What critical factors are behind a best-selling course?

All of them are right here, in this article, enumerated by the successful business owners who explain what drives higher course sales and how to get more profits from your online courses.

Let’s dive into the art of online course selling taught by those who have already succeeded in it and reaped the benefits.

After you.

Whenever you’re ready.

How to Sell Online Courses Successfully: 7 Must-follow Tips from Entrepreneurs

Explore some tried-and-true ways to increase course sales suggested by entrepreneurs who have put them into effect.

1. Identify your student persona

Who is your ideal course participant?

Find your target audience concentrating on the following factors:

• Age
• Education
• Income
• Language
• Interests
• Preferred type of content (video, audio, text)
• Motivations, etc.

As many as 93% of companies that surpass their revenue and lead goals segment their customer lists by buyer personas. Actually, such a segmentation helps 56% of businesses generate leads of higher quality.

Anthony Martin, Founder and CEO of Choice Mutual believes that “Your selling endeavors will be futile, if you don’t manage to target your ideal buyers. Consider their role, gender, preferences, and challenges they face. Segment, analyze and create multiple personas if necessary. ”

2. Ask your students what they want

Never assume what your students want – ask them!

What would they like to learn? What’s missing in your course?

Draft a small survey, listen to the voice of your potential student, and improve customer satisfaction, based on the received results.

It’s one of the keys for selling courses online that helped John D. Saunders, the Founder of 5Four Digital, get $100,000 in revenues.

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3. Determine a course pricing model

For pricing your online course, consider one of the following strategies:

• One-time-fee model – students purchase courses one at a time
• Membership/subscription model – subscribers pay a recurring fee (weekly, monthly, annually) and may choose any course from the available ones
• Members-only model – an access plan with a special pricing system for members-only who get discounts and perks, meanwhile, non-members usually pay higher prices
• Pay-per-learner model – the learner’s organization pays per each member who enrolls

Brittany Neish, a motivational speaker and Founder of What You Do Matters, opts for a one-time payment model to sell her courses (see the screenshot).

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One of the success factors for selling an online course is to pick an odd number for the price. Odd-numbered prices increase sales dramatically, science says.

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4. Let your course stand out

How do you “wow” your potential learners and lure them to buy your course?

Find the sure-fire methods below.

Craft a powerful title that converts

“You should use the power words that trigger emotions,” recommends Jake Hill, Founder of DebtHammer. Use fear words and encouraging words to make an opposition. Words that evoke fear – bankruptcy, mortal, and diagnosis; words of encouragement – brighten, fresh, and start. According to several research findings, the emotionally-powered titles led to 24% more conversions,” Jake reveals.

Here’s a list of some powerful words with an emotional appeal:

• Fear: mistake, painful, risky, warning, failure
• Excitement/curiosity: sensational, fantastic, secret
• Greed: cheap, money-saving, exclusive, big, fortune
• Encouragement: thrive, win, unleash, strong
• Trust and safety: professional, proven, survive

Share a video-preview

A short video or an animated course teaser can convert considerably more students.

A single video shared on social networks helped 93% of brands acquire new customers. According to several studies, videos on Facebook, for example, can double the number of ad clicks, if compared with images, and increase conversions by 20%–30%.

Make your call to action more click-worthy and persuasive

A call-to-action button is a backbone of a high-converting landing page for online courses.

Below is an example of how Nadia De Ala, the Founder of Real You Leadership, calls to action with the “Apply now” button on the course’s landing page.

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Again, it’s time to use powerful words and phrases that convert:

• Don’t miss your chance!
• Add my name to the list
• Join our club!
• Yes! Reserve my seat now!
• Grab now

5. Use lead magnets for growing an email list

A lead magnet can be a checklist, webinar, ebook, podcast, template, or any other free resource or extra service that is of high value to your target audience.

It’s typically offered in exchange for providing contact information. In this way, you can grow an email list for pre-launching and selling your course later.

E.g., Nicky Omohundro, the Founder of Little Family Adventure, offers a free travel game to capture emails of site visitors.

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Check how Cynthia Pong, a career coach and Founder of Embrace Change, uses a free ebook as a lead magnet for her Jumpstart Your Online Business program.

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6. Start a pre-selling campaign

Since you’ve got an extensive email list, why not pre-launch your course effectively via email?

Don’t worry, email marketing isn’t dead. In fact, it’s thriving, as 81% of businesses claim that it’s a driving force for expanding the customer base.

For effective pre-selling, send out different types of emails:

• Intro email – let students find out about your course
• Reminder email – remind them to register
• Last-chance email – make an emphasis on the missed opportunity, if a student doesn’t enroll now

With Learnyst’s email bluster feature, you can work out optimized email campaigns and double your student flow.

Another success factor of pre-selling is opening a waitlist. Have a look at the example of a waitlist for registering interest in the Online Time Management Self-Study Course by Alice Dartnell, life & success coach and Founder of Alice Dartnell Limited.

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7. Develop a powerful promotion strategy

Taking a strategic approach, you should make short-term and long-term promotion plans.

Incorporate the following marketing techniques into both:

• Create ads for selling your course on social media: YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, etc.
• Harness the powers of Quora and Reddit
• Sell your online courses from your website and feature them on your blog
• Leverage reviews to enable word-of-mouth advertising
• Attract students with meme marketing
• Offer limited-time promotions, coupons, discounts, etc.

You can limit discounts in time but make sure your learners see the difference between the original price and the discounted one. Take a glimpse at how John D. Saunders does that by offering a 60% discount.

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Based on the research, 67% of people made a purchase they hadn’t been planning, because they saw a discount or coupon.

It’s also worth knowing that 80% of consumers are more likely to buy something, if they receive a relevant, personalized offer from a brand.

Learnyst has an extensive toolkit for personalized marketing and analytics to promote your course online and analyze what works better with your audience.

Boost Your Online Course Sales with Learnyst

Once you’ve recovered your breath after this informative dive, you can implement the above-mentioned strategies to sell your course online and earn great revenues.

If you wonder what to start with, Learnyst is the most convenient and cost-effective LMS platform to turn selling into a well-organized process.

It can help you build your sales funnel and reach your students faster and more efficiently. With email marketing and analytical tools, in-built push notifications, coupon codes, and other valuable features, you can personalize offers and engage with your students in a more meaningful way. Try Learnyst and skyrocket your course sales!