In a recent post – Shall We Give Freebies to Improve Our Sign-up Rates? I invited readers to help Dinesh think about his approach while encouraging participation on a learning platform.
Ever looked closely at a product that offers a ‘freebie’? What did you perceive about its quality? Did you think there was something amiss?
Check a product offering a ‘freebie’ or is now selling at a discounted rate. Look up the ‘use by date’ and there is a fair chance that the company or the shop wants to get rid of it sooner than later for many reasons. The product is probably expiring shortly, has lost its novelty, the company wants to kill the product to launch an extension, competitors have eaten up market share, or it isn’t appealing to its customers anymore.
In Dinesh’s case it does seem like he has a relevant product (a learning platform) which employees need. But enticing employees to sign-up is akin to taking the horse to the water. Making it drink the water is what matters and you can’t do that by offering carrots. You do that by selling the drink as a refreshing experience!
With the platform or for that matter any offering, the goal is to make a compelling promise that makes audiences want to engage. Is this platform better than the ones that are freely accessible elsewhere? Why do employees need to bother about this platform?
To identify this promise one needs to understand the need or the gap which exists. That means, spending time to understand the pain points and what really matters for your audiences.
Consider what motivates employees – do they want to grow at work? Are they keen to improve their credibility as a professional? Do they seek recognition through their work?
Build your offer on these aspects to gain commitment.
Sign-up is just an activity. It doesn’t guarantee usage or perceived usefulness. Engaging employees on the tool is the true measure. The questions to consider are:
- Do employees now feel like they are getting better at work and in life?
- Does it improve their experience with learning?
Incentives are short lived and soon your audiences will discount the value of what you offer.
It isn’t enough to have a great offering for your employees – connect the dots to make it all come together.
