I am constantly being asked by my students if I have any advice on how to market an online course. Truth be told, I have been asked this question many times. It is a common question. In fact, when I first got started teaching online courses, I asked myself the same question. So, in this article, I will discuss some tried and tested methods that you can use to market your online course effectively.
Create a Brand Persona
When you are creating an online course, you should start by creating a brand persona. A brand persona is a detailed profile of the kind of person that will be signing up for your online course. You can use your brand persona to craft marketing material such as blog posts, webinars, and more.
By understanding your audience’s needs and wants, you will be able to craft relevant and compelling content that they will value.
The Role Of SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the most important aspects of online marketing. When you write your blog posts, include keywords in the text that will help your articles to appear in the search engines when potential customers search for relevant content.
Include keywords in your headings, bullets, and more. If you are writing an eBook, include keywords in the description of each chapter. You can use free tools like Google Keyword Planner or Yoast SEO to find the best keywords for your content.
The Importance Of Video In Marketing
As someone who specializes in marketing, I am always asked about the importance of video in online marketing. Truth be told, video is extremely important. A video will connect with your audience in a way that text alone never can. When someone is interested in your topic, they will almost certainly have seen a video related to it.
You can place a video on your website to drive traffic and interest in your product or service. Some companies make money from showing off products in videos.
You can also use platforms like YouTube to host and distribute customer videos. These videos can be incredibly entertaining and informative. They could even be used to market your product or service or highlight a feature.
Include keywords in the description of each video to improve the visibility of your videos in the search engines. This will also help potential customers to find your videos when they are searching for content on your chosen topic.
Blogs And Forums Are Key To Building An Audience
Blogs and forums are extremely important if you want to build an audience. When someone lands on your website from a search engine, they will hopefully be interested in your content. However, to ensure that they stay interested, you need to keep posting valuable and relevant content. I recommend creating at least two types of content:
- High-quality content that is engaging
- Content that is concise, but also useful to your audience
Engaging content is content that is interesting, enjoyable, or provides value to the reader. When your blog posts are engaging, they will almost certainly keep your readers interested. This is important because if someone is not interested in your topic, they will simply move on to the next blog post or forum post.
When you are posting on blogs and forums, you should always use your brand persona to ensure that you are posting on the right platform for your product or service. If you are posting on a platform that is not relevant to your target audience, you will lose value and probably cause a loss of interest from your readers.
Social Media Is An Important Tool For Marketing
To make sure that your marketing efforts are not in vain, you should always measure the effectiveness of your efforts. One of the best ways of measuring the effectiveness of your marketing is by using social media. When you are posting on social media, you should always use your brand persona to highlight your products and services.
If you have a large following on social media, you might even consider using a tool like Hootsuite to help you manage your posts across all platforms. Hootsuite is a free tool that allows you to schedule tweets and other social media posts as well as engage with your followers via direct messages.
Local Events Are Important Too
If you are a business owner or manager and want to learn more about marketing, I suggest taking a look at the local events offered in your area.
Often, local businesses will team up and organize events such as product launches, media showcases, and more. Depending on how many products or services you offer, you might want to consider organizing an event for every major point of your business. This will help to ensure that you are getting the maximum exposure possible for your business.
To find and organize these types of events, you should look at your local business directory or yellow pages (I recommend the former). By identifying local businesses that you feel would be interested in your product or service, you will be able to create interest and drive a sale. Not all events will be created equal. Some will be more effective than others based on a number of factors. However, identifying the key factors will allow you to make the most of your time and resources.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is another extremely important form of marketing. The key is to build a trustworthy and reliable relationship with your customers. Once you have built this trusted relationship, it is easier to market your product or service to them via email.
You can set up automated email marketing software to quickly and easily send out emails with important information or alerts related to your product or service. To keep your customers engaged, you should look to send out emails that are consistently relevant and interesting to your audience.
Also, make sure that your emails are optimized for the major email platforms such as Gmail and Yahoo! Mail. If you are not sure how to go about doing this, I suggest using a tool like MailChimp to help you plan out your email marketing strategy.
Product Reviews
If you are a business owner or manager who wants to learn more about marketing, I suggest taking a look at product reviews. Customer reviews can be an important marketing tool. If someone is interested in your product or service, they will almost certainly have heard of it from a trusted source or reviewed it themselves.
When someone lands on your website from a search engine, they will hopefully see some reviews. However, to ensure that they stay interested, you need to keep posting valuable and relevant reviews. Just remember that just because someone writes a review about your product does not mean that they are your target audience.
To attract potential customers, you should focus on creating reviews that are as helpful and interesting as possible.
Also, don’t just rely on the number of reviews that you have accumulated. Instead, look at the quality of the reviews that you have accumulated.
Online Forums
Online forums are yet another very important part of marketing. Just remember that like blogs and social media, online forums can be used to both market your product or service and highlight existing product problems. When you are in a position to help someone with a problem, take advantage of the opportunity by selling your product or service.
To find and participate in online forums, I suggest searching your chosen topic on forums like Quora or Reddit. Just be sure to participate in these forums appropriately. Avoid using your blog or website as a means of promotion. Instead, use your existing social media accounts to participate in forums.
Content Creation And Distribution
To make sure that your marketing efforts are not in vain, you should always measure the effectiveness of your efforts. One of the best ways of measuring the effectiveness of your marketing is by creating content. When you are creating content, whether that is a blog post, an article, or more, you should always use your brand persona to ensure that you are writing for the right audience.
To build trust with your audience, you should always aim to provide them with as much value as you can.
If someone is not feeling that they are getting enough value from your content, perhaps you are writing for the wrong audience. To ensure that your content is as useful as possible, you should look to engage with your audience via a case study, an informative video, or an infographic that highlights key figures. Remember, value = trust.
To create and distribute your content, you can use online tools like Hootsuite to help you schedule blog posts, articles, and more. Hootsuite is a free tool that allows you to schedule tweets, Facebook posts, and more from one place. With Hootsuite, you can also engage with your audience via live chats and polling features.