How to Build an Audience for Your Online Course

100% of course sellers report that selling a course is infinitely easier when they have an audience before launching.

They say most statistics are made up on the spot, and we’re guilty here. But I wouldn’t be surprised if this were the case. Imagine how hard it would be to sell a course without an audience, compared to having a thriving one ready to buy!

Selling to an audience is easy, but what if you don’t have an audience?

If you are starting from scratch or close to it, this guide is for you.

Building an audience is a critical skill when launching courses as a new income stream for your business. In this article, we will detail how to build an audience of people you can presell to and sell to post-launch.

The Perks of Building an Audience for Your Course

Building an audience before selling courses offers a whole wide world of benefits and can significantly impact the success of your course sales. Here are some key reasons why building an audience should be a priority for you:

Steps to Building an Audience for Your Online Course

When it comes to building your course audience, don’t overthink it. Just follow these 4 steps:

Let’s walk through each step in depth.

Before you build an audience, identify your target customer

Before you build an audience, ideally before creating your course, you need to know your target customer. 

By identifying your ideal customer, you can tailor your content, marketing strategies, and interactions to better resonate with their needs, preferences, and challenges. This will help you attract, engage, and convert the right audience for your course, which means a more accessible audience to sell to, more satisfied customers, and fewer refunds.

Before you put time into any audience-building efforts, ideally before creating your course, you need to know your target customer. 

By identifying your ideal customer, you can tailor your content, marketing strategies, and interactions to better resonate with their needs, preferences, and challenges. This will help you attract, engage, and convert the right audience for your course, which means a more accessible audience to sell to, more satisfied customers, and fewer refunds.

 Identifying your target customer can take years of trial and error. Just ask any marketer! We don’t have years though, so let’s simplify it. You can identify your target customer by following these steps:

Now that you have a clearly defined target customer, let’s build an audience of them! Continue reading for actionable tips to turn site visitors into subscribers.

Create a Lead Magnet

To grow your audience, you need something a bit more enticing than “subscribe to our newsletter.” I’m talking about lead magnets.

A lead magnet is a freebie that you give away to entice your ideal customers to subscribe to your list. It could be anything, but the key is it needs to add value and catch the attention of potential subscribers. 

Common lead magnets are things like:

The key is to make your lead magnet compelling enough to encourage sign-ups. Check out my complete guide to creating lead magnets to fuel your funnel for more tips.

Choose your Promotion Channels

Now that your site is peppered with lead magnets ready to convert new visitors into subscribers, it’s time to promote your content and build your reach.

A few of my favorites are:

I collected 20 promotion channels you can use to market your course and grow your audience, so check out the full list for more ideas.

Nurture Your Audience

Now that you have new subscribers flowing into your email list, it’s time to nurture them so that they’ll buy during our next launch.

The best way to nurture an email list is to regularly send them valuable content. No matter what email software you use, try to schedule a weekly newsletter (at the very least) to engage your subscribers. 

Got a case of writer’s block? Start off with:

And of course, announcements for your launches and deals. Check out my complete guide to writing a course email launch sequence that you can send to your list.

Best Tactics to Build an Audience for an Online Course

Building an audience is a massive topic in itself. 

A thriving audience is the lifeblood of any business. The bigger your audience, the more people you have to sell to, and the more opportunities you will have to sell. Unfortunately, many businesses struggle with building an audience, so if this step gives you pause, don’t worry. You are in good company.

While building an audience takes time, there are steps you can take which will allow you to make progress. 

Start with your existing customers

The easiest place to start is your existing customer base. Whether you have a handful of clients or dozens, if you already have a loyal following who has bought from you in the past, then chances are they will buy from you again. 

A simple email to your customer base announcing that you are launching a course could be an excellent strategy to presell. By providing a call to action for them to help you spread the word, you can organically grow your audience and presell your course with one email. That sounds like a win-win!

Leverage your network

You don’t need to be an influencer to have a network worth sharing your course with. If you have a strong network, whether they are people you went to school with or worked with years ago, then you have a solid base to share your course with. 

You never know what will happen until you ask. Anything to get the ball rolling will help. Share what you are working on in a social post, or directly message people you think will be interested.

Show up where your customers are

If you have a clear idea of your target customer, then you should know where they spend time online. Your target customer has a problem that your course will solve, so where do they go to find answers to their questions and solutions to that problem? Identify their primary channel(s) and show up there. Maybe it’s SEO, or perhaps it’s an online forum. Wherever your customers are, you need to make sure you are in front of them.

Boost your reach with ads

Once you’ve identified the right channels to market on, why leave it all to organic growth? Advertising, whether search engine or social media, can be highly effective at building your reach and ensuring your message gets in front of your target audience.

Depending on which channel your audience will spend the most time on, you can explore Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or Twitter ads for social media campaigns and Google Ads for paid search (also called PPC) campaigns. 

The promise of increasing your reach is attractive, but ads are an easy way to waste time and money. Start small and set a daily budget to manage your investment, and you will improve your chances of success.

Create a lead magnet

Like I said earlier, the single best way to build an audience is to use a lead magnet.

Remember that lead magnets are freebies, downloadables, or gated content you give access to in exchange for an email address. They can take many forms, but popular (and effective) formats include:

People may not immediately buy from you (an estimated 3% are ready to purchase at any given moment), but a much larger percentage will be willing to download a lead magnet. The lead magnet must be enticing enough to attract your customer and convey sufficient value for them to hand over their email address. As you build this audience, you can nurture them to make a sale further down the line. 

Tips for Success in Building an Audience for Your Course

You have a handful of tactics to build an audience for your online course launch. Now here are some tips for success. 

Sure, there may be growth hacks you can try, but there is no substitute for consistent effort along the journey to building an audience for your course launch.

Consistency matters

Consistency is critical when building an audience. You do not have to write lengthy blog posts every day, but you do need to consistently show up in front of your target customer, 

Start by developing a content calendar to plan and schedule your content in advance, ensuring a consistent presence on various platforms. By regularly posting, engaging, and interacting with your target audience on the channels they use, you'll keep them interested and build stronger relationships. 

Quality over quantity

When it comes to building a loyal and engaged audience, always prioritize quality over quantity. Concentrate on creating high-quality, informative, actionable content that addresses your target audience's needs, challenges, and goals.

By consistently delivering top-notch content and sharing your expertise, you'll establish yourself as a trustworthy and reliable source of information. Nurture relationships with your audience by genuinely engaging them through meaningful conversations, answering questions, and providing personalized support. Don’t focus solely on the number of followers or subscribers.

Measure as you go

To ensure the success of your audience-building efforts, it's critical that you measure your progress and adapt your strategies accordingly. 

Measuring the ROI of your effort can be intimidating, so here’s a simple rule of thumb. Set specific, measurable, and time-bound Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for your online course promotion. Pick a metric that matters (probably subscribers) and find a way to attribute your work to it. You can measure progress as you go by leveraging tools like Google Analytics, social analytics, and email subscribers. 

By following these tips and staying consistent, focusing on quality, and measuring your progress, you'll be well on your way to building a thriving audience for your online course. Embrace these strategies and watch your small business flourish as more and more people discover the value of the knowledge you have to share.

Building an Audience is Just One Piece of the Puzzle. Get the Complete Course Launch Checklist!

You have the keys to success in building an audience to sell your online course to, but we’re just scratching the surface. When launching an online course, you'll need to tick an almost maddening set of boxes to succeed. 

Fortunately, you do not need to tick them on your own. We compiled the ultimate course launch checklist that you can review to ensure your course is profitable right out of the gate and builds your business a steady stream of passive income.