Creating learning content for your team has never been more important. I'm sure you've heard the phrase “content is king”. Well, at Thrive, we couldn’t agree more. To make sure you're creating the best learning content, we have outlined 8 tips below.
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1. Simple & clear

Making content super simple and clear is imperative. When things are complicated and difficult, we are more likely to give up. Creating content that is straightforward and to the point is more engaging and less likely to overwhelm people.

Think, if you want to learn how to import a list into Salesforce, you don’t want an elaborate 35 step article. You want simple and clear directions, presented in a format that makes sense for the topic. Which brings me to the next tip for better learning content…
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2. Short & easily digestible

Often, we want things quick and easy. There is only so much time in the day, so making content short and easily digestible is key to making sure people are engaging with it.

Not only is short and easily digestible content more appealing for people to initially interact with, studies have shown that people remember information better when it's broken up into smaller pieces. So, for example, why not try to include lists, bullets, or pull out quotes and key statistics in your next piece of written content?
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3. Easy to find

You will notice there is already a theme here. Easy. Easy to understand, easy to digest and easy to find. When content is convenient, more users are likely to interact with it. If they are sent on a wild goose chase to find something, they are more likely to give up on it altogether.

Categorise your content in an intuitive system, make it searchable, and tag it by subject or department type. Think about the user journey involved in finding the content and simplify this as much as possible. Put it on a homepage, pin it, send the direct link out to users, anything that makes it as easy as possible.

Making your content easy to find is just as important as the quality of content. Because regardless of how good the content is, if nobody can find it, it’s useless.
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4. Aesthetically appealing

Humans are visual creatures. If you present a 1,000 word document vs an infographic to someone, chances are they are more likely to engage with the infographic. Adding visuals that can help the learner digest the information in a different way is great practice for great content. Content does not have to always be long pages of text either, you can use interactive videos, pictures, GIFs, Tik Toks, etc.
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5. Relevant content

You can make content for a wide audience but still have it feel relevant to the learner. For example, a piece of content around “How to give feedback to your employees” is relevant to a variety of people across multiple industries. You don't want the content to only appeal to a certain group, and feel irrelevant to others.

However, when you have a more niche topic area, making content as personalised to a person as possible is the best practice. The more relevant it feels to the learner, the better they will connect with the information, therefore making it more memorable.
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6. Timely

Timely content goes hand in hand with relevant content. Imagine you are watching a tutorial of something from 25 years ago. Is that going to resonate with you? I didn’t think so.

Make sure that your content is relevant to the times. It doesn’t necessarily need to be updated weekly or even monthly, but if a piece of content is years old it should regularly be reviewed and updated.

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7. Interactive & engaging

Studies have shown that people are more likely to remember things that they interacted or engaged in. For example, if you watch a video or read an article on how to change a tire, you may not necessarily absorb the information as well as if you had a hands-on class on how to change a tire.

Creating an interactive and engaging lesson creates a more memorable experience. If your content is not pulling in the learner and engaging their attention, they will likely forget about it sooner than you’d like. Creating pathways and learning journeys, packed full of content in different formats that learners need to interact with, is a great way to keep them engaged.
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8. Assess, assess, assess

Last but certainly not least, assess your content to make sure it is what your learner needs.

To make sure you are following the previous seven tips for creating better learning content, look at what is performing well and what isn't. Survey your learners to find out which pieces of content are resonating with them, and which pieces still need work. Use all of this information and adjust your content accordingly.

As we have seen over the past year or so, the world is ever-changing, and your content should reflect that. Make it a priority to review your content and make the changes necessary to keep your learning culture at the top of its game so your learners can thrive.

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