Marketing Guide for Course Creators: How to Get People to Buy Your Online Course Even if They’ve Never Heard from You Before
One of the biggest challenges I noticed with most course creators is their struggle with sales and marketing.
They created an online course, released it in the market, and then…
cricket sounds
Sounds familiar?
If you find yourself in this situation, then you’re in luck.
This is the reason why I am writing this article for you.
I’ll share with you some tips and strategies on how you can promote your online courses better, whether…
You have no idea how to promote your online course.
You’re new to digital marketing and don’t know where to start.
You’re already running ads but struggling to get better results.
I want this to be a simple but comprehensive guide to help you promote your online courses better and generate more sales.
So. by the end of this article, you’ll discover:
The number one thing you must do before you create and launch your online course.
The Rule of One that will turn any promotion into a smash hit.
How to write a copy that speaks to them no matter what buying decision stage they may be in and get them to buy.
Different ways to build your presence online and generate leads for your online course.
Now, let’s dive right through it.
The Number One Thing You Must Do Before You Create and Launch Your Online Course
Before you do anything else, the first step is to understand your target market.
Well-known marketers and A-list copywriters abide by this rule, and I can’t stress enough how important this is.
When knowing your specific market, you need to know EXACTLY:
Their problems, fears, and frustrations.
Their biggest goals, dreams, and desires.
Their buying decisions.
Their deeply held beliefs, biases, and hidden thoughts.
And their doubts and objections.
This also includes knowing who you want to serve and who you don’t want to serve.
Identifying your target market allows you to reach out to those most likely to purchase your online course.
This is a much more effective and affordable approach to acquiring new customers.
You see, when I partnered with a UX design agency to write copy for them, they always emphasized knowing your target market and validating your idea before launching a product.
This will allow businesses to create a product that is almost guaranteed to sell before launching it.
That way, they can save themselves from making costly mistakes.
This includes spending a lot of time creating and marketing their product, only to find out that nobody wants to buy it.
So, here’s a key takeaway.
Before creating your online course, you must validate your idea FIRST with your target market.
Otherwise, you’ll end up creating an online course that nobody wants.
No matter how amazing your marketing campaigns are and how big your ad budget is…
…if nobody wants it, then nobody will buy it. Period.
Remember, good marketing cannot save a bad product.
That being said, how exactly do you know your market, and where do you get their information?
To make this simple, you can simply search Google and type:
“What are the challenges/struggles of [YOUR TARGET MARKET]?”
Here's an example. Let's say you're selling a course that teaches people how to play a guitar.
You can type something like this on Google.
As you can see in these search results, you already have a good starting point on where to find information about your target market.
If you want more, here’s a list of where you can find further information about your market:
Amazon reviews
Reddit
Quora
Online forums
Facebook groups
Social Media
AnswerThePublic
Linkedin groups
Reviews from your competitors
Want to Know More About Your Market? Ask Them Directly!
One of, if not the most effective way to know your market is by asking them directly.
This is especially true if you already have an existing email list, followers, or Facebook group members.
You’ll do this through a Deep Dive Survey.
Ryan Levesque popularized this method in his book Ask: The Counterintuitive Online Formula to Discover Exactly What Your Customers Want to Buy.
Inside his book, he discussed asking your market the Single Most Important Question (SMIQ), which is…
“When it comes to ______, what is your single biggest challenge?”
If you know what their biggest challenges are, you’ll be able to create an offer that will get them to say YES to it.
You’ll also be able to write a copy that grabs their attention, builds relationships with them, and compels them to take action.
Why Everyone Is Not Your Market
This is one of the biggest mistakes that many businesses make.
They try to cater to everyone, thinking that they’ll be able to sell more if they try to reach everyone.
They believe that niching down would narrow down their reach and revenue potential.
Sadly, that’s not the case at all.
If you try to speak to everyone, you end up speaking to no one.
Imagine you’re selling walking canes and saying everyone is your market.
Do you think high school kids would buy your walking canes?
Probably not.
If you want to sell your walking canes, you must sell them to older people.
You must speak to their pain points and desires to sell better.
When selling your online course, you must target a specific market and offer a specific solution to their specific problem.
In marketing, we follow this thing called The Rule of One.
The Rule of One that Will Turn ANY Promotion Into a Smash Hit
Your marketing should focus on ONE big idea, ONE market, ONE big promise, ONE core emotion, ONE engaging story, and ONE call to action.
If you try to give them more than one option when selling your online course, your prospects will be confused, and you’ll lose the sale.
Every promotion, email, funnel, or sales letter you write must have an overarching rule of one.
Here’s what each component means.
One Big Idea
A big idea is the core concept of your online course.
It’s the foundation of your campaigns, messaging, and statement that communicates your course’s unique selling proposition.
A big idea should be relevant to your market, build curiosity, trigger intrigue, elicit emotions, and differentiate yourself from competitors.
Here are some examples of a big idea:
Fitness Niche: A Step-By-Step System to Burn Fat and Build Muscle Mass with Just 3 Simple Workouts Per Week while Eating Your Favorite Food Every Single Day.
Relationship Niche: 7 Innocent Words That Make Girls Chase You
Survival Niche: Lost “JKD” Striking Method You Can Use to Protect Yourself and Your Family From Any Attacker In Seconds, Even if You’ve Never Been in a Fight Before
Health Niche: New Flat-Belly Butter Helps Ohio Mom Lose 49 Pounds!
Biz-opp Niche: How to Build a 7-Figure Business From the Comfort of Your Home so You Can Start Living the Life You’ve Always Wanted
One Market
Next, you want to define who your target market is.
You must be VERY specific about who your target market is.
You must identify their problems, frustrations, goals, and dreams.
Let’s take the previous examples in the One Big Idea section.
Fitness Niche: 20 to 40-year-old men who want to achieve their dream physique but don’t want to sacrifice their work, social life, or current lifestyle.
Relationship Niche: Average-looking single men who are struggling to score dates with girls.
Survival Niche: Men who have a wife and kids and have no idea how to defend themselves or their families.
Health Niche: Moms with kids who want to lose weight.
Biz-opp Niche: Burned-out Filipino employees who want to quit their jobs and earn more money while working less to have more time for their families.
One Big Promise
In this section, you must identify what you can promise your target market.
Ask yourself, “What is the biggest benefit they will get when enrolling in your online course?”
Let’s take the previous examples in the One Big Idea section.
Fitness Niche: Achieve your dream physique in just months without doing cardio, going to the gym 5 times a week, or follow restrictive diets while eating your favorite foods using this minimalist approach.
Relationship Niche: Make attractive women fall in love with you even if you’re an average-looking guy using 7 innocent words.
Survival Niche: Master the little-known JKD striking secrets to protect yourself and your family, even if you’re short, skinny, and have never thrown a punch before.
Health Niche: Lose weight without giving up on favorite foods, dieting, and exhausting exercises using this special flat-belly butter.
Biz-opp Niche: Create an international, multi-million business where you only have to work 3-4 hours per week through Amazon FBA.
One Engaging Story
In every email, ad, or sales letter you write, there must be an engaging story.
Having an engaging story will allow you to connect with your market on an emotional level and be compelled to buy from you.
Let’s face it: facts, figures, data, features, and benefits are boring. They can be easily forgotten.
But if you tell all of these through a story, the information they receive will most likely stick in their minds.
They will immediately remember you when they hear your story.
That being said, here are some stories you can use:
Case studies
Origin stories
Underdog stories
Zero to Hero
You and me against the world
You can check different story structures online.
However, there’s a caveat.
You must tell a story that is relevant to them.
They don’t need to know how much you bench press in high school if you’re selling an online course on how to draw.
It’s irrelevant to your market, and frankly, they won’t care.
The stories you tell should resonate and relate with your target market.
One Core Emotion
As I said previously, you need to connect with your market on an emotional level so that they feel compelled to buy from you.
In every copy you write, there must be one primary emotion you need to elicit to compel them to read and take action.
When they read your email, ad, or sales letter, what do you want them to feel?
Here are some examples:
Curiosity
Fear
Anger
Greed
Pride
One Call to Action (CTA)
This is self-explanatory. What action do you want your prospects to take after reading your copy?
Having more than one CTA will confuse your market, and they most likely won’t take action.
You must only have one clear and compelling CTA.
Here are some examples:
Buy now
Book a call
Read the blog
Answer the survey
Now that you’ve identified your market, it’s time to figure out how to convert someone who has never heard from your brand into a paying customer.
This will be the foundation of your entire marketing strategy, so you must understand this principle.
How to Take Someone Unaware of Your Online Course to Paying Students and Brand Advocates for Your Brand
Many businesses, not just course creators, make a mistake in writing their marketing message like this.
“Hey, here’s my online course! Here are its awesome features. Buy now!”
Now, I’m not saying that it won’t work.
Sure, it could work in the right context by directly pitching your online course.
But if all your marketing messages sound like that all the time, you’re only attracting a tiny segment of your potential buyers—those people who are ready to buy.
But what about those who have a problem but aren’t aware of the solutions available?
What about those people who are actively looking for solutions and are looking for the right online course—which could potentially be your solution?
What about those people who already know you but are still second-guessing?
If you don’t have the right messaging to attract those types of people, you’re missing out a lot.
You’re missing out on the revenue opportunities you could generate.
So, how do we go about this?
First, you must understand the concept of sales funnels.
What is a Sales Funnel?
This is a term in marketing where you map out the journey your prospects go through, from being unaware of your brand to paying customers.
If you have a robust sales funnel, you’ll be able to guide prospects from getting their attention to completing a purchase.
I want you to imagine marketing like an actual funnel.
Don’t worry. I’ll explain what those parts mean.
For now, I want you to look at the top of the funnel. This is where your brand draws people’s attention.
And as you go down, people start to know and like your brand.
They are even considering buying from you, but they have some doubts and skepticism.
As you go further down, you’ll have some buyers.
And if they buy from you, they will most likely become advocates for your brand.
You need to understand that not everyone is going to be your customer.
Out of 100 people who know your brand, around 1-3 will buy.
But, you can increase that number if you keep nurturing your audience and continuously attracting new prospects for your brand. But, more on this later.
Why Understanding Sales Funnels is Important?
A sales funnel is important because it allows you to identify the current stage of your prospects.
Knowing this will allow you to send marketing messages relevant to your prospect’s current situation and address any objections at each funnel stage.
If you nail this one down, you’ll be able to reduce your cost of acquiring that customer.
Sales Funnel Stages
There are many variations of a sales funnel out there, but they all share the same psychology.
To simplify it, I’ll show you the five stages of a sales funnel that your prospects usually go through, from complete strangers to advocates of your online course.
Awareness Stage
This is the top of the sales funnel. This is the stage where you introduce your brand and make prospects aware of your existence and what you offer.
Your goal here in this stage is to attract attention and spark interest in your brand.
So, how do we do this?
You’ll do this by:
Posting blogs, articles, videos, podcasts, or any content that offers value.
Hosting a webinar, a workshop, or an event.
Running paid ads and social media marketing.
Optimizing your content for SEO (search engine optimization) to rank high on Google’s search engine results page (SERPs).
Offering a lead magnet (valuable content that solves your prospect’s problems for free) in exchange for their emails.)
I’ll discuss different marketing channels and how to implement them to promote your online course.
The key in this stage is to provide valuable content that leaves prospects wanting more.
By creating valuable, engaging content and promoting it through various channels, you can capture the attention of your prospects and drive them down your sales funnel.
Consideration Stage
Once your prospects become aware of your brand, they enter the consideration stage.
They already know who you are.
They are engaging with your content.
However, they also evaluate their other options and research potential solutions to their needs or problems.
That’s why your goal is to keep nurturing them.
You must build trust with your prospects and demonstrate your expertise.
You want to be seen as a credible and trustworthy authority in your industry.
To do this, you’ll need to:
Continuously providing valuable content while helping them move closer to their goals.
Invalidate other solutions in the market and position your methodology as the superior option.
Show your personality and beliefs to build rapport and likability.
Run email campaigns and newsletters to nurture leads who signed up to your list via lead magnet.
Show case studies that got results by following your methodology.
By doing this, you’ll be able to educate prospects, guide them through the decision-making process, and drive them further into your sales funnel.
Conversion Stage
At the conversion stage, prospects are ready to decide and take action.
They already know and like your brand.
But, some objections, doubts, and skepticism still stop them from buying.
Your goal here is to remove any buying friction and encourage them to purchase.
You can do this by:
Addressing their objections, doubts, and skepticism about your online course.
Showing case studies, success stories, and testimonials.
Giving a money-back guarantee.
Offering a different pricing option.
Including a strong and compelling CTA.
By removing friction and making it easy for prospects to complete their desired action, you can increase the number of your enrollees and move prospects further down the funnel.
Loyalty Stage
At this stage, prospects have already bought from you. That’s awesome!
But your job isn’t done yet.
Your focus shifts to building loyalty and creating long-term relationships with your new customers.
Now, you might think.
“Well, they already bought my course. I already have the sale. Why do I need to do any of that?”
Believe it or not, you can generate WAY more revenue by selling to your existing customers again rather than trying to acquire a new one.
Let’s break down the cost of acquiring new customers.
Say you’ve launched an online course priced at $1,500 and invested $3,000 in marketing across various channels.
During the launch, you’re able to enroll 20 new students.
While generating $30,000 on your launch is impressive, you must consider how much money you’ve spent to acquire a new customer.
In marketing, we call this cost per acquisition (CPA). It is one of the most important metrics.
We want to know this because it allows you to measure the effectiveness of your campaign.
Knowing your numbers will help you optimize your campaigns and reduce the cost of acquiring a new customer.
Otherwise, you might spend too much to acquire new customers.
That being said, here’s how to calculate your CPA.
CPA = Total marketing cost / Number of enrollees
For the above example. CPA = $3,000 / 20.
That means your CPA = $150.
So, throughout that campaign, you just spent $150 to enroll one student for your $1,500 course.
But what if you get them to buy again?
Besides, they already know you.
They already liked you.
They already trusted you.
And they already found value in what you have to offer.
Considering these, it’s much better to focus on repeat business than spend so much time and money acquiring new customers.
If they bought from you and liked your online course, there’s a good chance they’ll buy from you again.
Besides, acquiring new customers could cost around 5 to 10 times more than getting existing customers to buy again.
And current customers spend 67% more on average than new customers.
That’s why it’s important to continue delivering value and exceeding customer expectations even after the initial sale.
If you only have one online course that you sell, then it will be hard for you to generate more revenue.
You’ll rely so much on advertising to acquire new customers, which could potentially harm your bottom line.
That’s why I’d encourage you to have more than one offer or a subscription-based model to generate more recurring revenue per month.
Now, what do we do in the Loyalty stage? You need to be able to:
Provide excellent customer service.
Offering rewards or incentives for repeat purchases.
Continuously engage and nurture them through email marketing, social media, and other communication channels.
Advocacy Stage
Now, we’ve arrived at the last stage of the funnel.
In the advocacy stage, your students become advocates for your brand.
They’ll help spread positive word-of-mouth.
They are your loyal fans who will buy almost anything you sell.
That’s why they are your most valuable asset.
They can drive referrals, generate social proof, and amplify your marketing through their networks and communities.
Think of it like Apple.
They have many loyal fans, and their loyal fans would even buy whatever new product they release.
Because of this, Apple has remained one of the biggest brands out there, with a net worth of $2.6 trillion.
So, how do you encourage advocacy? You must
Keep delivering outstanding customer experience
Continuously engaging and nurturing them.
Get their feedback and testimonials.
Incentivize referrals through a referral program. (Affiliate marketing)
By turning your current students into advocates, you can generate sales for your online course without spending much on paid advertising.
(While running paid ads on affiliate marketing can help boost your reach, it’s not a prerequisite for you to do it.)
I’ll explain how this works later on in the Affiliate Marketing section.
Now that you’re familiar with how you can turn complete strangers into loyal fans of your brand, let's discuss the tools you’ll need to execute a robust sales funnel.
How to Build Your Online Presence
In this section, I’ll discuss the different marketing channels you must have to build your online presence, attract prospects to your brand, turn them into paying customers, and turn them into your brand advocates.
There are many different channels out there, but I’ll just share with you the most commonly used channels.
Social Media Marketing
Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, X, or LinkedIn are staples in attracting and engaging your prospects.
Almost everyone connects with others through social media, so it makes sense to be visible on social media.
Being visible on social media allows you to boost your brand awareness and connect to prospects easily.
Here’s how you can use social media:
Share valuable content and insider tips to your prospects.
Show your personality and beliefs to build likability and rapport and connect with your prospects.
Showcase your students’ case studies and success stories.
Share insights in your industry and position yourself as an authority.
Build a community for your prospects to hang out, connect, and get value from one another.
Email Marketing
You’ll often hear many marketers say this. For every $1 you spend, you can make $36-$40 in ROI. That’s because it’s true.
Email marketing is a versatile marketing platform. You can use it to:
Nurture and build relationships with your subscribers.
Provide valuable content and insights.
Gather market insights to tweak and refine your online courses based on their needs, goals, and wants.
Get subscribers to consume your content (videos, blogs, podcasts, etc.)
Post regular updates about your new content or offer.
Provide more detailed information about your courses.
Build anticipation and excitement for your course launch.
Sell your online courses to your subscribers.
Follow up with your prospects who didn’t buy.
Continuously nurture existing customers and build relationships to turn them into brand advocates.
The catch? You will need to build an email list (duh).
If you don’t have an email list yet, then you would need to offer something of value to your prospects in exchange for their emails (lead magnet.)
Your lead magnet should solve a particular problem and leave them wanting more.
Then, you’ll need to promote your lead magnet on your social media or your website.
Let’s say you’re in the fitness niche. You can offer lead magnets like:
Meal prep guide that fits your macros
Bodybuilding for Beginners ebook
Free calorie calculator
Simple exercises for beginners
Guide to buying supplements
Now, having a lead magnet isn’t the only way to build a list (although it is the most common one).
Here are other ways you can build an email list:
Content creation
Optimized profile designed to capture leads.
Becoming a guest in a podcast, training, or blog.
Hosting events
Running a lead generation campaign
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
SEO makes your website more visible by helping it rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).
When someone searches for something on Google, they typically look at the first few results.
With the help of SEO, your website will rank higher, so you'll get more website visitors.
Now, why is this important?
Well, think about how you search for things online.
You probably don't go beyond the first page of results often, right?
Most people don't.
So, if your website isn't showing up near the top, you might miss out on potential visitors, customers, or readers.
A basic idea of SEO is optimizing your website so that search engines understand what it's about and consider it relevant to specific search queries.
This can include things like:
Keyword optimization. Choose the right keywords for your content and use them strategically throughout your website.
Content creation. Creating high-quality, relevant content that people want to read and share. This could be articles, blogs, videos, etc.
Link building. Getting other reputable websites to link to your site can improve your credibility and authority in the eyes of search engines.
Technical optimization. You want to ensure your website is easy for search engines to crawl and index. This includes optimizing page speed, using proper HTML markup, and providing mobile friendliness.
User experience. Providing a good experience for visitors to your site can indirectly improve your SEO by increasing engagement and reducing bounce rates.
Affiliate Marketing
Why go it alone when you can leverage other people with a large audience to promote your online course?
That’s what affiliate marketing does.
Affiliate marketing allows you to partner with content creators or other businesses (affiliates) who can promote your online course to their audience through their content.
When people click on the affiliate’s unique link and purchase, the affiliate earns a commission from you.
This partnership creates a win-win situation.
And that’s not all.
Partnering with affiliates can also offer social proof and recommendations to encourage prospects to buy your online course.
Affiliate marketing isn’t only limited to partnering with people with a large audience.
You can create an affiliate program that teaches your loyal fans to promote your online course on their behalf and incentivize them through commissions.
Events
Hosting virtual events is a great way to engage your prospects in real-time and create buzz around your online course.
Events provide a platform for you to share valuable insights, answer burning questions, and demonstrate the value of your online course.
You can do this through:
Webinars
Workshops
Live streaming events
Virtual summits
Hosting events allows you to interact with your prospects, build rapport, establish authority, and convert attendees into paying customers.
Content Marketing
You’ll hear marketers say that content is king. And that’s true.
Content allows you to attract and engage prospects by providing valuable content that entertains and educates them.
Rather than directly selling your online course...
...content marketing takes an indirect approach to selling by providing information, entertainment, or solutions to your prospects’ needs and interests.
For example, let’s say you are selling a course that teaches people how to play a guitar.
You can create blog posts that show them:
How to tune a guitar.
Common mistakes that beginners make when playing the guitar.
How to choose your first guitar.
Providing this helpful content can build trust and credibility with your audience while teasing them about your guitar-playing online course.
Content marketing aims to build a relationship with your audience, establish yourself as an authority, and drive prospects to take action.
Special Mention: Video Marketing
Technically, this is a form of content that I’d say falls under the umbrella of content marketing, but I want to give this a special mention.
Right now, our attention spans are shrinking by the second.
People say we have a shorter attention span than a goldfish (8 seconds).
With social media, I’d argue that our attention span is around 3 seconds.
If you can’t get people’s attention to your ads or content in the first few seconds, you’ll lose them forever.
That’s why videos are perfect for grabbing their attention and engaging your audience, whether using YouTube, TikTok, or other social media platforms.
You can use videos to:
Share valuable content and tutorials
Host live Q&A sessions
Promote your online course
Whether it’s educational tutorials, live Q&A sessions, or testimonials, video allows you to connect with your audience deeper and build trust and credibility.
Putting Them All Together
Okay. Now that you know the strategy of turning complete strangers into paying customers.
You also know how to turn those customers into loyal fans.
In this last section, I want to discuss how you will combine all these pieces.
As I said earlier, you must guide prospects through your sales funnel from awareness to action.
Here’s a diagram of a typical sales funnel for selling online courses.
Depending on your business model, there are multiple types of funnels. This funnel is just one of them.
But, they have common elements and components that make up a sales funnel.
They all follow the exact same psychology.
Let’s dive in.
Traffic Sources
The first step in mapping out your sales funnel is identifying the various traffic sources that will drive visitors to your page.
This could be either a landing page for a lead magnet to capture leads to build your email list or directly to a sales page to get sales.
Your traffic source can include from:
SEO
Paid advertising
Social media
Content marketing
Emails
Affiliates
Having a diverse traffic source can help you reach a broader audience and maximize the number of prospects entering your funnel.
Landing Pages
A landing page is where your prospects land on your page from your different traffic sources (hence, the name).
The goal is to capture their interest and encourage them to take action by signing up for your email list in exchange for a lead magnet, like:
Ebook, cheat sheet, templates, etc.
Quizzes and surveys
Webinar or live event registration
Free masterclass or workshop
Tripwire Pages
A tripwire page is usually a sales page where prospects arrive after opting in for the lead magnet on your landing page.
Once they enter their name and email address, they’ll be redirected to a tripwire page.
A tripwire page is usually designed to convert prospects into paying customers by offering an irresistible, low-cost item (around $7 to $47).
Doing this will allow you to drive prospects down the sales funnel faster.
Now, why do this in the first place?
The strategy behind a tripwire is that it allows your prospects to get a taste of what you have to offer without a huge investment before committing to your core online course.
Once prospects become customers, they are more likely to purchase again. This is especially true if you’re offering a higher-priced item later on.
It also allows you to segment buyers and non-buyers in your email list so that you can send targeted emails and marketing campaigns to them for better conversions.
Here are some tripwire examples you can offer:
Ebook
Mini-course
Trial offer of your online course
Bundles
Templates and swipe files
Email Sequences
After capturing leads through your landing pages, it’s crucial to nurture these prospects and build rapport through targeted email sequences.
Email sequences are a series of emails you send automatically to your email list.
I think of email sequences as the glue that holds everything together.
Without emails, your sales funnel will fall apart.
Email sequences should provide valuable content, build rapport with your brand, address common objections, and sell your online courses to them.
Your email sequences should be able to:
Nurture new email subscribers and build rapport and likeability
Follow up with those who didn’t purchase your online course or take any action
Reduce buyer’s remorse and get them to feel excited about their purchase
Provide valuable content for them.
Continuously build relationships with them to encourage brand advocacy.
Send reminders, surveys, or sales emails to get them to buy.
Sales Pages
This is the heart of your sales funnel.
This is where you sell your online course and encourage prospects to enroll.
Your goal with the sales page isn’t just to showcase how great your online course is, what are their features, etc.
You must demonstrate how your online course can solve their biggest problems and the benefits they’ll get, and paint a vivid picture of how their life would look if they bought it.
For starters, here are the essential elements of a sales page.
Attention-Grabbing Headline. Like a catchy sign outside a store, the headline is the first thing that grabs your prospects’ attention. It should be clear and concise and make them curious about your online course.
Compelling Introduction. The introduction keeps you interested after the headline pulls you in and builds intrigue. You must highlight your prospects’ pain points, problems, and goals to do this.
Engaging Visuals. As the saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Having pictures and other visual elements can create a “pattern-interrupt,” a way to break someone’s thought patterns and grab their attention. Well-placed images or videos can show the product in action or convey its benefits more effectively than text alone.
Benefits, Not Features. Instead of just listing what the product does (features), focus on how it improves your prospects’ lives (benefits). For example, instead of saying a vacuum cleaner has a powerful motor (feature), emphasize that it saves you time and effort by cleaning your floors quickly and efficiently (benefit).
Social Proof. Hearing positive reviews from friends can influence your shopping decisions. Adding testimonials or reviews from real customers is a great way to build credibility and trust.
Clear Call-to-Action (CTA). This is like the “Buy Now” button in an online store or the sign directing you to the checkout counter. It tells you exactly what to do next if you’re interested in buying. Remember in the Rule of One earlier? You should only have one CTA.
Risk Reversal. People often feel uncomfortable investing in your online course, especially if it is expensive. Including a money-back guarantee or a free trial will make prospects feel safer and more comfortable investing.
Scarcity or Urgency. Creating a sense of urgency or scarcity can motivate people to act quickly. This could be through limited-time offers, countdown timers, or emphasizing that only a few spots remain.
Easy Navigation and Clarity. Just like you’d expect a store to be organized and easy to navigate, a sales page should be, too. Keep the layout clean and clutter-free, with clear headings and sections that guide the reader smoothly through the information.
Mobile-Friendly Design. With more people browsing the internet on their phones, the sales page must look and work well on mobile devices. Ensure that buttons are easy to tap, text is readable, and images load quickly.
Checkout Process
Once prospects click your Buy Now button, they’ll be redirected to the checkout page.
Your checkout process should be streamlined and remove any friction points that may stop them from completing their purchase.
Your checkout process should:
Include a clear instruction to guide prospects into their purchase
Include multiple payment options
Show different trust signals, logos, and badges
Be optimized for mobile
Retarget people who abandoned their cart
Thank You Page
After they have successfully enrolled in your course, it’s always a good idea to express gratitude and reinforce their decision on the thank you page.
Right after your prospects’ purchase, they should feel excited. You want to remove their buyer’s remorse.
After their purchase, you should deliver any promised bonuses or resources, provide access to the course materials, and invite them to join a community immediately.
Conclusion
Selling online courses doesn’t have to be rocket science.
To wrap things up, you must first understand your target market inside and out if you want to sell your online course like hotcakes.
You can get market information by simply searching on Google, browsing different forums where your target market hangs out, or checking the reviews of your competitors.
You’ve also discovered the Rule of One that will make any promotions into a smash hit.
The rule suggests that every marketing effort should focus on ONE big idea, ONE market, ONE big promise, ONE core emotion, ONE engaging story, and ONE call to action.
Not only that, but you also know how to map out a sales funnel that will turn complete strangers
into loyal fans of your brand.
Lastly, you also know how to build an online presence using different marketing channels, like paid advertising, emails, SEO, content marketing, and affiliate marketing.
And with these different marketing channels, you know how to combine everything into a robust sales funnel.
If you follow this article here, I can almost guarantee you’ll get better results in your marketing.
If you need additional help launching your online course and getting more students in 90 days or less in your next launch, schedule a 30-minute strategy call here with me.
Increase Revenue with Funnels 🌸 Helping Female InfoPreneurs since 2021
7moHey Dann, Your article sounds like a goldmine for course creators! 🌟 Totally agree, marketing can be a real challenge. Quick question: What's one unexpected tip from your article that really boosts sales for online courses? 🤔