How to get your manager to say YES to Marketing training!

As we get ready to head into 2023, it’s an ideal time to think about how you would like to improve yourself as well as future plans for your brand. Training and development can help to improve productivity as well as increase job satisfaction and morale; Marketing training provides a solid foundation on marketing principles and how to achieve marketing goals. From strategies, to techniques to tools that can be used to promote your products and services successfully, Marketing training is a must.

Unfortunately, sometimes, employees and employers find themselves at loggerheads because managers may not be willing to send their staff to training, more so, Marketing training. So how can you convince your manager to send you to a Marketing training session? Here are a few tips:

1. The ‘ideal’ outcome game – Just as you should envisage the ideal outcome for your promotion or what success looks like for your brand, turn that around and ask your manager:

“What would be the ideal outcome for our Marketing results in 2023?” If they say for example, double sales or increase leads, that’s a good thing because now you can say for example “Is the company willing to invest in training so I can help to get us there?”
If the answer is yes, it’s the perfect way to present any upcoming training sessions that can be a solution to what the business is trying to achieve.

2. Flip the script – Often times, decision makers see Marketing as an expense as opposed to an investment. However, if you purchase something that generates more value than its cost, then it’s not really an expense, is it? It’s an investment! With that in mind, look at the upcoming sessions that you think will be valuable and focus on the value it will bring the company.
This is the same approach you should take when promoting your service/product.
The customers need to know how your offering solves their problem just as your manager needs to know, how attending this training session will benefit the business.

3. Use your voice – talk to your manager/supervisor. You know your manager so use the method that you think works best whether it be email or face to face. Examples of talking points can include: ‘This investment will help the business/brand in generating sales/cultivating a more loyal community; I don’t want to guess what I should or shouldn’t do. That can slow me down and could mean lost opportunities for the business. I’d like to invest in my professional development so I can be better at (include topics you want to get better at).

Be sure to focus on the needs of the business/brand and how attending the training will help you to address them. Wait until you get the buy-in from your manager before you fully focus on the details of the upcoming session e.g., let’s say there’s an upcoming social media training; you know that the session covers an action plan for the development of a social media strategy as well as detailed
Facebook advertising training. Due to your role, you know you need more insight into strategy development and how to effectively use Facebook for advertising. When you communicate with your manager, you should be sure to zoom in on what the company needs social media wise and how this social media session can help the company achieve its social media goals.

Candice Sealey is the Founder & Principal Consultant at Ignite! a Full-service Marketing & PR
Consultancy that helps businesses/brands to stand out and communicate the right message to the right people at the right time through Strategy, Marketing, Media services and Design solutions.
She is also a freelance content writer, advertising copywriter, voiceover talent, media personality. Follow us on FB & IG @igniteresults Phone:784-432-2223. Email: igniteresults@gmail.com