Are you considering creating an online course but unsure if there’s a demand for it? Pre-selling your course on Thinkific can help you gauge interest and build buzz before you launch.
Pre-selling involves selling your course before it’s fully created, allowing you to validate your idea, build a customer base, and generate revenue. Thinkific, a popular online course platform, makes pre-selling easy with its user-friendly interface and robust features.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through the pre-selling process on Thinkific, from identifying your course topic and target audience to creating an attention-grabbing landing page and launching your course to pre-sale customers and the public. Get ready to successfully pre-sell your course on Thinkific and build buzz for your online business!
#1: Identifying Your Course Topic and Target Audience
Before you can pre-sell your course on Thinkific, you need to know what course you want to offer and to who you want to sell it.
Research, Research, Research
Start by conducting market research to identify in-demand course topics. You can use tools like Google Trends, Udemy, or Reddit to see what topics people are searching for or asking questions about. List potential course topics that align with your expertise and passions.
Finding Your Target Audience
Next, define your target audience and their pain points. Who are you creating this course for? What challenges or problems are they facing that your course can solve? Use tools like surveys, focus groups, or social media analytics to better understand your target audience’s needs.
Creating a Course Outline Early On
Once you’ve identified your course topic and target audience, it’s time to create a course outline that meets their needs. Break down your course into modules and lessons, and think about how each piece of content will help your students achieve their desired outcomes. Make sure your course is structured in a logical and easy-to-follow way.
Remember, your course topic and target audience will influence every aspect of your pre-selling strategy, from your course landing page to your promotional efforts. Researching and defining these elements early on will set you up for success in the pre-selling process on Thinkific.
#2: Creating a New Online Course
After identifying your course topic and target audience, it’s time to start putting your planned course outline into reality. Thinkific provides a user-friendly course creation interface that allows you to easily create and customize your course content.
Turning Your Course Outline into Reality
Designing a well-crafted course curriculum is essential to providing value to your students. Start by breaking your course into modules and lessons aligning with your course outline. Ensure each lesson builds upon the previous one and achieves the overall course goal. Use a mix of multimedia elements like videos, slides, text, and quizzes to keep your students engaged and learning.
Course Cards to Grab Audiences by Their Necks
Customizing an eye-catching course card (thumbnail) design is also important in attracting potential customers to your course. The course card is the first thing people see when browsing Thinkific’s marketplace, so it must stand out. Use high-quality images, clear text, and branding elements that match your course topic to create a visually appealing thumbnail.
When creating your course, remember that you’re pre-selling it, meaning you don’t need to have all the content ready at once. However, it’s essential to have some core content available to showcase your expertise and what your students can expect from your course.
#3: Pricing and Payment Options
In this section, we’ll cover pricing and payment options when pre-selling your course on Thinkific. It’s crucial to determine the right pricing strategy for your course that’s profitable and attractive to potential students.
Take Notes from Your Competitors
First, research your competitors and compare their pricing. You can then decide if you want to price your course similarly or adjust it based on the value you provide. Remember, your course’s value should be reflected in your pricing.
Setting Up Payments
Next, you’ll need to set up payment processing on Thinkific. You can use payment gateways like PayPal or Stripe, which are easy to integrate and accept various payment methods. Thinkific also supports multiple currencies, allowing you to sell your course worldwide.
After setting up payment processing, you can choose payment options and set payment plans or discounts to encourage pre-sales. Offering a discount or payment plan can entice potential customers to purchase your course before it’s fully released.
Setting Your Course to Pre-order Status
Finally, you’ll want to set your course to “Pre-order” status. This notifies potential customers that your course is not yet available but is available for pre-order. Thinkific’s pre-order feature allows you to collect payment in advance and offer early access to students who pre-order.
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#4: Creating Your Course Landing Page
Your landing page is the first impression your potential students will have of your course, so it’s essential to make it attractive and informative. With Thinkific’s impressive site design tools, you can easily create a compelling landing page that converts potential students into pre-sales.
Designing an Eye-catching Sales Page
First, you’ll want to design an attention-grabbing landing page highlighting your course’s key features and benefits. Thinkific’s landing page builder allows you to customize your landing page with branding and design elements. Use high-quality images and engaging headlines to capture the attention of your audience.
Convincing Copywriting
Next, write persuasive copy that highlights the benefits of your course. Focus on your course’s solutions to your target audience’s pain points. Use clear and concise language, and avoid jargon or technical terms that might confuse your potential students.
You can also create a sense of urgency through limited-time offers or bonuses. Offering a discount or limited-time access to specific course materials can encourage potential students to take action and pre-order your course.
Thinkific also allows you to add testimonials from your previous students or industry experts to your landing page. This social proof can add credibility to your course and help potential students feel more confident purchasing it.
#5: Promoting Your Course
One of the keys to a successful pre-sale campaign is effective promotion. There are plenty of ways to effectively promote your Thinkific content to generate big pre-sale numbers.
Leveraging Social Media to Reach Potential Customers
Social media is a powerful tool for promoting your Thinkific course. Choose the platforms your target audience uses most frequently, and then create compelling content to showcase your course. Some social media platforms have built-in features to help you promote your course, such as Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn Ads.
Building an Email List and Sending Targeted Campaigns
Email marketing is another effective way to promote your course. Start by building an email list of people interested in your course topic. Then, craft targeted campaigns that speak directly to your subscribers’ pain points and show how your course can help solve them. Be sure to highlight the benefits of pre-ordering, such as limited-time discounts or bonuses.
Influencers and Affiliates to Spread the Message Further
Partnering with influencers or affiliates who have a following in your course topic can be a great way to reach new potential customers. Look for influencers or affiliates who share your target audience and have a strong engagement rate with their followers. Offer them a commission for any pre-sales they generate, and provide them with high-quality promotional materials to help them promote your course effectively.
Remember, the key to successful promotion is to keep your target audience in mind and choose channels to reach them effectively.
#6: Launching Your Course
Launching your online course on Thinkific is an exciting step in your pre-selling journey. By now, you should have already built a solid foundation for your course, including a topic, target audience, curriculum, pricing, payment options, and a captivating landing page. Now it’s time to prepare for your course launch and build anticipation among your pre-sale customers and the public.
The first step in launching your course is communicating with your pre-sale customers and letting them know when the course will be available. You can send them an email reminder, update them through your social media channels, and even create a countdown timer on your website or landing page to create a sense of urgency.
Next, make sure your course content is ready to go live. You should have all your videos, modules, assignments, quizzes, and other material uploaded and organized if you want them to appear. Consider offering additional bonuses or exclusive content to your pre-sale customers as a thank-you for their early commitment to your course.
Finally, when you’re ready to launch your course to the public, you can confidently do so, knowing you’ve already built a strong foundation and a loyal customer base. You can promote your course on your social media channels, through email campaigns, and by contacting influencers and affiliates to help spread the word.
Remember that launching your course is just the beginning. Once it goes live, you can continue promoting and improving it based on customer feedback. Keep track of your progress and use the data to make informed decisions about pricing, marketing, and content updates. With a solid pre-selling strategy and tools, you can successfully launch and grow your online course business on Thinkific.
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Conclusion
Pre-selling your online course on Thinkific can be a smart and effective way to build buzz, gauge interest, and generate revenue before launching. Following the steps outlined in this guide, you can identify a profitable course topic, create a high-quality curriculum and landing page, price your course appropriately, and promote it to your target audience through various channels.
Remember that pre-selling requires ongoing communication with your customers to keep them excited about the upcoming launch and ensure they feel valued. Once you have launched your course, you can deliver the content you have developed, continue engaging with your students and receive valuable feedback to help you improve your offering.
Pre-selling your course can help you validate your idea, build momentum, and generate revenue before launching. With Thinkific, you have all the tools to successfully pre-sell your course and build your online business. So, why not try it and see how it can help you achieve your goals?