In today’s digital world, knowing how to market online courses is essential to any business’ success. But with so many options and platforms available, it can be difficult to know where to start.
Creating and marketing an online course is a great way to share your knowledge and expertise with a wide audience. These courses can also be an effective way to generate passive income, build your brand, and grow your business.
When it comes to marketing your online course, you have a number of factors to consider. You’ll need to decide which platforms to use, what type of content to create, and how to price your course.
With so many options available, it’s important to carefully consider your strategy before you get started. In this article, we’ll cover some key points to keep in mind as you develop your marketing plan.
Steps to market your online course
1. Understand your target audience
This is the first and foremost step toward marketing your online course. You need to know who’ll benefit from your course. Only then you can create a marketing strategy to attract them.
Understanding means knowing their pain points, their learning goals, the best time to engage with them, and so on. Letting them know that your course is designed to help them tackle their challenges will attract them.
2. Create a landing page
A landing page is a one-page website that gives people enough information about your online course to decide whether it’s right for them.
Creating an effective landing page involves using the right headline, subheadings, images, and copy to persuade a person to sign up for your course. You need to make sure that the message on your landing page is clear and concise.
3. Utilize the podcast trend
Podcasts are becoming increasingly popular, which makes them a great way to market your online course. You can create a podcast series that covers topics related to your course. This will help you attract new students and also keep existing students engaged.
You can also collaborate with other podcasters who have a similar target audience. This will help you reach a wider audience.
4. Create email marketing campaigns
Email marketing is among the most effective ways to market your online course. You can create email campaigns that target both potential and existing students. Before reaching out to potential customers, make sure to use an email search engine to verify the email addresses.
Make sure to use attractive visuals and compelling copy to get people interested in your course. You can also offer discounts or bonuses for signing up for your course through email. Launching a successful email marketing campaign shows that you are more than capable of teaching your expertise.
But this campaign does not stop with creating one, you should nurture your leads through automated email sequences that guide them to enrolling in your course. You can also convert one-time course students into members of your community by sending them regular updates, helpful tips, and valuable resources.
5. Collate and share testimonials
Student testimonials are high on the list of powerful marketing tools. They show potential students that your course is effective and helps them achieve their learning goals.
You can collect student testimonials in various ways, such as through video, written testimonials, or audio recordings. Make sure to share these testimonials on your landing page and other marketing channels. Social proofs are an amazing way to increase your conversion rate.
6. Collaborate with influencers
Influencers can help you reach a larger audience and promote your online course. You can collaborate with influencers who have a similar target audience to your course. They can promote your course through their blog, social media channels, or email list.
Make sure to offer them something in return, such as a free course or exclusive access to content.
7. Lead generation and sales funnel
A lead generation strategy helps you attract potential students to your online course. You can use various marketing channels, such as social media, landing pages, or email campaigns, to generate leads. Once you have generated a lead, you need to nurture it through an automated sales funnel.
A sales funnel is a series of emails that guide the lead towards enrolling in your course. Make sure to offer something of value at each stage of the funnel so that the lead doesn’t get bored and unsubscribe.
8. Invest in Google and YouTube ads
Paid ads are another investment you need to make to market your online course. Google and YouTube are the two most popular platforms where you can run paid ads.
Google Ads allows you to target potential students through keywords, while YouTube Ads allows you to target a specific audience with your video ad. Paid ads are an effective way to reach more people and give your course exposure.
9. Give a sneak peek
Lead magnets like mini-courses, PowerPoint templates, eBooks, or webinars are a great way to generate leads and grow interest in your online course. Sensei LMS makes it possible to mark one or more lessons as “previews” too.
You can use these lead magnets to give potential students a sneak peek at what they can expect from your course. If they know what to expect, they’re more likely to enroll.
10. Join and engage with relevant Facebook groups
When you’re just getting started, look for groups related to your topic. Once you’ve built up a following, you can create your own group. These members are potential students for your course.
Create posts, like and comment on theirs, and answer any questions they have. Presenting yourself as an expert makes it more likely that they’ll take your course when you launch it.
11. Create an affiliate program for alumni
An affiliate program comprises people who help you to promote your business by referring customers to you and earn rewards for their efforts. This is a great way to introduce your course to people who are interested and can benefit directly from it.
You can offer alumni a commission for every student they refer to who signs up for your course. To sweeten the deal, you can give them access to exclusive content or bonuses that aren’t available to the general public.
12. Host a live webinar or panel
Another great lead magnet example is to host a live webinar or panel on a relevant topic. You can bring in other experts to speak on the panel with you, which adds credibility to your course.
If you have a larger budget, you can also sponsor a webinar series that’s related to your course topic. This not only attracts leads, but also shows that you’re an authority on the subject matter.
13. Get involved in relevant online communities
Aside from Facebook groups, you can join other online communities related to your topic. These can be forums, Reddit threads, or even Quora questions. Getting involved in these discussions shows that you’re an expert on the subject and helps build trust with potential students.
If you see a thread with a lot of activity, you can even create a post promoting your course as a solution to the problem that’s being discussed.
14. Optimize your site for SEO
In order to get your online course in front of as many potential students as possible, you need to make sure your site is optimized for search engines. Use relevant keywords and key phrases throughout your site, including in the title and description of your course, to help potential students find you.
You can also use online tools like Google AdWords to pay for ads that will appear when people search for keywords related to your course.
15. Share your expertise and establish your authority through guest posts
One way to interest potential students in your online course is to share your expertise on other websites and blogs through guest posts.
When you write guest posts, be sure to include a link back to your website and mention your online course. This helps give potential students a taste of what you offer and show them that you’re an authority in your field.
The best way to create and sell your online course: use Sensei LMS
Whether you want to create passive or active income, online courses are a great way to do it. And, with the right platform, they can be easy to create and manage, too.
Sensei LMS is the perfect platform for creating and selling online courses. It’s a WordPress plugin, so it integrates seamlessly with your existing website, and it has all the features you need to create a successful online course.
On your WordPress/WooCommerce website, Sensei LMS lets you design and sell online courses.
Sensei LMS has you covered whether you want to start a full-fledged online school and host several courses or just turn the one talent you’re knowledgeable about into a course and set up a passive revenue stream with it. You can also use Sensei LMS as a portal for staff e-learning.
Imagine having an online learning platform that’s as intuitive to use as WordPress. That’s what you get with Sensei LMS. It’s a complete solution for creating and selling online courses. You don’t need any other plugins or themes, and it integrates seamlessly with WooCommerce so you can sell your courses directly on your website.
Creating a course with Sensei LMS is easy. Just add a new course and then add lessons and quizzes to the course. You can even add videos, images, and audio to your lessons.
Here are some of the other features that make Sensei LMS the best platform for creating and selling online courses:
1. Set up and offer your courses via multiple formats
From one-time payments to subscription-based models, give your students the flexibility to choose how they want to access your content. It’s easy to set up and it saves you time in the long run. Creating different payment models gives your audience the chance to buy what suits their needs the best.
2. Manage students, evaluate their grades, track course progress, and set a course content schedule
With Sensei LMS, you can easily manage all your students in one place. You can see their progress, grades, and course content schedule. This intuitive interface makes it easy to keep track of your students’ progress and intervene if needed.
It’s not just sending out a course and forgetting about it. To keep your students engaged, you need to monitor their progress.
Sensei LMS also provides you with detailed reports on your courses and students. These reports help you to see what is working well and what needs improvement. You can also use the reports to track your own progress as an instructor.
The reports are an essential tool for course creators who want to improve their courses and generate more income.
3. Automatically create a new course out of multiple blog posts
Do you have a series of blog posts that could be turned into an online course? With Sensei LMS, you can automatically create a new course out of your blog posts.
Just select the blog posts you want to include in the course and let Sensei LMS do the rest. This is a great way to quickly create a new course without having to start from scratch. For example, if you have a series of blog posts on social media marketing, you can easily turn those into an online course.
4. Create and award certificates on course completion
With Sensei LMS, you can easily create and award certificates on course completion. This is a great way to show your students that you’re invested in their success. It also gives them something tangible to show for their efforts. You can even customize the certificates with your own logo and text.
5. Add payment options like PayPal or Stripe
Through Sensei Pro and WooCommerce Payments, you can add support for major payment providers like PayPal and Stripe. It’s secure, reliable, and helps you get paid for your courses quickly and easily. An easier mode of payment means more sales for you and removes you from having to chase after payments.
6. Schedule drip content
“Drip content” refers to lessons that are automatically released to students at set intervals. This is a great way to keep your students engaged with your course, and it allows you to pace the release of information so it’s not all given at once.
For example, if you’re offering a course on social media marketing, you can release a new lesson every week for six weeks. This gives your students time to digest the information and put it into practice before moving on to the next lesson.
By dripping content, you can make sure that your students are always learning something new and relevant.
7. Set expiration date of courses
You can create a sense of urgency and encourage students to complete your course in a timely manner by setting an expiration date. This also helps you keep your courses up to date as you’re forced to update the expired content on a regular basis.
8. Powerful quizzes and grading
With Sensei LMS, you can easily create powerful quizzes and grade them with ease. The plugin also supports multiple question types so you can get as creative as you want with your quizzes. This is a great way to engage your students and test their knowledge of the material.
Conclusion
Whether you’re a content creator, educator, or entrepreneur, if you have something valuable to teach others, creating and selling an online course is a great way to make some extra money. But before you can start reaping the financial rewards of your labor, you need to learn how to market your online course effectively.
Best practices are always evolving so it is important to keep up with the latest trends in online marketing. But by following a few key principles, you can set your course up for success.
If you’re looking to make it easier to market your courses, consider adding Sensei LMS to your website. With Sensei LMS, you can create and sell courses, manage students, track progress, and much more. Having any LMS gives you a central place to manage and market all of your courses, and Sensei LMS makes it easy.
What content creators love about Sensei LMS is the ability to drip-feed content to students, which is a great way to keep them engaged and prevent information overload.
Another key feature of Sensei LMS is the ability to offer courses for free, for a flat fee, or by subscription. This can be a great way to entice potential students and build interest in your courses.
It’s also easy to get started with Sensei LMS. So if you’re ready to start marketing your courses, be sure to check it out. With Sensei LMS, you can create high-quality content that provides value to your students and easily market what you have to offer.
