Top 7 tips to market your online course in 2023

You may have considered or even started an online course, but sales were not what you had hoped for, and you're starting to worry that this won't pay off.

Let's take a moment to relax and look at some statistics that will lift your spirits! Did you know that the online education market was worth $315 billion in 2021? In 2022, the predictions got even more interesting. The online education market is expected to grow at a (CAGR) of 20% and reach $1 trillion by 2030. In addition, many course creators are scoring big, with monthly earnings in six figures. According to a recent report, online course creators earn an average of $66 000 per year.

These statistics point to the fact that this industry has a lot of potential, and workee experts are here to give you some solid tips on getting your slice of the pie.

This guide will share effective tips on marketing an online course to attract a paying audience.

Effective tips on how to market online courses

As an independent professional or freelance tutor, you must understand the basics of marketing to enable you to attract the right audience and sell your online course to them. Here are some great tips that will teach you how to market online courses and help you improve your profit books.

Focus on value delivery

What is your motivation for launching an online course? Are you only interested in making money, or do you want to provide value?

These are important questions you need to ask yourself because they will tell you if you should go ahead or switch careers. So many online courses are available today; if you check, several others may have something similar to what you're offering. So how do you convince an audience to buy your content?

You provide value!

Many course creators focus on the profits, and they end up conjuring fluff and plagiarized content. Doing this could give you a good start, but you will ultimately fail. But when you focus on value delivery, the money will naturally follow. This is because people only recommend good stuff, and if you have positive reviews and recommendations, then you're scaling already.

Identify your target audience profile

Every course serves a different purpose and targets a specific persona. You must first recognize your ideal audience (people more likely to be interested in your course). For instance, if you're creating a course to help people pass the IELTS exams, your target audience should be those interested in writing the exams. These are mostly teenagers and young adults.

A clear picture of your target audience makes your marketing more effective and efficient because your efforts will be geared toward a particular profile. Making it easier o address their expectations, needs, and aspirations.

Be strategic with your title and use keywords

Virtually every content on the internet today must be optimized for SEO; otherwise, you risk having great content with no visibility. Keyword optimization is the first major SEO strategy you need for a course. Keywords are words or phrases people type to find what they are looking for on the internet. Using various keywords helps your course become more visible to people interested in your content.

 For instance, if you're writing a course on how to play the most popular string instrument; the guitar, your course will be more visible and accessible if you have a title like

 "Learn How To Play The Guitar In Easy Steps"

Compared to

"Learn how to play the most popular string instrument: the Guitar."

This is so because most people would likely use the phrase "how to play the guitar," not "how to play the most popular string instrument," when searching on the internet. And if your title doesn't capture their search phrase, your course would likely not appear among the results.

Use tools like the Google keyword planner or other tools to curate popular keywords relevant to your course.

Promote your course on social media

Social media is like the virtual world; it is the biggest gathering of people on the internet, with over four billion users. You cannot do effective course marketing without including a social media strategy.

Facebook has been a central, go-to place for course creators; however, you can include other channels like Instagram, Twitter, etc.

You may not necessarily begin with paid marketing; building an audience that engages with your posts can be enough to hit your course marketing goals.

You can create pages across various social media platforms and regularly post relevant content on your page to build engagement and followership. Also, before launching your course, you should post teasers and benefits and discuss the value your course would offer your audience.

But if you do not have the patience or time to build an active followership, you may also engage in paid ads like Facebook ads, Instagram ads, etc.

Advertise with reviews and comments

Never underestimate the power of a review, whether good or bad. According to reports, a whopping 94% of consumers trust online reviews, and positive reviews can increase conversion by over 250%. As you know, over 85% of people will refuse to deal with a business with bad reviews.

In essence, you have to be particular about the type of reviews you get, and the only way to do this is by offering value and fulfilling your promises. If you tell people that your course can help them learn something or address a particular difficulty, ensure it does just that.

Encourage your students to write reviews and include them in your marketing copies,  social media pages, email messages, landing pages, etc. You can get reviews from previous courses you've offered or start with a pre-launch campaign where you make the course available for a few people and get their reviews.

Finally, you can collaborate with publishers, course review platforms, and blogs to review and discuss your course. Doing this may attract a fee or commission.

Offer discounts and other benefits

People are naturally attracted to freebies, discounts, and benefits. A Google survey reports that promotions trigger an act of purchase among 89% of consumers. So if you're going to attract people fast to your course, send an irresistible offer that includes a limited-time discount or a gift.

Here are some quick examples

• "50% for the first 100 buyers or subscribers"

• "Get a free eBook when you purchase this course" (note the free eBook must be something relevant and add the title, it could also be any other thing of value)

• "the first 500 buyers will get a free one-on-one session with me."

Just add something people will love.

Build an email list

An email list is one of the most effective ways to sell online courses. This would help you send offers and reminders as often as possible to a particular audience. Your email list is also a great avenue to build credibility. When someone signs up for your email newsletter, you can gain their trust over time by providing them with practical suggestions and guidance on your niche.

This way, it becomes easy for them to make a buying decision when you finally launch your course. You can craft your email copy to highlight your course's benefits and include discounts and a relevant CTA.

Other tips to help you market your online course

• Launch a podcast channel: this can help you build an audience over time

• Post about your course on your blog or website

• Sign-up on Workee and sell your courses using the Workee Job feature.

Market your online courses with Workee Jobs

Workee Jobs allows you to sell your courses and Job packages, get instant bookings, communicate with clients, and send files directly to them all in one place as an online course creator.

Conclusion

Use these insights to market your courses effectively if you're wondering how to market your online courses in 2023. Importantly, you should be consistent in your efforts until results pour in.