Top 5 tips for marketing an online course
You’ve got your excellent online course platform ready to go – but instead of a storm of signups, you’re only getting a trickle of students enrolling? You know your courses provide invaluable knowledge, but how do you get to that perfect match of student and program that will take them to the next level in their personal development?
You know your potential students are out there on the internet you just have to find them. Here are our five top tips to market your online course and boost signups.
Build your customer personas
Find out who your target audience is by doing some research on your current students. Here are some questions to help you get started:
• How old are the people who sign up for your courses?
• Where are they based?
• What do they like to do online?
• What are their interests?
• What do they want or what are the problems they face?
This is by no means a comprehensive list of questions but it’s a starting point to get you thinking about who your buying personas are.
Once you’ve gathered that information, you can put the puzzle pieces together and create customer profiles that represent different types of students that your online courses can help.
Make sure to not let all this work get dusty on your desk but use your brand new personas to adjust your marketing efforts highlighting how you solve customer problems.
Share the love and establish yourself as an expert
Building trust is crucial for any online business but even more important when you’re selling online courses. Particularly in this area, potential students want to make sure the learning experience pays off for them.
And how do they find out whether your courses are the right fit for them? They look at online reviews. Getting positive feedback from previous students and sticking them on your website is a must.
Don’t be shy and show off your awards and certifications on your website and social channels. Another pro-tip here, if you want to be known as the expert in your field, is to answer questions on platforms like Quora, Reddit, or Yahoo! Answers.
Create unique and shareable content
Following on from the previous point, displaying industry knowledge is easiest by producing content that shows you know what you’re doing. Your main channel here is content for your website but you can also branch out to video.
Create a blog that answers common questions, solves problems, and is entertaining for your students. Then blog regularly!
Another great way to add to your content in the online courses space is a YouTube channel. Most people use either Google or YouTube if they don’t know how to do something. This is your chance to get in there with tutorials and bite-size videos about your courses.
Use the powerful tool of email marketing
Email marketing is still one of the most effective tools in your marketing toolbox for generating and converting leads. But how do you get your hands on all those precious email addresses?
Everyone loves free stuff especially students, or so they say. Be creative when it comes to acquiring contact information. This can be a giveaway of a free mini-course or another lead magnet like a helpful checklist.
Free webinars with interesting guest speakers are also a great way to get potential students to sign up. Once you’ve got all that contact information make sure you deliver with engaging and actionable email content.
Grow your community on social media
People love stories about people and that is particularly true on social media. By sharing success stories of your students, you can significantly increase engagement on your social channels.
Another way to connect with your audience can be to find relevant influencers that are willing to endorse your courses. Make sure the following of your chosen influencers align with your customer personas before you contact them. Offer them free access to one of your courses in exchange for a review.
Your foundation for marketing your online courses should be knowing who your students are and how you can help them. This should be the underlying theme of all your marketing efforts, whether you’re creating content on your website or grow your community on social media. Engaging with your customer personas in this way will increase your audience and sales.
Ready to start delivering an excellent learning experience online? Book your free demo today!
