Social media is a powerful channel that can help in making connections across the globe. A life without social media today is almost unimaginable. Most of us spend a large part of our day on platforms like Facebook, Snapchat, Whatsapp, etc. But if we have to name one platform that became a trend-setter amongst millennials, it has to be Instagram.
A vast majority of the population considers Instagram as a photo-sharing platform. But Instagram is much more than that. Thousands of organizations have started their official Instagram pages to promote their brand. And this includes online coaching centers and freelance teachers as well. They have started using Instagram effectively to market their courses and attract more students.
In this post, we are going to discuss the role of social media in e-learning followed by a detailed discussion on how to sell courses using Instagram.
Role of Social Media in E-learning
Pick any social networking site, you will see that they have grown consistently(in terms of the number of users) from the time of their inception. The popularity of platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram can be attributed to their ability to connect like-minded people. Every one of us wants to know what people like us are thinking, doing, buying, etc.
It is this particular ability that proves useful when you are selling your courses. When one person likes or shares your course, it creates a cascading effect and your course has suddenly reached thousands of like-minded people in no time. The best part is – all social media channels are free of cost and easily accessible.
Now let us understand how two of the most popular social media channels have proved useful to the e-learning industry.
YouTube
YouTube is home to millions of video content and can be effectively used to explain concepts. YouTube turned out to be a major boon to the educational sector as anyone could post videos and anyone could watch them for free. YouTube is also an accessible tool to share knowledge, something many coaching centers and teachers have realized and started using it regularly to share their lessons. Having a channel that looks professional and matches your online course site is fundamental, you can use dedicated tools to make youtube banners online to achieve this.
Facebook is all about communities and social groups. Any information posted within a group reaches the last member in no time. Instructors can post their content and can even conduct tests and give assignments through a group created specifically for this purpose.
Role of Instagram in selling online courses
Instagram is a social media platform tailor-made for millennials. According to a report, 62.7% of the Instagram users fall under the age bracket of 18-34. This number is likely to grow further in the coming days. This is a great advantage for you especially if your students fall under this age bracket.
A study points out that 60% of the users say that they like finding new products through Instagram and 75% of the people react after being inspired by an ad. These results clearly indicate that if your course has good content and an attractive sales page, you are bound to attract learners to your course.
You can also post paid ads on Instagram. Being owned by Facebook, Instagram uses its parent data to target the audience and serve them with the appropriate ads. Advertising on Instagram has proven to be quite successful in terms of improving sales and is also found to be easier as compared to Facebook ads. The latest version of Instagram now allows you to promote your ads as
- Image (single image post)
- Video (video post)
- Carousel (multiple images in a single post)
Read more: 9 Proven Marketing Strategies To Sell Your Online Courses
How to sell courses using Instagram: 4 Useful Tips
Here are some tips that can help you market your courses effectively on Instagram–
1. Arouse curiosity in the viewers’ minds
This is the first and foremost lesson in any marketing campaign. Your courses can sell itself if you can just ignite the curiosity amongst the learners. Talk about your courses in a creative way. Post images and videos that engage the learners with your courses. Though it may be difficult to gain active followers initially, your follower will grow over time when they see high-quality content posted regularly.
2. Create a distinctive profile page for your course
The first impression is the best impression and this applies to your course as well. Your Instagram profile page is the face of your brand and it needs to be distinctive to give yourself a competitive advantage. Give a brief but unique description of your brand and your courses in not more than 80-100 words. Cover all the important information, but be wary of information overload. And do not forget to add the link to your brand website in the profile.
3. Interact with your followers
Continuous interaction with your audience is a great way to build brand awareness. Actively post an image or an informative video every day. if you don’t have videos to post on Instagram, you consider to can make Instagram reels with photos using tools. Give the link to your course at the end of these posts. Try to add topical posts wherever possible. For example, post ‘Happy Diwali’ wishes to all your followers. Respond to all the comments on instagram post, whether positive or negative.
4. Prioritize your followers
Some followers might react to your posts actively. Such people need to be given special attention. You can even ask them for suggestions on how you can improve your course. Value their feedback and even offer them a part of your course for free in response to their feedback. This will make them feel important and they might start subscribing for more courses in the future.
Read more: how to sell on Instagram
Benefits of selling courses using Instagram
The previous section covered some basic tips that might come in handy to boost the count of your course subscribers. If these points are followed carefully, Instagram will offer you the below benefits –
1. Engaging Discussion
It is quite easy to engage in a discussion on Instagram with the help of posts and comments. Your interactions could turn out into a healthy argument with some interesting insights coming out of it. This can also become an active channel for your students to voice out their opinions about your course which in turn helps you to make any changes to the delivery of your courses.
2. Easy accessibility
Everybody has a smartphone in today’s world and creating an Instagram account is quite easy. As a result, you can find millions of users carrying their Instagram account in their pockets. This means information about your courses is easily accessible to them, 24 X 7.
3. Microlearning
Instagram can be a very valuable platform for introducing microlearning courses. You can publish short IGTV videos on various topics that will benefit your learners. With learning on the move, this makes even more sense as your learners can access these micro-learning courses anytime anywhere.
Combine the power of Instagram with Learnyst to boost the sales of your course
Learnyst is a Learning Management System that can help you to create and market your courses. It comes with powerful marketing features like –
- Custom website and website address for your brand
- SEO optimized pages
- Email Marketing
- Push notifications to increase conversion
And many more.
Combine these advanced marketing features of Learnyst with Instagram to reach as many learners as possible. As a next step, create a business account on Instagram and sign up for Learnyst to see your sales shoot up in no time.
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