After announcing our inaugural end-of-year Ratings Royalty winners for 2024 – highlighting the brand lessons on the platform which were rated highest by our learners over the past 12 months – we want to pull together a few insights from the winners.

Think of it as your cheat sheetfor building content that best engages learners – what was so impactful about their training? And what other brands should think about when it comes to building great content that learners love?

Here are our three takeaways:

1. Start with the most simple – lesson length. Except for Hendrick’s (4.95), all these lessons clock in at six minutes or less – and many are just five. We've crunched the numbers on drop-off rates, and 5-6 minutes is the sweet spot (and under two minutes for video).

2. Next – should you include a video, and what style? Brands like Glenfiddich Special Edition (average rating 4.78/5), Aperol (4.77), Bacardi Carta Blanca (4.77), Sapporo (4.89), Tempus Two (4.75), Seabourne Coastal Dry Gin (4.74), and Hendrick’s (4.95) all feature eye-catching videos that were custom-made for Small Batch Learning. In fact, a majority 11 out of the 16 winners included a video. But, crucially, these aren't your run-of-the-mill social media clips – they're short, snappy, and packed with key messages that perfectly match the lesson.

3. Finally – give learners bite-sized info they can actually use on the job. The best learner feedback we get includes phrases like “easy to understand” and “helped me explain to customers”. Retail sales interactions are super quick, so tasting notes, production details, and brand stories need to be crystal clear and relatable. These 5-star comments show exactly what we mean:

• “The lesson was not overly technical, but still contained sufficient detail to learn the differences from other products to sell it to the right customers.” (Glenfiddich Special Edition)
• “Nice and easy to read, easy to complete, and [gave me] direct product qualities.” (“Stone & Wood Pacific Ale)
• “Short and sharp, but loaded with great information which I can easily use on the shop floor with customers – it’s going to be easy to talk about this one.” (Seabourne Coastal Dry Gin)
• “Very informative. Refreshingly simple.” (Jameson 4.8% RTDs)
• “Easy to listen to and understand. Makes me want to try one.” (Aperol)

User feedback like this is your golden ticket to five-star ratings (and turning learners into brand advocates).

If you want to find out how Small Batch Learning’s product enablement platform can help you get feedback like this from key retail and hospitality partners, click the link below and we’ll get in touch.

Find out more