You did it! You’ve just done the work and created an online course.
Now what?
Many creators have no issue creating course content and putting out there for the world to view. The difficult part comes in when they launch and all they get are crickets.
I have fallen in the trap of, “just launch no matter how small your audience” and to me, that is a setup when you are not sure of exactly how to market your course to that audience. With that, I wanted to share 10 ways to market your online course so you can increase the awareness of your brand and what you have to offer.
Before Creating Your Course
Even before creating your online course, you should take the time to consider a few things. First, know who your ideal student is. Have a clear understanding of their pain points, what they need to learn to be successful, and what the end result will be for them when the course is completed.
Being very clear on this will make these marketing strategies so much easier to apply when it comes time to promote your course and to whom you will be promoting it to.
Second, know what will make your course unique. Take the time to research similar online courses with your topic. Know what they offer and see what lessons they might have missed that you can incorporate in your own. What kinds of things can you add to increase the value and the impact of your course.
Here are a few ideas of what you can add to your course to increase the value of your next course.
Finally, think about keyword research. I love a creative name but be sure to come up with something (either in the title or description) that will make your online course searchable. Being clear on your offering will make choosing keywords simple.
Ways to Market Your Online Course
Blog posts on your own site or as a guest post on other sites. This is a great way to show your expertise on your course topic.
Start a YouTube channel. Being that YouTube is a major search engine, use this is a great platform to share videos on your course topic.
Link to your course everywhere. Share your course link in your email signature, Instagram profile, Facebook page header, etc. Have no shame!
Launch a podcast or be a guest. Similar to a YouTube channel, utilize this platform to showcase your expertise on your course topic. Check out this post on exactly why you need to start a podcast in 2020.
Create a mini course. You can create a free version of your course content to help position yourself as an expert while introducing your students to what they can expect from a paid course.
Speak at a live event. I taught a podcasting class for an organization last year and two of those students are now in my course creation course. You never know the connections you will create at live events.
Collaborate with other course creators. If there is another course out there that compliments your own, consider collaborating as affiliates and cross promoting each other’s courses.
Get reviews from bloggers. Have a few bloggers go through your course as beta testers and have them review your course on their blog.
Create infographics for Pinterest. Infographics do very well on Pinterest. You can create these via Canva for free.
Offer a promotion. You can launch your course at one price and increase it after a few days. This will increase those early signups and drive sales to your online course.
What course marketing tactic will you be utilizing in 2020?