With the growing popularity of online education, it’s imperative that students have a clear path to follow when deciding where to enroll. One roadblock that often gets in the way, is a lack of knowledge around digital marketing. Being unfamiliar with this subject can leave students struggling to find the right fit for their needs, leaving them with little direction on where to start their studies.

If you’re looking to use digital marketing to promote your online courses, then this article is for you. We’ll cover the basics including what a digital marketing plan entails, then we’ll dive into the key points that you need to incorporate into your online marketing strategy to successfully grow your student base.

What Is Digital Marketing?

If you’re unfamiliar with the world of digital marketing, it’s a relatively new method of marketing. Simply put, digital marketing is a marketing technique that uses digital tools to promote products or brands.

The digital tools can include websites, apps, blogs, email, and social media channels (like Facebook and Instagram).

Key Takeaways From This Article

This article will teach you the basics of digital marketing including key terminology, the four steps to creating a digital marketing plan, and how to use Google Ads to get started.

Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be lengthy. Creating a digital marketing plan just takes a few hours, and once you have it, you’ll have the information you need to launch your plan into action.

Step One: Identify the objectives and key performance indicators (KPIs)

One of the first things you need to do is to set some goals and performance indicators (KPIs) for your plan. Without a clear understanding of how you plan to track your progress, it’s difficult to determine whether or not your efforts are resulting in the goals you’re aiming for. Setting clear KPIs will also help you determine if your plan is working, and if you need to make some changes. For example, if your KPI is to increase web traffic to your blog, then you may want to consider focusing more on SEO (Search Engine Optimization) in your efforts. The same goes for getting your students to enroll in your classes, you may want to consider using digital marketing to target potential students and give them the information they need to make the right decision.

Step Two: Create compelling content

The next step in creating your digital marketing plan is to write compelling content. There is a huge variety of content that you can use to promote your online courses, from case studies, to how-to guides, to blog posts, and much more. Consider what would make your target audience interested in your content, and try to create content that is both entertaining and educational.

You can use content to promote your online course on your blog (if you have one), in your social media channels (if you have a specific account for this purpose), via email marketing (using a tool like ConvertKit to easily create and send out informative emails), or even on your website (using something like HubSpot to get all of your site’s content in one place, and allowing you to easily update your site with new content, as it comes available).

Step Three: Measure the results of your plan

Once you’ve determined the content that will be used to promote your online courses, the next step is to measure the results of your plan. This is a crucial step because it allows you to review your progress, determine if you’re on the right track, and if you need to make some changes to your plan.

There are a variety of ways that you can measure the results of your plan. For example, you can track the number of leads that resulted from your SEO efforts. You can also look at how many people downloaded a specific app that you promoted, or signed up for a webinar that you hosted. These numbers don’t lie; they give you an idea of how well your plan is performing.

If you’re looking to increase your web traffic, then you can start by creating more content that is both informative and entertaining. Additionally, you should look into using digital marketing to promote your course on social media, as this can result in a lot of traffic, and help even more people find your course.

Step Four: Continue to iterate and refine

The final step in creating your digital marketing plan is to continue to iterate and refine it. Once you’ve gotten the hang of things, you can look back at your plan and see how you can make it better for next time. Additionally, you can use this time to add more goals and/or KPIs, or change some of the others as needed. This step is crucial to ensuring that your plan is always evolving and progressing in the right direction.

Whether you’re just starting out, or you’re already a seasoned marketer, this article will help you put the basics of digital marketing into practice. The more you know, the more you can do. And that, my friend, is the sign of a successful digital marketer.