Part of creating a successful online course is communication with your learners.

By incorporating various touch-points through a learner’s online course journey you are letting them know that they are not alone and that you care about their success.

This also goes a long way in creating a sense of community – and in the lonely world of online learning this is always a welcomed change.

For many learning management systems out there you have to use whatever email functionality they have built-in. This isn’t always a bad thing though. If it gets the job done then there is no need for other fancy tools.

But then there are times when you may want some options.

Maybe you are already using a particular email tool and wish to continue using it. This is where WordPress and LearnDash get to “flex their muscles”. You have many options when it comes to communicating to your learners as they interact with your content.

Here are the more popular options:

Quiz Emails

The most basic of interactions but sometimes it is all you need. If you just want to send emails when a quiz is complete then you can use the built-in quiz email feature to send learners their score.

Notifications Add-On

Don’t want to spend time or money configuring another platform? We have you covered. Use the LearnDash notification add-on to fire out messages based on learner activity.

In addition to quiz completion triggers, you have other options like course enrollment, lesson completion, failing a quiz, and even reminders if the learner hasn’t logged in after a certain period of time!

Email Platforms like MailChimp, AWeber, and ActiveCampaign

If you are using a platform like MailChimp then the LearnDash Zapier add-on is for you. You can add users to lists based on activities they perform within your courses. You can then configure your lists to automatically send out emails based on these activities.

Zapier

Few people know this but Zapier can actually send emails for you – and their server is extremely reliable. In other words, you don’t have to connect to any of the platforms mentioned above. Just configure the trigger and then use the Zapier email option.

MailChimp (Again)

If you want a direct integration with MailChimp then you can use the LearnDash-MailChimp add-on offered by Real Big Plugins. It’s a nice and simple “set it and forget it” solution.

ActiveCampaign (Again)

Need a tight integration with the popular ActiveCampaign platform. Look no further than ActiveMember360 – a membership plugin that can add ActiveCampaign tags based on LearnDash learner activity. With the tags in place you can add users to automation sequences.

Infusionsoft

If you have a need for advanced user engagement then leveraging Infusionsoft is the way to go. In fact, Troy Dean uses Infusionsoft with LearnDash to deliver exceptional courses. As learners progress through the content he is pinging them along the way by using the Infusionsoft tagging capabilities.

There are a few ways to use Infusionsoft with LearnDash so make sure to read up on them before moving forward.

Another CRM

Need to connect LearnDash to another CRM (like Ontraport)? Then check out the WPFusion plugin. It will allow you to achieve similar functionality as the Infusionsoft options.