Let’s be honest: most L&D teams in 2025 are running on fumes. You’ve got a to-do list longer than War and Peace. A budget that just about covers some biscuits for training sessions. And yet, leadership still expects you to be making a real impact and getting people learning. But how can we do that without a budget for fancy events and corporate cupcakes? Or a marketing budget to spend on a whizzy campaign?

Have no fear… we’re here to show you that you don’t need the marketing spend of Coca-Cola to pull off an effective learning campaign. In fact, with a little creativity, focus and resourcefulness, you can build a learning campaign on a shoestring budget. And these 7 tips will help you get there:

1. NAIL THE MESSAGE, NOT THE MEDIUM

One of the biggest mistakes L&D teams make when creating learning campaigns is obsessing over the medium. “We want a video!” “We need a PDF.” “We want a flash mob!” (OK, that last one might be a bit OTT, but you get the point.)

A beautifully shot video won’t save a boring message. Nor will a glossy brochure nobody reads. The truth? People only care about what’s in it for them. So before you blow your budget on production, sharpen your copy. Make it clear, human and benefit-led. Because no amount of spending will save you if your message is weak.

💡 Shoestring tip: Run your subject lines and headlines through the “coffee test.” If you wouldn’t say it out loud to a colleague over coffee, rewrite it.

2. TAKE INSPIRATION FROM THE WORLD AROUND YOU

As adults in the digital world — we are inundated with marketing, day in, day out. Billboards, TV ads, posters in coffee shops, social media, emails… we get it all. So take inspiration from it. Some of these organisations are spending millions on creating their campaigns, and that means you don’t have to!

Here’s an example that gave me inspo recently. ING’s latest From > To campaign.

As you can see from this photo, ING are evoking emotion by telling people to go from ‘missing you’, to ‘kissing you’. But I actually saw two other examples on my travels:

• From virtual meetings ➡️ To “Wow you’re tall!”

• Being the boss ➡️ To being bossed about (this one showed said boss with his child!)

These ads instantly turned the lightbulb on in my brain — how many ways can we show people the benefits of our learning offering, by showing a literal transition?

• From a nervous first day ➡️ To confident leader

• From learning in isolation ➡️ To connecting with your peers

• From dreading office days ➡️ To them becoming the highlight of your week

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Campaign themes, slogans, hooks — they’re all out there. So open your eyes and get inspo from the world around you.

💡 Shoestring tip: Remember that Google is free. If you don’t take note of every single advert you see on your travels (unlike me!), why not Google ‘Best campaigns of the year’ and see what inspo that brings you?

3. USE THE CHANNELS YOU’VE ALREADY GOT

All too often L&D pros tell me “I haven’t got any marketing channels to use”. And I quite simply stare back at them as their nose grows longer from telling too many lies… We all have an abundance of channels at our fingertips. And you do not need any new ‘engagement’ or ‘communication’ channels to execute an effective learning campaign. Chances are, you’re not even using half the channels already at your disposal. Email, intranet, Slack, Teams, posters, screensavers, managers — they’re all there, and they’re all free.

💡 Shoestring tip: Pick 3–4 channels and commit to using them well. Better to go deep and consistent than scatter thinly across multiple channels.

4. TAP INTO MANAGER POWER

I just mentioned managers as a channel in my last tip — and that’s a concept that often surprises L&D folk. So spoiler alert: Your learning campaign does not have to be entirely digital. You can use offline sources. And when it comes to internal marketing, offline sources are usually people, and they’re usually ruddy effective too.

So consider how you can activate managers as part of your learning campaign. Employees are often persuaded by their managers' habits. So, if a manager thinks it’s important, their team will agree. Next time you’re creating a learning campaign, consider how you’ll make your managers talk about learning, so they want to drop it into a meeting or conversation.

💡 Shoestring tip: Draft manager toolkits in plain language. Focus on key messages and FAQs. And make it fit on one slide. Managers always say they’re “too busy”, so make it as easy as possible for them to cascade your message.

5. FIND YOUR INFLUENCERS

Continuing with the human theme here — another great tactic, and way to keep the cost down, is by using influencers in your learning campaigns. Peer power beats posters every time. And the reasoning is simple: people believe people more than they believe a brand. And in this instance, you as the L&D team are the brand.

So spotlight employees who’ve completed a programme or initiative. Get them to share their story. They can give you a quote, or even better, they can record you a quick selfie video on their phone. Don’t overthink this, or over edit it — the more natural, the better!

💡 Shoestring tip: Don’t be afraid to ask for volunteers, or better yet, ask managers who the natural voices are on their teams. You’ll be surprised at how many people are flattered by being asked to record a video!

6. MAKE IT VISUAL

Just because you haven’t got the mega bucks and big budgets, does not mean your learning campaign needs to look rubbish. Canva exists. PowerPoint exists. Heck, even emojis exist to elevate your visuals.

You don’t need award-winning creatives to get your learning campaign noticed. But you do need scroll-stopping visuals. So make sure your campaign does not fade into the background. Great visuals that look like they’ve been designed with time and attention set a great first impression — and that’s what your learning deserves, right?!

💡 Shoestring tip: Pick one colour, one font, and one style and stick with it. Consistency makes you look professional even if the design is DIY.

7. USE A TEMPLATE

You don’t need to start every learning campaign from scratch. That’s a fast track to wasted time and messy comms. Templates are your best friend: from communications cadences to manager toolkits — the more you have templated, the faster, cleaner and cheaper your learning campaign development will be. Yes, it’s a really simple tip, but we know it’ll have a mahoosive impact on your L&D team.

💡 Shoestring tip: Ok, this one’s cheeky. But if you don’t know where to start with your learning campaign, check out our ‘Campaign-in-a-Box’. It’ll give you a launchpad to build a campaign that actually works for your organisation.

STOP BLAMING YOUR BUDGET, START BUILDING A BUZZ.

It’s simple. Learning campaigns don’t need million-pound budgets to make an impact. What they do need is clarity, consistency and a little bit of imagination. So if you (like many L&Ders) are sitting there thinking, “We can’t afford to market learning properly”, think again. You can… even on a shoestring budget. 😉