Welcome to our FREE email marketing course for course creators! (How meta is that?)
The training in this post will help you discover how, as a course creator, you can leverage email marketing to its full potential.
You’ll learn a proven email marketing strategy you can use every day to promote or launch your course.
We’ll cover how to write your email marketing campaigns. Plus, we’ll share a ton of examples.
You’ll even learn how to build a welcome automation that sells your course on autopilot.
And we’ll load you up with even more resources so you can dive deeper into any of these topics.
Email is, without a doubt, one of the most effective and profitable digital marketing channels for course creators.
So follow along, and use what you learn in this free training to help you build a powerful online email marketing machine for your online course.
Let’s get into it…
Your “Email Marketing Mindset” – How Course Creators should approach email marketing
Most course creators have heard or know how big an impact email marketing can have on their course sales.
For many course creators, email is their leading digital marketing channel.
The course creators who follow our training and methods see a 241% ROI and 81% yearly revenue growth from email alone.
Despite those impressive numbers, we’ve found many course creators still have some legitimate anxiety and fears about email marketing.
They worry that when they send emails to their list, all their hard-earned subscribers will become annoyed and lunge at the unsubscribe button.
They worry that their email campaigns will come off as “salesy.”
And they also worry it will take “too long” to create emails they can send to their list.
If you have any of those fears or anxieties, know you’re far from alone.
Every course creator we’ve ever coached has shared at least one of those concerns if not all three.
But this training should alleviate most of those fears and anxieties.
So take a few deep breaths and smile (or do whatever a woo-woo thing helps calm you down).
Because we are about to delve into the email marketing strategy and tips that will help you send messages that are:
- Packed full of valuable content
- Helpful
- Charming
- Show your subscriber that your course is THE solution they’ve been searching for
- And help you make a ton more sales in the process while lowering your unsubscribe rate
All right, that concludes the mindset portion of this email marketing course.
Let’s move on to…
The Three ways course creators can use email marketing to make sales
As a course creator, there are three primary ways you can use email marketing to sell your course.
1) Promote your course using daily email campaigns
The first is what is referred to as a promotion.
A promotion typically leverages a “limited time” opportunity to entice your subscribers to join your course. The limited-time opportunity could be a discount, an open enrollment window, or a chance to get a bonus.
You share your promotion with the subscribers on your list using a series of daily email campaigns. (I’ll share what goes into those campaigns in the next section.)
2) Launch a new course to your email list
The second most common way to use email marketing to sell courses is “launching.”
A launch introduces a new product, offer, or upgrade to an existing course.
Launches also leverage daily email campaigns to sell courses.
3) Use email automation to convert new customers when they join your list
The third way you can use email marketing to sell your course is through automation.
Sometimes referred to as flows, drips, or autoresponders, automations are behaviorally triggered series of emails.
Automations are especially useful for welcoming new subscribers to your list.
And when constructed correctly, your welcome automation will sell your course to new students every day on autopilot.
We’ll discuss automation more later in this course.
For now, we are going to move on to the strategy that will help both launches and promotions.
The Course Creators 2-Part Email Marketing Campaign
The most important part of your email campaigns is your strategy.
With the right email marketing strategy, you’ll be able to lead your subscribers on a journey that shows them why your online course is a unique solution they can’t get anywhere else.
The two-part campaign we’ll walk through reveals a proven strategy for marketing your course to your email list.
This framework is responsible for millions in course sales.
Following this framework for your promotions and launches will help you take the guesswork out of your email marketing strategy.
How to use a mix of content and sales email campaigns to promote your course
The first part of the framework consists of three “content” emails.
And the second part consists of six “promotion” or sales emails.
How often should you send email campaigns to your list?
These emails work best when they are sent out to your list over the course of 2 weeks.
The content emails in week one.
And the promotional emails in week two.
The great thing about this cadence is once you get in a rhythm, you can promote your course to your list as often as twice a month.
Because when you use this strategy as your guide, your emails will always share valuable content.
Here’s how to craft these emails to engage and convert the maximum number of subscribers.
Part One – nurture your subscribers’ interest with valuable email content
One of the biggest mistakes you can make when emailing your list is assuming your subscribers already know everything about your course.
Likely most of them don’t. Even if they’ve followed you for a long time, they may not know why you created your course. Or they may not understand the depth of your expertise.
The other thing to keep in mind is that most people don’t really want a course. They want a solution.
For these reasons, the first part of this email campaign is NOT about selling your course. It’s about “warming up” or nurturing your subscribers’ interest.
So, in the “content phase,” you will start back at square one – the problem.
You’re going to show your subscribers that you understand their problems. You’ve walked in their shoes. And, most important of all, that you know how to solve their problem.
You do that by sending three emails that follow this proven email copywriting formula:
Email 1 – Problem – Call attention to a problem that your subscribers experience (the one your product will solve). And tease your next email.
Email 2 – Agitate – Empathize with the pain, frustration, or disgust the “problem” causes your subscribers.
Email 3 – Solve – Start to tease the solution your course will provide. Give your subscribers a small preview of what their future look like when their problem is gone and life is better. And let them know in your next email you’ll have a big announcement for them.
You can send these three warm-up emails on consecutive days if you want. Or you can spread them out over the course of a week, sending them every other day.
The important thing is to keep them in tight succession so you pique your subscribers’ interest.
Part Two- Promote your course using these six sales emails
The second part of this framework is all about selling your course.
Here’s what to focus on in your six promotional emails:
Email 1 – Gain – Present your offer and show your subscribers what they stand to gain from taking your course.
ELmail 2 – Logic – Discuss the logical reasons your subscribers need the unique solution your course will provide. And show them how their life will improve once they have your solution.
Email 3 – Fear – Delve into your subscribers’ fears about not solving the problem. How will they be held back, lose out, struggle, or remain frustrated if they don’t finally address their problem?
Email 4 – Going – Let your subscribers know the opportunity to join your course, get a discount, or a bonus is ending soon. And remind them that this opportunity won’t happen again for a while, if ever.
Email 5 – Going – This email goes out on the last day of your promotion. The clock is ticking now, and your subscribers have less than 24 hours to take advantage of your promotion. Remind them of the benefit of acting now and what they stand to gain by taking your course.
Email 6 – Gone – This email goes out a few hours before your promotion ends. You can keep this one brief. It’s a courtesy reminder to your subscribers that your open enrollment, discount, or bonuses are about to become unavailable if they don’t act now.
Now that you understand the strategy behind promoting your course to your email list, and you have an idea of what goes in each email…
… let’s cover some tips for writing your emails.
How to write an effective email promotion
You don’t have to be a pro copywriter to create emails that your subscribers will love.
Your subscribers were attracted to your list because of you and your courses.
They want to hear from you.
And when they do, and you follow some of the tips in this section, the people on your list will be delighted.
Tip #1: One-to-one communication:
Always write like you are speaking to one person, not many.
Pro Tip: Create a Customer avatar document
Your customer avatar document should be a summary of who your perfect customer is. It should describe them in enough detail that you can picture that customer. Before starting to write, refer to that document. And then write all your emails as if you’re writing to that customer
Tip #2: Tell your truth:
You likely created your course because you’ve walked a mile in your subscribers’ shoes. Share your journey, and your subscribers will love you for it.
Tip #3: Speak your subscribers’ language
Talk to your subscribers like you would a friend. Use the jargon and terms they like to use. Write like you would speak if you were chatting over a cup of coffee.
Tip #4: Start simple, not perfect
Your emails will get better with every promotion you do. So if this is your first email promo, simply follow the strategy outlined above the best you can. “Perfection” will come over time.
Tip #5: Have Fun
If you are excited about your course, your subscribers will be too. So have fun writing and sharing your email content. That energy will create a buzz about your promotion, leading to more sales and energizing your email list.
For more tips on writing the best email marketing content, you can check out this guide:
So, we’ve covered the strategy and tactics behind writing high-converting email promotions.
Now, we are going to change gears and talk about how to market your course using email automation.
How to Use Email Automation to Market and Sell Your Courses
An email automation is a behaviorally triggered email or series of emails.
For your new subscribers, the behavior that triggers your welcome emails is an opt-in to your list.
Building a Welcome Automation is one of the most valuable things you can do for your business.
An effective welcome automation can convert upwards of 4% of your new subscribers into paying customers.
Equally as important, your welcome emails will give all your new subscribers a taste of what you have to offer.
These emails will give them a reason to become part of your community and follow along with every message you send them.
Every email and marketing automation software has a slightly different process for setting up your welcome automation.
But almost all of them make the technical setup of these automations simple.
So the most important thing is to get your welcome automation up and running.
Then over time, you can track and optimize your emails to improve your sales rate.
Should your welcome automation include a discount code limited-time promotion?
One of the best ways to get your new subscribers to take action and buy your course is to share an amazing offer.
You can share a discount, or bonus, much like you would do for a real-time promotion.
But you don’t have to discount your courses to make your welcome automation effective
In fact, a “discount” shouldn’t be the primary focus of your welcome emails.
Instead, you want these automated marketing emails to show why your course’s solution is different and better suited to your subscribers than the other options available.
You want your new subscribers to see how you, your community, and your course can help them improve their lives.
And you want to allow your new subscribers to become a bigger part of that community.
Below is a proven framework you can follow to create an exciting welcome experience for your subscribers while also making course sales.
You’ll notice a lot of parallels between this framework and the 2-part Promotion Sequence
8 Evergreen Welcome Emails that Promote Your Course on Autopilot
Email 1 – The BIG Welcome:
Timing: This email should kick off your welcome sequence. It gets sent right after someone joins your list.
In this email, give your subscribers an enthusiastic “welcome” to your community.
Also, If you’ve offered them a lead magnet, discount, or freebie for signing up for your list, make sure you deliver that to them. Remind them of the value of continuing to read your emails. (You can even tease the next email in the sequence). And ask them to whitelist you, so they receive all your future emails.
Email 2 – Founder/Mission Story:
Timing: Schedule this email to send one hour to one day after your “BIG welcome.”
In this message, share the journey and mission of creating your course, product, or service. This can be the email that introduces your course if you didn’t mention it in your previous message.
Let your subscribers know the “why” behind your business. At this point, you can also share an offer to join your course.
Email 3 – The Differentiator
Timing: Schedule this email to send 1 day later than your previous email.
Show your subscribers the secret sauce that makes your product different or better than all the other options.
Email 4 – Answer the big questions
Timing: Schedule this email to send 1 day later than your previous email.
Answer the most common or burning question you hear from your students about joining your course. This is a chance to anticipate and overcome your potential students’ biggest objections.
Email 5– Blow them away with results
Timing: Schedule this email to send 1 day later than your previous email.
Share your glowing testimonials. Or show proof that your product will deliver on its promise
Email 6 – Blow them away with benefits
Timing: Schedule this email to send 1 day later than your previous email.
Share the long list of benefits that make your course’s cost seem like a drop in the bucket.
Email 7 – Going
Timing: Schedule this email to send 1 day later than your previous email.
In this message, start to create urgency by taking any discount, bonus, or freebie you’re offering off the table. You can also create urgency by discussing what can happen if your subscriber doesn’t solve the problem that your course will help with.
Email 8 – Gone
Timing: Schedule this email to send a few hours before your welcome offer ends.
Use this message to remind your subscribers one last time that your welcome bonus or offer is about to disappear.
For a more in-depth explanation of how to construct the Perfect Welcome Automation, check out this episode of the Art of Selling Online Courses.
More Resources to Guide Your Email Marketing
In what we consider to be the best free email marketing training in the blogosphere, you learned a proven strategy for promoting your course.
We shared examples other course creators are using to sell their programs.
And you got some valuable tips to help you write your emails.
But what if you want to keep going and truly up your email marketing skills?
Well, here are some resources we recommend…
Instant Course Sales
Instant Course Sales is our program that provides course creators with a custom plan to double their revenue. In this program, our team leads you through planning, writing, and sending your monthly email campaigns.
But we don’t just coach you up on email…
This live program is a complete digital marketing journey for course creators.
Because we help you build every part of your marketing funnel.
Once you have a fully functioning course funnel, every email campaign you send produces more revenue.
There is no other program like this one.
It’s ONLY for course creators.
It’s live (not a DIY follow-along). We meet every week to help you build your funnel and optimize your marketing campaigns.
And it’s tailor-made to help you grow your course business rapidly.
Want to find out if Instant Course Sales can help you double your course revenue?
Take our quick survey here, and find out if you’re a good fit for our group!
Autoresponder Madness
This one is the OG of email marketing courses. And it remains one of the best courses on email marketing ever made!
If you want to learn how to write persuasive story-based emails that engage, entertain and delight your subscribers, there is no better training.
Email Copy Academy
Learn from The Email Copywriter himself, Chris Orzechowski.
Chris is one of the best at crafting email copy that sells courses.
And in this training program, you’ll learn all kinds of techniques to promote your course using email.
You’ll learn how to use Chris’s proven email copy frameworks. And you’ll learn launch strategies that have led to millions in sales.
More Free email marketing resources
Here are a handful more free resources on email marketing for course creators that we curated for you:
What is an Email Preheader? A Guide to 6 Best Practices
Images In Email Best Practices: 9 Rules to Follow
Email Marketing Funnels: Why You Need Them and How To Use Them
How Does A Funnel Calculator Work?
How To Run Effective Re-engagement Campaigns
Grow Your YouTube Channel With Email Marketing