How to Launch and Sell your Digital Course Using a High Converting Sales Funnel (Part 1)

Digital courses are all the rage for today’s marketers; however, launching a successful course takes some careful planning and a strong sales funnel to back it up.

How can you turn eager learners into long-term customers?

In part one of this three-part series, we reveal why digital courses convert customers so well and how to sew the seeds of a successful launch

You’ve probably heard this one before: “give a man a fish and you feed him for a day: teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

The same philosophy rings true for modern marketers.

How so?

There is perhaps no better means of marketing than educating our readers and potential customers.

Most of us offer up free education to our users through blog posts, infographics, step-by-step articles and how-to guides.

Meanwhile, a good chunk of the Internet marketing world’s bread and butter comes in the form of books (e-books or otherwise).

Such books are crafted to tell you the exclusive ins-and-outs of the marketing world and how you can apply the same principles to your own business.

Therefore, the rapid rise of digital courses should be of no surprise to today’s marketers.

Users are constantly in search of education (especially in the B2B space) concerning how to grow their businesses.

Meanwhile, they’re more than happy to pay for such education if it means growing their bottom lines.

Digital courses represent investments that business owners are willing to make to expand, all the while offering a unique, interactive experience versus simply picking up a book or digging through yet another blog.

Why should you consider such a course of your own business? Consider that:

• Being an expert pays in today’ competitive marketing landscape; meanwhile, creating and selling a digital course cements your business’ expert status. After all, would some no-name newbie with no experience be able to launch a worthwhile course? Probably not. By having the ability to educate your users through a digital course, you have the potential establish yourself as a major player in your
• Let’s be honest: books and blogs can bore our users. This is especially true for budding business owners who spend a bulk of their free time sifting through blog posts and reading marketing materials. Digital courses offer chances for you to experiment and spark users’ interest using visual components such as video, illustrations, and infographics. These components help the user feel like their learning passively versus doing all the legwork of researching and digging through content.
• Digital courses offer a feeling of exclusivity, which is increasingly important to today’s buyers. After all, the information offered in such courses should be legitimately helpful and hopefully allow our users to break new ground in whatever their industry may be in. By providing exclusive education (that is, the education they can’t get from our competitors and certainly not for free) at a fair price, users walk away happy and much better off they were before

Assuming you’ve hopped on the bandwagon and have the specifics of your digital course squared away, one crucial question remains:

How the heck do I sell this thing?

Easy. Build the funnel and they will come.

Picking a Funnel

There’s no single, right way to craft a funnel when it comes to selling a digital course.

On one hand, this reassures us that we have options when it comes to reaching buyers; however, it also leaves us at a crossroads when it comes to getting started.

Below are three straightforward means of funneling users toward your course, each having its own set of benefits and advantages.

Multi-Part Video Courses (Product Launch Funnel)

Users are naturally drawn to how-to articles and guides; however, they are perhaps even more drawn to videos providing similar content (which are 10x more likely to be shared).

As such videos provide the user a means to kick back and soak up information, they are ideal for piquing our users’ interesting and giving them a taste of what our course has to offer.

If your videos are offer valuable information, they serve as a money magnet straight into your funnel as users are hungry for more.

Of course, this approach does require you to put in the initial investment on creating videos; however, don’t be afraid to put in the work and perhaps give away some of your “secrets” in the process.

Another added bonus of a multi-part video series is the fact that it can sit on YouTube and passively continue to attract visitors, even after the initial launch.

Jeff Walker coined the “Product Launch Formula” which you can checkout for further information.

Webinar Funnel

The Internet marketing world is in love with the concept of “gurus.”

By dishing out wisdom and insight in the form of a webinar, you put your knowledge and business on a pedestal.

Unlike the multi-part video course, webinars require you to interact with users in real-time and answer questions on the spot.

A successful webinar, however, can yet again cement your status as an expert and offer a platform to evangelize your digital course.

Strategic Content (Content Marketing)

Digital courses offer an alternative to traditional written content; however, there’s no reason why you can’t leverage your company’s blog when it comes to marketing your course.

By sprinkling strategic content that perhaps offers a window into what your course has to offer, you can bring more users into your list who would serve as perfect course candidates.

Over time, such strategies will work to lead users to your list, making them prime candidates for your digital course.

Although there some approaches you can take when it comes to building leads for your course, definitely consider video marketing as part of your strategy.

Winning With Warm Leads (Email List)

Let’s assume that your hard work has paid off and that your warm leads are there, or perhaps you have accumulated a warm list over time that you feel would benefit from your course.

Now, what?

As always, you should handle your warm leads with extraordinary care. Since warm leads can very easily turn cold or drop off altogether, the email marketing component of your funnel is absolutely crucial to the success of your course.

Drop the ball here and it could mean the death of your marketing push.

This doesn’t mean you should be paralyzed by fear, but rather make sure you take the necessary steps to keeping your leads warm.

For example, ensure that your leads…

• …have expressed a certain degree of interest in your business, marketing or products (by either opting into your email list, commenting on your company blog or through direct inquiry)
• …consider you a trustworthy source of information and would be willing to buy from you (you should be perceived as an expert versus a source of spam, so make this point incredibly clear)
• …understand what you’re offering, how it benefits them and why they need it now (this is achieved through careful copywriting and marketing language)

Email marketing isn’t a game of “spray and pray,” even with warm leads.

Since you’ll ideally be dealing with users who are familiar with your product and what you have to offer, such prospects represent your best chance of selling your course.

So how do you seal the deal?

Funnel Fundamentals For Launching A Digital Course

The following strategies should represent the fundamentals of your funnel when it comes to your email marketing campaign and your digital course.

Each of these elements can be integrated into your headlines, copy and content throughout your funnel and the process of leading your users through the process of signing up for your course.

The Money Back Guarantee

Although this tactic is nothing new, perhaps as old as time itself, money back guarantees just plain work to boost the legitimacy of your course in the eyes of skeptics.

Let’s face it: there are plenty of scams out there, and it’s natural for users to be skeptical of just about anything they’re buying online.

The longevity of your guarantee is up to you, although traditionally 30-day or 60-day are industry-standard.

If you’re feeling especially bold about your course, you could also offer a 200% money back guarantee (unsatisfied customers get double what they paid for in return).

The type of guarantee you offer it completely up to you: just make sure your course is backed up by one.

Score with Scarcity

Yet again, using scarcity as a means of marketing is nothing new; however, it can be the difference between someone signing up for your course now or blowing it off altogether.

By promoting a limited amount of spots or only opening the course for a limited amount of time, you provide leads with the push they need to sign up.

Combined with a money-back guarantee, leads are confident in their decision to click-through as they feel they have nothing to lose.

Don’t Hesitate on Urgency

Think of urgency as scarcity’s partner in crime.

Many of today’s hungry buyers can’t resist a proper deal; therefore, the urgency is your friend when it comes to incentivizing users to sign up for your course.

By offering exclusive or fast-action bonuses (20% if you sign up within the next 24 hours, additional content if you sign up today), users are less likely to waste time or simply skip out on your course altogether.

Money back guarantees, scarcity, and urgency, can be used in various ways, shapes and forms throughout your sales funnel, although they’re perhaps most important to the email marketing piece.

In addition to reaching out to warm leads, you should keep these tactics in the back of your mind when also dealing with cold lists or perhaps trying to sell to individuals who reach out to you.

Ready to Launch. Now What?

If you feel confident that everything’s in order (your course is ready to sell, you have a means of generating leads and an email campaign to seal the deal), what’s next?

In Part II, we’ll discuss last-minute marketing essentials for your launch, how to make sure your launch runs smoothly and what your backup plan if things go awry.