How to Market Online Courses with YouTube

How to Market Online Courses with YouTube

Are you a course creator searching for help on how to market online courses? Read on to learn just how you can reach an audience for your course using Youtube!

Are you a course creator looking for a new way to market your course? If you aren't utilizing YouTube as a marketing tool, you are missing out on a whole new audience. 

Let's face it, most people would rather watch a promotional video than read something. Videos are a dynamic way to get in front of new people. So how can you use the YouTube algorithm to make sure your videos get in front of the right potential clients?

In this guide, we're going to break down three ways digital course creators should be using YouTube to promote themselves and their courses. By the end of this article, you will be ready to jump into YouTube marketing so you can sell more. Let's get started. 

1. Provide Free Valuable Content on YouTube

People turn to YouTube for everything these days. There are video tutorials about how to change the oil in your car, how to knit a sweater, and how to organize a 300 square foot apartment. 

According to Infinity Dish, YouTube accounts for more than 25% of the entire planet's mobile traffic...Twenty. Five. Percent!

It's a huge resource and wealth of information that anyone can access for free, so if you want new eyes on your course, you need to be on there giving away free content. 

This may seem counterintuitive since you're trying to sell a course, but hear me out. Gary Vaynerchuk calls this the "jab, jab, jab, right hook" method. Before you can ask new prospects to buy something from you, you need to offer them plenty of valuable content for free.

Once they understand the value of your work, they will feel motivated to spend their hard-earned money to go to the next level with you. With this method, the free content is a jab, and after a couple of successful jabs, you can pull out the right hook and sell to them. 

The good news is that if you already have an entire course written, creating free content will be easy. Simply pull from your course to create bite-sized introductory level videos that graze the subject.

At the end of your videos, you can mention that they can go deeper into this subject with you through your course. Put a link to your course in the description of the video so they can easily access it. 

Remember, you need to offer multiple jabs before you can bring in the right hook, so don't just post one video and expect it to do all the work. Churn out several high-quality videos so you can grow your audience and gain their trust as an expert in your field. 

2. Collaborate With Expert YouTubers in Your Field

YouTube is a great place to collaborate with others and share audiences. In fact, you can even utilize your competition to grow your audience, and the great part about it is that you are helping each other out.

To do this, do some research and see who is already on YouTube talking about your topic. Do they have a lot of authority? What is their following like? 

When you find someone that you connect with, start building a relationship with them. Watch and comment on their videos, follow their other social media channels, and try to form a genuine friendship. 

Eventually, you can ask them to collaborate on a video with you. You could interview them about your topic to offer more value to your audience. Hopefully, this will also bring their audience to your channel.  

Another way to do this is to reach out to experts in your field and ask if you can interview them. If they are someone with a lot of recognition, you may need to pay them. The expense will be more than worth it when it brings their audience to your channel.

After Google, YouTube is the second most popular search engine, and it has 2.3 billion users that log on to watch videos. There is plenty of viewership to go around, so instead of trying to beat out your competition, try collaborating with them instead.

It's a great way to bring the right people to your content. Ultimately, those are the people who you want to buy your course. 

3. Win the YouTube Algorithm

YouTube is owned by Google, so there are several SEO practices you can implement to boost your videos on the platform. Google ranks videos by factors like the thumbnail, title, descriptions, and keywords you use. 

To rank highly, each of those elements need to be strong. Before you post a video, do keyword research to make sure you are using the right ones, and pull them into your title to make it stronger. 

Your thumbnail should be something that people want to click on, so don't just use a still image from your video. Take time to design a graphic that includes a photo of you and a clear attention-grabbing title.

Browse through the thumbnails of some of your favorite Youtubers to get ideas. You can easily create your own thumbnail using a free graphic design service like Canva. 

The algorithm also likes consistency, so stick to an upload schedule that works for you. Don't overcommit yourself in the beginning. Ideally, you should post a video once a week. 

Final Thoughts on Youtube for Course Creators

At the end of the day, YouTube is one of the best marketing tools for course creators, so you need to take advantage of the platform. You will get your course in front of more potential clients, grow your audience, and build a genuine community. 

Once you establish your authority on YouTube and build a following, you can direct them to your website and convert them to buyers.

Do you need help creating your course? WP Courseware can help you create, launch, and sell your course through your WordPress website. Get started today. 

About Ben Arellano

Ben Arellano is one of the co-founders of Fly Plugins, creators of the first and most widely-implemented learning management system for WordPress, WP Courseware. Since 2012, he has helped thousands of entrepreneurs, corporate training departments, and higher education institutions develop and deploy online training courses from their WordPress websites.

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