When you’re creating an e-learning course, choosing the right branding is one of the most important decisions you’ll have to make. After all, your course will be representing your organization for the whole world to see. Luckily for you, we’re here to help with ten steps to creating an effective branding and marketing integration strategy for your online learning program.

Step 1: Set A Mood

Setting the mood for your course is crucial. Is it going to be serious and scholarly, or is it going to be funny and quirky? One important thing to keep in mind is that your learners probably have different moods. You want to create a learning environment that suits their learning style.

Here are a few points to keep in mind when creating your learning environment and mood for your brand and marketing integration online course:

• Choose a formal or informal tone
• Consider the audience
• Create a comfortable learning environment
• Put yourself in your students’ shoes
• Research the market value of your product or service
• Dress the part
• Establish consistency
• Do what works best for your learners
• Match the color scheme of your organization
• Use graphics that match your branding
• Make it memorable
• Establish relevance
• Keep it as short as possible
• Consider the time commitment

Step 2: Choose A Theme

Choosing a theme for your course is very important. After all, you’ll be using this theme for the whole duration. You want to pick something that’s easily memorable and fits your brand identity. Having a theme for your course not only makes it look cohesive but also helps you keep track of what’s going on in your course throughout its entire duration. You can use web themes, Bootstrap, or any other framework that you’re comfortable with.

In our case, we went with Bootstrap because we’re a frontend development agency and Bootstrap is a popular free frontend tool for building webpages and web applications. It’s also very easy to understand once you know the basics.

Step 3: Identify The Learning Objectives

Having a clear idea of what you’re teaching is essential. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself teaching the wrong thing, and your students will resent you for it. So, before you start designing your course, make sure you set your learning objectives. Now, you don’t have to go overboard and list out every detail of your course contents. But you should have an idea of what you’re teaching and why you’re teaching it. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself floundering through content that doesn’t seem relevant.

Step 4: Identify Key Takeaways

What’s the point of having all of that content if nobody’s going to learn anything from it? You’ll find it really easy to miss out on important details if you don’t prioritize them. So, before you start writing, identify the main takeaways from the content you’ve created.

These are the ideas, concepts, or information that you feel are vital for your students to know or be able to apply. You don’t have to cover everything, but you should include the most significant or crucial details.

Step 5: Design The Course

Once you’ve set your mood and theme, it’s time to start designing the course. Begin by putting together a rough draft of the course outline. This will help you structure your content and identify any redundant or missing details. Designing a course is a lot like writing a book. You’ll need a flowchart, maybe even a mind map, to visualize the flow of the course and how the different topics and lessons are connected.

It’s important to keep in mind that your course is going to be viewed by people from all around the world. So, using proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation will help your readers (or viewers) understand your meaning. Avoid using run on sentences and overly complex language. Your course doesn’t need to be perfect, but it should be easily understood by anyone who takes the time to read it. This will make a huge difference in how your viewers perceive your course.

Step 6: Customize The Header

Every course has a header, which is a small piece of text that appears at the top of the webpage, usually just below the logo or branding for the website. Your header is going to be used to briefly introduce your course and grab the attention of your viewers. So, take the time to come up with a nice, concise header that will make the viewer interested in your course.

Step 7: Choose A Logotype

A logotype is simply the symbol or artwork used to represent your company. When you’re choosing a logotype, put yourself in your students’ shoes. What would they recognize and remember most about your company?

In our case, we went with the name Gilden because we’re a web development agency and designed our website around the name Gilden. What you want to keep in mind is that the logotype you choose must be easily recognizable and memorable. If you’d like, you can take a look at some of our previous work or visit our portfolio to see some of our other projects.

Step 8: Choose A Font

Your logo and website’s font are going to be important elements in tying the whole look and feel of your website together. Before you choose a font, take a look at some of the other fonts used in logos, banners, and websites for similar businesses. You want to choose a font that’s easy to read and memorable.

Step 9: Match The Color Of Your Logo

Once you’ve chosen a font, it’s time to match the color of your logo. Is your logo black, white, or something in between? When choosing a font, make sure to check the color as well. You want your students to be able to easily differentiate between texts and make out letters and words on your website.

Step 10: Create A Sense Of Urgency

You want your viewers to take your course seriously and act quickly. So, before you start teaching, create a sense of urgency. Use language that leaves no room for doubt. For example, “If you’ve never done business online before, this course is for you.” Or “This is your last chance to sign up for this course before it fills up.”

If you follow these guidelines, you’ll easily create an effective branding and marketing integration strategy for your online learning program. From choosing the right theme to identifying key takeaways and applying them, to picking the right logotype, font, and color; these steps will help you produce content that will make an impression.