Selling online courses have been heavily advertised as a great way to make some passive income. However, that is only true when you are able to make enough sales to justify the effort that went into creating the course.

While creating the course is a challenge in itself, marketing is a whole new ball game. 

Chances are, you already knew that and went ahead with creating a website and a basic optimization plan. 

However, the thing with online products is that “if you build it, they will come” does not hold true for online products. The key to selling online products, or in this case, online courses, is to be found and look credible.

If you have already implemented a marketing strategy, read through the following list of common flaws in online course marketing plans to make sure yours is designed to generate the best results:

Did You Forget To Presell?

Many virtual training course providers make the mistake of starting the marketing of their course after they have launched it. 

The correct way to do this is to start creating a buzz around the course when it is just in the inception stages. 

Start sharing details about the course on your social media, create a landing page listing out the benefits and the learning outcomes of the course, start dedicating a small section of your newsletter to the announcement and details of your upcoming course.

When it is in the development stages, or nearing completion, you can even start taking early-bird signups by giving an additional discount. 

This way, you will have created a positive buzz around your course. This will not only help you sell your course more but will help you gauge the kind of reaction you can expect from your audience.

Build A Sharper Focus

Another common mistake that course creators make, and this one doesn’t have anything to do with the marketing plan, is to create generalized course content.

Sure, it makes sense to create a course that more people can understand. However, when your course doesn’t have a sharp focus or niche, it loses credibility. People want to learn from an authority figure that knows their stuff and let’s face it, specialized knowledge has far more value than generalized knowledge.

Price It Right

Like with all other products, the price associated with your online course has great influence over a prospect’s buying decision.

While pricing it affordably is the key, pricing it too cheap can ruin the credibility and the perceived value of your offering.

It is important to keep in mind that people don’t mind investing a little extra when it comes to getting a quality learning experience. Cheaper courses give the perception that they will not provide enough value. 

For this reason, it is recommended to spend more time and effort in creating a high-value course, investing heavily in its marketing, and then selling it for a price that justified the investments made in the last two steps.

Listen To Your Customers

If you have any kind of feedback from your previous learners, you must take it seriously. Not only would it help you improve the learning experience (and outcomes) for future learners, it will also help you generate positive word-of-mouth about your course.

In fact, you can incorporate user feedback and plan a relaunch of the course with features “recommended by the users” as one of its USPs.

Conclusion

If you have tried to notice a pattern among these tips, you might have noticed that all of them relate to creating more value for your learners in one way or another. Frankly, focusing on the value you want to add to your prospect’s life is the best way to make sure any product sells.