Back to the School Desk, or Why Learning Comes Naturally to Us

This article comes from the blog archive – figures and examples reflect the year it was published.

Learning is just as natural a process as moving or breathing. The ability to learn is not the exclusive domain of humans. Practically all living organisms have this ability. It’s an adaptive process that enables us to respond to new stimuli and adjust to new situations.

The difference between humans and animals lies primarily in capacity and in the ability to analyse the knowledge gained in more complex ways and to connect the pieces with one another. It’s important to realise that learning is a continuous affair that has only very little to do with compulsory schooling. Each of us goes through a natural development and, throughout our lives, takes in new stimuli and new information, which we then go on working with.

Over time, general education turns into learning out of interest and learning as needed – when we seek out information that is meant to help us solve a specific problem or situation.

Why Educate Your Customers

Give customers content that teaches them something new, and this is everything that content can do:

• It increases customer satisfaction
• It increases engagement
• It increases customer loyalty
• It’s the foundation of great customer support
• It increases credibility

Why We Should Be the Ones to Teach Them

A description of education, however, still doesn’t answer the question of why we, of all people, should be the ones educating our customers. After all, we’re taking a risk.

Suddenly they’ll know too much. They’ll want to bypass us and solve the problem themselves. Or they’ll take what they’ve learned off to the competition, who will thus effortlessly gain a “half-won-over” client. Can that happen? Yes, it can. Nobody will give you a guarantee. But years of research confirm several important facts that speak in favour of you, too, starting to create content thanks to which your customers will top up their education, gain useful information, solve some problem, fix something or just learn something new – for free.

We Trust Authorities

It’s in us. Just as we were used to listening to our teacher at school, we’re inclined to trust the person / brand / solution that takes up the position of expert and proves it truly understands the field.

We Appreciate Help

However warped the world may be, we’re still capable of showing gratitude when we sense that someone has done something for us. There’s no need to look for anything esoteric in it. The concept of reciprocity has a very clear psychological background – we simply feel bad if we have a sense of owing the other party. Figuratively speaking, it makes us a worse person in our own eyes. And so – most of the time, at least – we try to remember what helped us and who helped us.

We Root for the Brave

We naturally gravitate towards those who have the courage to be leaders and aren’t afraid to show it.

5 Examples of Educational Content

• Infographics – An infographic is a great example of how to turn even dull data into something interesting and easy for the audience to remember
• Recipes – Ideally step by step and with photographs. Less costly to produce than video, with a similar effect.
• A great example of educational content is instructional videos. People love video, and for how-to content they’re a great choice. They show the viewer clearly, step by step, how to tackle a specific problem, and that’s exactly what the customer wants at that moment. A video like this is a valuable piece of education for the customer.
• eBooks – A great premium format for education is the e-book, into which you can pack comprehensive information on a particular subject. You can, for instance, offer a quality e-book in exchange for an e-mail contact and so expand your base for e-mail marketing.
• A webinar is a great form of education. It forces the participant to be in a certain place at a certain time, which for us is the equivalent of a classic lecture or lesson. That’s why we consider this format very worthwhile on principle.