The problem with most best practice advice for marketing online courses is that it’s geared towards people who already have an audience.
If you’ve already built an audience, you can easily earn new customers by publishing a blog post or posting a reel on Instagram.
Yet, if you don’t already have thousands of followers, these strategies won’t help you get your first customer.
This guide provides strategies to help you get your first customers in a matter of days/weeks and sustainable long-term marketing strategies to build your own audience.
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Online Course Marketing Prerequisites
Before you start marketing your online course, ensure it truly is the best course on the market. If the course itself isn’t valuable, any customers you earn will likely leave negative reviews. The marketing strategies outlined below might help you drive more traffic to your website, but they won’t help you earn more sales if you have a lot of negative reviews.
So before you get started, here are a few prerequisites to think about when creating your course.
Step 1: Identify Your Ideal Customer
Products designed for the masses often fail because:
- It’s difficult to compete with well-established brands with multi-million dollar marketing budgets.
- People don’t want to buy generic solutions; they want specialized products and services tailored to their particular situation.
Therefore, niching down can help you stand out from the competition and earn more sales. Niching down also allows you to raise your prices as customers are often happy to pay a premium for specialized products and services.
For example, moms in their 40s are more likely to choose a fitness program designed for moms in their 40s over a generic fitness program for anyone trying to lose weight.
To illustrate this, consider this marketing messaging:
Even if you’ve already created your online course, you can likely tweak it to serve a particular avatar.
Step 2: Seek Feedback From Beta Testers
Once you’ve defined who you’re selling the course to, recruit a group of beta testers to complete the course (for free) and provide honest feedback.
Specifically, ask them:
- Which areas were most helpful
- Where they got stuck
- Specific problems the course solved or failed to solve
Then, you can adjust the course to make it the most effective product on the market.
You can also use this as an opportunity to do more customer research and identify specific pain points they feel that you can then incorporate into your sales page
Step 3: Collect Testimonials
After completing the course and making adjustments based on feedback from your beta testers, ask them for testimonials (either written or video).
You can then use these testimonials on your sales page and social media ads.
Course Marketing Strategies To Get Your First Customer In Days/Weeks
Even if you have no network or following, here are a few course marketing strategies you can execute now to get your first few customers in a matter of days/weeks.
1. Build An Affiliate Network
As a new course creator with no audience, the best way to sell your product is to partner with other brands and influencers who do have an audience of your ideal customers.
Affiliate marketing is when you as the course creator pay the influencers a commission for each sale that came from their promotion.
An affiliate marketing platform can automatically track sales and issue affiliate payouts, so you don’t have to worry about actively managing the process.
Your affiliate partners can be bloggers, social media influencers, or YouTubers.
To find the best affiliate partners, here are a few different strategies:
- Join affiliate networks like ShareASale.
- Search for your competitors’ affiliates (search their brand name on various social media platforms).
- Google the keyword framework “best (industry) courses” to identify relevant third-party bloggers.
- Google various keywords related to your niche (e.g., “best wildlife photography tips” if you’re selling a wildlife photography course) and reach out to relevant bloggers.
Affiliate programs are excellent because you don’t have to invest any money upfront as affiliates only make money when an audience member buys your course.
2. Create a Referral Program
Referral programs are similar to affiliate programs, as the referrer receives a commission whenever one of their friends buys your course.
The only difference between affiliate and referral programs is that referral programs are usually individuals, whereas affiliate programs are usually deals with brands or influencers.
If you’re not sure who to ask to join your referral program, start with your beta testers. This way, you’ll have some demand when you officially launch your course.
Additionally, midway through your course, include a pitch for your referral program inviting students to join.
The challenge with referral programs is getting people to participate. Many people are happy to refer friends to your course, but they might not know which friends they should mention it to.
To solve this problem, give them a list of people they know who might be interested in the referral program and then provide a simple pitch they can send to their friends.
For example, if you have a weight loss or fitness course, you can tell your audience to refer your program to these people:
3. Partner/Bundle With Other Influencers
Many courses today offer more than just a single course. For example, someone interested in a photography course might also want a videography course.
So, if you have a photography course, you could contact creators who already offer a videography course and pitch them on offering a bundle that includes your photography course.
For example, if they’re currently offering their videography course for $1,000, you could offer them to include your photography course and create a bundle at $1,800.
Then, you might earn 20% from each sale. That way, the course creator can earn an additional $440 whenever they sell a bundle, and you start earning some sales.
Best of all, it costs the creator no additional effort to make the course, and they can better serve their audience who also wants to take a photography course.
This strategy also has long-term benefits, as you’ll earn credibility by being recognized by an established course creator, and you can do other collaborations with that influencer down the road.
4. Paid Reviews
While you can’t pitch your course in a guest post, you can pay a blogger or influencer to review your course.
The best way to find people to review your product is to search for your competitors’ brand names and “review.”
Be sure to search for both YouTube and written reviews.
For example, let’s say you have a course on flying drones.
The Pilot Institute is one of the biggest players in the drone space, so search for that brand name and “course review.”
This blogger wrote a review of the Pilot Institute course and might be a great candidate to review your drone course.
Be sure to do the same search on YouTube, as you can also ask YouTubers to review your course:
5. Paid Influencer Promotion
There are two major challenges most new course creators face:
- Lack of audience: Unless you’ve been diligently building your personal brand in the background, you probably don’t have an audience to sell your course to.
- Lack of credibility: This problem is similar to the first – if you haven’t built a personal brand, people won’t know why they should trust your advice. Given that courses are essentially just advice, building trust so that people seek your advice is critical to earning sales.
The good news is that influencer marketing solves both of these problems.
When an influencer promotes your product, you’re essentially borrowing their audience, and their vote of confidence in your product gives you credibility.
The key to making influencer marketing work is finding the right influencers to partner with.
Here are a few things to consider when evaluating influencers:
- Audience relevancy: If your ideal target audience are moms with two kids, only target influencers that have an audience of moms with two kids.
- Relevant audience size: The size of an influencer’s audience will also undoubtedly impact the campaign’s success, but keep in mind that you should consider the percentage of their following that fits your target audience when agreeing to a price. For example, Influencer A may have 5,000 followers and about 95% of their followers fit within your target audience. In contrast, Influencer B may have 8,000 followers, yet only about 50% of them fall within your target audience. As a result, Influencer A will help you reach more total relevant prospects than Influencer B. This is why micro influencers are often more profitable.
- Audience loyalty: Finally, audience loyalty impacts conversion rates. For example, an influencer with high trust yet only 5,000 relevant followers might drive more conversions than an influencer with low trust and 10,000 relevant followers. You can usually judge an audience’s trust based on the comments on their posts.
To find influencers to partner with, you can search relevant hashtags on Instagram and browse popular influencers or search relevant keywords on YouTube.
Another option is to use an influencer marketing platform that offers vetted influencers. This is usually the easiest method as you can quickly find relevant influencers, check their stats (audience size, loyalty, etc.), and handle the entire collaboration directly inside the platform.
6. Newsletter Sponsorships
Similar to influencer marketing, promoting your course in a newsletter allows you to reach your target audience and establish credibility.
For example, we allow other brands to sponsor the Copyblogger Newsletter. In this screenshot, you can see that Nicholas Cole recently sponsored our newsletter to promote his ghostwriting course.
To make the promotion a success, consider the audience relevance, size, and trust when selecting a newsletter. For Nicholas Cole, the Copyblogger newsletter made sense because we have a large list of people interested in making a living writing online.
The ROI of your newsletter promotion campaign will also vary depending on your pitch.
For example, Nicholas Cole didn’t just pitch to people to buy his course. Instead, he pitched a free lead magnet – an ebook on how to land your first $5,000 client.
By pitching the lead magnet first, people enter the funnel, and Nicholas can then nurture them, build a relationship, and later pitch the course. This will lead to a higher total number of conversions than if the initial ad in the newsletter was to buy the course.
7. Google Ads
Google Ads are the bread and butter for many course creators.
For example, if you search “how to get a drone license,” you’ll see that there are plenty of Google Ads for courses that help people get a drone license:
These ads are likely working and driving leads for these online courses, otherwise, these people wouldn’t be making these videos.
If you decide to run Google Ads, the two most important things to get right are:
- The keywords you target
- Your landing page
The good news is that you can start by simply copying your competitors and then refine your strategy through testing over time.
To copy your competitors, you can take their URL, put it in a tool like Ahrefs or Spyfu, and then look at the specific keywords they’re targeting.
Once you know the keywords your competitors targeting, look at their landing pages and take note of the offer. Some of them may pitch their course directly, but others might offer a free lead magnet instead.
You can also analyze elements of the copy, including:
- The pain points and challenges mentioned
- The benefits/outcomes mentioned
- The testimonials and general page layout
Again, you can borrow ideas from your competitors when you start running ads and then refine your strategy through testing.
8. Facebook/Instagram Ads
During the audience research phase, you should have learned which social media platforms your audience uses.
To determine if these platforms are worth advertising on, you can look up your competitors in the Meta Ads Library and see if they’re running ads.
For example, if you’re selling a dropshipping course, you can see that Dropship Lifestyle, another dropshipping course, has been running ads on Meta for years:
For each ad, you can see how long it’s been running (if they’ve been running it for a while, it’s probably working), the exact ad creative and text, and how many variations of that ad they are running.
Another helpful piece of information is the additional platforms they’re running the ad on (e.g., Instagram, Pinterest, Messenger, etc.). This can help you identify other platforms to advertise on.
This information can inspire your own ad creative, and you can also click on the Call To Action button (“Learn More”) to see the landing page they’re sending customers to.
Again, don’t reinvent the wheel when you’re getting started. Create a similar style ad as your competitors’ top performing (longest running ads) when you’re first getting started and then test and iterate to see what works best for you.
9. Twitter/LinkedIn Ads
LinkedIn and Twitter ads can also be profitable, especially if you’re selling courses to established entrepreneurs or business professionals.
LinkedIn offers an ad library, and you can find your competitor’s ads by searching for them on LinkedIn and then clicking on this box in the corner:
The LinkedIn Ad library shows all of your competitors’ ad creatives and the landing page they send users to.
As you’re analyzing your competitor’s ads, take note of:
- The ad creative
- The copywriting
- The offer
Then, click on the landing page they’re sending users to and analyze the copywriting and offer on that page as well.
Unfortunately, Twitter does not offer an ad library, so you won’t have as many options to do competitive research before running ads on that platform.
Course Marketing Strategies To Build Awareness
These course marketing strategies might require a little more time to execute, and the ROI probably won’t be instantaneous. However, they’re excellent strategies to leverage other people’s audiences to build your credibility and get in front of your target audience.
10. Guest Posts (With A Twist)
Another great way to earn more exposure and build your own credibility is by writing guest posts on other reputable blogs that your target audience already reads.
The only problem is that most bloggers receive hundreds of pitches weekly, so you’ll likely be ignored if you send a generic email offering to write a guest post.
The good news is that there are a few strategies that still work.
First, look at old blog posts (ideally over two years old) a blogger already has on a particular topic that falls in your realm of expertise. Then, offer to update it for them.
In your pitch, mention how you’ll update it for them to improve the content.
For example, if you have a course on gardening, you can Google “how to grow carrots from seed,” skip to the second page of Google, and start looking at all of the bloggers with old content on that topic.
For example, these blog posts from 2012 and 2019 are ranking on the second page and could clearly use an update.
Updating these old posts is much more beneficial to the blogger than net new content because it keeps their website up to date and reduces bloat, which improves their SEO.
Additionally, updating old blog posts that are already ranking on the second or third page of Google is also more beneficial for you because Google has already indexed that page and clearly likes something about it. So updating an old blog post is more likely to rank post update than a brand new blog post you write for that website.
Of course, it’s best if the guest posts you write actually rank for the intended keyword as that will help more searchers find your writing.
If you’re not sure how to pitch bloggers, here’s an outreach template you can use:
Hi (name),
I loved your post on (topic). I particularly liked your point about (X), but I think that it also might be worth mentioning (A, B, C points that you’d add to the post if you updated it).
Do you want me to write an updated version of the post including those points? Hopefully refreshing it would also help it rank higher in search engines 🙂
Thanks,
Megan
Another underrated strategy is to reach out to brands whose products and services you already use and offer to write a guest blog post (or update old content!).
As you’re already a customer, they’re much more likely to respond to you, and brands tend to receive fewer pitches than bloggers.
For example, if you’re selling a course on personal finance for entrepreneurs and you currently use Carry for your 401k, reach out to that brand and offer to write a guest post on a topic related to entrepreneurial personal finance.
So make a list of all the products and services you use that are relevant to your course, and reach out to them with a pitch like this:
Hi (name),
I’ve been using (product) for X years and love it! I’m a (your credentials), and I’m writing a post about (topic) that I think your audience might enjoy. Could I send it over to you? If you like it, you’re welcome to publish it on your blog.
Thanks,
Megan
Note that it’s usually best to reach out to the marketing manager or content manager. Who you contact has a significant impact on your success rates!
One more option is to become a regular contributor to an industry publication. For example, the Search Engine Journal accepts regular contributors. As a regular contributor, you can establish your credibility as an industry influencer and get in front of your target audience for free.
11. Do a Podcast Tour
Plenty of podcasters need guests with insightful new ideas, so even if you don’t have a large following, you can still land a podcast interview if you have credentials and/or an interesting take on a popular subject.
There are a few ways to find relevant podcasts to reach your audience:
- Ask within groups you’re a part of. For example, in this SEO group, someone mentioned that they’re looking to get on some podcasts, and plenty of people jumped at the opportunity:
- Search for podcasts on Apple and Spotify. If you’re just getting started, don’t pitch the most popular ones; instead, reach out to some of the smaller podcasts.
When you pitch podcasters, state your credentials and specific topics you’d like to discuss, as that will make it easy for them to decide if you’re a good fit for their audience.
12. Speak at Conferences
Speaking at conferences establishes you as a credible leader within your niche and allows you to interact with potential customers in person.
While you probably can’t pitch your course on stage, anyone who wants to learn more about you can later go to your website and find more information, and there, you can sell your course.
To find relevant conferences to speak at, do a quick search of your industry’s niche:
From there, go down the list and apply to speak at each one.
13. Help People For Free
Helping people for free builds goodwill within your community and helps you better understand your target market and their pain points. These insights help you create more effective copy and ultimately increase conversions.
Additionally, people you help for free will likely reciprocate and will either buy your course or refer it to their friends.
However, you can be strategic and make the most of your time helping people for free by creating content.
For example, Film Booth is a YouTube education course, and instead of just helping people improve their thumbnails for free, the founder, Ed, turned it into a video:
So you can offer a handful of free coaching sessions to help people and then record those videos and post them online.
14. Partner With Communities To Host an Online Event
Another great way to reach your target audience is to host an online event for a community.
While it’s true that most people won’t just show up to a random webinar, I once hosted a virtual pizza party for a content marketing Slack group.
I used the company Pizzatime.xyz to send free pizzas (I paid for them) to anyone who wanted to show up, and then we jammed about content marketing.
I led the discussion, and each person mentioned something they were struggling with and then we all chimed in by offering suggestions to help them improve.
In addition, I found that most people who signed up showed up because it’s pretty hard to forget about an event or ignore it when a pizza shows up at your door to remind you.
To find relevant communities, simply search your niche and “Slack group” or “Discord group” in Google. You can also go to Facebook or Instagram and search for groups.
15. Engage With Online Communities
In addition to partnering with online communities to host an event, you can also engage with online communities by providing thoughtful responses to people’s questions.
This allows you to build genuine connections within the community which boosts your credibility. The community host will also appreciate your engagement, which can lead to more collaboration opportunities down the road.
Course Marketing Strategies To Build Your Own Audience
All of the marketing strategies up until now have helped you leverage other people’s audiences to reach your ideal target audience. However, using other people’s audiences isn’t a sustainable customer acquisition strategy because you’ll always be hunting for your next customer.
Once you have a few customers, building your own audience is important. So even though these strategies won’t deliver an immediate ROI, they’re the necessary building blocks to passively attracting customers.
16. Start A Blog
One of the most challenging aspects of most marketing strategies is reaching a new audience.
For example, email marketing is great for nurturing your existing audience but won’t help new customers discover your course.
Blogging solves this problem because you can target specific keywords your ideal customers would search in Google and then create blog posts to rank for those keywords. Once someone lands on your blog, you can offer a lead magnet to get them on your email list and later sell them your course.
In fact, blogging is still the primary method we use to market our own course here at Copyblogger.
The key to successfully marketing your course with blogging is identifying the right target keywords. To get started, refer back to your customer research notes and look at the pain points people face to buy your course.
Here’s an example of what it might be for the Copyblogger Academy course:
Then, do a quick Google search for each of these pain points.
To find a specific keyword that matches the pain point, copy the exact URL of the top ranking post and paste it into Ahrefs/SEMrush.
Then, look at the keywords it ranks for:
These are all excellent keywords to target. Ideally, select a keyword with a low difficulty score (ideally under 15 or 20) and then write the best resource possible on how to solve that searcher’s problem.
17. Start A YouTube Channel
Courses are essentially advice packaged in an actionable format, and most people only seek advice from individuals they like and trust.
Video is one of the best channels for building a genuine relationship with your audience because they can see your body language.
Therefore, consider starting a YouTube channel.
As with blogging, refer back to the list of customer pain points you created during the customer research process and then create videos discussing how to solve those pain points.
Adding in your own personal experience is also a great way to build trust through a video, so share experiments you’ve run that have and have not worked.
Taylor Brown is a great example of a real estate videographer who uses his YouTube audience to drive leads for his real estate course.
His videos include real estate videography hacks and other pain points that a real estate videographer might experience:
18. Start A Podcast
If you don’t like being on camera, a podcast is another great way for your audience to get to know you personally and build trust.
The drawback with podcasting is that it can be very difficult for people to discover your podcast.
To help more people discover your podcast, you can bring on guests as they’ll likely share the episode with their audience as well.
You can also hire a content repurposer to share your content on social media to help amplify your podcast’s reach.
19. Leverage Social Media
Plenty of course creators rely on their social media following to generate leads for their course businesses.
For example, Justin Welsh built the majority of his following on LinkedIn and Twitter and then funnels that audience into his newsletter where he can then upsell them on a course.
The key to creating a substantial following on social media is posting a high quantity of interesting ideas.
We have a separate resource on copywriting for social media, but some of the best tips to create compelling social media content include:
- Crafting a compelling hook
- Collaborating with other influencers
- Incorporating trending topics
- Leveraging contrarian ideas
20. Create an Email List
Most people won’t immediately buy a $500 or $1,000 course. They must trust you first and believe your course will effectively solve their problems to justify the investment.
However, most people will visit your website, receive the information they came for, and then leave.
As a result, you never have the opportunity to build that trust.
Email marketing is a great solution to this problem because it allows you to remarket to your audience and build that relationship over time.
To collect leads, create a lead magnet such as a mini course.
For example, this is the $1 mini course that Ali Abdaal uses to drive leads for his larger courses, the Part Time YouTuber Academy.
Get More Help Marketing Your Online Course
Those are really the three stages of generating leads for your online course:
- Use partnerships and paid channels to get customers today.
- Build brand awareness by appearing as a guest on other people’s audiences.
- Build your own marketing funnel to attract and retain customers.
The guidelines above contain everything you need to start, but staying consistent and solving roadblocks can be challenging.
If you want support from a community of other creators, consider joining the Copyblogger Academy. Inside, you can ask seven-figure entrepreneurs Tim Stoddart and Charles Miller your questions and receive feedback from the community.
You’ll also have access to eight different marketing courses, from SEO and copywriting to email marketing and personal branding, so you have the step-by-step resources to build your own marketing engine.You can join the Copyblogger Academy today risk free and receive a full refund in 30 days if you aren’t 100% satisfied.
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