Use webinars to start online courses

Jun 14, 2022

Webinars allow you to share your information, attract potential students, and increase your audience. Learn how to sell your online classes with webinars.

After years of intense work After months of hard work, it's finally the time.

First, you must have an audience you can market to. There's a myriad of ways to advertise your online course. (No, really -- "how to advertise online courses" produces 1.8 billionGoogle results).

Where should you start? What are the best ways to present your presentation in front an audience who's equally excited about the subject you are?

Join webinars.

Free webinars are a cost-effective method of not just sharing your knowledge with more people but also integrate them into your marketing funnel. This allows you to convert them into course enrollees.

In this article this guide, we'll take you through five simple steps that will transform webinars for free into your most powerful online marketing device for your course.

But before we dive in the "how" first, let's think about the "why". Why are webinars great tool to sell your online courses?

Why should you use webinars for promoting your online course?

With ever-growing numbers of people studying and working at home E-learning's market share has grown exponentially and webinars make up a significant one of the reasons for this. In 2020, people watched 3 times more content on webinars than in 2019.

It's the reason webinars are among of the top advertising tools for all kinds of sectors:

53 percent of marketers claim that webinars are the most effective format for generating top-quality leads.

60 60% of webcasts are designed to lead participants through the whole customer journey.

20 to 40% of webinar attendees become qualified leads.

95% of marketers who organize webinars utilize these to create leads.

If you host a no-cost webinar on a topic relevant to your online course, you can share your knowledge with potential students.

You have the chance to demonstrate that you've got knowledge and value to offer In exchange you will be able to bring participants into the marketing funnel .

A marketing or sales funnel depicts the path a potential customer (or "lead") goes through beginning with your company until they make a purchase.

Webinars can be a potent top-of-the-funn (TOFU) marketing technique The statistics show that 70% of respondents would be willing to trade the details of their contacts in exchange for an online webinar.

In the event that someone signs up to your webinar, you collect their email address and -- with their permission you add them to your email database.

From there, you can make use of email marketing to establish connections with leads, tell them about the coming online course launch and invite participants to sign up for the course.

Before you're able to do it first you'll need to design and then host your own webinar. It can seem overwhelming for those who are new to being in front of the camera, but don't worry. It doesn't have to be an expensive or difficult process We're here to walk you through the process.

Keep reading for five simple steps for selling your online course via webinar.

Five steps to market your online course using webinars

An important note prior to you begin this article: This method works most effectively for those who have a complete online course that they are prepared to launch or already selling.

Are you running an online course and is ready to market using webinars? Let's get started.

Step #1: Pick a webinar topic

First, figure out the topic of your webinar.

Choose a topic in line with your course's subject matter however, you shouldn't make it all about the course itself. While your webinar is a tool to help you market your online course but that doesn't mean it must be a sales pitch.

If you concentrate on making sales pitches for your course in the course of your webinar, it could be more persuasive than you believe. Even though it is true that only 17% of salespeople think of themselves as aggressive however, 50% of potential clients think otherwise.

You can instead focus on one specific aspect of knowledge that you can give to attendees. Who do you think your audience want to learn? What kind of valuable info can you offer to them?

Imagine that you sell the course to make homemade pasta. You could offer a free online seminar on the various pasta shapes or what kind of flour makes the best noodles.

That way, you know that students already are curious about learning more about pasta. This makes them competent leads -- a.k.a. individuals that are more likely to purchase from your online course sales.

All in all Your webinar's topic must relate to your course content, match your audience's interests, and steer clear of sales pitch territory.

Once you have your topic on the table, it's now time to start creating the content for your webinar.

Step #2: Create your webinar presentation

One of the best methods to keep your audience engaged is by utilizing a mix of visuals and audio for your webinar.

It's a science-based approach when it comes to online education, students are able to remember about 65% of the information if you use both oral and visual content, whereas they'll retain only 10% of the information if it's only audio.

In order to create the ideal blend of video and audio We suggest adding slides to your presentation. Luckily, there are plenty of templates and tools for free available that make it simple to make a professional-looking webinar presentation.

To create your slide deck We recommend Google Slides, PowerPoint , and Keynote . The tools all come with templates to create a professional webinarthere are no graphic design expertise required.

Make sure that your slides are in line with your brand's visual identity, too. Brand consistency can boost your profits by up to 33 percent  So, make sure you include your logo and brand colors on every slide.

As you create your webinar presentation, keep your mind in the forefront that the most enjoyable webinars last from 30 minutes to an hour long. Make sure you have plenty of time to:

Introduce yourself

Go through every slide

Give a brief (we're talking one slide) outline of the course.

The most important thing is to ask questions.

A Q&A-style session can be an excellent opportunity to learn more about your audience's pain issues and their goals.

and they're expecting your answers to them. The HubSpot research found that the top two elements they want to see on a webinar are a host that takes audiences' questions seriously and a fully interaction.

To provide that interactive experience, you'll require the right webinar software. And that's exactly what our next step is all about.

Step 3: Select the right webinar platform

Zoom combines video conferencing, online meetings, as well as chat into one tool. Zoom is ideal for live webinar presentations  and group sessions and online classes, and includes the features that an interactive audience craves.

If you are using Zoom Together, you don't need to collaborate across different platforms that aren't compatible together.

A solid landing page builder makes a big difference.

(Sounds too good to be real? Join today for your free account today .)

If you have the best webinar platform in place You'll be able to conduct your webinar. That's our next step.

Step 4: Hosting your webinar

If you're as I am and are terrified of speaking in public -- your nerves about presenting go far beyond the troubleshooting of technology.

If you're struggling to keep your nerves at bay, take courage. 32% of webinar attendees are most enthusiastic in a webinar hosted by a host who is energetic and passionate.

That's right, the audience doesn't expect perfection in you. They're looking for the person you are: someone who is happy to speak about something they are passionate about.

If you want to host the webinar, you'll have two choices: host it live or pre-record the webinar's content.

Live-streamed webinars are more interactive and authentic as opposed to pre-recorded webinars, however live videos carry the risk of more technology issues or presentation slip-ups. Plus, it can be hard to find a time which is suitable to attract a global crowd.

Recorded webinars could make it easier to save energy (and nerves), but they may seem a little sloppy and unprofessional, particularly if you skip a Q&A session in the final minutes.

If you decide to host your webinar live, it's recommended that you offer an on-demand recording afterward. Eighty percent of business-tobusiness viewers said to GoToWebinar that they prefer on-demand replays to live webinars, and 94% of webinar recordings are made available on-demand after the event runs live.

On your webinar landing page inform people that you'll be sending a recorded version to all who sign up, even if they can't be able to attend the live webinar. So, you don't lose out on those who do not sign up due to the fact that they're unable to make it to the live event.

And once someone registers for your webcast, you will know their email address and it is possible to carry on your conversation with them and maintain your relationship.

We're now at our fifth and final step -- the part where you make that final sale.

Step 5: Follow up with an email marketing campaign

Email and webinars are an online course marketing combination that is a match made in heaven.

Prospects are 60% more likely to convert when they are provided with marketing materials within the first hour after your webinar, so it's important to send out emails to those who registered for your webinar immediately.

There's no need to compose and mail an email to follow up in real time. You can program an email broadcast ahead of the time.

Here's how:

Click on the "Email'' tab on your dashboard. Choose "Create" and then select "New broadcast".

Then, you can give your email an subject line.

When I compose an email to market, I always run my email subject through the Send Check It tool. It evaluates the subject line of your email and provides tips to get more open.

Choose the subscribers who will receive your email. To choose only people who have registered for the webinar, choose the name of your webinar from the available products.

Now, you're ready to type out your email's copy.

Marketing webinars boast the average attendance rate of 44 percent . The other 56% potential audience members still registered for the webinar, so you can tell they're interested by the content of your webinar.

The act of giving your readers an item for free can create a sense of reciprocity. Also, giving away the freebie will make your customers more inclined to purchase something with you -- such as your online course -- in the future.

Once you've written your copy and you've finished it, you can look at your email , or even give yourself a test. If you think it's good enough to be sent, simply select "Send after" "...

...then select a time to send within an hour of when your webinar ends. After that, just select "Schedule broadcast" Then, your follow-up emails are ready to go.

Keep reaching out to your webinar leads in the weeks to come while working towards your ultimate goal (selling your training course).

When you send your follow-up emails, continue to present valuable information and content, while the course is introduced. Add case studies, testimonials or other information, offer them a discount coupon to redeem at the check-out, and finally hyperlink to your sales site and a prompt to purchase your course.

To create an email marketing program that will send the sales of your course to the sky look at these sources:

All of that said it's not a one-size-fits-all method when it comes down to online learning courses. Be open to trying different strategies to find out what resonates with your target audience and is effective with your business and brand.

Use webinars as your weapon of choice to promote online-based courses

You're now ready to promote your online course online, increase sales, and grow your online business. But first, you need to find a audience equally enthusiastic about the subject as you are.

Webinars are a great way to connect to your audience, draw fresh leads, as well as increase enrollment to your online course. To recap, here are five steps to selling an online course through webinars.

Pick a webinar topic which is relevant to the online course you are teaching. Avoid making your webinar too salesy rather, you should narrow in on a subtopic of the course.

Create your webinar presentation. Use a combination of video and audio to create a presentation that is as captivating as possible.

Choose a webinar platform which is suitable for your needs. lets you host webinars, make online course sales as well as manage your email marketing on one dashboard.

Hosting your webinar live is a great option, but you can also offer an on-demand recording -- or both. If you're nervous, remember that you don't have to impress anyone. Just be yourself.

Then follow up with a string of emails. Offer free content, testimonials as well as discounts that move subscribers through the funnel and boost your course sales.

This may appear to be something that's difficult, but following the guidelines in this guide, you're getting close to creating webinars that your viewers will appreciate and turning participants to happy course customers.