The Thousand Solutions Blog

How can you promote your new Courses to Your Existing Learners

Sep 6, 2024

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Leading WordPress expert, Syed Balkhi shares tools and useful tips to increase sales to existing students.

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You've poured your wholeheartedly into developing amazing online courses for your current students. Your students have said that they are thrilled with the content you provide and now it's time to take things to the next level with new, exciting material.

The difficulty is to get your students to invest in your latest lesson. If you must track the new audience each time you develop a course, you'll spend an enormous amount of time and effort on marketing.

On the other hand, customers who've purchased a course from you are familiar with you, have confidence in you, and are more likely to buy at your store again.

What is essential to make it happen is the process of upselling. This powerful strategy can aid in increasing revenue, and give more value to your dedicated students.

It's true It's much easier than you think to use this technique and not appear overly aggressive or insincere.

Today, we'll share a few proven techniques and tips that you can employ to upsell your new courses to your existing learners.

When you've finished this article, you'll know the information you require to return to your site to make important changes to your strategy.

Let's get started!

Find out more about your target People

Before you start selling it is essential to be aware of the people you're talking to.

Figure out what courses they're taking, which subjects seem to generate most interest, and what topics they would like to explore next.

Screenshot of Monster Insights WordPress Google Analytics Plugin

We also suggest asking your students direct questions about what they would like to see next.

Use the course survey, feedback forms by email and support conversations as opportunities to understand your readers and their expectations from your material.

It is important to ask targeted questions that lead to actionable responses.

The information provided will help you make informed decisions when you're trying to select a few potential topics or determine the audience that would most benefit from your new course.

The Structure Marketing Methodology for Learners Already in School

Once you understand your audience, it's time to design marketing strategies which are in line with their needs objectives, aspirations, and pain points.

The strategies below will assist to showcase the new course and generate excitement by demonstrating how they will resonate with existing learners.

Leverage Email Marketing

It is important to segment your audience before the first time you send out emails. Segmenting essentially means dividing the people you are reaching out to into groups according to specific aspects that pertain to your company.

If you are in this situation you may want to consider dividing your choices based on classes taken, completion rates, and levels of engagement.

This allows you to develop targeted marketing campaigns that appeal specifically to the needs of each audience This means that they're more likely to be successful in converting.

This is a great chance to customize the messages that you're sending out to your users.

Making compelling subject lines as well as customized content that emphasizes the ways your course will build on what they've already learned will lead to more involvement and increased the sale.

In context, personalizing subject lines will increase the open rate of your business by 22 percent.

RELATED >> How You Can Segment Your Lists of Email >>

Offer Exclusive Previews or Beta Access

Everybody loves to feel special. Giving your current audience a an insider's view of your forthcoming course prior to it going live can win them over and prompt them to take steps.

We've found that giving a small group of users exclusive access helped to create anticipation and increase day-one sales.

You could even use this to convert existing students into paying customers. You might consider offering a limited number of beta spots at a discounted cost on a first come, first-serve basis.

For the sake of giving students at a reduced cost, request to receive detailed feedback so that you can optimize your new course prior to it going live.

This strategy not only helps in enhancing your courses but also builds the feeling of ownership for those who were the first to take on your program.

Implement a Loyalty Program

It is possible to offer points in exchange to customers who have completed their courses or previous purchase, and these points can then be used to get discounts on new orders. This type of sales loop will encourage people to continue shopping on your website.

In the case of three lessons, the student might be able to move from the bronze tier to silver, which means an increase in discount for future lesson plans.

Benefits that are exclusive to higher tiers, like 1:1 training sessions, as well as access to bonus courses, is an effective way to get people interested by presenting an upsell.

Harness the Power of Social Proof

Nothing sells quite like success stories. The presentation of testimonials from students who've benefited from your previous courses will help you sell to new people however, it's also a efficient way of grabbing the attention of other clients who are already clients.

The concept of social proof is known as "social proof". It is basically when individuals are more likely be able to trust your company and its products in the event that they can see others and other organizations trust you.

If a person really liked your baking course but isn't convinced to take the expert-level cooking course in your upsell, a handful of good reviews will easily influence the decision.

They can see that others, perhaps beginners, found value in the lesson and believe that they'll as well.

Innovative Pricing and Packaging Pricing and Packaging

If you are considering upselling, how you structure and price your digital course could have a significant effect on your performance. Here are a few tips to bear in mind when trying to master this part of your strategy to upsell students who are already taking classes:

  • Create a Cross-Sell strategy Develop a Cross-Sell strategy At the end of the course, you can suggest a next lesson as a great way to continue learning. Make it clear how the new program builds on what they've just learned so your existing customers can see the benefit.

Improve Your Upsell Flow

Now, let's look at a few actionable ways to maximize your upsell funnel and turn more potential customers into customers.

Timing is everything in the world of upselling. If you are able to contact a user at just the right time, say, after they complete a course, you have greater likelihood of getting an increase in sales.

If the student found an advantage in the initial course, and is eager to know more, you'll see them agree to your upsell offer nearly instantaneously.

This offer can be presented through email or on the final page of the program.

It is recommended to make sure that the email you send is automatic and triggered by them completing the lesson so there isn't a large gap between when they wrap their final lesson and receiving the message.

It's been our experience that seasonal events are the perfect time to offer new products particularly if they're packaged with other products and deeply reduced.

If you're in the position where you need reviews for your brand new course, this technique can help immensely. The majority of people will give you favorable feedback if the course provides value and they get it for lesser than its full cost.

It is also possible to ask learners to add your new course into their carts whenever they're in the middle of buying something that has been on sale for some time.

Essentially, Order Bumps let you inquire about whether your customers would want to add a particular product to their cart prior to they pay - and it is a great tool for course creators and membership sites.

Make Your Value Proposition Stand Out

So, paint a vivid picture that shows the direct benefits customers can experience if they purchase your training course.

Will it help them land a promotion? Start a successful side hustle? Learn a new skill? Improve in social situations? Concentrate on the tangible advantages so that your group of people has an incentive to get involved.

Which is better? A robotized list of modules with price, and ETA or an in-depth and informative article that describes how you, as a learner can expect good results from each of the modules? Nearly everyone would opt for the latter option.

We also suggest addressing the most common concerns head-on. If, for instance, time is an issue, make sure to emphasize how the class fits into busy schedules.

If the issue is money-related make sure to emphasize the ROI on your investment or value in the skills you're teaching. Your job is to show that these benefits are greater than diverse concerns.

And remember, your existing students already have confidence in you.

You can make the most of these relationships by being honest and describing why you have created this course and how it addresses their requirements and helps them reach a goal or overcome a roadblock.

Make improvements and measures

There is no way to make improvements on something you don't measure. When it comes to upselling monitoring the appropriate measures is essential to know the factors that work and which don't.

Start by monitoring your conversion rate and the proportion of students that have already purchased your new class. This will help you determine the extent to which people actually accept your upsell offers.

Also, keep the eye on your average order value (AOV). If customers that are returning back and buying multiple new classes, then your plan is likely paying off.

The aim is to boost how much people are spending by a little bit but still provide enough benefits to warrant the expense.

It's also important to be aware of your average customer lifetime value (CLV), which represents the value of time spent by a client on your site over the course of the course of.

Successful upselling should increase how your student interacts on your behalf over the course of time. If your CLV is climbing up, you're definitely on the right path!

Conduct A/B Tests

In addition to analyzing your outcomes You should also think about how you can improve your A/B testing. A/B testing is the process of testing two versions of a promotion, offer or other piece of marketing materials to determine which one produces the greatest results.

As an example, you can alter the headline on your landing page with an upsell with half of your customers to see if the new version outperforms your original choice.

You can also offer upselling to your customers in two distinct times when they finish a class, then the second customer will be notified in the day.

It is important to come up with a plan that resonates with your students and inspires users to continue engaging on your website.

Be aware that improving your product is an ongoing process. You'll want to continue A/B testing once you've found something that works well.

If you're not testing then you're missing out on chances to connect with your target audience. Keep this in mind and ensure that you regularly check your metrics, analyze your test results, and be ready to make changes based on the information you gather.

Final Reflections

Selling to current learners is about building rapport, boosting revenue, and making sure that people always discover something fresh and useful when they browse your site.

The strategies and best practices that we have shared today have helped us increase sales over time and we're confident that these strategies will aid you, too.

It requires patience, time, and persistence to nail selling, however we're confident that you now have the knowledge you need to get started or to take your current strategy to the next level.

Are you able to offer a better way of selling your online course to existing clients? Share them with the community in the comments section below.

Make sure to subscribe to our monthly newsletter below for more advice on boosting the revenue of your online course or membership site.

Syed Balkhi       Syed Balkhi is the founder of WPBeginner which is the biggest free WordPress resource website. With over 10 years of experience, he's the leading WordPress specialist in the field. Find out more about Syed and his portfolio of businesses by joining his social media channels.