals
• If you have a rotating slideshow on your homepage, make the learning platform the first slide

Sidebar advertisements

• Automatically scroll down along with the page
• One-click link to the learning portal

In the Education section of your website (If you don’t have one, create one!)

• Education should be one of the main menu options of your website
• List of courses available online with descriptions
• If applicable, state the number of continuing education credits (CLE, CME, CPE, PD, etc.) that can be completed online
• One-click link to the learning portal
  

At the end of all event-related news and/or coverage (if you have recorded speakers from an in-person event)

• State that online versions of the sessions are available
• One-click link to the learning portal

If you have a News or Blog section on your website

• Multiple articles and/or posts about your online learning programs from different angles
• Spotlight and/or interview prominent figures (e.g. Executive Director, Education Director, and/or course instructors)
• Why the course topic(s) are important and why your organization felt it was important to take online

By Alexandra Caufin

As the leader of an association, you know how important your annual conferences and meetings are for your members and for the financial strength of your organization. Conferences across the world are going digital with an exciting array of  new live streaming and video-conferencing technologies, and yours should be no exception.

Going digital with your conference is no longer a cutting-edge idea only for the technologically brave. It’s now both easy and inexpensive—and more than this, it’s going to be necessary for the survival of your association. Here’s why:

Maximize value proposition for attendees.
The simple fact is, you can’t be in two places at once. This is especially problematic when your conference attendee wants to attend multiple sessions at the same time. If conference-goers had the opportunity to participate in every session of a conference, some physically and some that have been digitally recorded, it would present an obviously greater value proposition than one-time only conference sessions.