How to sell online

18 April 2023

How to Sell Online Courses on Instagram

“Do you have an Instagram page?” you ask.

It is your way of knowing if you’ll be in a “what I ordered vs what I got” position when you want to patronize an online vendor.

Every day you hear stories of people being scammed online. So to run a background check, you need to know if their Instagram page is legit.

Because special agent “YOU” have armed yourself with lots of tactics to sniff a fake IG vendor from afar by just looking at their page.

Kudos.

But the tricky thing is, it works just the same way for you as a creator.

If you just talk about your online course and sound sales-y all the time, people will begin to doubt your authenticity.

Because why is your content only about “buy buy buy?”

Instagram is a huge goldmine for creators who know how to manage it properly. And if you’ve been struggling to sell your online course and you believe you have enough presence on Instagram to not be in that position, there may be something you’re missing.

In this article, we’ll explore how to use Instagram to sell out your online course, and ultimately how to position your brand for sales on Instagram.

How to Sell Your Online Course on Instagram

Should you post every day? Take pictures every day? or talk about your course every day?

Let’s find out.

1. Build an Instagram audience

Instagram has become the go-to platform for creators looking to promote their products. Ideally, before you sell, you must have a market ready to buy from you. In this case, an online audience.

Many creators often overlook this stage and move forward to creating a product hoping that they will naturally get buyers. Unfortunately, marketing doesn’t work this way.

The best way to sell out your digital products is to build an audience genuinely interested in your message. That way, they will purchase from you when you release a product.

So, how do you build an audience on Instagram?

The easiest way is to post consistently. Know what kind of message you want to share and be consistent with it. The people who need your message will find you and form your audience.

Also, remember that Instagram is a visual tool. Hence, ensure you share your content in a visually-pleasing way. Invest in high-quality images and videos that help to relay your message.

Next, use hashtags to increase the reach of your posts. Contrary to popular belief, Instagram hashtags are still 100% a thing. It puts your post into different algorithms where it can be easily seen.

Finally, optimize your posts with the right keywords you want to be known for online. This increases your visibility when users search for a relevant keyword.

SEE: How to Position Your Brand on Instagram for Sales

2. Create educational posts promoting your course

Sharing educational content involves sharing content around your niche that helps your audience solve a lingering problem or educate them on a topic.

No one likes to hear “buy” all the time. So rather than posting about your course and telling people to come and buy, share valuable content with them. The aim is to find a balance between sharing promotional content and valuable content with your audience.

For example, if you have a course on How to Create Digital Products, you may share valuable posts like “How to earn your first $100 online” especially if your niche teaches people how to make money online.

You can also share other posts like “top 10 digital products to create and sell now, how to turn your knowledge into income”, etc.

The aim is to educate your audience while still pitching your course as an extension of your knowledge.

3. Leverage user-generated content to influence audience thought

User-generated content is content that is created by your followers or customers. It typically includes reviews or testimonials from customers speaking about your product or service.

This type of content is very valuable for creators because it provides social proof and can help to build trust with potential customers.

If it’s your first product and you do not have UGC content yet, reach out to your friends and let them go through your course to give you a review. Alternatively, you can offer your course for free to selected individuals and have them write you a review for free.

For example, TriciaBiz, a sales & marketing expert, launched her Monetize your Knowledge online course using testimonials of students from previous cohorts alongside other marketing materials.

She shared videos of her students sharing their success stories by attending the class. You can see the videos here.

With this social proof, she can easily sell out the next cohort of her course without having to complain that “she’s not making sales.”

By encouraging your followers to share their experiences with your online courses, you can create a library of UGC that you can use to promote your courses and build trust with potential customers.

4. Explore Instagram ads

Another way to sell your online course on Instagram is to explore Instagram ads. These ads allow you to target specific demographics or interests, meaning that you can promote your courses to people who are most likely to be interested in them.

Alternatively, you may also use Instagram ads to boost your profile or grow your brand awareness, to make more people see your course.

You may also choose to run ads from Facebook to Instagram so your ads reach the people you really want to target.

SEE: How to Drive Traffic to Your Business via Facebook Ads

5. Host Interactive sessions with your audience

Hosting interactive sessions with your Instagram audience can be a great way to engage with them, build trust, and ultimately sell your course. You can do this through Instagram live sessions or by hosting a webinar.

Next, choose a topic that is related to your course and is likely to be of interest to your audience.

This could be a Q&A session, a tutorial, a behind-the-scenes look at your course creation process, or any other topic that your audience is likely to engage with.

Then promote it on Instagram to encourage your followers to join.

During the session, encourage your audience to ask questions, provide feedback, and share their thoughts.

Respond to their comments and questions in real time, and try to create a sense of community and connection. People buy from people. So, the more connected your audience feels with you, the more inclined they are to purchase your product.

Ultimately, ensure that the content you share during the session provides real value to your audience. That’s how they believe in you to buy what you are selling.

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6. Use influencers to promote your courses

Where necessary, you can take advantage of Instagram’s influencer nature to work with influencers for your online course.

Of course, this is not the Toke Makinwa or Kim Kardashian type of influencer, but micro-influencers with followers from 10,000 – 100,000 that have successfully built an engaging community.

You can reach out to such influencers to promote your online course and use their audience to boost the reach of your products.

Influencer marketing is known to bring high returns, especially when the audience and influencer are in line with your niche. So, research the influencers you are liable to work with and provide them with resources and incentives to promote your course.

7. Utilize all of Instagram’s features

If there’s one thing Instagram is good at, it’s releasing new features and rewarding creators exploring these features by giving them more reach and followers.

So, why don’t you take a piece of the pie?

Use Instagram stories to give your followers a sneak peek into your course content. You can use short video clips, images, or even text overlays to showcase what your course is all about.

Use interactive features like polls, quizzes, and stickers to engage with your audience. You can also add swipe-up links to your Stories, which can direct viewers to your course landing page or website.

Optimize your Instagram profile by making it clear that you offer an online course. Use a clear and descriptive bio that highlights the benefits of your course, and add a call-to-action button that leads to your course landing page.

Create visually appealing posts that showcase the value of your course. Use high-quality images and videos, and include captions that highlight the benefits of your course.

Use hashtags to increase visibility, and encourage engagement by asking questions and using calls-to-action.

Host live Q&A sessions or webinars that provide value to your audience and promote your course. Use the comments section to interact with your audience and answer their questions in real time.

Create short, engaging reel videos that highlight the benefits of your course or provide quick tips related to your course topic. Use trending hashtags and sounds to increase visibility and engagement.

By using all of Instagram’s features in a strategic way, you can create a comprehensive marketing strategy that drives sales for your online course.

Remember to focus on providing value to your audience, building relationships, and creating a sense of community and connection.