Why ‘visibility’ is a key factor for selling your online course

Most people know the famous movie line, ‘Build it, and they will come’. It’s a great little motto and one we often hear splashed around in business circles (business building, marketing and so on). 

But honestly, relying on this mentality in business (especially as an online course creator) won’t cut it. 

We’ve been helping online course creators create amazing courses using the Thinkific platform for years. The majority of our clients have great success. Students love their course, and they’ve turned their knowledge into a sassy money-making venture. 

But sometimes, we have clients who come back to us concerned about not getting the enrolment numbers they’d hoped for. 

Everything is set up perfectly and on paper (and in print), and their online course looks terrific.

So, what goes wrong with some clients? 

Visibility!

Why does visibility matter for my online course?  

As an online course creator (or coach, or whatever title you have!), you’re probably thinking, ‘Come on Alethea, I don’t have time to worry about visibility – shouldn’t this course just sell itself?’. 

The answer is no. You need to put some time and effort into making your online course visible. 

Think about it this way. 

You could have the best business in the world. Your products or service are beyond brilliance, but you haven’t set up a website, have no socials and don’t attend any networking events. How do you expect people to find you? 

The number 1 reason online course creators fail is that they don’t get visible

I’ve seen it before, and I’m sure I’ll see it again. 

If a course fails, it’s not because:

• The content sucked
• Their tech didn’t work 
• The pdfs were bland with no graphic design

Courses are guaranteed to fail if you forget to make them visible! You can’t just ‘build it’ and make people come. It doesn’t work that way.

Start getting visible before you plan your online course  

With all marketing, knowing your audience and keeping them engaged is the absolute key. And these days, the easiest way to get visible is through social media. 

If you’re not quite sure what your audience needs in terms of an online course – ask them! Run polls to see where they feel they’d love extra training and build this into your online course. 

You should never assume you know what your audience wants. 

Share different posts with different content and see what happens – what is well received, what gets shared, and what gets the most comments. 

Once you see what your audience wants, build your course around that. 

Use your social media to build visibility around your online course

Now that you’ve nailed down what your audience wants and created an online course around it, it’s time to start promoting it on your social media channels. 

You can start using ‘teasers’, giving snippets of what’s to come and creating a waitlist for exclusivity. You may even offer a sweet deal for the first course you’re running (e.g., “This special introductory price won’t last”).  

It’s all about creating a buzz around your course launch. Having people ‘pre-book’ your course shows you upfront that you’ve built a course people want. 

Creating a beautiful landing page that cleverly explains your course and makes people ‘must-buy’ is another way to boost your visibility. Share your course landing page on your socials, ask people to share it for you, and send it out in a newsletter to your database. 

There are so many creative ways you can boost the visibility of your online course

We’ve already mentioned some ways of boosting the visibility of your online course above, but here’s a quick list:

• Social media posts
• eNewsletter
• Word of mouth
• Facebook business groups
• Networking events 
• Pay for ads
• Google 
• Create a podcast (or be a guest)
• Write guest blogs
• Advertise in business directories
• Release a mini course – a teaser
• Offer a discount

Are you keen to learn more about creating an online course or have questions?

If you’re interested in creating an online course but are unsure where to start or how all the tech side works, please feel free to get in touch.  

As online course creators, we use and recommend Thinkific as it’s the easiest platform for both creators and students. Not only will your course look amazing, but students will enjoy their online learning experience. 

And when students enjoy their online course experience, they’re likely to recommend it to others through their social media. That’s just another way of increasing your visibility!