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11 Email Marketing Tips for Online Course Creators

By: Alexis Bryan • November 16, 2023
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To succeed in online course creation, you have to go beyond creating a great course. Maximizing your reach and revenue means investing in marketing and promotion, such as email marketing.  

Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to connect with your audience and grow your business. Many educators and creators find email to be one of their top channels, and it can be for you, too. Course creators can use email marketing to prove their value as a teacher and build relationships with current and prospective learners.  

To help you get started, we’re providing you with 11 actionable tips for email marketing, including: 

  1. Grow your email list organically
  2. Segment your subscribers
  3. Keep your list updated
  4. Create mobile-friendly emails
  5. Avoid spamming
  6. Keep it simple
  7. Share valuable content
  8. Plan the next step
  9. Try newsletters
  10. Test your emails
  11. Be personal

Let’s dive in. 

1. Grow your email list organically 

There are lots of ways to grow your email list. You can give away freebies, offer a discount, or provide a downloadable. But the most important thing to remember is that you must grow your list organically.

In other words, you shouldn’t buy lists or send emails to people who never signed up for them. People are interested in emails that they know will provide them value (more on that later). When they receive random emails in their inbox, they’ll unsubscribe or report you as spam, which hurts your visibility. 

When trying to grow your list, be transparent about what you’ll be sending and how often. 

2. Segment your subscribers 

Once your email list starts to grow, you may find that you have a variety of subscribers, such as:

  • Avid fans of your courses
  • Those who have never taken one of your courses
  • Those who have only taken a few, or one, of your courses 

To make your emails effective, you need to talk to your audience in a way that’s relevant to them–which can vary based on who you’re sending emails to. So, how do you keep your emails personalized and engaging for everyone? Segment your audience. 

Email segmentation is dividing your audience into more targeted and specific email lists. Most popular email platforms have the option to do this easily. 

It’s up to you to decide what those lists look like, but you can use the above list to get started. 

3. Keep your list updated

We know that growing your list organically and segmenting your audience is important. But that’s not all–you need to make sure you’re sending emails to active recipients. 

Email marketing changes over time, and so does activity. Keep your list updated to include current email addresses to ensure subscribers are receiving your emails. 

If you have inactive subscribers who haven’t interacted with your emails at all, try sending a re-engagement campaign to encourage opens and clicks. If that doesn’t work, consider removing them from your list or discontinue emails for them. 

4. Create mobile-friendly emails  

Like most promotional tactics, email marketing relies heavily on mobile users. According to HubSpot Blog Research, 41% of email views come from mobile devices. 

Since the use of mobile devices is so high, you should ensure your emails are mobile-friendly. Here’s how:

  • Ensure all graphics and text are legible.
  • Don’t overdo graphics, visuals, or colors. 
  • Use a responsive template.
  • Break up long paragraphs. 
  • Make sure your subject line and preheader text are displayed.

The best way to make sure your emails are mobile-friendly is to test them, which we’ll discuss soon. 

5. Avoid spamming 

As mentioned, email marketing works when people want to receive your emails. When you send them to a random audience, they will perceive your message as spam. Being reported as spam is not ideal because it hurts your email reputation and visibility. 

But that doesn’t mean you should spam your current subscribers, either. Always include a clear unsubscribe link at the bottom of your emails, and avoid sending too many emails. 

As far as email frequency, there’s no official number of how many emails you should send. However, remember that more is not always better–aim for once or twice a week and keep an eye on your analytics. 

6. Keep it simple 

In email marketing, it’s best to simplify emails to eliminate clutter and allow the recipient to focus on the goal of the email. You should have only one goal or topic per email. 

Overcomplicating an email with multiple topics, long paragraphs, or heavy design can be off-putting to your audience. They may not read it or follow your call to action. 

7. Share valuable content 

As discussed, you want your email to focus on one key topic or goal. Whatever that is, keep your audience engaged and responsive with valuable content. 

Course creators can offer the following content: 

  • Relevant news and updates, such as a new course announcement or enrollment deadline. 
  • Exclusive offers or discounts only for email subscribers. 
  • Mini courses or other free educational content. 

Remember, to keep your email marketing efforts strong, you have to keep subscribers. Every time you send an email, it should be relevant and valuable. 

8. Plan the next step 

Email marketing is not only a way to share valuable content but it’s also effective in leading people to the next step. That can be downloading an ebook, enrolling in your course, or reading your newest blog post. 

You don’t want your recipient to open the email, scroll, and return to their inbox. Add a clear call to action. You’ll want this to be a link or button near the bottom of your email or after your valuable content. For example, if you’re announcing a new course, explain what they would learn, then provide a link to your course landing page. 

9. Try newsletters

When it comes to email marketing, newsletters are an effective tool to build and engage your audience. Email newsletters are emails that are sent regularly, such as weekly or monthly. 

Typically, email newsletters follow a theme. For example, if you offer courses about painting, you may create a newsletter that includes a painting tip of the week.

Similar to the other tips we’ve shared, here are some best practices for creating email newsletters: 

  • Tell subscribers what they’re signing up for. 
  • Keep the emails focused on information rather than promotion. 
  • Let your subscribers adjust content type and frequency, or easily unsubscribe. 
  • Make sure they are mobile-friendly. 
  • Segment your audience for more targeted messages. 

10. Test your emails 

A common mistake in email marketing is not testing emails. Testing will help you catch any errors or mistakes before sending an email to your entire list. 

Before you send an email, send it to yourself first. Check it on your computer and mobile device to make sure of the following:

  • There are no spelling mistakes. 
  • The email is mobile-friendly. 
  • The design, images, and layout are visually appealing. 
  • All links work. 
  • There is a clear call to action. 

Your email marketing platform should be able to send test emails. If not, make a list with only your email. 

11. Be personal 

Email marketing is great for course creators because it lets you be more personal. Instead of the formality of your course or social media, you can be more casual and directly address subscribers.

Some ways to be more personal in emails include:

  • Write from a first-person point-of-view. 
  • Include your name in the From field.
  • Sign off with a casual signature. 
  • Add a catchphrase at the beginning or end of your email. 
  • Ask questions and encourage replies. 

Remember, email isn’t a one-way communication tool. Be personal to keep your subscribers opening, clicking, and interacting with your emails, courses, and brand. 

Create courses worth sharing with LearnDash

Email marketing is effective when done right. Use these tips to craft or refine your email marketing strategy for online course promotion. 

If you don’t have courses yet or are looking for a new platform, check out LearnDash LMS. It’s the leading learning management system for WordPress with features designed with course creators in mind. 

Ready to get started? Experience the powerful features LearnDash has to offer in the free demo.

Alexis Bryan

Alexis is a member of the content team at StellarWP. As a content marketing specialist, she enjoys writing, being creative, and working with the greater team on all things WordPress.