For those in the business of selling online courses and education, you’ll understand that it can be a lot harder than it seems to be regarded as one of the best.
So, how can you get your name out there and show potential students that you’re offering a quality course in a crowded market? There are a few basic things to check off before you get to the final stage of marketing your course, and they’re a lot simpler than you might have thought.
With these tips under your belt, you can be confident in your ability to sell courses and promote your unique elearning experience:
Understand who your learners are
Before you can even begin to think about the content of your courses, you should first understand who your potential audience is. When you imagine a virtual classroom full of new students, what is it they are there to learn? Why do they want to learn it, and what is their end goal for what they want to achieve?
Think also about the various walks of life they might come from, and ensure that you’re molding the course content to meet the right demographics. One of the best features of elearning is the flexibility it offers students, which means it can be adapted to suit just about any background.
Research published in Forbes found that employees these days are craving a more flexible work-life balance—and this includes their workplace training and education—so you need to make it fit for everyone. By getting a clear picture of the intended audience, you can then work on creating your quality content.
Have quality content on offer
While it’s all well and good to promote yourself as a serious contender in the elearning space, without the quality content in your courses you simply won’t gain much traction. If you promote yourself as the next big thing in online courses and then fail to see through your promises, your business reputation can suffer.
But don’t worry!
There are a few simple ways to ensure you have quality content and if you can answer yes to each of these questions then you’ll be on the right track:
- Are there clear objectives and learning outcomes in your course content?
- Can the information be easily absorbed by a student?
- Does the course come in a range of interactive materials to keep students engaged?
- Do you repeat the key points and objectives throughout the syllabus?
- Can this course be accessed by people from all different walks of life, and with the freedom to study where and when they choose?
These few questions identify the markers of a good online course, and when you know that yours ticks all of the boxes it’ll be even easier to sell it to potential students (and investors too!) Not only will your course content need to be engaging, but it should give the learner something they can’t get anywhere else.
Offer something unique
With thousands of online courses popping up every day, imagine how confusing it can be for a potential student to separate the good content from the bad—so to be successful you may need to have a unique edge or offer that can’t be matched by competitors.
Think about your company: do the staff offer something unique with their years of experience? Are you taking a new approach to elearning that hasn’t been done before? Have you found an untapped area of the market that you believe will make you the next big thing?
This is where you need to pool it together and come up with something special that your brand can offer, so understanding the space you are in is extremely important.
Know why online learning works
While it’s all well and good to have your own course up and ready, you need to understand online courses and how these digital classrooms differ from traditional education means. Whether it’s for workplace training or personal study reasons, you should have hard data to prove why this medium is growing in popularity.
For example, studies have shown that a third of managers believe their current digital learning offerings do not suit what their company believes in and therefore they fail to use it as often as they should.
This is a huge indicator for the need to have more specific course content to suit your intended audience. Once you have your content, and the facts and figures to back it up, you’re able to promote your learning experience much more effectively.
Use marketing wisely
Now that you have your online courses ready to sell, you should address your marketing strategy. Since your students will be learning on a digital platform, this is a great place to engage with them.
Use social media, a dedicated website, a blog, and more to keep your online presence known, even when you aren’t actively promoting your course. Always stay in touch with potential students during and after a sale to let them know you’re truly invested in their success.
A market research report recently announced that the global elearning market is set to grow over 17% over the next 3 years, so it’s a smart area to be on board with.
However, without the right know-how behind your brand and an understanding of exactly what you offer your students, your venture will flounder. Follow the steps we’ve laid out for you here and things will be much smoother sailing in the long run!
