The e-learning market is booming, and it’s imperative for companies like yours to get ahead of the competition. Selling training online to a growing market might seem daunting, but with our expert insights, you’ll be at the top of your game in no time.
Before you begin, think about who your clients are and answer a few questions to gain clarity and define purpose. Do you sell B2B, B2C, or maybe a bit of both? How will you market to each of those clients? Where or how do they purchase? How will your clients’ users access your e-learning? Use this information to guide you as you review the following expert insights and consider how you will apply them.
Expert Insight #1: Utilize Your Unique Selling Proposition
Having a unique selling proposition (USP) is central to your success as a training provider. Your USP is the intersection of what your company does best and what your customer wants. To explore this, consider what pain points your training addresses for your customer. Go through metrics, and see where your training has directly impacted key points of interest for current clients. Maybe you enabled employees to reduce mandatory training with greater efficiency and better outcomes. These metrics direct how organizations invest in outside training for their workforce. Leverage the numbers to work for you.
Examples of a great USP could be:
- Prominently feature that your training is convenient. It’s available anytime, anywhere, from any internet-capable device.
- Meet mandatory annual training requirements. Offer a continuing education certificate available upon completion, designated by the appropriate licensing body.
- Upgrade skills and display them on professional profiles. Include digital badges or learning certificates that can be displayed or posted on LinkedIn and other social media.
- Promote privacy and data security. With the threat of data breaches and the recent onslaught of ransomware attacks on private companies, your clients want to know that they are protected. As a Firmwater client, you can rest assured that you and your client’s data are secure.
Expert Insight #2: Leverage the Power of Shopify and E-commerce
E-commerce is no longer simply about buying physical goods online. You can now easily buy and sell digital products too. People and companies purchase a significant amount of their training through e-commerce sites. Growing a thriving online training company requires you to be a part of the e-commerce marketplace. Using Shopify, you can quickly and easily create a professional storefront and start selling training online. It enables you to build an online store in minutes, using one of thousands of free or paid themes. You can then promote your store with different offers and pricing. For example:
- Provide customers with a detailed description of the training and materials that support your content, such as, “Ten modules, fifteen minutes long, each with a three-minute video and interactive quiz. Also includes a final assessment!”
- Detail how long their paid access lasts, and remember that lifetime access can be a huge selling point.
- Create promotional or limited-time offers to create urgency and drive sales.
- Bundle pricing so customers who buy multiple products can get bigger discounts.
- Offer automatic access to course content after purchase.
- Use any number of Shopify apps, plugins, and marketing tools to build and grow your business.
Shopify is a powerful site and has many other tools and options to help you succeed. You can sell to both B2B and B2C. For example, a team manager could purchase multiple seats for a course and send out email invites to their team. Shopify and Firmwater LMS are multi-language and accessibility compliant. Shopify works in harmony with Firmwater LMS, and you can utilize LMS-generated completion emails to direct users back to your storefront, where they can purchase their next course with a coupon code.
Expert Insight #3: It’s All About That Brand
Branding a business is one of the most basic yet vital digital marketing tactics in the e-learning industry. With the market flooding quickly, you and your clients need to stand out in a sea of competition. Giving your customers the option to maintain control over the look and feel of their content will set your services apart.
If you work with enterprise-level clients, you know how crucial it can be for them to provide their customers or employees with a consistent experience. These clients may want to have their own logo, color scheme, and domain. Using your client’s branding is vital because it creates a sense of trust for the end user. When your client’s users access the content, it looks like it’s coming from the client, not you. Firmwater LMS is a full white-label solution with many options for customization. These include:
- Completion certificates that are fully customizable to the client’s brand
- Customized automated emails sent from the LMS
- Client’s data, content, and users remaining in a designated, branded site
Expert Insight #4: Take Your Digital Marketing to the Next Level
You know that you need to market and advertise if you want to build your customer base, but how do you take it from basic to bold? If you need to start fresh, don’t worry, it’s never too late to begin! Let’s assume that you have a website and company branding and are using a few social media channels. Your market position should be the next big concern. Have you established your company as an industry expert? As a training provider, you have the knowledge, so you just need to show your audience and clients that you are an authority. Use a company blog to set yourself up, and then begin to reach out to other publications. Having your name pop up on multiple blogs and trade publications shows that you know what you’re talking about. Use your social media to host Q&A sessions. Focus on adding value to build real audience connections.
There are many other ways to show prospective clients that you are the best choice among other training providers, including:
- Provide a free trial or preview of course content. Customers can have an opportunity to see the value, quality, and expertise that you offer.
- Include reviews and quotes from current and past customers on your website or storefront. People love to see social proof in the form of ratings.
- Offer free information that is valuable to prospective clients through ebook downloads, white papers, or case studies.
Conclusion: Selling Training Online
As a training expert, you already have great content; you simply need an effective strategy for selling training online. First, think about who your clients are and how their users will access the course content. Second, figure out what sets you apart from the competition—decide on your USP. Third, provide various selling options, such as Shopify e-commerce or white label for enterprise clients. Finally, level up your online marketing and show off your authority as a training provider. Following these expert insights will set you up for long-term success!
Here at Firmwater, we don’t just sell an LMS for training providers. We partner with our clients, giving them the tools and insights they need to implement the best practices in e-learning course development, growth, and delivery. We care too much about our customers’ businesses to have them wade through forums and chatbots for help.
Ready to use an LMS that’s designed for the way YOU work, with a team dedicated to YOUR needs? Book a no-obligation consultation directly with our team today!