As many associations will attest, education is one of the biggest drivers of membership growth and retention.

A 2024 survey found that 42% of professional association members cite continuing education as a key factor behind their membership, with 32% similarly referencing access to specialised and current information.

Indeed, 24% of all membership growth reported by Australasian associations in 2023 was driven by educational offerings.

This appears true regardless of whether an association requires continuing professional development (CPD) tracking or not.

But the learning landscape is changing, and associations need to adapt with it to stay relevant to the members of today.

Microlearning may have been around for some time, but with the accelerating digitisation of our world and workplaces, it’s now become one of the fastest-growing trends in education.

Read on to discover what you need to know about microlearning and how associations can leverage it to boost engagement, learning outcomes and membership success.

What is microlearning?

In short, microlearning is pretty much what it sounds like — education, training or development delivered in a shorter-than-average format.

But there’s much more to it than that.

While a reduced overall length is key, another critical aspect of microlearning is specificity. 

That is, where traditional education design focuses on the bigger picture, building knowledge or skills in a general area, microlearning targets specific, individual capabilities.

For example, a traditional professional development lesson might cover communication skills as a topic, covering many aspects within that theme, while microlearning might focus on only one subset, such as public speaking or interpersonal skills.

Most microlearning also makes use of technology and is extremely content-rich, deploying elements like images, video, text and audio to create an engaging experience for the learner. 

While video is a popular microlearning format, it also encompasses many other elements, such as: 

• Games
• Blogs
• Podcasts
• Self-paced modules, and
• Infographics. 

Why is microlearning a growing trend in education?

While it’s not new, microlearning has gained new popularity and significance in our increasingly digital age. 

Some experts predict that microlearning will become essential, allowing us to upskill and reskill more often and more quickly to keep up with the increasing pace of change. 

Some professional associations have even begun offering CPD points for microlearning and reimagining their CPD design to allow for the tracking of learning undertaken in less than 60 minutes. 

Microlearning also reflects the changing preferences of today’s professionals. According to a report by Answers for Associations, today’s learners are time-poor, mobile, digitally adept and ready to upskill. 

This can also be seen as a reflection of a wider shift in the digital landscape towards short-form video content, which has seen TikTok, YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels surge in popularity amongst audiences of all ages. 

Not only is it popular, but microlearning offers better outcomes for learners too.

Some studies have suggested this format boosts information retention by up to 80%, perhaps due to its ability to connect to working memory.

Microlearning is also said to boost learner engagement. This could be because of the reduced demand on an individual’s attention span, as well as the use of exciting designs and content-rich elements such as video and sound. 

Finally, this approach offers significant time savings for both the end user and the association creating it.

Not only is microlearning quicker to access, engage with and complete than traditional education, but it’s estimated that it’s three times faster to create, saving both time and money. 

In fact, evexus is in the process of designing a brand new learning management system (LMS) called elms, with microlearning at its heart. 

Microlearning for professional associations

So, for associations, microlearning offers the chance to give members better educational outcomes in less time for less money — no wonder it’s so popular.

But that’s not all. Other potential benefits of microlearning for professional associations include:

• Increasing your member value proposition
• Offering a more personalised learning experience to your members
• The ability to be more agile in creating educational content, helping you identify gaps and create content fast
• Increasing your member’s learning outcomes and professional capabilities
• Boosting your member engagement and retention.

Here are some key things associations should keep in mind when designing microlearning for their members to make the most of this new trend in education. 

Keep it short

Obviously microlearning needs to be short, but just how short should it be?

The answer varies wildly depending on who you ask and what your content is for. 

In general, a good rule of thumb is to produce content of a length of between two and eight minutes, and no more than ten.

Keep it specific

According to McKinsey, training in general is most effective when they’re personalised and tailored for specific roles or career stages, and this is even more true for microlearning.

Information and learning content should be kept targeted, succinct and to the point. 

This can be challenging, particularly with complex subject matter, but associations who fail to do this risk disengaging their learners. 

Explore different options

While short-form video is a great option popular with learners, it’s also a good idea for associations to explore other options as well. 

Some alternatives include:

• Short podcasts
• Games and quizzes
• E-learning modules
• Assessments and e-learning modules
• Online flashcards
• Infographics

Repurpose content

Professional associations don’t necessarily have to create all-new content to launch microlearning options.

Existing content, such as recorded webinars, live-streamed events or e-modules, can be leveraged easily to create handy, short-form learnings. 

For example, a snippet of a talk given by an expert speaker could be repurposed into a short-form video or several short-form videos, each covering one specific topic. 

These could then be provided as on-demand content, boosting your member value proposition or opening up a new revenue stream. 

Diversify

Microlearning is a valuable approach, but it shouldn’t be the only one.

Instead, associations should examine how microlearning could fit into — or even bolster — their existing education offering. 

Ideally, educational content should be interrelated and interlinked, connecting members to related topics that can enhance their learning journey.

Stay up to date

As with everything these days, microlearning is always growing and changing. 

Some say we’re not too far away from incredible advancements that could be leveraged in fascinating ways to drive professional growth.

For example, smart clothing, which is embedded with sensors or other technology, could be used to measure heart rate and other biometric data, helping identify stressors or prevent work-related injury. 

Alternatively, brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), where people operate computers and other devices using thought alone, could revolutionise the meaning of content on demand.

While these still sound like science fiction, there are some breakthroughs already changing the game. 

For example, tools like Opus Clip and Descript make use of generative AI to cut long-form content into smaller clips, ideal for microlearning or sharing on social media. 

It’s a good idea to keep an eye out for news, updates and exciting innovations in this educational space to make sure you stay ahead of the crowd.

Find out more

At evexus, our event management software is designed to help professional associations better meet their members’ needs. Whether you want pain-free CPD management, seamless integration, polished event websites or more, we can help you get it, all from one simple-to-manage central place.

Learn more on the evexus website, or get in touch with our friendly team to book a demo today.