Often times the most effective learning activities are the ones that resemble learning the least. They are often disguised as marketing and speak directly to the end user.

Take for instance, Match.com. They’ve recently unveiled their Summer QuickSTART campaign. In their own words it’s designed to address, “Everything from writing your profile and using our search tools, to sending irresistible emails, and planning a great first date”.

How’s that for clarity of purpose? The audience knows immediately, the purpose of the activity and what they’ll walk away with. The four videos correspond with,

1. Writing your profile
2. Using their search tools
3. (How to) send irresistible emails
4. (How to) plan the first date

The videos are supported by a splash page that illuminates, in greater detail, the points covered by the actors. Purposefully, they are short and the language is kept lite. Succinctly, this is learning plain and simple.

As important as what it communicates is how it’s positioned. To consume this information the audience doesn’t need to be a member of Match. It’s free. Match doesn’t even ask for their information. Brilliant! Additionally, the content is presented in a relatively holistic fashion. The tips and tricks garnered from the videos can be as easily applied to the competition (eHarmony and Plenty of Fish) as they can to Match. This is a risk, but smaller than one might think, in that the videos position Match as the subject matter experts of Internet dating and they’re educating their potential audience for free. In short they’re executing trust-based marketing expertly with an undertone of learning.

What would happen if you aligned marketing and learning activities with the sales process?
Where does the marketing end and the learning activity begin?