Glasses.
Anyone who wears eyeglasses can attest to this trend already in 2025.
Losing them – I mean forgetting where you put them.
I can attest that this trend has happened to me multiple times, and we haven’t even made it through February yet.
If you are like me, you go zinging around your flat or house, looking for them everywhere.
You eventually give up, get frustrated, and go over them again as if they will magically appear.
Ultimately, you should follow the current trend and ask either your pet—hey, they may know—or your partner, who will laugh at you and ask why you didn’t put them in a place where you could find them.
Invariably, you said you did, but then you forgot where you put them in the spot you said you did.
It is a constant trend.
One trend you think you will break is another one you won’t.
If anything, it will appear again next month or the month thereafter.
It still is a trend that returns to where I am heading here.
Trends
Nobody ever focuses on the whole marketing aspect.
Yet marketing is what drives this industry.
If you have poor marketing, then yes, you will still land clients, but their scope and size will be far different.
Trend: Is it a trend or just a bunch of lemmings that Disney appears to have pushed off a cliff?
Marketing hype is the nature of this business.
Those white papers you get, or case studies, are a form of marketing.
Nobody will appear in a case study that despises the system or has had a miserable experience.
Nor is a whitepaper going to talk about issues with the system.
As you know or not, the whole push around onboarding is a hot trend for marketing.
Onboarding works because people get hired and need training.
I’ve seen great onboarding at companies, but it isn’t terrific.
Who provides the training?
This is where it gets funky because it depends on the company, organization, entity, or whatever and its approach.
And it is where marketing can’t get it right.
Trend: Who’s in Charge?
Go to any vendor’s site that says onboarding and try to guess who they are targeting.
Is it HR? L&D? Training? CLOs usually have a background in OD (Organizational Development) and, therefore, would fall into the L&D side. Okay, they often come up in the ranks from L&D.
If you conduct a web search and type in “LMS and Onboarding,” the first vendor you will see is Onboard LMS, which you can ignore.
Then you see “best onboarding LMSs.”
I found some note onboarding on their site, but it is never front and center.
What is front and center?
AI.
I’ll get there shortly.
There are clear winners whose system is the best for onboarding, depending on who the target person buys the system from (not the employees).
You would think it would be cross-sectional among employees and wonder why it would be amazing for them – and those buying the system.
But that isn’t the case.
Every system does the same thing when it comes to onboarding.
Sure, the functionality may be different, but in a slight way.
The UI/UX is different.
The metrics—a considerable key—are a mess and all over the map, and this is where a key differentiation exists—what is referred to as a USP and UVP.
USP – Unique sales proposition (a widely known term, but in our case, I will refer to learning systems, and yes, every platform or product in e-learning, in this situation, does it – often poorly, and I mean awful).
USP – What makes us different? How do we stand out above the crowd of so many others?
Our industry is terrible at doing this – a huge issue – because the messaging gets lost.
That, though, is for another time.
What vendors ignore, and honestly baffling to me, is UVP.
Unique Value Proposition
What in our system offers UVP?
Could you have multiple?
Sure, but there has to be something that stands out above the rest, including the systems as a whole.
The challenge here is that without a strong USP and, in combination, a UVP, your messaging will be all over the place, and nothing will stand out.
You rely on content marketing to push the narrative – which is 100% fine.
Still, it doesn’t push who the target is.
Here is how I see it: The next time you go to a vendor’s site, ask yourself who they are targeting to buy the system for onboarding.
- L&D – This is the clear winner here – but understanding the entire nuances of folks overseeing L&D, and heck, this key term OD (which I find so many vendors have no clue what it means, but will say, “Yeah, I know what it means,” – then asks you what you think it means).
The onboarding slides are for the core audiences—L&D and HR. I’ve worked at companies where HR handles the onboarding, and L&D handles everything else employee-wise.
I’ve worked at companies without L&D, where HR handled onboarding and Training (hello) handled employees.
Even where Training handled internal – employees and external – customer training (aka the legacy term extended enterprise – which, unless you were around in the 90s, you wouldn’t know what it means).
This gets back to messaging and presumptions.
It gets confusing here, and I apologize because vendors are confused.
I could be at a company where L&D handles onboarding for all employees and then offers the system to an external audience.
Is it common for L&D to do internal and external?
No.
It does exist.
Is it common for HR to do internal and external?
No.
Is it common for HR to do onboarding only?
Yes.
Nowadays, it is common for L&D, Training, and even HR to be gutted – i.e., reorganization, i.e., you lose your job.
Do vendors understand this?
No.
This leads to the question of what happens if L&D is gone and HRIS oversees the system.
Unfortunately, this will continue until the company starts to rehire and bring back L&D leaders or Training.
Vendors in our industry zero in on L&D for everything.
Onboarding, frontline workers (aka deskless), compliance, and any employee-related needs – skills, job roles, etc.
That’s fine.
Yet they equally see L&D as the audience for external audiences, such as customer training, partners, franchises, clients, and so forth (vendors internally will often note this as “External”).
A complete F is here in the grade book.
Therefore, from a target audience – buyer standpoint – the messaging gets lost and jumbled.
Here is the kicker.
Again, this gets confusing because vendors make it so—unconsciously, I believe, although I wonder with some vendors.
- HR—Many vendors will attend shows such as HRTech (popular) but fail to attend SHRM, which is the biggie. Regardless, they see their buyer as HR, yet the marketing on their sites doesn’t target them here—except for the statements of integrations. In contrast, it will definitely show HRIS and other HR-related items.
If I were in HR, my guess is they would first look at the HRIS platform they are already on and that vendor’s system.
Thus, a learning system vendor who sees their core buyer as HR must figure out how to move them over and away from the other.
That’s why you see L&D as the core audience, even though the vendor may focus more on HR.
When you try to hit both L&D and HR, you need a USP for one audience that differs from another and ditto on UVP.
Let us not forget those training folks seeking their own UVP and USP.
See the dilemma?
Unless the system’s core focus is only on customer training, for example, or only on employees, you will have a good chance of seeing a USP and UVP.
Will you have a good chance of seeing a USP and UVP?
Whether good or not is a different bag of worms, err story.
Often done poorly.
Trend – AI, here we come, right back where we said we were
I see vendors who claim they were the first for AI.
Everyone will push content creator, assessment tools, skills something, and learning journeys.
Machine learning is AI – the first to roll out for our industry.
On the Gen AI side, to say you are the first system to have AI begs the question:
How many systems in the industry did you look at to make that statement?
Did you even do a deep analysis?
It’s probably equal to the restaurant that says they were the first Mexican restaurant in the States.
In my analysis, I found who I see as the top vendors for AI.
I can tell you that one of those top vendors will roll out a whole new empowered AI while another will roll out new AI functionality that benefits the learner.
AI for metrics, though, is nearly non-existent.
DeepSeek
DeepSeek is the new powered LLM that folks are talking about.
I found a great example of DeepSeek’s explanation that makes sense and is easy to understand.
It will be interesting to see if any vendor adds DeepSeek to their LLMs in their system, or switches out from their current LLM to go over.
I have found many impressive LLMs from China, but in the past, I have been blocked from using them except for those folks—companies, etc., in China.
DeepSeek is the first to be available.
LCM
Speaking of AI, have you ever heard of an LCM?
Perhaps you should.
LCM makes far more sense for the learning system space, learning tech, etc.
Here is a video on Meta, which has an LCM.
LCMs.
Would you still want an LLM?
Why?
The marketing here, of course, isn’t in existence because vendors are just not paying attention.
They focus on the here and now, on what is doable, and they stay with it.
LCM is out there, and Meta is the first to roll it out – 100% free.
I can’t say if it is far better than an LLM; instead, an LCM makes more sense from a learning and training standpoint. Just from how people think and understand, and in our case,
For now.
Trend – Who greenlighted your marketing? I’m talking to you below.
Because it’s terrible.
Can I see what you are pitching?
Does it make me want to know more?
Does it do a BANG visually?
This one doesn’t
- Adobe Learning Manager – Brutal.
- They mention they are headless, but what they are saying and what is headless are two different things -as they do not have it.
Trend: Is there a perfect learning site around its marketing?
Not really, because perfect doesn’t exist.
What does is the whole UVP, USP, and something called neuromarketing, which vendors haven’t tapped into.
Propaganda techniques, on the other hand?
100%.
A short list of vendors and their marketing approach to grab your eyes and get you to reach out:
Absorb LMS has a cool vibe. Starting the tour is front and center—a big win. L&D and Training people love to see what’s there—it makes a huge difference.
- Thought Industries – It tells you right away who they are targeting. The vibe is fresh and unique. However, the video isn’t the system itself. It’s not a product tour. And the elite feature set the system has? It’s not on the main page, nor the second. A shame because this is a great system.
- Learn Amp has a cool vibe. It tells you who they are and whom they are targeting and shows a Tour right away. I like the site. Plus, I like that it says, “Take a tour.” That said, I wish it were on the main page.
- Eurekos – The guy on the right – in the video? That is the CEO – you can’t get better than that. A real person, not some images you purchased. Clean – right to the point. Fresh.
- Biz Library—Fresh look. The video combines a marketing pitch and the system itself. I’d prefer just a tour of the system. Save the marketing angle for elsewhere on the site. It has a nice vibe. It gets right to the point and hits the key areas.
- Thrive Learning—Overall, it has a good vibe. It has a product tour with areas folks might find helpful and interesting. It gets my attention, although I would tweak a few places. The see it in action button—I thought it would go further into a product tour, perhaps more interactive—which would rock.
- NovoEd—Overall, it has a nice vibe. While it has product tours for various roles, such as manager, they sit on the second page rather than the first. This system has a lot of power and has something coming soon that will be a game-changer.
- D2L—The corporate selection—I’m not a fan of it, but what about that person’s face being front and center? They are on this list because if you get to D2L Brightspace, you can see a tour immediately, and the features are there.
You have to scroll down, but the site is equally a jumble because while the essentials are there, edtech is noted, too. Overall, it’s still like the marketing, just a bit wonky.
It needs tweaking.
I did like that the site offers to stay in the language of the country you are in -= and that your browser is picking up via the I.P. -and thus language, rather than assuming I prefer the site only in English. Their site was the only one I found that offered this—a big win.
Wisetail—Cool vibe. I like the Start the Tour button so you can see some of the system. I hate the popup. It takes away from me getting a better look and is redundant. Another minus? The tour is best seen on a desktop, which they note. Yet a lot of people use a mobile device. One other note—the home page is too busy.
- Cornerstone LMS—Overall, it has a nice vibe with a key screen upfront. I am unsure why I am looking at a marketing pitch video, whereas I have to scroll down to see a product tour with a couple of videos, but then there are screens for the other.
Interestingly, Cornerstone Learn—their Learning Suite—is far better than the LMS specific, although the product tour is missing. Features are front and center, with a crisp look.
- Schoox—Wonderful system, so why is the site a marketing mess? Features should be higher—I can’t figure out the USP, let alone UVP, here. And why so many static screens? The vibe is solid, but why? Better yet, who cares about the FAQ? That should be on the header, not on the site. I should note that many vendors put the FAQ on the home page as though that is a key selling point.
- LearnUpon has a nice vibe. Yet one of their newest offerings, Anywhere, requires you to click on the top of the header under Features.
Again, there are lots of static images. I like the system, but I am lost in the marketing angle.
I never get why vendors have to show the companies with their system high on the page and their key selling points—benefits and features that align with it lower.
Maybe that sells your system – but perhaps I couldn’t care less.
- TalentLMS—It has a great vibe. Overall, it is crisp and fresh. But the icons that appear to be play clicks didn’t work for me on Edge or Firefox, which begs the question: Why do I have the icons if they are static?
This site works, though, especially when “See the Platform.” – However, it is down on the page; it should be front and center.
When you click it, I’d prefer mini videos because of what I see in their features and some static screens.
Another item—when you look for them on the web, they are rated #1 by real users. Compared to what? Fake ones? Marketing right up front, and uh, personal?
- Pluralsight—Brutal. Confusing, and where is the product tour? Key player—actually near the top for tech skills, but for sims and labs, you would think something interactive would be right up there. Plus, the whole team’s free trial is misleading.
- Docebo—Once the best in marketing, now? I like that you can see a Tour of the system. There are a lot of videos to check out—I love that. I am baffled as to why it is relevant to the whole revenue thing and the user piece on the right side. Features should be higher up.
Bottom Line
What is the rule of thumb when targeting L&D and Training?
Show me, tell me, let me see it.
It’s the mantra when you train someone – it is the most effective learning method.
This gets back to the whole USP and UVP.
Go to a vendor’s site, and tell me if you can figure out their UVP?
My gut says the majority of systems, heck, even the one you bought
Lack that.
Therefore, ask yourself the question,
What made me choose the system to take a look at?
An independent analyst (hello). A web search?
Using Copilot or other AI searches – which search the web.
A learning system directory? G2, FindAnLMS, Capterra, Uncle Jim’s House of Learning?
Good start.
However, somewhere, you had to ask yourself, does the learning system sell me on their site?
Does it make me want to know more, or should I pass by?
And when you talk to that person – the first person
Are they selling you? Telling you? Listening to you?
Or is it just making the same pitch everyone hears?
Because if a vendor’s marketing is on point,
The person you talk to should understand that.
And more importantly,
Understand you.
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