Selling courses on YouTube is the new trend in the era of online education, leveraging YouTube’s massive audience of 2.6 billion users worldwide. Although direct course selling through YouTube is yet to become a widespread reality, the platform has already started supporting online education by launching features such as a dedicated player for education, community features, and quizzes.
In the meantime, YouTube serves as an excellent promotional tool for your online courses. Here are 12 quick steps to harness YouTube’s potential to sell your courses:
1. Establishing a YouTube Channel
Creating a YouTube channel requires careful planning. Start by defining the purpose and theme of your channel. Identify your target audience, consider their interests and needs, and plan your content accordingly. Invest in good-quality equipment for filming and editing your videos to ensure your content is professional and appealing. Your YouTube channel should align with your overall brand image, so ensure your channel name, logo, banner, and channel description reflect your brand’s voice and aesthetic. Example of well-organized Youtube channel.
2. Creating Teaser Videos
Teaser videos should be engaging, short, and able to provoke curiosity. They can take various forms, including short lectures, interviews with course instructors, previews of course materials, or testimonials from successful students. Consider hiring professional video editors or animators if necessary to ensure high-quality production.
3. Delivering Value Through Content
A critical aspect of selling online courses on YouTube is the value your videos deliver. Useful and compelling content is what attracts and retains viewers, converts them to subscribers, and eventually students. This might include how-to videos, webinars, behind-the-scenes content, industry insights, or interviews with industry experts. Using content to demonstrate your expertise helps to establish trust with your audience, which will encourage them to enroll in your courses.
4. Including a Call to Action (CTA)
CTA is a marketing strategy that drives your audience to take a particular action. Calls to action (CTAs) should be strategically placed within your video to encourage viewers to take the desired action. This could be in the form of verbal prompts during the video, text overlays, or buttons in the video description. Your CTAs should be concise, clear, and compelling.
5. Optimizing for SEO
Optimizing your videos for SEO will make them easily discoverable to those searching for content within your niche. To improve your YouTube SEO, conduct keyword research using tools like Google Trends or YouTube’s search suggestions. Include these keywords in your video titles, descriptions, and tags. Also, encourage viewers to engage with your videos by liking, commenting, and subscribing, as this can boost your videos in YouTube’s algorithm.
6. Maintaining Regular Uploads
Maintaining a regular upload schedule not only helps to retain your existing subscribers but also attracts new ones. A regular upload schedule ensures your viewers always have new content to consume and keeps your channel at the top of their minds. Plan your content calendar well in advance, and consider using YouTube’s scheduling feature to automatically publish your videos at the optimum times.
7. Engaging with Livestream Videos
Engaging with your audience in real-time through live videos can build a stronger connection and encourage more course sign-ups. Live videos are an excellent opportunity for real-time interaction with your audience. This could be in the form of Q&As, live lectures, or webinars. You can also use these sessions to gain insights into your audience’s needs and concerns, which can inform your future course development.
8. Featuring Testimonials
Including testimonials in your videos can significantly enhance your credibility and convince more viewers to enroll in your courses. Testimonials are a powerful form of social proof that can help build trust with prospective students. Reach out to your successful students and invite them to share their experiences in a short video. This could be an interview format, or they could provide you with a self-recorded testimonial.
9. Introducing Special Offers
Special offers or discounts on your courses can provide an added incentive for your viewers to enroll. Special offers could include early-bird discounts, bundle deals, referral bonuses, or limited-time promotional codes. Announce these offers in your videos and include the details in the video description. This creates urgency and can help convert hesitant viewers into paying students.
10. Polishing Your YouTube Channel
Regularly update your channel to ensure it stays appealing and relevant. Update your channel art and logo to maintain a consistent brand image, and keep your channel description updated with your latest offerings and achievements. Organize your videos into relevant playlists to make it easier for viewers to find the content they’re interested in.
11. Building a Community
Building a community on YouTube involves more than just publishing videos. Regularly engage with your viewers by responding to comments, asking for their opinions, and acknowledging their contributions. You can also create community posts to share updates, ask questions, or promote your courses.
12. Utilizing YouTube Ads
Running YouTube ads can help you reach a wider audience. You can create different types of ads based on your objectives and budget, including display ads, overlay ads, skippable video ads, non-skippable video ads, and bumper ads. Make sure your ads are visually appealing, engaging, and effectively convey the value of your courses.
Finally, while waiting for YouTube to allow direct selling of courses, look into other platforms where you can host your courses, like Softbook. Link platforms in your YouTube videos and channel to drive traffic and increase course enrollments.
Overall, selling courses on YouTube requires a strategic approach. By investing time and effort into building your channel, creating high-quality content, and engaging with your community, you can leverage YouTube’s platform to successfully sell your online courses.
