Essential Features for Choosing an LMS: A Comprehensive Guide

A skilled and knowledgeable workforce is the backbone of any successful organisation, making employee development paramount. Many businesses rely on Learning Management Systems (LMS) to empower them to deliver impactful training programs and bridge the skills gap.

With a plethora of LMS options available, choosing the right one can feel overwhelming. This article will guide you through the essential features to consider when selecting an LMS for your business and shines a light on Struto’s learning management system called strutoCX LMS.

Features to Consider when Purchasing an LMS

Security and Compliance

Data security is paramount. The LMS should offer robust security features to protect learner data, especially if your business operates in a regulated industry. Ensure the LMS complies with relevant data privacy regulations.

Content Management

Your LMS should seamlessly integrate with your existing learning materials (videos, documents, SCORM* packages) and enable you to organise them into well-structured courses. A user-friendly interface for content creation and management is crucial for efficient course development.

*SCORM, short for Sharable Content Object Reference Model, is a set of rules for eLearning software. It is important in content management systems (CMS) and learning management systems (LMS) because it ensures eLearning content can be used, shared, and accessed easily across different platforms. SCORM packages are essential for creating, sharing, and managing eLearning content in a standardised and interoperable manner, particularly within LMS platforms.

User Management and Roles

A robust user management system ensures data security and a smooth learning experience. Look for an LMS that allows you to add/remove users, assign them specific roles (learner, administrator, instructor), and control their access to courses and functionalities.

Assessment and Learning Analytics

Effective training programs require assessment tools to gauge learner comprehension. Does the LMS offer quizzes, assignments, and surveys? Can you track progress, identify knowledge gaps, and generate reports to measure the effectiveness of your training programs? Analytics empower you to refine courses and ensure learners are meeting objectives.

Interactivity and Accessibility

Ensure that your LMS hosts a variety of content formats. Learners consume content in different ways and the LMS should provide text, audio, images, video and gamification options to ensure maximum interactivity. The LMS software should address diverse learning styles and needs, including accessibility features for learners with disabilities or multi-language functionality.

Responsive Design and Mobile Compatibility

A mobile-friendly LMS allows your workforce to learn anytime, anywhere, boosting engagement and accessibility. The system should be optimised with a responsive design interface to cater for a range of devices, including mobile and tablet learning options.

Customisation Options

Branding is key! Look for an LMS that allows you to personalise the interface to keep the look and feel on point with your company branding and tailor the learning experience to your specific business needs.

Additional Features

While not essential, these bonus features can significantly enhance your LMS experience:

• Collaboration Tools: Discussion forums, chat functionalities, or social learning features can boost learner engagement and knowledge sharing.
• Automated Workflows: Automate tasks like enrolment reminders and progress notifications to streamline your training programs.

Benefits of Building an LMS on HubSpot

Building an LMS on HubSpot offers numerous advantages, from enhancing your training programmes to streamlining content management and improving overall business outcomes.

Here are the key benefits:

1. Seamless Integration
   Integrate your LMS directly with HubSpot’s marketing, sales, and service tools, eliminating complex integrations and dual management systems on one unified platform. This ensures a consistent user experience with a smooth and familiar interface for both administrators and learners. 
2. Enhanced Content Management
   Manage and share digital assets across your organisation from a single platform to reduce silos. HubSpot’s user-friendly tools make creating and organising educational materials easy and efficient. 
3. Improved User Engagement
   HubSpot’s automation tools enhance learner engagement with personalised campaigns. You might also decide to create a platform for learners to interact and support each other, fostering a sense of community. 
   
4. Data-Driven Insights
   Integrate LMS data with your HubSpot CRM for comprehensive insights into training impacts with a holistic data view. HubSpot’s analytics tools allow you to track user progress and course effectiveness in detail.  
5. Scalability and Flexibility
   HubSpot is adaptable to growth to ensure your LMS scales with your business without significant additional costs. Furthermore, there is also the potential for customisation options to personalise your LMS to match your branding and specific business needs. 
   
6. Cost-Effectiveness
   Leverage your existing HubSpot CMS infrastructure to build an LMS and negate additional platform fees. Using the tech stack you already have reduces complexity by managing one integrated system, therefore lowering administrative costs and improving efficiency. 
   
7. Enhanced Security and Compliance
   Protect learner data with HubSpot’s robust security measures. And ensure your LMS meets data privacy regulations with HubSpot’s compliance features.  
   
   

In summary, building an LMS on HubSpot provides a whole host of benefits, including seamless integration, enhanced content management, improved user engagement, data-driven insights, scalability, cost-effectiveness, and robust security, making it an ideal platform for your learning management needs.

Struto has harnessed the power of HubSpot to bring you a consolidated and user-friendly LMS which forms part of our innovative suite of Digital Experience Platform (DXP) enablement tools called strutoCX.

strutoCX extends your HubSpot Content Hub digital experience platform (DXP) with out-of-the-box experiences that unify your marketing, sales, and service delivery efforts to provide more powerful user experiences.

Why Choose strutoCX LMS for your Learning Management System

Here’s why SPHERE LMS stands out:

• Centralised Content Management
  strutoCX LMS allows you to centralise your content management. Manage all of your digital assets seamlessly and share them securely with the right individuals, whether they are part of your team or external collaborators.
• Enhanced User Engagement
  Host video learning programs tailored to engage and educate. strutoCX LMS offers functionalities to create interactive quizzes and build onboarding programs that delight new customers. Monitor and report on user progress with ease.
• Community Building
  Foster a spirit of knowledge sharing amongst your learning communities and provide a supportive environment with HubSpot's community-building tools. Enable community-led go-to-markets to help drive leads and revenue.
• Guided Experiences
  Create guided experiences by building a sequence of digital assets, events, or tasks for your target audience to engage with. Nurture leads in your strutoCX portal by directing them from one asset to another, helping to educate them and encourage sales readiness.
• Data-Driven Insights
  Use HubSpot’s native tools to track engagement with your content. strutoCX is built on HubSpot's Content Hub, allowing you to see who engaged with your digital assets and attribute revenue to content using HubSpot's built-in attribution tools.
• Customisation and Branding
  Personalise the interface to match your company branding and tailor the learning experience to your specific needs. SPHERE also supports the creation of a resource library that combines gated and ungated content, safeguarding your highest value assets.
• Self-Service Portals
  The Struto team can work with you to build custom self-service workspaces within SPHERE, allowing your customers seamless access to unique tools that help remove friction from doing business with you. Monetise your intellectual property by adding a subscription payment gateway, and creating hybrid buying journeys that allow clients to self-service and make transactions without engaging with sales people.
  
  

Next Steps

strutoCX LMS stands out as a robust, integrated solution for modern businesses looking to centralise and streamline their training and digital experience efforts. By leveraging the power of HubSpot, strutoCX ensures a connected, frictionless customer journey that drives better business outcomes.

If you would like to chat about your LMS requirements and hear more about strutoCX, please feel free to contact one of our advisors for a chat or to book a demo.