Internet learning styles: what they can tell you about your target market
Posted by Frances van den Berg on 15 Oct 2009 | Tagged as: Multimedia SEO
I spent my first graduate years immersed in the education field, from assisting in the university to teaching English at summer camps to fund my travels. What I learnt from my time as an educator, among other things, is that everybody has their own learning style. These learning styles have become of particular interest to me in an online context since comScore released its August report which shows that, in addition to humour and home maker sites, educational sites were top performers in the northern hemisphere this summer.
In an endeavour to once again be an educator, I will ask you to do a small task for me and take note of which particular learning style you prefer and I will then explain what relevance they have to the internet. Educational experts tell us there are seven distinctive learning styles (which category do you fall into?):
• Visual or spatial where you learn with images, pictures or graphs
• Aural or musical where you learn from listening to sounds or music
• Verbal/linguistic (my particular learning style of choice) where you learn with words, whether it is in speech or writing
• Physical or kinesthetic where you learn by using your body and the sense of touch
• Logical or mathematical where you learn with logic, reason and systems
People also fall into two broader categories depending on the study setting they prefer:
• Social or interpersonal learners: where they learn best in a social setting or a group; or,
• Solitary learners, where they learn best on their own.
Your next task is to go back and browse through a few online articles and websites and determine what learning style they are trying to evoke, because whether we know it or not, the internet is all about educating people: educating people about a product, a service, a bit of history or a recipe.
Here is a rundown of the learning styles that some very popular sites rely on.
• You tube: uses both visual and aural learning which shows that this must be a very common learning style among the general populace as videos are The Next Big Thing. A personal note here: I don’t quite understand the obsession with videos because I would much rather spend five minutes reading an article than bothering to download a video but that’s just my particular learning style coming to the fore.
• Facebook: uses a combination of verbal, visual and (obviously) social learning. Again, the popularity of social media shows us that many people, particularly youngsters, are social learners.
• Slide share: uses visual, verbal and, often, logical learning depending on the content.
Educators have recently discovered that they can use a combination of learning styles to deliver best results. For example, the latest methods for teaching foreigners English combine all learning styles: students are asked to read, listen to tapes, look at pictures, play games and work both independently and in groups.
But what does this have to do with online marketing?
Blended search results show us that now even IT gurus and online marketers have realised that people require a varied approach to keep them interested. Marketers also need to realise that every individual in their target market will approach their website from a different point of view. Some will be enticed by videos, others by compelling copy and another group may be enticed by something more tangible like the promise of a free T-shirt or the chance to have a conversation. And many people will love a clever combination of different media to keep them coming back for more.
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