In our experience, marketing professionals have been some of our most successful affiliates.
To start up and succeed in any business you need two things:
- Something good to sell, and an easy way to supply it to customers
- The ability to raise awareness and sell to a large pool of potential customers.
We can provide you with the fist thing if you can do the second
The Potential is Huge
The online education is a massively growing market. One source estimates it will be worth over $120 billion in the USA by 2027. You can imagine it’s potential globally.
The COVID-19 pandemic, growth in technology, AI and the need for lifelong learning have all contributed to this rapid growth.
Tips for Marketing Your Own Online Education Business
You might be interested in working with us, but are wondering how you could promote an online educational business.
Tip 1 – Start a Blog
Do Just what we are doing here, start a blog. Blogs can be produced as free content and you can write about topics that are related to the courses you want to sell. For example, say you want to sell courses on hospitality and tourism, you can focus your blogs on those topics as a way to encourage people to look at your blogs, then your courses, and hopefully enrol.
Tip 2 – Start a Glossary or Write What is…. articles
Another way to attract attention is to produce a glossary or write “what is…” articles. People may often search “what is.” For example, they may want to know –
- What is horticulture?
- What is agriculture?
- What is tourism?
- What is event management?
If someone is searching for these definitions, there may be a reason. Perhaps they are looking for a new job or course or interest. If you offer articles explaining what different terms are, you can also use those to promote your courses.
For example, say you write an article on “What is Event Management?” At the bottom of the article, you can provide information on the courses or eBooks you offer in event management.
Having a glossary and what is articles also attract attention to your website. So whilst the person may not be interested in studying at the moment, they will have already looked at your site and seen the quality of your content, so you never know, they may come back in the future.
People tend to come back to organisations where they recognise the name and know that you are producing good quality work, so pay attention to the quality of any blog, vlog or article you produce.
Tip 3 – Create a Vlog or Podcast
A vlog is a video blog. You have probably seen them on websites, such as YouTube. The person will create a visual and spoken word short video.
A podcast is an audio file that people can listen to.
As with blogs and articles, you can talk about topics that are relevant to the courses you promote and sell. By creating blogs and vlogs, you are potentially reaching a different audience. Some people prefer blogs and written word, others prefer videos. So, by doing both, you are promoting to both groups.
Tip 4 – Promo Codes and Special Offers
Offer promo codes and special offers to encourage people to enrol on your courses. You can promote special offers and promo codes through social media, blogs, vlogs and articles. There are many different ways to do this e.g.
- A special promo code for people who subscribe to your blog (more on this in a moment).
- Special offers to people who like your social media.
- Offer promo codes with a discount to people who attend certain events, such as a festival or garden show.
These are just three examples, but there are lots of ways to share promo codes and special offers through networking, social media, blogs etc. So spread the word and encourage interest in your courses and products.
Tip 5 – Use Social Media
This may seem obvious, but use social media to promote your courses and eBooks.
- Tell potential students about new courses and eBooks.
- Post when courses are upgraded.
- Remind potential students about existing courses.
- Tell people about your latest blog, vlog or article.
Get people interested and paying attention to what you have to say.
Tip 6 – Follow the News
Pay attention to what is happening in the world around you.
- Say there is something important in the news about wildlife conservation. Write a blog about it or do a post, the relate this to courses you offer.
- A writer may share something about their writing. Write a blog about that, and again, link to your writing courses.
If you write an article or blog quickly and post on social media the day the news comes out, you can attract the attention of people who are reading about the subject that day.
Tip 7 – Subscription
Encourage people to subscribe to your blog, vlog or articles.
Then
- Write regular blogs, vlogs or newsletter.
- Post regularly on social media.
You can use these to promote your courses and eBooks to people who have already made that first step of subscribing to your work.
Tips When Students Have Completed Your Courses
When you have some students who are enrolling on your courses and completing courses, you can also consider other ways to promote your work.
Tip 8 – Get Student Testimonials
Ask your students for testimonials.
- How did they enjoy the course?
- Was it useful?
- What did they learn?
- Any feedback about the courses?
Ask their permission to use their feedback, then promote it –
- On your website
- In your blog/vlog/articles
- On social media
- In marketing materials
- Perhaps ask students to send in a short video or podcast where they talk about the course and how it benefitted them.
Tip 9 – Email Signature
Add a link to your courses on your email signature. So everyone you contact can see that you offer courses as well as other services and products you may offer.
Tip 10 – Courses Page
Make sure you have useful information about the courses on your website.
- You might set up a website solely to sell the courses.
- You might have an existing website and add the courses on there as well.
Whatever you decide to do, make sure that the courses are obvious on your website and easy for potential students to access them and enrol. This may sound so obvious, but how many websites do you visit where it is not easy to find information or to make a purchase.
Do tests, make sure the enrolment process is easy and quick to avoid disgruntled potential students who just go away and don’t bother to enrol.
Tip 11 – Marketing Lists
Develop lists of people who are interested in your products. This may be emails or postal addresses.
- Ask people to subscribe to your blog/vlog or newsletter and you have already obtained their email address.
- You can also purchase email lists from providers, but these can be expensive and out of date, so be careful what you are buying.
- Offer a free eBook or a discount code to people who subscribe to your vlog/blog or articles.
Regularly email the people on your marketing list to tell them about you are offering. This doesn’t mean spam them and flood them with information. This is a sure way to lose potential students. Think carefully about how often you want to contact them. Perhaps twice a week, once a week, once a month. Decide what you think will work.
Tip 12 – Network
Network and promote your courses to interested parties. For example, say you are selling permaculture courses, you might join permaculture organisations and –
- Attend their events and shows
- Post on their website
- Write articles or blogs for their website
Get to know people who are also interested in permaculture and promote your courses.
Tip 13 – Press Releases
Send out press releases when you start offering a new course or are promoting a new eBook.
Tip 14 – Comment and Post
- Join groups on social media and make comments and share information.
- Like and comment on other people’s posts.
- Participate in online discussions and forums.
- Attract attention to your courses by developing relationships with others.
Tip 15 – Work with Us
While all of these tips may be valid, it is important to recognise that things are constantly changing. All industries are volatile, and the way to be most successful in marketing online education is to be seen with a product that no one else has, by people who want it, in places where few if any competitors are seen. We own a huge range of products. We know where they can be sold, and we know who is selling them and where.
Our staff provide ongoing advice and support to help you develop and exploit potential markets. Other education product suppliers simply don’t offer that ongoing level of support.
More Opportunity all the Time
The world is changing rapidly.
People are changing their jobs and careers more often.
As a result, they need to train more often to –
- Update their knowledge
- Retrain for a new career
Online education has stepped in to fill the gaps in the education market. In the modern world –
- Not everyone can attend a physical classroom every week to study. This may be because of the distance to travel, how they work, family commitments and so on.
- They simply may want the flexibility of being able to study when and where they want to.
- We are all becoming more specialised in our jobs and knowledge. This means that courses are not always offered locally, so people may want to study a course that is simply not available locally or even in the country in which they live. This is where online education is so useful.
The online education business is a massive growth market. Do you have marketing skills that you could use to set up your own online education business or school?
A Reminder About ACS
Working with ACS
ACS Distance Education was established in 1979 with just one course. Since then, we have grown in leaps and bounds, now offering over 700 courses and more than 150 eBooks. We have tutors, writers and experts in online education developing and promoting our courses.
We have courses in –
- Agriculture
- Horticulture
- Permaculture
- Wildlife
- Animal care
- Writing
- Business
- Marketing
- Sustainability
- Self-sufficiency
- Tourism
- Hospitality
- And much more.
We offer the opportunity for businesses to rebrand our courses.
You could choose to set up your online business as –
- A side hustle. For example, perhaps you have marketing skills in the writing and publishing industry. What about setting up your own online school offering writing, journalism and publishing courses?
- Perhaps you already have your own business and you want to extend the goods and services you offer. For example, perhaps you are a specialist in horticultural marketing, you could offer our horticultural courses and eBooks in addition to your existing products.
- Or you might have extensive marketing experience and are looking to start your own business, perhaps you could offer all of our courses.
So, you could choose to set up a –
- Specialist school offering specific topics and subjects, such as writing or permaculture etc.
- Or set up a general school offering all of our courses.
If you are interested in using your marketing skills to start your own online education business, then please get in touch with us and find out just what we have to offer.