Guest post by: Aleska Radovic
The e-learning market is expected to reach over $370 billion by 2026. This proves that selling courses can be a very lucrative business.
We’ve created a list of seven tips that will help you get your share of the e-learning market.
1. Choose the Right Topic and Title
Ideally, your topic will be a combination of your passion, knowledge, and something people need and are willing to pay for.
There are endless topics to choose from, but here, we will concentrate on the top six that are currently in demand, along with some tips on how to properly name your titles.
Business and marketing
Business and marketing topics are always in demand. But just because they are sought after doesn’t mean that any topic will sell.
We recommend being very specific when naming your topic so that your customers have a clear idea of what the course is all about. Here are some examples:
- Excel Tips for Beginners
- How to Manage Your Emails Efficiently
- Project Management 101
- Set Your LinkedIn Profile Like a Pro
- Google Ads Basic Training
- Understanding Personal Branding
- How to Optimize Marketing for Social Media
- Digital Marketing Basis
Career
Career courses are usually created for people who either want to learn new job skills or are thinking about a career change.
Try not to use vague titles for your career courses. Instead, we recommend titles that will offer instant value. Here are some ideas:
- Resumé Writing: Advanced Writing Course
- Back to Work: Career Strategy for Moms
- Career Planning: A Masterclass for Teenagers
- Career Change and Development: Land Your Dream Job
Technology
Technology is one of the fastest growing industries in the world, but keeping up with technology trends can be very challenging.
Additionally, the top digital agencies will always be on the lookout for new employees that can bring value to their business. Naturally, this created a high demand for up-to-date technology courses.
Like with any other topic, technology courses must have a specific title name:
- Web Page Development: From Designing to Launch
- Cybersecurity Basics
- Cloud Computing: Learning Core Concepts
- Blockchain: A Beginner’s Guide
- Javascript: Advanced Training
- Artificial Intelligence: A Foundation for Machine Learning
Art, design, and creativity
Creativity courses are made for people who either want to pick up a new hobby or are looking to put their creative talent into a business idea.
Here are some ideas for naming your art, design, and creativity course:
- Commercial Photography Tips
- How to Design and Test a Prototype
- Advanced Guitar Lessons
- Interior Design: Where to Start
- Best Acting Techniques
- A Guide for Music-Making Programs
Self-development courses
More people are enrolling in self-development courses to help fight anxiety, discover life goals, and become motivated for positive changes.
Such courses should integrate valuable information into their title names. Have a look at the following examples:
- Proven Tips for Boosting Your Confidence
- How to Fight the Fear of Public Speaking
- How to Motivate Yourself
- Learn Speed Reading and Become a Super Learner
- The Science Behind Well-Being
- How to Accomplish Personal and Professional Success
Courses for parenting
Now more than ever, parents have become increasingly aware of their impact on children’s physical and psychological well-being. This has created a big market for courses on parenting.
Such courses can be named in the following ways:
- Tips for First-Time Parents
- Parenting Skills for Raising Responsible Children
- Tips for Positive Parenting
- How to Be an Authoritative Parent
- How to Install Confidence In Your Child From an Early Age
In today’s digital world, marketing is everything. But how do you stand out with so much content created online daily?
2. Set Up a Youtube Channel
YouTube is a great platform for promotion. You can use it to create a promotional video for your course.
The purpose of this video should be to spark curiosity in people and make them want to enroll in your course.
Include keywords in your video title and description that are related to your course topic.
Another important step is to offer links that will lead to your web page where people can get more information about your course.
3. Provide Social Proof
People often feel uncomfortable with being the first to try anything. This makes social proof an important selling point for any business — and selling courses is no different.
If you have customers who attended your previous courses, use their testimonials and reviews to gain the trust of your new customers.
If you are setting up your first course, we recommend finding a few people who would be willing to take your course free of charge in exchange for their reviews.
4. Use Social Media to Promote Your Course
There are plenty of actions you can take to promote your courses on social media.
Run Facebook ads
The advantage of running Facebook ads is that you can set the parameters for your target audience, such as age group, location, gender, and interests.
Another great feature of Facebook ads is in analyzing your ad campaign and measuring its success.
Get engaged in Facebook groups
Find Facebook groups related to your field of expertise and start to interact with its members. When engaging in groups, don’t post promotional content, as it can get you banned.
Instead, we recommend posting valuable tips, images, and videos. This will get you recognized as an expert in your field, and people will have the opportunity to get to know you better.
When you start to get private messages, you should try and pitch your online courses.
Host a free webinar on Facebook or Instagram
To position yourself as an authority in your field of expertise, organize a live Q&A session. If you choose Facebook Live, your video will be saved and posted on your timeline so that people can watch it any time.
5. Run Google Ads
You have to spend money to make money. Google pay-per-click ads will allow you to get your investment back in no time. For every dollar you spend on pay-per-click ads, you will get an average of $2 back.
We’ve created a list of three steps to help you better understand what you need to do to launch a successful pay-per-click ad campaign.
Create an AdWords account
To create an AdWords campaign, Google will ask you to provide the following information:
- Your business name and website
- Your main advertising goal
- Your insights on the keyword themes
- Billing information
Plan your budget
To best plan your budget for a Google ads campaign, try answering the following questions:
- How long will you need to advertise for?
- How do your competitors plan their ad campaigns?
- How much are you willing to invest in a Google ad campaign?
Decide on the campaign type
To launch your ad campaign, you can choose between the following types:
- Search campaign
- Video campaign
- Display campaign
- App campaign
6. Offer Free Lessons
Offering free lessons is a great way of convincing your audience they will receive valuable content in exchange for their money.
At the end of your free lesson, you can pitch your online course along with other important information, such as payment methods and the platform you will use.
7. Give Exclusive Discounts
Offering exclusive discounts is a great way to persuade people to enroll in your online courses.
You can offer discounts via Facebook ads and offer exclusive discounts to your email subscribers or to people who attended your Facebook Live webinar.
We recommend limited-time discounts to set a sense of urgency and push your audience to act faster.
Summary
Offering discounts, free lessons, and providing social proof will help you get recognized as an authority in your field and make more people enroll in your online courses.
Selling your online courses can be a challenging task. But if you choose the right topic, get engaged in social media, and invest in Google and Facebook ads, you will increase your chance of success.
We hope our article provides you with valuable information that will ultimately lead you to sell more courses and monetize your blog.
Author Bio
Aleska Radovic is a marketing specialist at Digital Silk that specializes in driving business through digital, visual, and content marketing techniques, currently based in Los Angeles.
