Now that you’ve created an online course, you may be wondering what you can do to promote it. After all, promotion is crucial for successfully selling online courses. 

In today’s digital environment, you can reach the right audience using a social media platform like Facebook. As one of the largest social networking sites, Facebook is a great choice for seasoned or new creators trying to promote their first online course. It’s one of the most popular platforms, with many benefits and features for course creators. 

Let’s see why and how you can use Facebook to promote online courses. 

Why should you use Facebook for course promotion? 

As mentioned, Facebook is one of the largest social networks. In fact, it has over 3 billion monthly active users globally. You’re sure to find your audience on this network. 

Besides its large userbase, Facebook is creator-friendly, especially for those familiar with social media. They even offer Meta Business Suite, where you can:

• Upload, edit, and post content. 
• Streamline engagement from Facebook Messenger and post comments. 
• Start using monetization features. 
• Manage business pages. 
• See insights and performance metrics. 

In addition, there’s no costs associated with using Facebook, unless you decide to run paid advertising. Facebook does offer a robust ad platform and targeting capabilities, but more on that later. 

How to promote online courses using Facebook 

Now that you know why you should use Facebook, let’s look at the specific ways you can use it to promote your online courses.

Create and optimize a business page 

Facebook provides a straightforward way to promote your online courses through business pages. If you don’t have one yet, set up a Facebook business page to separate your personal from your business account. There are unique features reserved just for pages that personal accounts don’t have.

To maximize your reach and visibility, optimize your page by adding in all relevant information, including your website URL, profile and cover images, and business category. You can even add a call-to-action button, such as Learn More, and link it to your course website. Be sure to frequently go through your page settings and keep it up-to-date. 

To get more likes on your page, you can share it with your friends from your personal account and invite them to follow it. You can also join groups and interact as your business page. 

Make or join groups 

Groups are one the best features Facebook has to offer for course creators. 

There are two types you can create or join: private and public groups. 

Typically, private groups are more specific to a topic. Membership can be limited to certain groups of people or businesses. On the other hand, anyone can join and interact with public groups. 

Whether they are public or private, join groups in your niche or related industry. You can gain valuable insights on what people are interested in and then make more content and courses based on those. There are even groups for course creators specifically, so you can connect with other creators to share tips and ideas. 

If you want to start your own community, Facebook makes it easy to do so. Create your own group of exclusive members, like those that are already in your course, to take advantage of user-generated content. 

Groups give you the opportunity to connect with your audience on a more personal level and demonstrate your knowledge. Potential learners will be more inclined to register for your courses. 

Go live

Another great feature is Facebook Live, a tool that allows you to broadcast live from your phone or computer. 

Here are some ways you can use it: 

• Host Q&A sessions.
• Do a free class. 
• Interview other industry experts. 
• Show in-person events. 
• Casually engage with your followers. 

When you start a live stream, Facebook actually promotes it by notifying your followers. But to maximize attendance, make a post in advance about when you’ll be going live and what it’s for. 

Going live is fun, interactive, and engaging. It helps build a relationship with your audience while showing your authenticity. 

Post and engage regularly

Like all social networks, you should post consistently, especially as a course creator. This helps you and your course stay top of mind with your potential or current learners. Then you can easily promote your course.

Once you begin posting regularly, check out your page insights for improvement opportunities. For example, you can figure out when is the best time to post. Take a look at engagement to identify any patterns. You may find long videos perform better than short ones, for instance. 

Be sure to respond to all of your direct messages in a timely manner via Facebook Messenger. It’ll most likely be questions from interested users. If you notice you’re getting a lot of similar questions, consider making a post on your page answering them. 

Similar to messages, be responsive to comments. React or respond to comments on your page, in groups, and on other pages. You want to build relationships through social media, so engage as much as possible. 

Run Facebook Ads

If you’re interested in advertising, consider Meta Ads for Facebook. You can choose to get more awareness, engagement, traffic, or leads, all which help to promote your online courses. Plus, compared to other platforms, it is more cost-effective, so you’ll have a higher return on investment.

Before you start Facebook Ads, make sure you have a strong understanding of your audience. You can build that understanding by spending time in Facebook groups, looking at people who are in your course, and networking. 

Once you feel comfortable to start, consider the following: 

• Budget. Fortunately, it doesn’t take a lot of money to start running Facebook Ads, but it’s important to think about how much you’re willing to spend. 
• Audience. Target by geographic location, interests, and more. Use insights from your page or website analytics to help guide you.
• Message. For an effective ad, your message needs to resonate with the audience you’re targeting. Speak their language and touch on their pain points, wants, questions, and goals. 
• Offer. Users won’t just click on anything–especially if they’ve never heard of you. Your offer should be compelling, clear, and valuable. 

Next, you’ll want to start building out your ads. Consider boosting a high-performing post that’s already on your page, or start creating graphics or videos. Think about where you’re sending people to and align it to your ad graphic. For example, if it’s your course landing page, your ad graphic can be a snippet of your course or social proof from your landing page. 

After you start running ads, keep an eye on your performance metrics. You might have to tweak your budget, audience, message, or offer.

Build on LearnDash to promote on Facebook 

As a course creator, promotion is critical for success, but so is creating a professional, engaging course. The learners you attract through Facebook promotion will expect an impactful and interactive course. 

If you haven’t set up your courses yet, or if you’re looking for additional functionality, a learning management system (LMS) like LearnDash can give you all the features and flexibility you need. Create, launch, and sell online courses with features like a drag and drop course builder, course creation wizard, and much more. To see them in action, try the LearnDash demo.

With the combined power of an engaging course and a Facebook promotion strategy, you’ll be selling courses in no time.