Plan Your Course Marketing Before You Publish, Here are Proven Marketing Ideas

The following is a version of a message I posted on FB several years ago and I have republished it several times because the question about how can I market my course is one that appears with great regularity. When the new Udemy platform went live I published it in the instructors forum. But, I think many of the suggestions below are ones soon-to-be instructors should be thinking about. Marketing is not an event, it is a process that extends over a long period of time. Get started now!

None of these are an instant path to instructor success. But, they are things that work if you are serious about building an online business on Udemy.

  1. When you are planning your first course, shoot your best shot! Your first course will establish your brand and a bad hastily created course is not the way to get started. Your first course should be on a topic in which you have genuine expertise. Take your time to make sure this is a high-quality course. I am now working on my sixteenth course and I am taking three months to develop it. Take your time. Get it right.
  2. BE an expert in your topic. Read, study, and demonstrate state of the art knowledge in your field. If you aren’t this… nothing else is likely to work. Some people fake knowledge in a topic in which they have no experience and it quickly becomes obvious. It results in failure.
  3. Be sure that your course landing page communicates your expertise… “Why should I listen to you?” And, be sure that your course landing page communicates the “benefits” of your course, not merely the “features” of your course. Customers buy benefits, not features! The features describe the topics covered. The benefits answer the “so-what?” question. How will this change my life?
  4. Remember that most of your future students will be on Udemy searching for something. That “something” are key words that they will put into the search bar. Think carefully about the key words your future students may be search for and be sure they are in your title and/or your subtitle. This is how students will find you.
  5. Your promo video is what catches students after they land on your page. Spend ten times the amount of time perfecting your promo video as you do on any other lecture. State the benefits of your course, your qualifications, and invite them to join you. These are more important than outlining all the topics (features) of your course. Also, remember that buying decisions are not simply “rational” decisions; they are emotional decisions, and that is about how you make them feel! Smile! The viewer is asking him/herself, “do I really want to spend hours with this person?”
  6. Be your own “brand manager” and build your brand. Brands are built over time by building trust in your marketplace. Brand value is created by being trustworthy, creating consistent value for your customers, over time. The most successful instructors are focused on “marketing”, not just “selling.” Know the difference.
  7. Identify Facebook and LinkedIn groups related to your subject matter. Join them. Participate in discussion.
  8. Demonstrate expertise by publishing a blog/website with your biography, articles you have written, a page for your courses, and regular blog posts that are educational, value-adding posts. Google the names of some of the more successful instructors and you will find their personal websites.
  9. Then, share these blog posts or articles with all relevant groups on LinkedIn or FB. Your LinkedIn page should have articles by you, on your area of expertise. Prove that you are a “thought leader” in your field.
  10. Build your own email list by capturing visitors to your website. I use Sumo, but there are other WordPress plugins to do this… oh, use WordPress for your blog. You don’t have to be a web development expert to create a WordPress website.
  11. Your Udemy students will become your own mail list in that you can send both educational and promo announcements. As you build the number of students there is a multiplying effect when you share what you write.
  12. After your first course, plan to develop additional courses in your area of expertise. The more courses you have the easier it is to launch a new course by marketing to your current students.
  13. Obviously, do a great job of developing your on-camera presence and your courses. Engage in continuous improvement. Alexa Fischer’s Confidence on Camera course is excellent for improving your on-camera presentation skills.
  14. Develop a YouTube channel where you can upload the introductory lecture(s) to your courses and include a link, with a discount coupon, to your Udemy course.
  15. Develop a Facebook discussion page for your students and to publish articles (the same ones as on your blog page and LinkedIn page.
  16. Watch Scott Duffy’s course on Udemy SEO Marketing.
  17. It is a consensus of experienced instructors that paid Facebook ads do not work.
  18. Do not give away of free courses or thousands of free coupons. Those who take these coupons are not likely to go through the course and are likely to leave poor reviews. Give away a few free coupons to those on your personal FB page, those who know you, and may go through the course and may give a good review. This is something to do only at the first launch of a course.
  19. Do not even think about purchasing reviews!!! They are now spotted and removed by Udemy’s Trust and Safety group.
  20. Have patience… you are building a business and like starting any business, it is not a get rich quick thing. It takes patience and persistence. Udemy is not a path to quick riches and it is not “passive income.”

The above is only my advice, but they are informed by the experience of many other successful instructors,

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Comments

  • SharonRamel
    SharonRamel Posts: 1,312 rolemodel rank

    Great advice as always @LawrenceMMiller

  • Hola Lawrence,

    Great tips, extremely inspiring. I'm creating my first course and I'm taking my time before publishing it on Udemy.

    I think the information you give is brilliantly detailed and it has really encouraged me to finish creating my first course and becoming an instructor on Udemy.

    Muchas gracias

    Marco

  • Awesome advices , I will surely work on them! Thanks

  • @RahulSinghrks
    you might find this useful.

  • Very detailed and well written. Thanks.

  • Do you think paid marketing like facebook ads are necessary to bring people on the course? And how does $199.99 , 95% site-wide discount offer works for courses does it really bring sales?

  • LawrenceMMiller
    LawrenceMMiller Posts: 2,296 rolemodel rank

    @enjamulahsan
    , No, I don't think FB ads are necessary to bring people to your course and many instructors have found FB ads useless. There are many other ways to promote your courses and your own personal brand and network.

    Do the discounts bring sales? Yes. This is very obvious. When Udemy has their big sales (November and January) the volume of sales almost doubles.

    Something all instructors should understand about Udemy marketing: I have spoken with some of the key marketing people who had previous jobs at Google and other leading Internet commerce sites. They are extremely analytic, data focused, and constantly experimenting. They know internet marketing very well. It is a science and they are constantly engaged in that science. They could tell you exactly how much a change in price, up or down, increases sales in different markets and in different categories. They are not just guessing.

  • VipinJoshi
    VipinJoshi Posts: 151 storyteller rank

    Great Advice Lawrence. Great tips!

  • @LawrenceMMiller
    many thanks you led me

  • Thanks for sharing, Mr. Lawrence, you are indeed an experience person. I love you so much!

  • Lizzy
    Lizzy Posts: 162 specialist rank

    Good luck @Profsiaw

    I hope you succeed with your courses.

  • Thank you very much Lizzy!

  • very useful tips and will come handy as i prepare to publish my first course

  • You rock!

    Thank u

    I will read it again tomorrow

    and fill my to do list!

    Ronit Marie

  • Thank you that was excellent advice.

  • @LawrenceMMiller
    This set advice is gold, thank you. I feel like I now know exactly how to win this game :)

  • These tips are much needed and much appreciated. Thanks, Lawrence!

  • OUTSTANDING !


    @LawrenceMMiller
    wrote:


  • Thank you for the advice, I respect your expertise.

  • Very helpful piece of advice. Thank you!

  • RehanArqam
    RehanArqam Posts: 10 researcher rank

    Informative. Thanks Dear for sharing such a valuable info!

  • MarkPope
    MarkPope Posts: 1 observer rank

    Hi Lawrence,

    Thanks for the great advice. I was curious about what you meant that this is not a passive income. You share that we should be marketing ourselves all the time and we'll be constantly updating our techniques, but wouldn't the product (i.e. a course) be considered a passive income? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

    Thanks!

  • AKerdisei
    AKerdisei Posts: 28 traveler rank

    Thanks a lot since am not allowed inside the published instructor section this is really useful!


    @LawrenceMMiller
    wrote:

    The following is a version of a message I posted on FB several years ago and I have republished it several times because the question about how can I market my course is one that appears with great regularity. When the new Udemy platform went live I published it in the instructors forum. But, I think many of the suggestions below are ones soon-to-be instructors should be thinking about. Marketing is not an event, it is a process that extends over a long period of time. Get started now!

    None of these are an instant path to instructor success. But, they are things that work if you are serious about building an online business on Udemy.

    1. When you are planning your first course, shoot your best shot! Your first course will establish your brand and a bad hastily created course is not the way to get started. Your first course should be on a topic in which you have genuine expertise. Take your time to make sure this is a high-quality course. I am now working on my sixteenth course and I am taking three months to develop it. Take your time. Get it right.
    2. BE an expert in your topic. Read, study, and demonstrate state of the art knowledge in your field. If you aren’t this… nothing else is likely to work. Some people fake knowledge in a topic in which they have no experience and it quickly becomes obvious. It results in failure.
    3. Be sure that your course landing page communicates your expertise… “Why should I listen to you?” And, be sure that your course landing page communicates the “benefits” of your course, not merely the “features” of your course. Customers buy benefits, not features! The features describe the topics covered. The benefits answer the “so-what?” question. How will this change my life?
    4. Remember that most of your future students will be on Udemy searching for something. That “something” are key words that they will put into the search bar. Think carefully about the key words your future students may be search for and be sure they are in your title and/or your subtitle. This is how students will find you.
    5. Your promo video is what catches students after they land on your page. Spend ten times the amount of time perfecting your promo video as you do on any other lecture. State the benefits of your course, your qualifications, and invite them to join you. These are more important than outlining all the topics (features) of your course. Also, remember that buying decisions are not simply “rational” decisions; they are emotional decisions, and that is about how you make them feel! Smile! The viewer is asking him/herself, “do I really want to spend hours with this person?”
    6. Be your own “brand manager” and build your brand. Brands are built over time by building trust in your marketplace. Brand value is created by being trustworthy, creating consistent value for your customers, over time. The most successful instructors are focused on “marketing”, not just “selling.” Know the difference.
    7. Identify Facebook and LinkedIn groups related to your subject matter. Join them. Participate in discussion.
    8. Demonstrate expertise by publishing a blog/website with your biography, articles you have written, a page for your courses, and regular blog posts that are educational, value-adding posts. Google the names of some of the more successful instructors and you will find their personal websites.
    9. Then, share these blog posts or articles with all relevant groups on LinkedIn or FB. Your LinkedIn page should have articles by you, on your area of expertise. Prove that you are a “thought leader” in your field.
    10. Build your own email list by capturing visitors to your website. I use Sumo, but there are other WordPress plugins to do this… oh, use WordPress for your blog. You don’t have to be a web development expert to create a WordPress website.
    11. Your Udemy students will become your own mail list in that you can send both educational and promo announcements. As you build the number of students there is a multiplying effect when you share what you write.
    12. After your first course, plan to develop additional courses in your area of expertise. The more courses you have the easier it is to launch a new course by marketing to your current students.
    13. Obviously, do a great job of developing your on-camera presence and your courses. Engage in continuous improvement. Alexa Fischer’s Confidence on Camera course is excellent for improving your on-camera presentation skills.
    14. Develop a YouTube channel where you can upload the introductory lecture(s) to your courses and include a link, with a discount coupon, to your Udemy course.
    15. Develop a Facebook discussion page for your students and to publish articles (the same ones as on your blog page and LinkedIn page.
    16. Watch Scott Duffy’s course on Udemy SEO Marketing.
    17. It is a consensus of experienced instructors that paid Facebook ads do not work.
    18. Do not give away of free courses or thousands of free coupons. Those who take these coupons are not likely to go through the course and are likely to leave poor reviews. Give away a few free coupons to those on your personal FB page, those who know you, and may go through the course and may give a good review. This is something to do only at the first launch of a course.
    19. Do not even think about purchasing reviews!!! They are now spotted and removed by Udemy’s Trust and Safety group.
    20. Have patience… you are building a business and like starting any business, it is not a get rich quick thing. It takes patience and persistence. Udemy is not a path to quick riches and it is not “passive income.”

    The above is only my advice, but they are informed by the experience of many other successful instructors,


  • What about google ads, should they also be used? though its a paid option.

  • Brilliant advice. Just what I needed. Thanks.

  • Very good post. Thank you.