6 Not So Secret Ways To Market Your Online Course

Marketing a business online is no easy feat. It's hard to count how many hairs I've wasted with rage every time I hear someone say something along the like "I'm convinced that this strategy for marketing will be successful but I'm not sure I have enough time to execute it." It's not uncommon for me to think of responding with "Well don't worry about it and with this mindset you'll be able to take on your own projects when your competition has eliminated them from their business." But I always reply with a smile and provide an explanation of why one should not overlook "the tiny details" which are crucial to promoting a company online.

I'm Brandon Hassler and I am the founder and Chief Executive Chief Executive Officer Market Campus. Market Campus. Simply put, we show entrepreneurs and owners of businesses how to create a strong online presence and, ultimately, boost revenues. We started in July 2014 providing classes on digital marketing. These classes were offered in Utah. Because of this the demand, we expanded our offerings for students online in December of 2015. We are currently teaching students from forty countries across the world.

I wanted to team up with you to share what has done for us. I hope you'll find suggestions and ideas to make improvements in how your program is publicized.

     Want more than six ideas for promoting your course? Take a look at this video:

Here are six "not too secret" ways to market the online courses you offer. These methods have proven successful for us.

     1. SEO & Keyword Research

You've probably read a million instances that Search engine optimization (SEO) is dead. Wrong. As long as there are search engines the optimization process continues to occur. Search engines aren't the only one to exist, but billions of search results happen every single day on Google alone. Market Campus is one of the most popular sites. Market Campus, we've put a lot of time and effort into modifying our sites to be search engine friendly, but even more important is the user.

Before you can optimize your website to be search-friendly, the initial stage is to identify the keywords you plan to concentrate on. The most efficient way to do this is using keyword planner which is a no-cost tool provided by Google. Begin by entering some phrases which you believe the clients that you wish to attract would be looking for. If your course teaches people programming, you'll be able to type phrases for example:

• "learn about how you can code"
• "learn how to code on the web"
• "how to learn to code"
• "online coding course"
• "best way to begin in learning how to code"

When you conduct a few searches of your own using Google There are other phrases that you can include in your search. The Keyword Planner will show you the Keyword Planner shows estimates on the volume of searches per month for each keyword.

In this section, they'll provide further keywords to focus on based on the keywords that you've already typed in. This will give you a quick snapshot of the level of interest (or lack thereof) to your program. You can also observe how popular some of the keywords are. As you look at the above image, you will see the term "Suggested Bid" is in the higher limit. This usually means that ranking your courses with respect to that specific keyword could be challenging, but it's also an indication that people are spending money for products or services. If you're searching for keywords that receive quite a bit of traffic but have an unsatisfactory or insignificant recommendation bids, it may indicate that consumers do not want to spend for the course as much (or at all) as they would for something similar to learning to code.

This Keyword Explorer tool gives you more in-depth information on the likelihood of your site attracting visitors who are searching for the exact phrase.

We don't have time to go through the procedures to be followed for successful search engine optimization and SEO. However, this is something that we explore during our class named Market Campus. While you're there, it is sure to make your brain spin and allow you to undertake some investigation to build the basis for SEO strategies.

     2. Hijack Questions/Communities

You took your course knowing about the quantity of students who try to figure out the skills you've taught. What do they are doing to accomplish this? They're asking inquiries.

One of the first things I do is to ask Google questions that my potential customers might ask. For this instance, I conducted a search for "best digital marketing training".

Do you see the first organic search result? Quora. This is a website that can alter or influence, and also gets lots of attention. I went on Quora and, as a response, I suggested Market Campus. I've also asked former students to go on the Quora inquiry and recommend Market Campus. My response has received hundreds of comments. This particular post has attracted many paid users. Quora is among my favorite (and most efficient) sources to locate reliable leads.

Also, it is recommended that you check out Quora.com and typing your course niche in the search box. This will highlight every post on Quora and related to the subject that you're instructing. To help automate this process, I recommend you use Google Alerts and setting the same as those:

site:quora.com "digital marketing"

The term "digital marketing" will obviously be changed to "digital marketing" to fit your specific niche. It is important to use of quotation marks in the phrase you want to be alerted about. This will enable you to receive alerts each whenever Google finds a new page on Quora which contains the term you are targeting.

People want solutions to which you are able to offer. It doesn't get better than this!

FUN FACTHow did we stumble across ? It happened because the Chief Executive Officer Greg Smith, replied to a Quora query that we found.

This same approach works on websites such as Yahoo Answers, Reddit and several others. I would also suggest taking advantage from Facebook Groups. Simply type in the subject you are interested in into the search bar on Facebook, narrow it down to Groups and then you'll find a variety of Groups of people who are interested in what it is that you offer.

Whatever your audience is, you must give value to your responses. Always. Don't also use every answer as an advertisement for your course. That is tacky and could seem like spam from a non-professional. In my responses, I always try to provide some context to my answer. I will sometimes include Market Campus if it helps to strengthen the response.

     3. Email Marketing

The obviousness of this is it doesn't need to go into this. This is a massive revenue loss by doing nothing in the way of contacting potential customers and capturing data. For Market Campus, email is the most significant source of income. Particularly for classes with higher prices. A majority of students won't purchase your course on the very first session. Do you know how to keep in touch with your customers?

In order to collect email addresses, we use the free Version of MailMunch and couldn't be better equipped with more information. It is recommended to test different types of box (pop up and floating bars and scrolling boxes, for example) to figure out which will work best for your clients. A great (and absolutely free) option to test is SumoMe.

If you offer some kind of trial, or free trial make sure to utilize a no-cost service like Zapier (which is compatible in conjunction with ) and immediately add the signups you receive in your "potential customers" section on your email marketing platform.

     4. Validation (social evidence)

There's a high chance that the majority of people who visit your website have never heard of your company before they visit. If they're prepared to pay your cash, they need to make sure that they're receiving worth for their money. The marketplace for online education is full of shady courses and scams with poor contents. While your course may be great, you need first build the trust of the customer.

Video can trigger so many more emotions that plain text. Humans are drawn by people like their own. This is a fact of human behavior. Use that to your advantage with your advertising and marketing strategies. Make sure you do everything you can to earn the trust of your customers.

You may also need invest the time or money in creating a strong design. There have been many users who log in and say that the appealing and inviting style of our site has helped them feel more confident about making purchases. Market Campus currently uses the X Theme for WordPress to design our website. We love it.

     5. Make Them Money

It's along the similar lines to validation, and is a huge oversight that we made in the beginning when advertising our courses. Our marketing focused so much on the teaching aspect that we didn't really discuss the benefits of learning. Look at these phrases:

Course A "Learn how to use the most modern ways of marketing digitally and ways to enhance your marketing!"

Class B "Learn the latest methods, tools and techniques to drive more traffic to your site, and in the end boost the amount of sales you make."

Imagine you are forced to pay $500 for one of these applications. With those two words Which one do you think would be the most beneficial choice? The majority of people prefer the course B. Why? This is due to the fact that it is a focus on the final result. Be aware that your course will be a commitment. It is your responsibility to prove to potential customers that by they spending X dollars on your course, they'll receive some benefit in return. What was the last time you made a purchase with expectations of receiving lower value due to it? Most likely, never.

As an example, people do not hire personal trainers to focus on becoming fit. Sure, they'll get in the shape they want, but what they're investing in is helping their beach body create a feeling of self-confidence. They're investing for the end outcome! Training is merely the method to get to the end result. Fitness instructors don't advocate exercises; instead, they promote the outcomes. This is why every fitness advertisement you see at 2 am focuses on the amount of your weight loss, and how good you'll feel about yourself. Do your marketing efforts focus on the ultimate result or benefit?

     6. Retargeting advertisements

YouTube allows you to get higher exposure than what a Super Bowl ad will for lesser. Market Campus pays Market Campus, we pay roughly $0.06 for each time someone views any of our ads that play on YouTube. YouTube is considered a "view" when a user who's watched 30 seconds or more of the ad or has watched less than half of the commercial the first one to happen. This means that you do not need to charge anyone whom clicks"Skip Ad" or the "Skip Ad" button after waiting for 5 minutes. Advertising for free!

Are you ready to make use of digital marketing increase the number of online courses you offer?

I truly hope that this post has given you some tips on getting some traction going for your online courses. There are a variety of strategies to promote your online courses, but these strategies I've provided in this article are those that the majority of instructors are able to implement quickly.

Brandon Hassler is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Market Campus, a digital marketing school that has assisted students around the globe improve their skills in digital marketing. Through his time in the field of marketing, Brandon was a part of the top companies in the world, which comprise Adobe, Vivint, Intuit, Discover, ESPN, and Dell. Brandon is a massive lover of marketing via digital and is a fan of sharing his passion with other people.

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