21 Best Ways To Market Your Online Course (Proven Strategies)
When offering online education, regardless if it is an online course or coaching session, knowing how to market it properly can help you in getting success as an edupreneur, and start earning money from all your course offerings.
Choosing the best online platform offers many more options to market your course as a course creator.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Marketing and promotion is the most important step in increasing your sales.
- Even if you have an amazing product, no one will come if no one knows about it.
- There are many ways to market your product, and the best way is to do it online using online tools such as social media and email campaigns. Word of mouth is a powerful tool as well.
The following marketing strategies works regardless if you have a large following or types of online course topic you are marketing. If you are selling a course, membership, hosting webinar events or offering consulting or coaching service online, this is for you.
How To Market Online Courses And Get More Sales
Creating a sales funnel to marketing your online course include using social media and public calendars along with creating email campaigns, physical flyers, podcasts and so much more. At the top of the sales funnel, the more ground you can cover, the better the chances will be that you’ll attract students.
“The right marketing help you 10X your result and help you get successful faster.”
Before you follow every way listed below, make sure you evaluate which ones will be most beneficial to your online teaching purposes.
Not marketing your online course is the main reason why 70% of the course creators fails.
With the right marketing, you can get more students passively make selling online course a passive way to generate an income, or building a 6-figure online business.
1. Create a Free Sample
Everyone loves a good free sample.
So, create a free online course as a means of introduction to your course.
- You can create a short video course.
- You can offer the first module of your course for free.
- You can create resources related to your course.
When you are creating free sample, make sure it is relevant and helpful.
Most importantly, always have a clear call-to-action asking your audience to signup for your online course.
You want to make the material compelling enough to provide real information but leave out just enough to create a desire for more.
And if you are looking for an example on how this is done, I am actually currently promoting my book “Start Small, Dream Big”.
- A book about overcoming procrastination.
- A book on self-transformation.
- A book that help you achieve your dreams by tapping into your unconscious talent.
I am currently giving out 6 Free Book Chapter which you can read and help you transform yourself.
Just get started by clicking the “Download Free Preview” button below.
Stop Procrastinating, Start Taking Action
Have you finished signing up to our newsletter?
Good.
See what I just did there?
A clear call-to-action inviting you to become a part of our community of buddies with the power of a free book sample.
Impressed? Good.
Let’s read on!
2. Social Media
One of the best ways to market your online course is through social media. This helps build up your brand, make it more recognizable and gives you the ability to reach out to millions, if not billions, of people.
Utilize these services to the fullest by creating videos, groups and engaging posts.
- Establish video channels on places like YouTube, Odyssey and Bitchute.
- Make private groups on Twitter, Facebook, Gab and LinkedIn.
Ensure you update your feeds with interesting content on Instagram and Pinterest.
3. Email Campaigns
When just starting out, you may not have the ability to do an email campaign yet. So, this means you need to build up an email list and this may take some time.
- You can offer discounts and perks for people who provide their email address.
- You can create and host webinar to generate quality leads whom you can market your online course.
- You can offer free resources and downloads in exchange for email address.
Use this email list to create campaigns to notify when classes are about to begin and for other pertinent announcements.
4. Tell Friends And Family
If you are starting your online course off cold, without any audience or student base whatsoever, tell all your friends and family about it.
Word of mouth is the best way to get new business in any industry. Driving traffic to your classes is no different.
You could even put out a discount for potential students in your email campaigns for getting their friends and family to signup.
5. Public Calendars
Many public calendars are available online and in your local area that you should use to your advantage.
- Get you online course known at places like Eventful, Loxi and Eventbrite.
- Promote your course to nearby schools, colleges and other learning institutions as special events such as “things to do in ____” (name of your town/city).
- Go onto local newspapers and broadcast stations. They usually have a community section that features a calendar to which anyone can post.
Many of these places suggested will allow you to post your events.
6. Physical Flyers
Creating a small handheld flyer is ideal for a variety of uses. You can put these up at your nearest coffee shop, grocery store, laundromat, bars, pubs or music store.
Tack it up anywhere you see a corkboard featuring local businesses, services and professionals.
Also, it’s good for handing out to people you meet in social circles, parties or even on the street. It provides a flashy and quick way to illustrate your courses, should they take an interest.
7. Attend Events And Conventions
Hunt down conventions and events in the industry or field related to your online course.
- Get an opportunity to find likeminded pros
- Get to nab a few new students along the way.
- Learn some new information or data that you can incorporate into your coursework.
While you are at it, you can create a meet up group, organize an event or setup a convention for networking purposes.
8. Write a Book
Writing a book on the subject matter of your course will be a great way to market your brand. Not only can you use this as an official textbook for the course, you can also provide valuable information to the public.
You don’t necessarily need to find a publisher either.
You can put it up on your website or self-publish through places like Amazon or Barnes and Noble Press.
I published my book “Start Small, Dream Big” through Amazon self-publishing program.
While publishing a book is not easy, it is definitely worth it.
Just some thoughts about publishing my first book as a first time author.
My Experience as a first time book publisher:
I’ve took more than 1 year to write the book “Start Small, Dream Big“. While it was really tough and a long journey where I was on the verge of giving up for countless of times, it was totally worth it.
After a whole year of non-stop hard work, I can be pretty proud to say this book “Start Small, Dream Big” is one of the best and most helpful book for people like you who have a big dream and is serious about wanting to do something to achieve your dream.
While writing this book, I am deeply inspired by Simon Sinek and his book “Start With Why“.
The reason why I write my book is because it was always been my dream to become a published author. I’ve always wanted to write a book as a legacy which I can pass it down to my future son or daughter.
Writing a book is not a easy journey.
I was pretty lost when I first started, however by utilizing the concept in the book, I’ve completed this masterpiece after many struggles.
My Verdict of Writing a Book:
“Writing a book is hard, but immensely satisfying.”
9. Get a Blog or Website
One of the most important marketing tools you can have is to get a blog or website.
Whether you choose to offer your courses from this platform or not, it’s a great way to promote classes, announce discounts and create an online following.
- Create a compelling post descripting what exactly your course is about.
- Make your post enticing and interesting.
- Make your post valuable and helpful for your audience.
Creating your own blog or using course platform with a blog feature makes your brand searchable on engines like Bing, Google and Brave.
Learn about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and use it to your advantage. SEO help you to get your written work in front of people searching for the term you are looking to rank.
When your audience find what you’ve written helpful, they may just drop by and check out your course.
10. Podcasts and/or Webinars
Another great way to market and promote your online course is to create ancillary services like podcasts and webinars.
Producing these on a regular basis gives potential students a well-rounded idea of what you’re about, your expertise and what you teach.
You can also appear with other professionals on their webinars and podcasts. This is ideal if you aren’t computer savvy enough to create one on your own.
11. Partner With A Company
If there’s an organization or company that will benefit from marketing your online courses, approach them.
Many places are willing to work with professionals and experts to develop a symbiotic relationship.
- You get to gain more exposure and get more people know about your course.
- They get to leverage on your expertise and reputation to get their brand known to more audience.
12. Create Discounts, Perks and Packages
Along with free samples, everyone adores great deals and discounts to save money.
- You can create membership tiers that present special packages and offer elite perks. This keeps existing students coming back and attracts new ones.
- You can create a monthly discount sale or offer a coupon.
- You can offer a certificate of completion upon completion of your online course.
Just get your creative juice running and think about other ways you can promote your online course packages.
And if you want to look for the best deals for online business owners, do check out our curated best business related tools and software discounts and offers in our “OFFERS Page“.
Save it, bookmark it and keep coming back to it. You’ll be glad you did.
13. Make Yourself Accessible
The easier it is for people to get in touch with you, the more likely it is they will sign up for your online course. This means you can
- Put up a chat feature on your website.
- Sign onto live chat social media sites like Discord.
- Get yourself up on places like Quora.
- Include your contact information everywhere.
Having a physical mailing address and actual phone number will lend you a bit of credibility too.
This opens you up to a wider range of contacts and prospective students.
Just be aware that people will be contacting you, so you should only put your “work contact” and not your “personal contact”.
14. Network with Other Professionals
Networking is an invaluable way to promote and market your online course.
Networking means getting out there and meeting people in your field and others indirectly related to your industry.
- Go to events and conventions.
- Attend galas and gallery openings.
- Get started with public performances.
When you do this, you not only build business relationships but you can also find others for collaboration projects.
You can create a course together and go to speaking engagements as partners all the while marketing each other’s brand.
15. Pay for Advertising
Places like Facebook Ads and Google AdWords are excellent ways to pay for advertising. However, these do tend to be a little expensive.
So, you want to ensure there’s enough demand for your course and topic matter to justify paying for advertising. Otherwise, wait until you have a culture built up around your brand before doing this.
16. Write a Press Release
To attract media attention and to make your online course timelier, write a press release. There are many templates online to help you with this.
The idea is to attract attention and magnetize new students.
If your subject matter relates to something newsworthy, it will make a perfect candidate for a press release.
You can send these to newspapers, broadcast outlets, magazines and trade publications. You can also publish it online through press release sites like NewsWire.
17. Create Memes And Infographics
A great way to get people to read your social media posts and email campaigns is by devising memes and infographics.
Anything people find entertaining, truthful, impactful or compelling has the potential to become wildly viral.
It’s likely people will share it with others who may not see your other promotional efforts in any other situation.
18. Foreign Language
If your class is desirable to other people all around the world, it may be a good idea to translate your entire course into several foreign languages.
At the very least, you can create promotional and marketing materials in other tongues to attract more students.
19. Devise An Affiliate Program
Word of mouth is always the best form of advertising and creating an affiliate program can further that prospect.
You’ll set things up in such a way so as to allow others to promote your course for you through their blogs, websites and social media pages.
In return, you can offer a percentage of your sales.
- Be proactive in finding affiliates because you won’t produce any if you just wait for them to come.
- Get in touch with others who have large audiences and followings who are likely to purchase the course you offer.
- Make your students a part of such a program, which will give them discounts on your classes.
And to do all these, you can check out my “Best Online Course Platform” where many of the platform provider offers course creator like to create affiliate programs to market your online course.
If you are short on time, do check out ThinkiFic and LearnWorlds, both are my top favorite online course platform for course creators.
20. Gather Feedback, Reviews And Testimonials
Allowing prospective students to see what others have to say about you, your brand and your course can be a beautiful marketing tool. It displays what people think about their experience and provides more thorough data so new students can make an informed decision.
However, it’s essential you acquire these honestly and organically. Not only will this lend more credibility to what you teach but it will also show a measure of trustworthiness. Even though you could create a discount promotion based on people’s review of your classes, it’s not genuine.
This means also allowing negative feedback to be as visible as glowing testimonials and favorable reviews. Besides, it will give you a meter in which to improve if several people say the same things.
21. Engage Potential Audience
The only way to keep current and future students coming back is by creating engaging content outside of your course material. This means posting quizzes on your social media sites and website.
- Quiz that focus on testing a student’s knowledge.
- Quiz that see where your place in your course.
- Quiz that offer a certificate of completion upon course completion.
You can also organize a challenge where students will get free classes if they complete it successfully.
- Challenges where your student will have to share on their social media.
- A simple task such as asking them to fill out a form.
- Semi hard challenge such as asking them to write a short essay or video.
Additionally, you can consider making a raffle or other event where students can win prizes.
Ok!
Since we are talking about engaging our audience, here is a quick quiz for you.
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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).
