Imagine the following situation: you have an idea for a training course, want to create a digital course and have had a revelation concerning a topic. You don’t know, however, whether this new offer will be popular, if your idea is sound or if it will be profitable enough. You hesitate, talk about it with those around you, take a look at what the competition is offering and start to doubt your content and sometimes even yourself.
Sound familiar? Good, you are in the right place! Why? Because this article is going to help you discover the secrets of a launch that works. For a training programme, an e-learning course or even for a single module, certain considerations will ensure a successful launch.
First, some good news: you don’t need to have already created your e-learning course to apply these tips. They are just as relevant if you have not yet produced anything.
What are we talking about?
Far from being based on pure luck, the successful launch of an e-learning course depends on two things: the community and the test. When you are working on your communications, focus your efforts on your relationship with your community and run a test.
First, the community
Having a training course is good but having an audience is even better. Whether you are an experienced trainer or new to the field, you need to get yourself known and get people on board with your project. Without a community, there are no learners and without any learners, well…
The aim is therefore to create a pool of people who are interested in your topics and who are asking questions to which you have the answers.
Are you offering training on electronic mailshots as a marketing strategy? Create a dedicated space for people whose primary problem is digital communications; who are looking for new sales techniques or who are interested in online marketing.
Do you want to provide training on a CRM? Look to sales reps, IT departments and even the general managers of small and medium-sized enterprises. Another approach: consider freelancers who waste a huge amount of time on managing their various databases.
As you can see, your chief effort should be focused on bringing together individuals faced with the same situation or problem.
As you progress, the community will come to life thanks to your sharing of insightful content and the exchanges it will generate between members.
Second, the test
The important thing here is your state of mind. To really get started, forget one thing straight away: you don’t need your course to be finished to promote it.
The process does not necessarily require that you first create your course and then, a few months later, promote it. An overly long process can be discouraging and pushes back the day on which your course will start making you money. This is not the aim here. Here, you want to validate an idea and quickly start to reap the benefits.
What can you do to launch your course quickly?
First of all, in order for a course to work, it must fulfil a training need. If you think your idea is great but your future learners don’t, it will never find an audience.
If the idea is more or less validated, move on to other actions:
- Ask your community questions
- Share extracts from your future course
- Talk about it regularly on your platforms
- Create special content for your pre-launch phase
- Launch small offers. Split your course into small extracts (via videos or via your materials) and only offer these small chunks for sale. Each capsule is fairly short to produce, costs less than the entire course and can appear as less of a financial commitment for your audience. If they are convinced, the purchasers of your small offers will be all the more likely to buy your whole course.
Why follow these stages?
The idea behind your work is simple: the more informed your audience is about your future course, the more satisfied they will be with their exchanges, the more they will like your content and the more inclined they will be to sign up for your course when it becomes available.
Second advantage: sharing with the community during the listening phase and in the form of small offers enables you to fine-tune your course. You know what your e-learning modules must contain, you choose the best materials and you know which format to use.
Last but not least, you quickly start to monetize your efforts. The sooner you start to earn money from your course, the more time you will have to adjust it, improve it and make it as attractive as possible.
What you don’t need
Rest assured, you only need time and motivation to pre-launch your training course. You don’t even need:
- A big community;
- A big training offer;
- A ready-made course.
The work starts now.
Who is this advice designed for?
This advice is for both freelance trainers and training organizations. Your structure does not affect your approach. It may have an impact on your communications (brand marketing or personal branding), but nothing fundamental.
To guarantee your launch is a dazzling success, don’t forget that you must first be visible as a trainer, either via social media accounts or via your own website. If you are not a trainer by profession, promote your training work on the platforms of your choice.
Sometimes the key is not so much to work and rework the course itself, but rather to ensure it exists within your ecosystem. Listening to the deep-rooted needs of your target learners is key and is more important than your choice of materials. By applying this system, there is every chance that your next launch will be nothing like your last.
Have you applied this advice? Leave a comment and tell us about it, we would love to hear your feedback!
