Reflections on Marketing Training

As a marketing trainer & facilitator, I‘m always amazed by attendees’ feedback on the training program content that they consider relevant.

I conduct AMA’s Marketing and Nonprofit Marketing Boot Camps designed for professionals who are new to the marketing function. The program also attracts experienced marketers who want a back-to-basics refresher. Given the attendees’ wide range of experience and the variety of organizations they represent, I find it fascinating to learn what they consider important.

The Boot Camps are conducted in an intense day-and-a-half format. I like to start the second day with an interactive session in which I ask attendees to select key review points from the previous day’s content. I find several benefits to this approach as it:

  • immediately engages the group in a participatory exercise
  • provides them with a summary review of the first day
  • and gives me insight into what aspects of the marketing content resonated with them.

Responses range from key points presented in the material itself (such as the importance of customer segmentation), to insights picked up from supplemental stories & examples (how ineffective internal communication can derail marketing) to the ideas and comments shared by the attendees during the program (how to manage “those who don’t know vs. those who don’t care”).

As an instructor, I’m gratified to work with professionals who are actively engaged in learning and sharing with each other. The icing on the cake is a group who enjoys the learning experience and bonds with each other in the process. Such was the group in my recent Nonprofit Marketing Boot Camp in Washington DC and the inspiration for this post.

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