Your association’s continuing education program is a top benefit for members. It also drives non-dues revenue that can be a big help during times of flat or declining memberships.
But it can do more. It also holds the opportunity to provide even greater member value and drive more non-dues revenue when your organization is ready to grow.
The key is to develop a scalable learning content strategy.
Having a scalable content strategy positions your organization to keep pace with changes in your industry that impact content topics and how quickly you need to deliver related content to members. It positions you to remain a valuable source of timely education – even as you work to grow your program.
Here are four tips to help you create scalable content for your association’s professional development program:
1. Think “micro”.
When you’re creating scalable content, it’s no time to think “big”. Nano or micro-courses are bite-sized, easily consumable content clips. Creating and hosting these types of smaller sessions makes it easier to quickly fine-tune, update, and bundle the content with other sessions, courses, and modules.
Shorter sessions also help to ensure the learner is paying attention the whole time and engaging with the program. With everyone’s hectic schedules, this can meet the needs of a busy professional.
2. Break out.
Community Brands research shows there is a one-hour sweet spot before attention begins to drop off. To ensure you’re holding learners’ attention, break up longer courses into smaller, easier to consume chunks. You can then sell the program as a whole and as individual smaller sessions so customers can choose the content most applicable to and convenient for them.
3. Bundle up.
Think about your learner’s needs and requirements and do some of the work for them. For example, do they have a certain amount of ethics hours they must get to maintain their licenses? Create a bundle with your best ethics courses, so they can knock out that requirement. Or, offer a “create your own bundle” option where they can pick and choose content to customize their own experience.
4. Re-use.
You don’t always have to start from scratch. Get more mileage out of your content by re-using what you’ve already developed. For example, take content you’ve created for in-person learning experiences and extend it online.
Learn more
By creating scalable learning content, you’ll be poised to deliver even greater member value and drive more non-dues revenue. Discover how the right combination of strategy, technology, and services can help you deliver a top-notch continuing education program with a growing stream of high-quality content. Read The Association’s Guide to Creating High-Quality Content for Grow Your Continuing Education Program.
