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

thank you.

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@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,

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I agree somehow, but you should note that every udemy instructor starts small.

In my opinion, if you want to build on online business selling courses, you need leverage. Being a success on udemy is one big leverage, especially if you have a fairly good amount of students.

Both business models work, the most important is to be consistent and to improve everyday.

Thank you for sharing those tips.

Thank you for sharing your advice and insights, @LawrenceMMiller
! Those have been quite helpful and instrumental!

Hi Anonymous,

I had also wondered about the benefits of using the Udemy platform. Like many of us, I have been courted by other learning platforms to feature my course(s). However, after attempting to host my own courses and considering working with a different platform, I have decided to give Udemy the entrepreneurial attention that they suggest.

I realized that I did not want to 1) spend the time doing my own marketing, 2) staying abreast of and complying with regulations, 3) responding to customers that might have technical issues or 4) want to request refunds, etc. These are integral administrative, technical and compliance issues that Udemy manages for us.

I send people to Udemy because they may need courses that support what they are learning from me. I trust that Udemy holds instructors to a minimum standard, so I feel comfortable recommending this platform to others. I have experienced the scrutiny firsthand.

I began with Udemy many years ago, but have only recently decided to get serious about building my e-learning brand. I plan to give this time serious effort and see what happens. Also, I glean so much from the community of fellow instructors and hope to continue enjoying and suggesting Udemy courses to my students. So far the benefits of working with the Udemy learning environment far outweigh any shortcomings.

I would like to know how to get paid for my recommendations as well.

DrMJ