How to Use Content Marketing if You Sell Online Courses

As an ambitious entrepreneur always looking for innovative ways to achieve financial success, profiting from your knowledge by setting up an online course is one of the quickest ways to make money.

But with so many online courses out there, it can be difficult to stand out from the competitors.

You cannot just create an online course and expect people to pay top dollar simply because you promoted your courses through paid ads. 

Who are you? Why should they trust you? Why should they register for your course?

Your inability to answer these questions as your audience wants is why you are not making sales. 

Content marketing is like the online identity card that introduces you to your audience. It allows you to build credibility and establish trust with your audience. 

Creating an online course that nobody bothers to check out will be a waste of resources. 

However, content marketing can be challenging, especially if you do not know where to start. 

This post will explore how you can use content marketing to sell your online courses, how to develop content for a successful online course, and the best platforms to sell your online courses. 

1. Identify your target audience

Before you start developing your content, identifying your target audience is an easy approach that will help you create personalized messages that will resonate with the pain points of your target audience.

Look around you; what are The challenges your courses aim to address? This stage should be about defining your ideal student. It will guide your content marketing strategy. 

These questions will help you identify your audience:

• Who are you trying to reach with your online courses?
• What are their goals, needs, interests, and challenges?
• What information or resources do they need to succeed in your course?
• Why will they want to purchase your online course?

They should be categorized based on basic demographics such as age, gender, location, education level, family, interests, occupation, values, employment status, goals, needs, and wants. 

2. Define the content marketing goals for your online course

With the knowledge of your ideal student, it is time to define your goals. This will make it easy for you to narrow down your objectives as well as know how to navigate the content creation process. 

Your goal should be clear, straightforward, and measurable. 

Here are a few ideas:

Generating qualified leads

Is lead generation your overall objective? Content marketing is one of the most effective marketing strategies brands are utilizing to generate qualified leads. 

Based on a report by Demand Metric, Content marketing generates more than 3x leads as outbound marketing. 

Since the courses aim to address a specific problem, the probability of people experiencing these challenges signing up increases. But you have to attract them with something. 

In this case, you should tailor your content marketing strategy to solve some major problems they face.  

Enrolments of new students

If you wish to increase the number of new students enrolled in your course, then your content should be designed to attract these new students. 

Content marketing is one of the ways you can increase your online presence and get more students to learn about your course. 

Nurturing leads 

Most leads you have generated for your online course may not be ready to register immediately. But you should not ignore them.

 If you want to keep the course registration idea fresh in their minds, start by building a relationship with them by delivering relevant content. This is an opportunity to turn them into paying customers. 

To decrease the rate of turnover

If the completion rate of your online course is pretty low and your course content is on point, you need to devise a strategy to increase your retention rate. Creating content that motivates students to complete their courses is the way to go.

Online learning can be challenging for some students. It is, therefore, paramount to keep students engaged and interested to minimize the risk of dropping out.

Upselling current customers

Another factor to consider is determining whether your goal is to generate more revenue for your online business. 

It will help you create content that does not seem too salesy when trying to upsell your current customers. It is an easy way to get them to sign up for your courses. 

3. Select content marketing formats

When thinking about content marketing format, you should remember that different formats appeal to different segments within your audience. 

While it is a good practice to explore the formats where your target audience may be easier to reach, it is important to note that people learn in different ways. For example, some are visual or auditory learners, while others prefer texts. 

Here are a few content formats to consider:

Blog posts

Blogging is a great place to start building brand awareness and increasing traffic to your website. It should be useful and informative while addressing the pain points of your audience. 

This can attract new students and kickstart conversations with existing ones. Ensure it is optimized to boost your search engine rankings and increase organic traffic to your site. 

You can showcase the courses at the top bar of your website or on your about page.

You can also include calls to action in the middle or at the end of each blog post for people to sign up for the course or learn more about the specific subject you are talking about by registering for the course. 

However, this technique can only be successful if your content is high-quality, helpful, and consistent over time. Otherwise, it will be a waste of everybody’s time.

If creating valuable content will be challenging for you due to time constraints, contact us at Redakthor to deliver relevant content that will appeal to your audience. 

Additionally, you contribute blog posts to relevant authority websites with a high readership rate from your target audience. The content should be valuable and persuasive enough to make them check out your website.

Read also: 7 Tips to Create Highly Engaging Content (On Any Channel!)

Youtube Videos

Creating engaging and interesting videos that provide helpful tips and insights related to the topic explored in your course is another digital  marketing strategy that can increase your sales. 

Video content has become an essential format for people to check out quick ways to solve their problems and find answers to their questions.  

The video will be tailored to address a specific problem related to the course content. And you can then get people to sign up for the course in the middle or at the end of the video.This is a good strategy for selling online courses. 

Infographics

Designing infographics is another means of attracting your ideal customers. 

You should create engaging images that visually communicate and convey complex information in an easily digestible way. 

Webinars

Hosting live, interactive sessions is a great way to share valuable knowledge. You can give the prospects a sneak peek into what your course is about when you host live webinars. Discuss industry-relevant topics and use that as an opportunity to talk about your online course.

Email Newsletter

Establishing your expertise in your niche will make people yearn to learn more from you by registering for the online course. Build an email list and get people to subscribe to your newsletter.

Consistently send relevant content to earn their trust and build a stronger relationship with them. Share valuable tips related to the online course subject so that when the time comes to get them to sign up, it will be easier to win them over because you have provided value over time. 

Podcast

Starting a podcast about your course topics will help you build an audience. Podcast saw monthly year-over-year growth of 43% among people aged 35-54, a 4% increase from last year. 

The podcast should be engaging because every listener is a potential student for your course. Therefore, the podcast should show them you have a lot to offer. 

Include a call to action at the end of each episode to prompt them to sign up for the online course. 

Alternatively, you can get interviewed on podcasts relevant to your industry or niche or be a guest on a podcast episode. Search for podcasts relevant to the course topic. Build a relationship with the host by following them on social media and engaging with their posts.

Social media

Sharing valuable tips on Twitter,  LinkedIn, or any channel your ideal audience tends to use is another great way to expand your reach and build awareness.

When your brand is associated with creating engaging content, you have built credibility and established yourself as an expert, making it easier for them to buy your online courses.

Free ebooks

Publishing free ebooks as part of your content marketing strategy will help attract leads. It is a lead magnet you can use as a preview to show people the value-packed online course you have created for them. 

If the ebook is informational and showcases your expertise on that particular topic, they are more likely to purchase your course. 

4. Design a content calendar 

Creating a content calendar that outlines the content you will develop and publish over a period of time will help you stay organized. 

It will also help you stay consistent and generally ensure you are on the right track. This is one of the essential content marketing strategies you should employ. 

Here are simple tips that will help you in creating a content calendar

Develop a standard operating procedure(SOP)

SOP for creating and publishing content will lead to consistency across the board. 

This will also help you discover essential elements that will be included in the content calendar as well as the people responsible for publishing and maintaining the calendar. 

You should consider the following when creating your SOP:

• How often will you publish content?
• When will you publish the content?
• Who is responsible for creating the content?
• What kind of content will you create?

Select a suitable content calendar format for your team

You can develop your content calendar in different formats, but it has to be a format that is the most suitable and accessible to your team. 

The template can be in excel or any other content calendar template your team is most comfortable with. 

Keep it as simple as possible 

It is important to keep in mind that you have to keep everything at the basic level when you are just getting started. Then, once you have a solid foundation, you are free to add more details as you go.

This is particularly important for training your team to get the hang of it before introducing any complexity. 

Add important dates to the calendar

Include important dates and deadlines in your content calendar. 

It can be deadlines for content graphics, distribution, or posting across multiple channels. 

Integrate the forms of content in the calendar 

Your content calendar should be specific about the form of content to be created on each day. 

For example, it could be social media posts, newsletters, infographics, blog posts, and the rest.  

Add additional details 

Remember to include additional relevant details that may be essential for the content creation and distribution process. 

It could be about the topic, specific keywords, or images. This will help your team not to miss out on any important detail that will spice up your content. 

Monitor engagement

Tracking the engagement on each published content to determine if you are still meeting your goals or objectives. 

For instance, check out your email open rate, the number of blog visitors, and the number of impressions on your social media post. 

Revisit and revise

As time goes on, you may need to revisit your content calendar to know what is working and what is not. 

You can also discover when to switch strategies and introduce something new. 

You may also like: How to Create a Content Strategy? (Step by Step)

5. Create an SEO-optimized content

Your content marketing strategy will be incomplete without a search engine optimization to seal the deal. It helps improve your website and rank it higher on search engine result pages. 

Get in touch with us at Redakthor; we incorporate SEO best practices to create content that drives organic traffic to your site. 

You may also like: How to Structure Your Content for Best SEO Results

6. Promote and distribute your content

Always endeavor to promote and distribute your content all the time. This is the opportunity you have to reach your target audience. 

Consider the following options. 

• Emailing it to your subscribers.
• Sharing it on your social media pages
• Adding it to your email signature
• Getting influencers to share it on their pages. 

7. Measure the progress of your strategy 

Once all your content has gone live, do not just fold your arms when results start rolling in. 

Use specific metrics to measure success, such as engagement, Click Through Rate, website traffic, and the trends in enrollment and conversion rate. 

Also, consider auditing and updating your content from time to time. You can update old posts, and add new information or images to make them more relevant. 

How to develop content for your online course 

While it is true that content marketing will help you attract more audience to your online course, having a valuable course is what will keep them. 

Your course should be interesting and well organized to be able to keep their attention. 

Follow these tips to create a successful online course

Select a topic

The first and most crucial step in this process is to select a topic. It should be something you are an expert in and passionate about. 

Choosing a topic you are interested in will make the process easier because your students can feel it when you do not enjoy your course subject, and it will not motivate them to learn. 

Additionally, the course must be something in-demand. Make sure you have an audience in need of this material and that there is a market for it. 

Consider doing the following:

•  Keyword research by using Google’s keyword planner to find out if people are searching for the same course. 
• Engage your audience by asking them about the challenges they are facing. You can create a Twitter or LinkedIn poll.
• Check out your competitors selling similar online courses to find out the gap in knowledge they are yet to close. 

Create a plan for your course content

This may sound cliche, but if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail. 

You need to organize your content to know how to present your materials and how to make them engaging.

Describing your course learning outcomes

You have to determine earlier what the learning outcome for your course should be. Likewise, your future students must know beforehand what they will gain by enrolling in the course.

They cannot just give their money away without knowing how it can benefit them. You have to demonstrate how it will improve their life, career, or overall well-being.

The outcomes should be outlined and clearly defined.

Select resources and materials for your course

Doing a lot of research for your online course will leave you swimming in a sea of materials. But it is vital to only narrow it down to the ones that will help the students achieve the learning outcomes.

Organize and structure your online course plan

Structuring your course plan will require organizing similar ideas and themes into the same modules and arranging them in a logical manner for a free flow of all the sessions. 

In addition, it should have a clear progression and structure to make it easier for your students to follow. 

Design an outline

Creating an outline for your course will show the progression of the course for the students from one point to another. 

It will enable you to deliver the course in an orderly manner without confusing the learners.

Employ an engaging teaching technique

This is one of the essential parts of online course creation. A lack of good teaching techniques will increase the rate of dropout. 

You can do this by keeping the course straightforward. Additionally, include interactive elements such as polls, forums, and quizzes. This will make the students active participants in the course. 

Consider the following delivery method for each module or lesson:

• Incorporate different methods to help students with different learning styles.
• Add audio, visual and practical methodologies to engage everyone, irrespective of their learning style.
• The course length should be commensurate with the course or lesson requirements.

Record and edit your course

With a course plan in place, it’s time to film or record your courses. You should avoid distractions or background noise when recording your online courses and make sure you are audible enough. 

Then before publishing, make sure you edit your content carefully. Proofread it to spot typos and errors.

Best platform for selling online courses

When it is time to go live, your hosting platform should have vital course engagement and interactive tools with important  features to market online courses. 

Here are the best platforms to explore

Udemy

Udemy is one of the best platforms for launching your first online course. This platform has made teaching possible and easily accessible for students.

Before creating a paid course on Udemy, you must apply to become a premium instructor. If your application is approved, follow the prompts to create your first course. 

Here are some key features of the platform:

• All courses are required to have at least a 30 minutes video.
• You will be required to upload at least five lectures.
• You can add assignments, quizzes, and discussion prompts.
• They provide tailor-made marketing programs that will support and get you featured in their email blasts, be a part of their site-wide discounts, or you can apply for their affiliate programs.
• You can submit a sample of your course for review if you are unsure about the quality of your course. They provide feedback on video and audio as well as provide suggestions.

Skillshare

Skillshare is suitable for teaching creative skills such as photography, painting, doodling, and cooking. 

Here are a few things to know about Skillshare:

• It is free to sign up on the platform and publish a course, but getting paid will require you to be a part of Skillshare’s premium catalog
• The classes have three major components: video lessons, community discussions, and a project.
• Each class has a 20-60 minute video. All are broken down into 2-5 minute lessons.
• The project category should ensure that students get practical experience.
• Students can share their work in community discussions.
• Instructors receive $10 for referrals in premium membership and royalties for the minutes watched in a premium class each month. 

Teachable

Teachable is one of the best platforms for online courses if you want to build an audience. You can customize the design of your course on the platform by building a website and creating a course sales page. 

Here are some of the features it possesses:

• The course builder accepts files from different formats, such as Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive.
• There is flexibility in offering prices for the course. For example, you can choose a one-time payment, a payment plan, or a subscription option.
• There is a built-in affiliate marketing option on the platform. If you want a sales team, they will get a percentage from the sales.

Thinkific

Thinkific has many online course templates that make it easy to create a course from scratch, especially if you find navigating the process difficult.

The ready-to-use templates provide helpful tips that will help you build a course. It has options for pre-sell, mini-course, webinar replay, flagship course, and membership resource library. 

Here are some features of the course creation process on Thinkific

• The templates come pre-populated with surveys, sample quizzes, downloads, and instructor messages, which you can customize to your taste.
• The website builder allows you to select a theme and the pages you want, and then you can add your own copy.

Podia

Podia is the software to use if you sell digital products and memberships. With this software, you can create online courses, membership sites, and digital downloads in their digital storefront.

When you create a course, you can add additional resources such as ebooks, videos, and checklists and sell them as digital downloads.

Kajabi

Available on the web, android, and IOS, Kajabi is an excellent platform to showcase your knowledge through coaching programs, online courses, membership, and podcasts. With this software, you can create a landing page, opt-in email, and course checkout quickly. 

It has different templates you can choose from and has an email provider that helps you keep track of the number of emails that have been opened. 

LearnDash

LearnDash has a focus mode feature that eliminates all sorts of distractions when students are taking the course. With the platform, you can set your price and choose your payment schedule. 

You can also integrate with the most popular apps to run your business, such as PayPal, Stripe, MailChimp, SamCart, and Slack.  

The platform has the following features:

• Automated notifications that trigger emails anytime a learner takes or doesn’t take action.
• There are badges and certificates for you to award to learners based on their quiz performance or when they complete a course.
• The discussion forum helps to encourage conversations among the learners. 
• The leaderboards can be used to display the learners who have made the best scores.
• There is a feature that requires the submission of assignments before learners can move to the next lessons. 

LearnWorlds

With LearnWorlds, you can seamlessly create,promote and sell your online courses. 

Here are some of the helpful features that make the process easier:

• In addition, you can engage learners with several features, including interactive videos, one on one group sessions, assessments, certificates, surveys, and ebooks.
• They have templates with versatile themes that offer several flexibility or options, whether free, paid, or private.
• You can create a high-converting landing page with their drag-and-drop page builder.
• You can integrate LearnWorlds with some tools such as Zoom, Zapier, ConvertKit, HubSpot, etc.

Mighty Networks

Mighty Networks gives you an opportunity to build a paid community around your online course. The main focus of the platform is community building, paid groups, online courses, and events. 

Here are some of the features of the platform:

• You can sell courses alongside memberships and community.
• It has an option for personalized activity.
• It provides a native live-streaming feature.
• You own the data of your members.
• You can integrate with Google Calendar, Slack, and Zapier

Pathwright

Pathwright is a good education software that lets you transform your content and activities into a single immersive path and actionable for learners. 

You can design a stepwise path for learning into an easy-to-follow path. Each step can be filled with engaging, interactive content blocks.

Xperiencify

Due to the low completion rate of online courses, Xperiencify provides an opportunity for course creators to gamify their courses and increase the completion rate. 

Here are some of the features of the platform:

• Learners earn experience points called Xps for each completed module.
• You can set the amount of points available for every completed module.
• There are customized website page options to create a sales page, embed student data, etc. 
• Learners can earn badges whenever they complete an action.
• The Experience Engine feature personalizes the experience for your learners by calculating what each needs to keep them more engaged and drive more actions.
• It has built-in order forms to take payments via Stripe and PayPal.
• There is a single and installment payment options for learners.

Read also: Best SEO Content Writing Services (Read This First!)

Takeaway: Increase your sales by using content marketing to promote your online courses

Content marketing is one of the best marketing strategies that lets you provide valuable content and information for your audience, which is an opportunity to establish trust and credibility.

Selling an online course would require showcasing your expertise before attracting your target audience, and this is the aim of content marketing.

Before getting anybody to sign up for your course, they need to view you as a thought leader in your niche, which is why this is an important marketing strategy for your online course. 

To use content marketing to sell your online course, you should identify your target audience, define your content marketing goals, and select a content marketing format. Also, you have to design a content calendar, promote and distribute your content, and measure the progress of your strategy.

However, even though content marketing will attract the right audience to your course, it can only do so much in converting to sales. That is why you must create engaging course content that will increase retention.

To create a successful online course, you must first select a perfect topic, create a plan for your course content, describe your learning outcomes, and select resources for your course. 

Further, you should structure your course plan, design an outline, employ an engaging teaching technique, and record and edit your course properly. 

Next is to select the best platform for selling your courses. They include Udemy, Skillshare, Teachable, LearnDash, and the like.

If you need help figuring out where to start with your content marketing strategy, contact Redakthor now to develop a content strategy to help you make sales.