70 Best Marketing Channels for Selling Online Courses

You have spent 200 hours, hundreds of dollars and tried several software tools to make your amazing course. But, are you investing enough time in marketing it? And If your audience doesn’t know about your course, they aren’t purchasing it either.

Social media, email lists, blogs, and podcasts are great to spread the word. But, there’s more than these to make your course an irresistible offer. While other course creators flock to the usual channels, you can explore some unique marketing tactics with this guide. 

So, here’s a round-up of 70 spellbound marketing strategies to turn the tables!

70 Effective Marketing Channels for Selling Online Courses

Follow these powerful marketing strategies to increase your course sales:

1. Content Marketing

Looking for an organic way to drive traffic to your course? Having a blog page is a great move for your course. Find topics related to your course where you can naturally promote your course. Besides, having another page on Google is also great SEO-wise.

For example, if you have a gardening course, blog on topics like “top gardening trends”, “30+ gardening ideas for inspiration.” You are more likely to gain backlinks and establish your authority.

Focus more on high-intent keywords like “best gardening course” or “gardening courses for beginners” to drive long-term traffic without ad spend. Create a blog announcement about your recent course. Find related websites where you can submit your article. Include your course link in your blog or author bio. 

Why Does it Work?

• Gain long-term, organic traffic
• Encourage comments, discussions, and build a community
• Earn backlinks and build a strong SEO foundation
• Add CTAs for course signup within your blog
• Easy to share your post as it isn’t gated

How Can You Use It?

• Write course-related articles answering queries
• Curate tutorial-style blog posts
• Create lead magnets to collect the email addresses of visitors
• Promote your blogs on Pinterest, Instagram, and X (Twitter)

2. Optimize Course for SEO(On-Page & Off-page SE0)

Another strategic way to drive traffic to your course is focusing on SEO. Optimize your course titles & descriptions with relevant keywords to increase visibility. The title should match with the user’s pain point to attract clicks.

Above all, quality content that resonates with the audience is paramount. You need a clear idea of what your audience wants to create the best course for them. Improve your site performance by ensuring fast-loading and mobile-friendliness.

Why Does It Work?

Organic traffic, reduced marketing cost, competitive advantage, brand awareness,

How Can You Use It?

• Use tools like Semrush, Google Keyword Planner and Ahrefs to find primary and secondary keywords
• Optimize your course landing page for headline, description, CTAs, and headings
• Build backlinks to your course page with guest posts or publications

3. Increasing Visibility on AI tools (ChatGPT/ LLM)

As search evolves from “search-and-click” to “answer-first”, more people are searching for courses on LLMs like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini. When your course appears on these LLMs, it boosts your course discoverability.

These answer-first tools understand semantic relevance, instead of keywords. Adding headings, FAQs, help pages, concise summaries are few ways to improve LLM visibility.

Some creators build custom course GPTs like interactive 24/7 teaching assistants and upload them to the GPT store. This boosts internal visibility and helps learners. 

Why Does It Work?

Increased visibility, positive buzz, authority, discoverability

3. Email Marketing 

From course launch to building your email list and sending personalized emails, email marketing is a secret tool for every course creator. Email marketing is 40x more impactful than social media for winning customers.

You might await Justin Welsch’s newsletters from “Saturday Solopreneur”. But, emails are a great way to build trust. When you educate your subscribers with intriguing tips, news, and productivity strategies, you are offering upfront value.

Email marketing is a versatile tool, and you can leverage it the way you want in the customer journey. You can take your most popular blog and promote it through well-crafted mail. The main aim is to spark curiosity, interest and drive more sales.

Why Does It Work?

High ROI,  personalized, direct one-to-one interaction

How Can You Use It?

Here are the steps to promote your online course 

• Create a targeted email list with downloadable guides, cheat sheets, or mini lessons.
• Segment your audience based on interests, demographics, goals, etc.
• Craft personalized emails to engage the audience and foster loyalty
• Provide value through bite-sized lessons, exclusive content, free guides, and early access discounts
• Insert action-driven CTAs like “enrol now”, “download now” to drive sales
• Created an automated email sequence to nurture leads
• Perform A/B testing with varying subject lines, CTAs and hooks to drive conversions

4. Build Engagement on Instagram

Today, building an existing audience before the course launch is imperative! When you have a good following on platforms like Instagram, you can easily drive conversions. Prioritize quality over quantity!

Start by creating an optimized profile with your name, profile pic, bio, and an effective CTA below your bio. Link your profile to a free guide, blog post, or product shop. 

You can maximize your reach in two ways: Instagram Feeds and Stories. Don’t miss out on Instagram Reels (short-form videos) to promote your courses. Add course snippets, behind-the-scenes content, or tips in the reels.

Why Does it Work?

• Visual appeal engages the audience with carousels, reels, and stories
• Hashtags and keywords boost discoverability
• Build a brand authority with quality content
• Multiple conversion paths with bios, story swipe-ups, and link stickers

How Can You Use It?

• Create educational carousels on quick tips, course previews, or strategies
• Feature testimonials or success stories demonstrating credibility
• Host live Q&A and webinars related to your course topic
• Set up an Instagram shop for selling your course

5. Promote via Pinterest

Does your course revolve around DIY, cooking, fashion, or anything creative? Pinterest Ads should be on your list, given its potential audience. It’s easy to use and has a targeted reach like any other search engine.

If your pin goes viral on Pinterest, it gains higher clicks, shares and saves. You can then capitalize on traffic and lead them to your course page.  76% of Pinterest’s audience is women, hence it’s a game-changer if your course targets women.  

Why Does it Work?

Broad audience, visual-search engine, niche-specific marketing, longer content lifespan (months or years)

How Can You Use It?

• Optimize your profile with a clear headline with keywords, an effective CTA, and a course website link
• Use Pinterest ads to convert traffic to your course landing page
• Experiment with static pins, carousels, and idea pins (short videos)
• Create an engaging funnel: Pinterest profile -> free e-book or webinar -> course page

6. Gain Popularity on TikTok

The Gen-Z social haven TikTok is one of the fastest-growing platforms. Despite an astounding 58% of Gen-Z presence, it hosts audiences from all age groups. 

While you can only think of peppy dance videos going viral on TikTok, the #LearnOnTikTok has a billion views. Moreover, its short-form videos increase engagement and discoverability. As a course creator, you can share bite-sized lessons, quick tips, or hacks. TikTok Ads are also a powerful medium to boost your course sales.

Why Does it Work?

Massive & engaged audience, short-form viral format, close-knit learning communities

How Can You Use It?

• Post educational content, behind-the-scenes and vlog-style content
• Be a part of trends, challenges, hashtags(#LearnOnTikTok, #Education, #TechTips)
• Use comments, duets, live streams, reposts, chats, mentions, and stitches to engage with the audience

7. Build Connections on LinkedIn

From Justin Welsh to Eddie Shelyner and Dan Koe, LinkedIn is the new promotional ploy for course creators. Be it hook-based posts, strategic frameworks, or research-backed approaches, they never fail to impress their audience. 

Here’s an example of how Justin Welsh promotes his Solopreneur course business on LinkedIn. He uses a carefully crafted bio highlighting his USP, “helping 100,000+ burned-out corporate professionals to build a six-figure business.”

There’s a link to his newsletter page, “The Saturday Solopreneur.” Welsh daily posts tips and articles to build a one-person business empire.

Why Does it Work?

Great for professional courses, network building, establishing your brand authority, and diverse promotional tools

How Can You Use It?

• Create a compelling headline with course expertise (Finance or fitness coach) or targeted course description 
• Include a direct link to your course in the featured section
• Share actionable content as long text posts, carousels, and newsletters
• Create thought-leadership articles, case studies, and link them to your course page
• Connect with industry experts, learners or other creators in your network

8. Partner with Niche Influencers

Influencer marketing has grown over the years, and people follow them to the “T”. Course creators can leverage their word-of-mouth marketing to drive course sales.

Identify an influential personality in your niche. You can choose the right influencer based on your niche. For example, if you own a lifestyle-related course, an Instagram influencer like “Nabela Noor” could be the right person.

Of course,  you don’t need to team with the Instagram or TikTok influencers with millions of followers. Ideally, choose a micro-influencer with 10,000 – 100,000 followers.

Why Does it Work?

Brand awareness and reach, increased ROI, better credibility

How Can You Use It?

• Ask influencers to share their personal narratives, course reviews, and testimonials in their posts
• Try different content formats like reels, YouTube videos, text posts, and LinkedIn posts
• Provide a compelling offer with affiliate commissions, free course access, or discounts

9. Participate in Niche Communities on Reddit

Being the world’s most popular content aggregator platform, Reddit is growing fast to the likes of its other social media counterparts. You need to identify your niche-specific subreddit. For example, r/learnprogramming for promoting your Python course.

Next, establish yourself as a go-to expert in your subreddit with valuable insights. So, when members post questions or opinions in the group, you can answer their queries. You can also upvote relevant comments in the group.

Why Does it Work?

Organic traffic, niche-specific targeting, trust-based marketing, great for testing ideas

How Can You Use It? 

• Share freebies, checklists, mini guides within discussions
• Host Ask Me Anything (AMA) sessions and share insights, experiences and subtle references to your course
• Build karma by engaging in discussions, upvoting, and offering expertise
• Create a branded subreddit for research and validating ideas
• Follow the 80-20% promotional strategy, where you invest 80% time on offering value and 20% on self-promotion.

10. Join Facebook & LinkedIn Groups

Social media groups are a great way to build an active community around your course. Both Facebook and LinkedIn host several niche communities for specific audiences. You can join these groups and be an active member in their discussions.

While private groups need an invite, you can easily join public groups. If you have gained your initial set of audience, create your exclusive group for them. Share tips, tutorials, course snippets, or even testimonials in the group.

Why Does it Work?

Highly targeted communities offer value-driven content, organic traffic, and high conversions. 

How Can You Use It? 

• Create a group to position as a brand authority and go-to expert
• Connect with clients through speaking engagements, referrals, and partnerships
• Join related niche communities to come across pain points, needs and challenges of the audience. Offer solution and connect it with your course topic

11. Post Facebook Livestreams

If you have an existing audience on Facebook, go ahead and host a livestream. Going live means connecting directly with your audience. Before promoting your course, offer value with a free lesson or a workshop. This instantly builds trust and sneak peek of your course content. Don’t forget to engage with your audience and answer questions.

Why Does it Work?

Builds authority, nurture leads, and engagement

How Can You Use It? 

• Host a live Q&A session, free class, or expert interview to engage audience
• Promote your live session with a social post, share with email list for maximum attendance
• Link your course sales page with a CTA button in the video

12. Create Instagram Stories

Whether it’s a standalone post or a sequence story, Instagram stories instantly captivate the audience’s attention. You can share short updates or behind-the-scenes content of your course. These stories disappear after 24 hours, but you can pin them as profile highlights. 

Start a poll or quiz with a question like “Which do you struggle with more?” “Point A” or “Point B.” Spin the next story, pitching your course as a solution. Use GIFs, sliders, and question stickers to make it more interactive.

Why Does It Work?

Increased engagement, high discoverability, easy link sharing, and interactive 

13. Start a YouTube Channel

With over million views every day, YouTube is one of the most widely used social media platforms. Given its massive online presence, YouTube is great for building your audience and attracting new learners. Besides, you can even earn passive income from your videos.

The simplest way is to start with how-to-topics related to your course. You can even turn your blog into a YouTube video and insert your course link in the video description. 

Use YouTube Shorts to direct traffic to your long-form blogs. For example, you can build a YouTube video on “How to build a digital product and make $50,000.”

Why does it work?

• Global reach and increased visibility
• Built-in engagement with comments, like, share
• Much more suited for tutorials, step-by-step guides, or walkthroughs
• Earn passive income through ads
• Boosts your credibility and niche authority

How can you use it?

• Teach bite-sized lessons or explainer videos
• Create videos on trending topics, FAQs, or tips
• Build a content series on a specific topic (E.g., learning Excel basics)
• Collaborate with other creators in your niche to create content
• Show social proof with course testimonials and success stories

14. Host a Live Webinar

Every course creator knows how effective webinars are for promoting courses. It offers valuable insights, proves your expertise, and fosters strong connection with students. And of course, funnels in traffic to your course. A complete package indeed!

The basic goal is to prove your niche expertise and build trust. For example, create a webinar like “Learn Photoshop in 60 minutes” for your Photoshop masterclass course.

Why Does it Work?

• Direct interaction with audience
• Proves your expertise in the field and convinces audience
• Engages audience with Q&A, chats, polls,etc
• Cost-effective promotional strategy 

How Can You Use it?  

• Teach a high-impact skill related to your course topic
• Target a pain point and show how to fix with solution
• Create evergreen webinars (8 killer strategies to build 0 to 10K subscribers in 90 days) like to drive traffic to registration page

15. Rank Higher in Search Engine with Google Ads

One of the quickest ways to increase your course reach is paid advertising. Want to appear at the top for user queries? Google ads can do the trick! 

Besides ads that rank higher in the SERPs, show a high click-through rate (CTR). This is effective especially for targeting a specific segment like demographics,behaviours, interests, etc.

Why Does it Work?

• Direct high-intent traffic to your course landing page
• Wide reach and experiment with diverse formats like search, display, and video ads
• Targeted ads for keywords, location, and age, that drives results

How Can You Use it? 

• Focus on relevant keywords (e.g., best online digital marketing course) instead of broad topics
• Use unique campaigns for broad-interest traffic, warm traffic, and retargeting
• Match the keywords from your ad copy with the landing page 

16. Leverage Facebook Ads

Another popular platform with laser-specific targeting is Facebook. With 3 billion active users, Facebook is a powerful field to win your audience.  

Meta Ads Manager is intuitive and offers the choice to craft your ads based on your goals. This could be to build brand awareness, drive traffic, boost leads, etc. So, choose your objective and ad format wisely to drive results.

Why Does it Work?

• Detailed targeting including based on interests, behaviour, demographics,etc.
• Broad reach, performance tracking and optimization tools
• Versatile with diverse formats like images, videos, text, etc
• Highly effective even with small budget

How Can You Use it? 

• Run carousel ads to include snippets of course modules, screenshots, outcomes, etc
• Offer freebies like free checklists and cheat sheets to build trust
• Optimize your ads with campaign metrics specific to your business goals (e.g., page engagement and post engagement for building community) 

17. Promote with YouTube Ads

If you’re planning to broaden your reach, you can’t miss advertising on the world’s second-largest search engine. Right? Whether it’s an animated clip or a testimonial, YouTube Ads are great to arouse your audience. Besides, you don’t need to spend a fortune with its cost-per-view bidding system in place. 

Why Does it Work?

• Global reach and precise audience targeting  
• Diverse ad formats like TrueView, non-skippable, bumper, etc.
• Great for visual storytelling with course testimonials and previews
• Easily retarget people who visited your course page or engaged with your posts 

How Can You Use it? 

• Start with detailed buyer personas targeting user demographic, goals, pain points, etc
• Implement YouTube’s ABCD principle (Attention, Branding, Connection, and Direction) to grab eye-balls
• Highlight value with video and carousel ads (success stories, tips, features)

18. Strategize with LinkedIn Ads

If your course helps people to grow professionally, LinkedIn Ads could be a powerful channel to drive traffic. Whether it is LinkedIn’s sponsored content, text ads, or InMail ones, these ads drive significant traffic. However, you need a LinkedIn company page and a slightly extensive budget to run ads here. 

Why Does it Work?

• Generate high-quality leads, given LinkedIn’s professional nature
• Precise targeting based on industry, job title, or company size
• Better ROI as compared to other ad platforms despite high cost

How Can You Use it? 

• Optimize ad format based on your goals(e.g., sponsored in-feed ads for thought-leadership courses, in-mail messaging for professional courses)
• Curate ads on objective-based advertising(brand awareness, conversion,etc.)
• Incorporate LinkedIn’s native Lead Gen forms that autofill for quick registration

19. Run Instagram Ads

With one billion active users, Instagram is indisputably a great marketing tool for your courses. You can leverage Instagram’s targeted ads to maximize your visibility. Like Facebook, Instagram ads are managed by Meta Ads Manager.  These ads typically appear in the feeds, stories, or reels.

Why Does it Work?

• Massive reach and perfect for young or creative demographics
• Visual appeal makes it easier to promote course testimonials, lesson snippets, etc.
• More engagement compared to other platforms (87% people take action to buy a product)
• Meta Ads Manager offers advanced targeting and performance insights

How Can You Use it?

• Adopt a mobile-first approach and optimize ads for smaller screens
• Show before/after transformation with visuals and testimonials
• Run the same ads on both Facebook and Instagram to maximize results

20. Create Free Mini Course

Does your course have a valuable section that’s sure to impress your audience? Then, create a mini course on this topic, which will prove your expertise. For example, if you’re offering “Accounting & Bookkeeping Masterclass“, create a mini course like “Accounting basics.”

When you offer value in this mini course, your students won’t mind buying the main course. Once they are done with the bite-sized course, promote your main course. You could even entice them attractive deals to create urgency. 

You can go for a more granular approach. Pick the most influential content pieces in your course and share it across the internet. Target the most relevant platforms like X (Twitter), Pinterest, Reddit, and TikTok.  Experiment with text-based posts, videos, images, and audios. 

Why Does it Work?

• Prove your knowledge or expertise in the field
• Acts as a teaser for your teaching style and content quality
• Delivers tangible results and quick wins
• Hook the audience with bite-sized and basic information 
• Perfect for collecting feedback and improve your main course

How Can You Use it?

• Use mini-course as a lead magnet
• A low-cost mini course by bundling with a free resource like checklist 
• Run a live challenge and promote on Facebook groups, LinkedIn, etc.

21. Create a PDF or E-book Related to Your Course

Finished building your full-fledged online course? Create an e-book or PDF to make your course more attractive. These sleek and dynamic counterparts have their own audience. 

All you need to do is choose a purpose and make it more presentable. Canva, Adobe InDesign, and Visme make creating e-book an effortless stride!

Why Does it Work?

Great for building authority and retargeting campaigns, an evergreen marketing tool. Easy-to-share.

How Can You Use It?

Lead magnet, link to your course, offer as a freebie it with your paid campaigns

22. Lead with Social Proof

Admit it or not, social proof is a powerful marketing strategy. It deals with the psychology of prospects and eventually wins their trust. More course enrollments = a valuable course. Thus, they end up signing up for the course.  

For example, Ali Abdaal is a popular YouTuber and course creator and showcases the below media mentions in his homepage.

Why Does it Work?

Actual proof on the course’s worth, validates course quality, creates FOMO

How Can You Use It?

Student testimonials, case studies, ratings/ reviews, media mentions (podcasts, news outlets, magazines), 30 -50 sec video-testimonials

23. Pre-sell Your Course

Often people spend hundreds of dollars and countless hours building their course, without validating their course idea. The main idea of preselling your course before even creating it is — to sell the course idea. 

Just, choose a topic you know well, define the course outcomes, decide a social promotional plan, and  build an effective sales page. Then, you’re all set for the big launch!

Why Does it Work?

Validate the demand, collect feedback and opinions, creates buzz & involves audience in the process 

How Can You Use It?

• Know your audience’s opinions with Instagram polls, LinkedIn surveys, Google Forms, etc.
• Pre-sale for a month on social media, emails, or communities to spark curiosity
• Offer a freebie like a digital download, cheatsheet, or early course access for completing the survey
• Give away early-bird incentives like special pricing, live sessions, etc.

24. Sell Your Course on Gumroad

Gumroad is a great marketplace for course creators. You can even go forth and create a mini-course and test your course idea on Gumroad. It has enough built-in features like discount codes, bundles, drip content, etc. 

But you can’t just create a product store and forget it! You need to invest in some outright marketing. Think about Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and blogs to capture traffic to your store page. Don’t skip marketing; be consistent.

Why Does it Work?

Quick and low-entry barrier, built-in features (instant payouts), flexible payment options

How Can You Use It?  

• Start a product page with name, product description, and price
• Include your Gumroad link in social bios, blog posts, website
• Announce your course through Gumroad’s automated email workflow 

25. Give Away a Free Email Course

Want to persuade users that your course offers real value? Send an email course to your potential clients. Pick one or two key lessons from your course and turn them into an email series. 

While you can easily create an automated email course, it often has a greater impact. Your prospects get closer to their goals, with each email delivered into their inbox. Each email is a mini lesson and the end of the email series invites a full course.

For example, here’s a free email course by Dickie Bush & Nicolas Cole’s Ship 30 for 30.

Why Does it Work?

Build email list, generate course demand, build relationship and trust, and nurture leads

How Can You Use It?

• Repurpose your full course as email course by picking the most valuable sections(E.g., “5 days to Master ChatGPT for Business”)
• Curate email series: crash course, problem-solving mini series, step-by-step transformation
• Structure your email series over few weeks in a way that warms up your leads

26. Build a Course Sales Page

A course sales page creates an effective funnel to capture quality leads. You have only seconds to convince your visitors that this is the right course for them! With clear headlines and effective CTAs, a sales page is your lead conversion engine!

The trick is to focus on the pain points of your audience. Specify your course benefits and outcomes clearly in the sales page.

Here’s how Dan Koe does it for 2-hour writer course page:

Why Does it Work? 

Proves your course value, win trust with social proof, accessible 24×7, actionable sales funnel

How Can You Use It?

• Hook your audience with a benefit-driven headline (E.g.,Master Adobe and Build Your Freelance Designing Empire)
• Include existing student testimonials, ratings and reviews in your course page
• Place CTAs strategically after hero section and end of your course page
• Master visual storytelling with course snippets, videos, behind-the-scenes, etc

27. Start a Waitlist

Building anticipation and interest about your course pumps up your sales. And what better than a simple course list on the landing page? Add a benefit-driven headline like “Master Generative AI in 7 days — Join our waitlist” to create urgency. Also, offer an incentive like discounts, or a bonus module for early joiners.

Why Does it Work?

Builds anticipation & urgency, illusion of demand before launch, drives conversions

How Can You Use It?

• Add a benefit-driven headline with scarcity and exclusive bonus
• Offer a freebie incentive like guide, cheat list, or how-to guide to join the waitlist
• Include your waitlist link in newsletters, social bios, website

28. Start a Prelaunch Survey

You might have come across those prelaunch surveys on X or LinkedIn page. It dives deep into the minds of the audience and uncovers their pain points and expectations. 

Ask a simple question like: “Which course topic would they like to learn next?” This helps to validate your course idea and create some buzz.

Why Does it Work?

Involving audience in course ideation, validate course topic, win early leads

How Can You Use It?

• Target questions on pain points, buying behaviour, or learning goals
• Share the survey on social media, niche groups, Instagram stories, email list, etc
• Send a follow up mail and nudge them to pre-sale page

29. Create an Affiliate Program

While you might have heard of affiliate programs for websites, you can start one for your course as well! Share an affiliate link with your acquaintances and they can easily promote your course. The best part is they can earn a commission from it.

Why Does it Work?

Increase in sales and revenue, expand your reach, word-of-mouth marketing

How Can You Use It?

• Provide the right tools like website banners, social media graphics, etc., to boost your sales
• Ask your existing students to participate in the affiliate program
• Share about your affiliate program in niche communities and social media

⚡Related: How to promote an online course with affiliate marketing?

30. Start a Podcast

Starting a podcast is an excellent way to prove your expertise and engage with your niche audience. Invite thought leaders and personalities to your podcast channel. 

Choose relevant topics related to your course. Initiate conversations and address the pain points and challenges of your audience. Subtly include a call-to-action promoting your course or website at the end of every episode.

Why Does it Work?

Build trust & authority, engage niche audience, cost-effective advertising

How Can You Use It?

• Pick episode topics directly related to your course topic (E.g., ”7 Money Habits to Make You Rich” for finance course)
• Sell a tip through your course in every episode (at the end or strategic points in between)
• Share key episode highlights on Instagram, TikTok or LinkedIn

31. Ask for Referrals

Once your course starts getting enough students, ask for referrals. In exchange, offer discounts, goodies, free course access for bringing leads. This encourages your existing students to promote your course. Set up an automated referral system to get things going.

Why Does it Work?

Word-of-mouth marketing, expand your reach, build loyalty

How Can You Use It?

• Pick an incentive that doesn’t eat up your revenue (cashbacks, course discount, bonus lessons) 
• Provide easy-to-share referral links, well-crafted social media messages, graphics, etc.
• Leverage tools like Referral Candy, Post Affiliate Pro, Referral Rock to track referral links 

32. Promote as Course Bundles

If you have multiple related courses, bundle them together and sell at a discounted price. This is indeed an irresistible offer for your potential clients!

For instance, bundling “Social media analytics” and “Content creation basics” sounds lucrative for social media marketing learners.

Course bundles are a win-win for both students and creators! While creators maximize their sales and profits, students gain complete knowledge on the topic. 

Why Does it Work?

Drives value perception, limited time bundles creates urgency , drives enrollments 

How Can You Use It?

• Promote your bundles showing clear value comparison (separate vs. bundle courses)
• Bundle courses based on proficiency (beginner, intermediate, or advanced), problem-solution, VIP bundle.
• Include bonus modules, checklists, free guides in your bundle

33. Feature as Guest in Niche Podcast Channels

If starting a podcast isn’t in your checklist, you can make a guest appearance in a relevant podcast channel. 

Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts are popular podcast channels. You can even browse through podcast sites like PodcastGuests or Matchmaker.fm for potential guest invites. Lastly, prepare a compelling email pitch and media kit to make it through

Why Does it Work?

Broadens reach, builds authority & credibility, higher conversion 

34. Showcase Yourself as Go-to-Expert in the Niche

“Show, don’t tell ” is cliche, but still holds true! 

Well, it’s definitely relevant for course creators. In simple words, educate your audience, don’t just sell! Write thought-leader articles, host workshops & masterclass, or podcasts. Publish in credible spaces like industry magazines or publications. Offer actionable tips, strategies, and deep dives into industry trends to prove your expertise

Why Does It Work?

Build trust & relationship, attract high-quality leads, reduce marketing efforts 

35. Promote on Medium

Medium is often an overlooked marketing channel by entrepreneurs. It has targeted niche audiences, especially for news, business and software. If you are of the opinion that blogging is time consuming, medium is a better alternative. 

The Medium Partner Program (MPP) allows you to earn passive income. It’s ideal for growing your personal brand as a creator.

Why Does It Work?

Huge audience, long-term traffic, passive income, build authority

How Can You Use It?

• Repurpose your course content into articles with right keywords
• Don’t go too niche; choose three complementary topics relevant to your niche
• Bring in a healthy mix of small and medium publications to build authority

36. Reach Out to Old Leads & Build Connections

Your old leads and connections could be serious business! Send them personalized emails with recommendations and new course launches. Offer a special pricing or discount to make it an irresistible offer. Highlight the course benefits and remind them of how your course proved to be worthy last time!

Why Does It Work?

Quick conversions, reduces marketing efforts, high ROI

How Can You Use It?

• Personalize your email with value-based touchpoint “industry trend, article or video”
• Offer special alumni discounts to get them into buying the course
• Provide a reason to purchase the course (e.g., early-bird discounts, freebie, bonuses)

37. Provide a Satisfaction Guarantee

Confident about your course outcome? Offer a satisfaction guarantee to students that the course would be worth their time and money. Put forth a realistic assurance like a 30-day money back, re-do or partial refund. Specify the timeframe (7 or 30 days) and eligibility clearly.

Why Does It Work?

Clear promise, wins trust, encourages hesitant customers

38. Offer Exclusive Early Access

Promo-fatigue is for real; customers won’t buy if you’re offering them any discount.  Strategic marketing promos ensure you hit the bull’s eye. Besides, early access discounts create a sense of urgency and exclusivity. 

Offer special pricing, freebies, or access to live sessions to incentivize early adoption. Send emails highlighting early-bird offers and motivating clients to take action.

Why Does It Work?

Creates urgency, validates demands, attracts more enrollments, captures your first leads

39. Build Hype with “Coming Soon” Sales Page

If you’re looking for a savvy pre-launch marketing strategy, a coming soon creates the much-needed hype. Of course, the goal is to build anticipation when you’re still creating the course.

Remember, your coming soon page is temporary and marketing something for the future. Include waitlist, course’s unique value proposition, and CTA in your coming soon page.

Why Does It Work?

Kickstart your course marketing, build an early audience, gauge customer interest, collect feedback

How Can You Use It?

• Target the right keywords in your coming soon page to optimize your SEO efforts
• Include a survey or feedback form to collect your customer’s feedback
• Secure your domain before your course is created

40. Create a Sales Funnel for Your Online Course 

If your course isn’t driving enough revenue, a sales funnel is a proven tactic to generate sales and revenue. You might have curated the best course in your niche, but if you don’t have a solid system to pull in leads it’s of no use. 

You don’t need a completed course to build a sales funnel. But, at least have a mini-course or pre-sell the course before implementing your funnel.

Why Does It Work?

Streamline customer journey, improved leads nurturing, customer retention, increased revenue

How to Build a Sales Funnel for Your Online Course?

• Research about your audience and identify their pain points (e.g., build confidence, develop leadership skills)
• Create free content to address the problem (how-to-guides, blogs, templates)
• Choose the type of sales funnel: landing page, webinar, e-book, mini course funnel
• Determine the right touchpoints across TOFU(paid ad, landing page, article), MOFU (case study, live session, landing page) and BOFU (checkout page).
• Create an automated sequence for your sales funnel(Welcome email-> problem-solution framework-> course introduction-> creating urgency & final call)

41. Promote Your Course with Newsletter

Newsletters are a timeless promotion tactic for course promotion. From the Founder OS to Lifenotes, you might await those intriguing perspectives delivered straight into your inbox. Start a newsletter offering niche expertise and knowledge. Think about business ideas, business trends and effective frameworks. 

For example, Ali Abdaal’s 7-day crash course email series teaches all the ropes of trade to get started on YouTube.

Why Does It Work?

Positions you as niche expert, personalized interaction, drive engagement & conversions

How Can You Use It?

• Segment your audience based on interest, behaviour, demographics, etc.
• Curate newsletters on exclusive insights, mini course lessons, promotional offers.
• Use tools like Mailchimp and Substack to create and publish your newsletters

42. Include Your Course Link In Your Email Signature

Your email signature is a powerful marketing tool. While people often skim through your emails, they often notice your email signature. Hence, placing your course link in your email signature is a good bet. Make sure to include relevant keywords and make it sound exciting with an attractive discount!

Why Does It Work?

Easy lead conversions, build trust and relationships, direct communication

43. Encourage to Share User Generated Content

User generated content is an excellent way to gain credibility from your first-time visitors. It’s an authentic proof about your course outcomes, benefits, and quality. Sharing actual experiences with your course community nudges them to purchase your course.  Include contests and challenges to make sharing UGC exciting.

Why Does It Work?

Build trust, authenticity, social proof, engagement, increased enrollments

How Can You Use It?

• Include UGC in the sales page to prove your unique business proposition
• Add UGC in email list to educate and inspire your learners
• Repurpose the UGC to be used on social media to build awareness
• Incentivize sharing UGC with rewards and discounts

44. Highlight Your Customer Transformations

Customer success stories are every marketers’ dream! The shift of focus from your course to hard-core evidence from learners is evident.  You can either collect text, video, or interview stories from your existing audience. 

Include these success stories in the social media or website to show credibility. Go forth and include a thank you note or exclusive reward motivating their achievement. 

Why Does It Work?

Build strong relationships, create loyalty, competitive advantage

45. Speak at Engagements and Local Events

Speaking at local meet ups and engagements is a great way to build authority. Sharing knowledge , business trends, and insights offers comprehensive understanding of the subject. 

If your course is intended for professional development or to supplement learning, then think of guest lectures in colleges and universities. You can easily promote your course after the session.

Why Does It Work?

Brand awareness, build credibility, build interest among students, get feedback 

46. Guest Blog to Drive More Traffic

If you’re looking to boost your SEO, guest posting is one of the best ways to boost your credibility. Besides, you get to pitch yourself to a broad audience without much cost. Try to find websites with high authority.

Ensure the site is active and relevant to your niche. You can check the website authority with tools like Moz or Ahrefs. 

And to get that enthusiastic “yes”, make sure to follow the guidelines. Lastly, don’t forget to promote your guest post on social media or websites.

Why Does It Work?

Earn backlinks, position as authority, broaden your reach, create buzz

Guest Blog Pitching Strategies:

• Personalize your email pitch and present multiple ideas before starting the guest post
• Write a brief introduction about you and your expertise in the opening paragraphs
• Include proof with your previous articles, blogs, or videos.
• Ensure your guest topic aligns with the funnel. Include 1-2 contextual links to your course website or blog.

47. Create Video Content

“A picture speaks a thousand words! ” And videos can speak a few more and carve a visual narrative of your course. Whether it’s short video lessons or preview videos, videos are a gamechanging promotional tactic!

Besides, you can share these videos across social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube to spread-the-word. Include a call-to-action like “Enroll to full course” to get more course signups.

Why Does It Work?

Educates audience, builds trust, engagement, increased conversions, SEO

48. Offer Free Trial

Creating free trials is an effective strategy to attract new students. You can offer unlimited access to your course for one day or include limited course modules in the trial.

But don’t offer everything in your free trial; set limitations. If you end up offering everything, learners won’t have a reason to buy your course. Ensure your free trial is value-driven, and has enough nudges to purchase the full course.

Why Does It Work?

Improved customer trust, get feedback, reduced risk for customers, profitable way to get sales

49. Create an Engaging Course Carousel 

Carousels are everywhere on the internet and make your doomscrolling worthy! These eye-catching visuals instantly capture attention and spark curiosity. There are different carousel formats to choose from: image, videos, dynamic, interactive carousels.

Pick one based on your content needs. Carousels break down information and make it more digestible. An effective carousel hooks the audience in the first slide. Offers value in the middle and presents your course as a solution. The final slide leads the audience to your course with CTA.

Why Does It Work?

Build curiosity, breakdown information into digestible nuggets, visually-appealing

Carousel Ideas:

Practical tips, myth-busters, case studies, myth-busters, before/after transformation  

50. Create QR Codes to Engage With Your Course

Yes, you can use QR codes to increase your course visibility. Link the QR code to the course landing page, free webinar, course trial, etc. The instant access, trackability, multi-platform access makes it an effective promotional tactic.

But, where to place these black and white codes? You can place it anywhere online or offline. For example, social media posts, free guides, flyers, books, business cards.

Students just need to scan the QR code to get details about the course.

Why Does It Work?

Instant course access, bridge the online and offline gap, encourages mobile learning

Need more? Here are few other tactics to pitch your course:

51. Engage with Twitter Polls

52. Write a Press Release

53. Promote your course on marketplace

54. Target Engaged Visitors

55. Answer on Quora & Reddit

56. Promote within your Network

57. Partner with a YouTube Channel in your niche

58. Offer a stress-free payment plan

59. Host a challenge on social media

60. Upsell your course with a related product

61. Market your course on Snapchat

62. Engage on Whatsapp groups and chats

63. Insert an FAQ section in your sales page

64. Use Pinterest Ads

65. Partner with companies to sell in bulk

66. Tag people or brands on social media

67. Create quizzes related to your course

68. Organize an online event like a summit

69. Create an ebook or guide to pique interest

70. Reach out to local magazines, newspapers, or radio stations

Benefits of Promoting Your Online Course

You have picked the most in-demand topic and created a power-packed content. But, what if you haven’t spread the word about your course? Your prospects won’t know that such a course even exists, right? Moreover, your online course cannot sell itself! It’s your sole responsibility to promote your course and maximize your course revenue.

Here are the key reasons why you need to promote your course:

• Increase Visibility and Reach

The global education market is valued approximately at $7.3 trillion in 2025, which includes the course industry. So, the course market is fiercely competitive with courses in diverse niches. So, how do you think your course would stand out? Marketing your course across the most effective channels could help you to grab those eyeballs! 

• Target the Right Audience

Your target audience prefers a specific marketing channel. For example, LinkedIn and email marketing are suited for professionals, while YouTube and Instagram are more suited for hobbyists and learners. So, by finding where your audience typically spends their time, you can create targeted marketing campaigns. 

• Increase Your Enrollment Rates

Creating personalized and relevant content helps to reach relevant demographics and nurture leads. For instance, paid Google and Facebook Ads helps to broaden your reach to specific audiences.

• Establish Your Brand Authority

When you position yourself as an expert or thought leader in the market, it proves your credibility and fosters loyalty. For instance, if you create high-quality content related to your course. You demonstrate your deep knowledge and establish yourself as go-to-expert.

• Validate Your Course Idea

Pre-selling your course helps to gather feedback about your course early enough. After all, it’s better than selling a course that no one resonates with. Gathering feedback for your course before you finish it helps refine it and make the course more engaging!

How to Choose the Right Marketing Channel?

We have covered 70 unique marketing ideas to promote your online course. It’s not feasible to implement all the tactics, choose ones based on your target audience and budget.  Know your audience inside-out to convert better! Create a buyer’s persona with  key details like demographics, behaviour, profession, etc., 

A healthy mix of online and digital marketing strategies broadens your course reach. So, which marketing strategies fit your course better? Do leave the comments below.

FAQ-Related to The Best Marketing Channels for Selling Online Courses 

1. What is the best platform to sell an online course?

Choosing the right marketing channel entirely depends on your target audience. Create buyer personas and define marketing goals to see which marketing channel is most effective.

Few marketing channels for selling online courses are:

• Social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok
• Building an email list to nurture your leads
• Create a lead magnet like ebooks, cheatsheet, templates
• Promoting via Pinterest
• Create niche communities to engage your audience
• Start YouTube Channel
• Create a Sales Funnel to Promote Your Course
• Create a pre-sale promotional plan
• Use video marketing like testimonials, course previews, etc.

2. How do I market courses on Facebook?

These are promotional strategies to market your course on Facebook:

• Start with building a Facebook business page
• Create valuable content
• Leverage Facebook ads
• Join relevant Facebook groups
• Host interactive livestreams
• Share behind-the-scenes content, tutorials, workshops

3. How to market courses on Reddit?

First, identify subreddits relevant to your niche(ones with high traffic).  Engage in discussions by answering questions, comments, or upvoting. Prove yourself as a go-to-expert to build authority and build trust. You can even host Ask-me-anything (AMAs) on Reddit to share insights and boost visibility.