7 Ways To Increase Online Course Completion Rates (Complete Guide + Email)
Are you having trouble getting your online students finishing your course? Low completion rate is a common issue faced by most online course creators, in fact the average completion rate for online course is only at 5-15%.
The most common challenge faced by course creators and edupreneurs is ensuring that students not only enroll but also being engaged and complete the courses.
Having tried and tested many ways to increase online course completion rates, here are some actionable steps to increase the completion rates
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Engaging course design and regular communication boost student completion.
- Personalized support and a strong learning community enhance retention.
- Leveraging technology and analytics aids in maintaining student interest.
How to Increase Online Course Completion Rate For Online Learners
Creating a robust online learning experience goes beyond just presenting the content. Successful online course with high completion rate involves:
- Building trust and clear communication.
- Fostering engagement and community
- Offering personalized support, and using technology effectively.
To keep students motivated and involved, proactive communication, intuitive course design, course structure and content delivery helps to boost engagement and completion.
- Students don’t complete your course because of how much effort you put into making the course.
- Students complete your course because of how the course can help them.
1. Communicate With Your Online Students Regularly
ThinkiFic (Online Course Platform) + ActiveCampaign (Email Marketing Tool)
To ramp up online course completion rates, nothing beats the personal touch of regular communication.
Personalized communication keeps students engaged, reminds them of their goals, and fosters a supportive learning environment.
Thus, I’ve created 3 email template you can use to help you increase your course completion rate.
- Welcome Email
- Reminder Email
- Promotion Email
Email: Welcome Email for New Students
Right after enrollment, hit the ground running with a Welcome Email. Pack it with login details, course schedules, support contact info, and a warm introduction to build initial rapport.
This is your first touch point with your new student, you need to use this chance to show your student what they’re in for and how they can get started into the learning community from day one.
Here’s an email template you can use!
Online Course Welcome Email (Template)
Subject: Welcome to [Your Course Name] – Let’s Get Started!
Hey [Student’s Name],
Welcome to [Your Course Name]!
I’m thrilled to have you on board, ready to embark on this exciting journey of [brief description of your course]. Congratulations on taking the first step toward [insert a positive outcome of your course, e.g., mastering a new skill, boosting your career].
Now, let’s get you started right away. Here are your login details:
- 🔐 Username: [Student’s Email]
- 🔑 Password: [Auto-generated or personalized]
Remember to keep these in a safe place. You’ll use them to access our exclusive [Your Course Name] portal.
What’s Next?
- Course Schedule: I know your time is valuable, so I’ve laid out a clear schedule for you. Check it out [insert link to schedule], and make sure to mark important dates in your calendar.
- Support Team: Got questions? Need assistance? Our dedicated support team is here for you. Reach out to us at [support@email.com], and we’ll get back to you faster than you can say “[Your Course Motto].”
- Building Connections: Learning is not just about information; it’s about the connections we make. Join our [course community/forum/link] to connect with fellow learners, share insights, and inspire each other.
About Your Course Instructor
I’m [Your Name], your course instructor and guide on this learning adventure. With [brief sentence about your experience or passion], I’m here to ensure you get the most out of every module.
Feel free to drop me a message anytime. Let’s make this learning experience incredible together!
To your success,
[Your Name]
[Your Title/Role]
[Your Contact Information]
Email: Reminder Emails on Course Completion
Don’t let students slip through the cracks. Send Reminder Emails to nudge them along, especially when new material drops or it’s crunch time for assignments.
This not just boosts progress but also reignites their initial excitement for the course.
Online Course Reminder Email (Template)
Subject: Ready To Complete [Course Name]?
Hey [Student’s Name],
Hope this email finds you in high spirits!
Just a friendly nudge to remind you that the learning journey you’ve embarked on with [Course Name] is in full swing. We’ve got some exciting new material just dropped, and I don’t want you to miss a beat!
What’s Fresh?
- New Modules: Dive into the latest modules we’ve added. Trust me; they’re packed with insights that will blow your mind!
- Assignment Alert: We’re in the crunch time for assignments. Remember, each challenge is a step closer to mastering the content. You’ve got this!
- Community Buzz: Our [course community/forum/link] is buzzing with discussions. Join in, share your thoughts, and connect with fellow learners. It’s like a virtual coffee break with your study buddies.
Don’t Forget:
- Access Here: [Insert Link to Course Portal]
- Important Dates: Check the schedule [insert link] to stay on top of upcoming deadlines.
Take it one step at a time, and celebrate the wins along the way.
If you have any questions or need a motivational boost, hit reply. Let’s crush those goals together!
To your success,
[Your Name]
[Your Title/Role]
[Your Contact Information]
Email: Promotional Email on the Latest Course Release and How it can benefit them
Keep the learning appetite strong with Promotional Emails.
Spotlight the new courses you’ve just created and highlight how these courses can bolster their skills, expanding on the journey they’ve embarked on with you.
Be proactive to maintain their engagement and demonstrate continued value.
Online Course Promotional Email (Template)
Subject: New Courses is Now Out!
Hey [Student’s Name],
Hope this email finds you buzzing with the same excitement I have right now!
We’ve just rolled out some brand-new courses that are going to take your learning journey to the next level!
Explore Our Latest Courses: [Link to New Courses]
These courses are not just about knowledge; they’re about unlocking your full potential. And here’s why you’ll love them:
- Hands-On Learning: Dive into practical, real-world scenarios that mirror the challenges you’ll face in [industry or field].
- Interactive Modules: Say goodbye to boring lectures. Our interactive modules keep you engaged and excited to learn.
- Community Support: Connect with like-minded learners, share experiences, and cheer each other on. Learning is a journey, and it’s always better with companions.
Exclusive Offer for You:
We’re offering an exclusive [discount/early access/special perk] just for you. Use code [CODE] at checkout to claim your special offer.
To your continuous growth,
[Your Name]
[Your Title/Role]
[Your Contact Information]
2. Building a Learning Community Around Your Course
When you design an online course, think about how you can create a community around your online experience. Encourage learners to interact; this gives them a sense of belonging and investment in their learning journey.
- Get Personal: Start with introductions. Encourage everyone to share something about themselves. This breaks the ice and helps to build connections.
- Foster Discussion: Use forums within your learning management system. Pose open-ended questions related to the content to spark conversation.
- Group Work: Create smaller groups for projects. This lets learners collaborate and learn from each other.
- Peer Review: Implement a system where learners can give feedback on each other’s assignments. Not only does this reinforce the content, but it also enhances the sense of community.
Remember, your online learning community is not just about the content; it’s about connections.
As a course creator, your role extends beyond knowledge provision to facilitating these connections.
Regularly participate in discussions and provide feedback—your presence is essential!
Incorporating a social element into online learning can significantly impact engagement and, ultimately, course completion rates.
By establishing a vibrant learning community, you provide your learners not just with content, but also with a support network that motivates and inspires persistent effort.
3. Enhancing Student Personalized Support
Boosting the completion rates of online courses can be tricky, but by enhancing personalized support for students may just do the trick.
Know Your Students
Build a clear picture of who’s learning from you. Use tools to gather data on their goals, preferences, and challenges.
Think of it as crafting a map to guide their learning journey.
It is also called building a persona, something which I always do when I am writing a helpful article such as this you are reading right now.
Course Customization
Tailor the content to fit your students’ unique learning styles.
Ditch the one-size-fits-all model.
Instead, provide a variety of materials that cater to different preferences – videos, interactive quizzes, or forums for discussions might be just what they need.
Adaptive Learning
Embrace platforms that adjust to student performance.
If someone’s acing a topic, the system levels up the challenge.
Make it personalized, make it specific to your audience. Here’s some examples where it is made possible with the right online course platform:
- Provide DRIP content
- Provide learning path personalized for each learners
Personalizing Your Support For Your Learners
Not sure what I am talking about? Here’s some suggestions you can consider.
- Feedback That Feels Human: Don’t let automated responses do all the talking. Personalize feedback to show you’re paying attention. A word of encouragement or a customized tip can boost motivation.
- Support Networks: Encourage students to connect, not just with course material but with each other. Group work or peer reviews let them share knowledge and offer support, building a community vibe.
By integrating personalized support into online learning, you help your students feel seen and supported, paving the way for a better learning experience.
Yes, I know it can be tedious and even time consuming, but remember, people thrive when they’re understood and guided.
Tailor that support and watch them grow, as you improve your course completion rate.
4. Optimizing Course Design for Better Engagement
To boost your course’s appeal and keep learners hooked, you need to get savvy with your design. It’s not just about packing information; it’s about creating experiences that resonate.
Creating Course Content Tailored to Learner Needs
Again we are talking about knowing your audience.
(I kinda feeling like I am repeating myself again, but it is very important!)
Your learners are more likely to stick around if the material feels like it’s made just for them.
Your course content should align with their ambitions and prior knowledge.
Want to assess their needs?
Try a pre-course survey that helps you tweak the content to their preferences.
Interactive and Competitive Elements
Now, let’s talk engagement.
Turn passive learning where you just do all the work (talking or presenting) and they just listen with their mind shouting “boring…” into active learning.
Include a variety of different content types such as interactive videos, quizzes, simulations, and problem-solving tasks to make your eLearning course more dynamic.
Gamification is huge; leaderboards and badges can ignite a competitive spirit.
Making your course more like a game not only makes learning more enjoyable but can also help to increase completion rates by giving learners a tangible sense of progress.
5. Utilizing Technology and Accessibility
When you’re crafting online courses, the strategic use of technology and accessible design is key to helping students cross the finish line.
Mobile Accessibility and Learning Platforms
Your course platform needs to be mobile-friendly. That way, students can learn whenever they have a few minutes to spare.
Sites that are conducive to course on mobile use reduce barriers, making it simpler for post-traditional students to stay on track.
Consistent experience across devices will allow students to switch between devices seamlessly.
- Students who start a lesson on a laptop will appreciate being able to finish it on a tablet.
- Students who start a lesson on a smartphone will appreciate being able to finish it on a laptop.
Your course need to multiple devices compatible, and many online course platform today offer just that.
Adaptive Learning Technologies
Adaptive learning technologies can adjust content in real-time based on performance. Such elearning solutions ensure that nobody gets left behind or bored.
Immediate feedback helps students understand what they’ve mastered and where they need to focus.
6. Offer Incentives and Motivation
When you’re designing an online course, boosting completion rates hinges on clever use of incentives and aligning them with your learners’ motivations.
Certification and Gamification
Offering personalized certificates of completion can be a game-changer.
It’s like giving a high-five; it shows progress and fuels the drive to stick around until the end.
Gamify the whole learning process into an adventure
- Offer small badges for quick wins
- Create leaderboards for friendly competition
These are just some simple ways to pump up learner engagement.
Setting Achievable Goals
Setting clear, achievable learning goals is your road map to success.
Break down your content into chunks that aren’t just digestible but also attainable.
Encourage learners to set milestones.
These are the mini goals that lead them to complete your course.
7. Monitoring and Analytics to Improve Completion
When you’re looking to boost your online course completion rates, closely monitoring student progress and engagement through analytics is key. You get real-time insights that help adapt your training program to student needs.
Tracking Progress and Feedback
By tracking your students’ progress, you can pinpoint where they might be struggling.
- Progress data lets you provide timely feedback, which keeps students on track and motivated.
- Consistent feedback ensures they never feel lost or neglected.
Use analytics to follow their quiz scores, assignment submissions, and forum participation.
Iterative Course Improvement
Creating a successful online course is about never stopping improving your educational content.
Even for the content you are reading right now, I make timely updates to ensure the information you are reading is the most relevant, helpful and up-to-date.
Same goes for your online course, the data you gather isn’t just to help students—it’s feedback for you too.
Look at where students drop off or disengage and revise your content there.
- You may need to tweak a video.
- You may need to add more quizzes.
- You may need to rethinking a module that just isn’t clicking.
Each change is a step towards a course that keeps students hooked till the end.
Your course creation journey is all about iteration.
You’ll tweak and polish as you go, making the course better each time.
It’s all in the service of giving your students not just any training program, but one that they’ll stick with to the end.
Why Online Students Don’t Complete The Course?
You’ve signed up for an online course with enthusiasm, but then life happens. Your work, family, or unexpected events take over your schedule. Before you know it, the course becomes a distant memory lost in the bust of everyday life.
There are many reasons why improving completion rates of your online course is not always as easy as it may seems.
- Life’s Curveballs: Unexpected work challenges, family duties, or surprise events can quickly dim the initial excitement for a course. Balancing these curveballs makes it tough for learners to stay on the learning track.
- Guidance Gaps: Hitting a roadblock in the course without proper support becomes a real challenge. When learners hesitate or struggle to seek assistance, it acts as a roadblock to their progress.
- Engagement Check: Courses lacking engaging content or dragging on for too long risk losing learners’ interest. Sustaining attention through lengthy material becomes a battle, resulting in a motivation dip.
- Expectation Reality Check: Unrealistic expectations about course content or effort needed can lead to disappointment. When reality doesn’t align with learners’ initial perceptions, disengagement may follow.
- Tech Turmoil: Technical glitches and user-unfriendly platforms can be downright frustrating, disrupting the learning experience. Facing difficulties in accessing course content may discourage learners, prompting them to drop out.
- Motivation Mystery: A lack of motivation or failure to see the value in completing the program can trigger dropout. If learners can’t grasp the practical benefits or relevance of the course, interest may wane.
- Goal-Oriented Learning: Some learners sign up with specific goals, aiming to grasp only part of the course content. Once they achieve their objective, they might see their learning journey as complete, affecting overall completion rates.
Why Do You Want to Increase Online Course Completion Rates
As a course creator, having a higher completion rate can help you to get testimonials and case studies which are important for your online course business growth.
Here are some reasons why improving course completion rates is key to evolving and thriving in the competitive world of e-learning.
- Enhanced Credibility and Reputation: A high completion rate serves as a testament to the quality and relevance of your course content.
- Maximizing Return on Investment (ROI): Improving completion rates ensures that the time and effort invested in creating the course yield maximum returns for you and your learners.
- Positive Impact on Learners: Completing a course indicate a positive learning experience that encourages them to explore additional courses within your platform, fostering a continuous learning journey.
- Word-of-Mouth Marketing: Satisfied and successful learners become your brand ambassadors. Word-of-mouth marketing, driven by high completion rates.
- Data-Driven Course Improvement: Analyzing completion rates provides invaluable insights into the effectiveness of your course structure, content delivery, and engagement strategies.
- Monetary Rewards: Higher completion rates can directly impact your revenue stream through repeat enrollments, referrals, or positive reviews leading to increased course sales.
- Sustainable Growth: Improved completion rates sets the stage for sustainable growth creating a steady influx of new learners.
Time to Start Improving Completion Rate for Your Course
Improving your completion rates and getting students to finish the course is a great way to build a successful online course business.
Using tools such as the right online course platforms to create, host and deliver your course is key.
And if you are not sure which tools to get started, here are a few which I’ve tried and tested to be some of the best in the industry.
- Top online course platform for both beginner and experienced course creators
- Free online course platform perfect for total beginner to just getting started
The features offered in each of these online course platform are top notch, offering you a wide range of options in engaging your learners and getting them to complete the course.
Prioritizing and actively working to improve your online course completion rates is not just about numbers;
“Good online course creator is about creating a thriving learning ecosystem where learners succeed.”
With that, your reputation as a top-notch course creator flourishes.
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Antony C. is a dividend investor with over 15+ years of investing experience. He’s also the book author of “Start Small, Dream Big“, certified PMP® holder and founder of IncomeBuddies.com (IB). At IB, he share his personal journey and expertise on growing passive income through dividend investing and building online business. Antony has been featured in global news outlet including Yahoo Finance, Nasdaq and Non Fiction Author Association (NFAA).
