Strategic Timing for Course Publication: Aligning with Major Sales Events

[RonErez]

Hi Everyone,

I'm planning to publish a new course and am considering waiting a few weeks until the next big sale, which I suspect will be in August. From my perspective, courses get the most visibility when they're "hot and new" for the first two months, after which they might become harder to find.

I'm curious if other instructors choose to publish their courses a few weeks to a month before major sales like Black Friday.

It would be helpful to have specific information about when these major sales occur. For example, there was a big sale last week, and I would have aimed to complete my current course before then if I had known about it in advance.

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Thanks,
Ron

[MarinaT · Accepted solution]

Hi @RonErez, 

Bumping up your post! 😊 It's great that you are already thinking ahead with planning your courses and marketing activities.

Unfortunately, we don't share our promotion strategy in advance. Our promotions can differ depending on the students' interests, so the promotion experience will definitely vary depending on who receives them.

However, our Marketing Team has published this article, so that you can get a general insight into the strategies that our promotions team implements.

When it comes to brand-new courses, it might be a good idea to allow your course some time on the marketplace before our big campaigns (f.e. Black Friday) start. This will help you to gather enrollments, receive reviews, and make adjustments if necessary.  

(Black Friday is only 6 months away - Wow, time flies! 😅) I also recommend checking out this post here. 

Please let me know if you have any other questions. 

[RonErez]

Hi Marina,

Thank you for the links—they were very helpful. I’ll continue working on my courses and aim to release them before the major sales.

Best,

Ron

[MarinaT]

I'm happy to hear that, @RonErez! 

I wish you a great rest of your day 😊. 

[FrankKane]

I think I'd question if you even want to time your release with a big Udemy promotion. I see you have several existing courses; just sending a promo announcement to your existing loyal learners might be the most effective thing you can do. And your launch coupon will be even more enticing if it's offered during a time when there *isn't* a big sale running.

Personally I don't try to time my course releases. I just release them as soon as they are ready. The way I see it, every day you put off releasing is a day of revenue and impact you missed out on.

That's not to say my way is the best way; just something to consider.

[RonErez]

Hi Frank,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

To be honest, I felt like I made a big mistake last Black Friday by releasing an incomplete course on Go. People can tell when not enough topics are covered, so very few signed up. Seeing almost no sales, I lost the motivation to expand the course. While a course doesn’t need to be perfect, it should be reasonably complete. I used to feel the need to publish a course as soon as possible, but now I want it to be solid before publishing. It's disheartening to create a 10-20 hour course that no one buys. Out of the six courses I've created, only one has been successful. Surprisingly, it was my first course. That initial success did motivate me to continue, and I've learned a lot since then.

Happy Course Creation!
Ron

[MarkLassoff · Accepted solution]

The best time to post your course was 10 years ago. The second best time to post your course is today.  Do it.