Learning online is more accessible than ever before. This means there are endless possibilities for developing and selling elearning courses in a wide range of subjects. But once you’ve designed a first-rate, specialized elearning course, you have to promote it to your audience. So how do you successfully market your course and grow your customer base? In this article, we’ll take you through the steps of promoting an elearning course.
1. Establish Your Target Audience
You can’t market your elearning course to potential learners without first identifying your target audience and learning about their specific needs. Who is most likely to benefit from your course? What type of subject-matter content are they looking for? What type of assessments do they expect from an online course?
Depending on the subject of your course, your target audience may be a niche group or a more general market. For example, a course on cooking for beginners is more likely to appeal to a broader demographic than advanced computer programming.
Learn about your audience through market research, such as surveys and interviews. Create buyer personas to help you tailor your marketing materials to your ideal customer. This will help you focus your outreach and influence how and where you promote your course (such as through targeted social media campaigns).
2. Demonstrate What You Offer
Most people pursue online learning and purchase elearning courses because they’re looking for answers. They may be looking to expand their skill set to improve their career, develop a hobby, or find the solution to a problem or challenge.
Your website should demonstrate the skills and knowledge you can offer customers and have the benefits of taking your course clearly laid out. You need to show people that it’s worth their time and money to complete your course. For example, if your course is on knitting, tell your audience that, by the end of the course, they’ll be able to knit scarves to give as gifts to family and friends.
You can also explain the advantages of your specific course format. If your course includes a range of instructional materials, such as webinars or PDFs, tell potential students how the format accommodates a variety of learning styles or incorporates short, easy-to-digest modules for busy people.
3. Define the Benefits of Learning Online
If people are searching for online courses, then they’re probably looking for a flexible learning opportunity. So, besides telling your audience about the benefits of your specific course, remind them of the advantages of elearning in general.
For instance, elearning is often more cost-effective than in-person learning, and people can fit their course material or classes around their current schedule (instead of the other way around). Include the most significant course benefits in your promotional materials, such as access to subject-matter experts or professional assessments.
4. Create an Eye-Catching Landing Page
To promote your course, you need a memorable and professional landing page. Most people who come across your website haven’t decided yet whether to make a purchase. This makes the landing page your “storefront,” so it should focus on the customer, catch their attention, and encourage them to act.
This call to action doesn’t necessarily need to direct users to purchase the course; it could direct people to sign up for a free trial or to receive an email newsletter. This helps you capture leads and expand your customer base without requiring website visitors to make an immediate buying decision.
5. Offer a Free Trial
It’s a good idea to offer learners a commitment-free preview of your course to encourage them to make a purchase. Most people are hesitant to invest their time and money without an idea of what they’ll receive in return. Or they may not have any previous experience with elearning courses and don’t know what to expect.
One way to demonstrate the value of your course is by offering a free trial of the material that ends with a call to action to enroll. Prompt users to input their contact information, such as their name and email address, before giving them access to the trial so that you can follow up with them if necessary.
6. Ask Previous Learners For Endorsements
Once you’ve had several people complete your course, reach out to them and ask for feedback. Positive reviews from satisfied customers are a proven way to boost sales, increase conversions, and build trust with your target audience.
Studies show that more than 90% of online consumers read reviews before purchasing a product. They provide proof you’re reliable and that what you’re selling has value – and customer reviews are often more impactful than a hard sell.
You can send surveys to previous users and ask for their honest feedback or encourage them to leave a review on your website or social media page.
7. Follow Up With Potential Customers
Even if someone finishes a free trial of your course and has a positive experience, they may not enroll right away. Timing is always an important factor, and people tend to get busy or distracted and don’t always make a purchase immediately, even if they’re impressed with the product.
So, it’s a good idea to use the emails you capture from your free trial or mailing list to occasionally remind potential customers of the benefits of your course. This keeps it at the top of their mind if, and when, they are ready to buy.
You can also send them messages informing them of any discounts or other special deals you’re offering. Another technique is to host an online event, such as an information session, and invite those who completed the free trial as a way to address any concerns.
Always include your contact information and link to your landing page in marketing emails to make it easy for customers to follow through on a sale or ask you questions.
Conclusion
A lot goes into developing a successful elearning course. If you’ve dedicated the time and effort to creating an in-depth and comprehensive elearning course, then you want its content to be of the highest quality it can be.
Proofed’s business services can work with your specific style guide and course format to ensure top-level content that appeals to your target audience. Schedule a call with our team to get started today.
