The SURE Formula: Marketing Principles That Impact Learning Engagement

What if your next training felt more like a brilliant marketing campaign than a compliance requirement? This session dives into the SURE Principles—Simple, Useful, Resonate, and Easy to skim—borrowed straight from the playbook of top marketers. Learn how to create learning experiences that don’t just inform, but truly engage. If you’ve ever built a course you were proud of, only to watch it fall flat, this session will show you how to capture attention, spark emotion, and drive real behavior change.

⇢ Apply marketing-inspired tactics to design learning experiences that grab and hold attention.
⇢ Use the SURE framework to simplify content, tailor relevance, and enhance emotional impact.
⇢ Identify readability and cognitive load issues using proven techniques to improve learnability.
⇢ Incorporate attention triggers—like contrast, emotion, and visual hierarchy—into your course design.

Learn more at https://trainlikeamarketer.com

Transcript

1. trainlikeamarketer.com Marketing Principles trainlikeamarketer.com Mike Taylor That Impact Learning Engagement
2. trainlikeamarketer.com Why Marketing?
3. L&D and Marketing share a COMMON GOAL trainlikeamarketer.com
4. trainlikeamarketer.com How to get people's attention and help them think and act in new ways.
5. trainlikeamarketer.com DIFFERENT APPROACHES
6. What is the difference? Informs Persuades trainlikeamarketer.com
7. trainlikeamarketer.com What makes you lean in and truly engage with content? IN ONE WORD
8. trainlikeamarketer.com
11. trainlikeamarketer.com What do you think of that video?
12. trainlikeamarketer.com How marketers tap into emotion…
13. trainlikeamarketer.com VIDEO
14. trainlikeamarketer.com
15. www.trainlikeamarketer.com Which one made you feel something? Which one would you remember?
16. trainlikeamarketer.com Who has built a course you were proud of… but no one seemed to care?
17. trainlikeamarketer.com The Engagement Killers Complex, jargon-heavy content Irrelevant Information Boring, Emotionally Flat Content Walls of Text
18. trainlikeamarketer.com SURE Principles How marketers hack attention
19. S Simple Our brains crave simple, clear information, making readability key in L&D. trainlikeamarketer.com
20. Readability is a good proxy for learnability Look for ways to reduce the amount & complexity of your text trainlikeamarketer.com
21. trainlikeamarketer.com Cybersecurity Compliance Training Overview This cybersecurity compliance training has been developed to ensure that all personnel are thoroughly informed about their responsibilities in maintaining the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of organizational information assets. In accordance with industry- standard best practices and regulatory expectations, participants will be acquainted with appropriate procedural controls, incident reporting protocols, and the ramifications of noncompliance.
22. trainlikeamarketer.com How to Spot a Scam, Stop a Breach, and Save the Day at Work Welcome to our cybersecurity training! This course is here to help you understand how to protect the information you work with every day. We'll talk about what to do if something goes wrong, how to keep data safe, and why it all matters. Everyone plays a part—and we’ll show you how.
23. trainlikeamarketer.com Cybersecurity Compliance Training Overview This cybersecurity compliance training has been developed to ensure that all personnel are thoroughly informed about their responsibilities in maintaining the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of organizational information assets. In accordance with industry-standard best practices and regulatory expectations, participants will be acquainted with appropriate procedural controls, incident reporting protocols, and the ramifications of noncompliance. How to Spot a Scam, Stop a Breach, and Save the Day at Work Welcome to our cybersecurity training! This course is here to help you understand how to protect the information you work with every day. We'll talk about what to do if something goes wrong, how to keep data safe, and why it all matters. Everyone plays a part—and we’ll show you how.
24. trainlikeamarketer.com Cybersecurity Compliance Training Overview This cybersecurity compliance training has been developed to ensure that all personnel are thoroughly informed about their responsibilities in maintaining the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of organizational information assets. In accordance with industry-standard best practices and regulatory expectations, participants will be acquainted with appropriate procedural controls, incident reporting protocols, and the ramifications of noncompliance. How to Spot a Scam, Stop a Breach, and Save the Day at Work Welcome to our cybersecurity training! This course is here to help you understand how to protect the information you work with every day. We'll talk about what to do if something goes wrong, how to keep data safe, and why it all matters. Everyone plays a part—and we’ll show you how. Cybersecurity Compliance Training Overview Title Effectiveness: Low Generic, abstract, and lacks emotional or practical appeal. Flesch Reading Ease: 22.3 (Very Difficult) Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level: 15.2 (College Level) Word Count: 70 Average Sentence Length: 35.0 words
25. trainlikeamarketer.com This cybersecurity compliance training has been developed to ensure that all personnel are thoroughly informed about their responsibilities in maintaining the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of organizational information assets. In accordance with industry-standard best practices and regulatory expectations, participants will be acquainted with appropriate procedural controls, incident reporting protocols, and the ramifications of noncompliance. Welcome to our cybersecurity training! This course is here to help you understand how to protect the information you work with every day. We'll talk about what to do if something goes wrong, how to keep data safe, and why it all matters. Everyone plays a part—and we’ll show you how. Cybersecurity Compliance Training Overview Title Effectiveness: Low Generic, abstract, and lacks emotional or practical appeal. Flesch Reading Ease: 22.3 (Very Difficult) Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level: 15.2 (College Level) Word Count: 70 Average Sentence Length: 35.0 words How to Spot a Scam, Stop a Breach, and Save the Day at Work Title Effectiveness: High Specific, emotionally engaging, action- oriented, and clear. Flesch Reading Ease: 71.6 (Fairly Easy) Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level: 6.4 (Middle School Level) Word Count: 48 Average Sentence Length: 12.0 words
26. trainlikeamarketer.com Readability Stats
27. trainlikeamarketer.com Flesch Reading Ease Score Typical insurance policy = 12 trainlikeamarketer.com
28. www.trainlikeamarketer.com Readability isn’t about grammar. It’s about cognitive load and attention.
29. S Simple U Useful Ditch generic content and write for learners' problems. Just like marketers target customer needs Personas reveal this! trainlikeamarketer.com
30. www.trainlikeamarketer.com One-size fits all really means one-size fits NONE!
31. S Simple U Useful R Resonate Emotions create learning that sticks. Facts alone don’t cut it. trainlikeamarketer.com
32. trainlikeamarketer.com To make learning resonate, we need to understand how people actually make decisions —and it’s not the way we think.
33. trainlikeamarketer.com “When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but with creatures of emotion.” Dale Carnegie Writer and Teacher
34. Attention Triggers: Six keys to unlock attention
35. PERSONAL CONTRASTABLE TANGIBLE MEMORABLE VISUAL EMOTIONAL Attention Triggers:
36. EMOTIONAL
37. Picture 13-year-old Alex crying silently at night, clutching the only family photo he has left. 'Do they even remember me?' he whispers. That pit in your stomach right now? That's exactly what he feels every single day. What you learn today could reunite him with a family who's been searching for him all along. Today, we’ll discuss Family Search and Engagement
38. Picture 13-year-old Alex crying silently at night, clutching the only family photo he has left. 'Do they even remember me?' he whispers. That pit in your stomach right now? That's exactly what he feels every single day. What you learn today could reunite him with a family who's been searching for him all along. Today, we’ll discuss Family Search and Engagement
39. Combine Them These can be combined for an even more powerful attention-grabbing effect.
40. This is Alex. Every night, he asks, 'Do they remember me?’ Your actions can reunite him with his family.
41. Make it Resonate! PERSONAL CONTRASTABLE TANGIBLE MEMORABLE VISUAL EMOTIONAL
42. trainlikeamarketer.com Logic doesn't drive behavior. Emotions do.
43. S Simple U Useful R Resonate E Easy to skim Master visual hierarchy with headers, bite-sized chunks, and visuals. Skimmable content wins. trainlikeamarketer.com
44. trainlikeamarketer.com Visual Attention Words: 291 Flesch Reading Ease Score: 37.9 Words: 103 Flesch Reading Ease Score: 60.8
45. www.trainlikeamarketer.com Simple adjustments, big results. Work with the brain, not against it!
46. trainlikeamarketer.com Know your audience. Grab their attention. Deliver results.
47. trainlikeamarketer.com I can make my content more engaging. Rate your confidence 1: Not confident at all 10: Extremely confident
48. trainlikeamarketer.com Available now! trainlikeamarketer.com
49. trainlikeamarketer.com Finish that sentence I learned… I’m beginning to think… I wonder… I was surprised that… I’m going to… Slides & resources