How Does Your Online Course Measure Up Against The Best in the Industry

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Do you track your marketing?

I see this all the time.

Client comes to ask for help with marketing.

I ask for data… Crickets

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Here’s the problem with that.” _builder_version=”3.27.4″]Here’s the problem with that.

If it isn’t tracked it can’t be measured.

Things that you should know:

  • How users interact with your ads
  • How users interact with your sales page… and each page before and after
  • Where the leaks in your funnel are
  • Are you hitting your KPIs (those should be set up first)

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How do you define a KPI?

A KPI is a measurable value that demonstrates how effectively a company is achieving key business objectives. KPIs are used by individuals and organizations to evaluate their success at reaching critical targets.

Here’s a process for setting actionable KPI targets:

  1. Review business objectives.
  2. Analyze your current performance.
  3. Set short and long term KPI targets.
  4. Review targets with your team.
  5. Review progress and readjust.

In an online course business… these would be some of the KPIs that I would use.

# of ads clicked to sales page
# of opt-in sign ups
# of visitors to a sales page
# of visitors to cart
# cart abandonments
# of sales[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”How to track your marketing efforts” _builder_version=”3.27.4″]How to track your marketing efforts

As you can deduce from above… in order to stack your course against others… you will need data.

1. Heat Maps

Our go to tool in this step is HotJar. The free account is enough to start.

You are looking for two things.

Where People are Clicking

Where people fall off when looking at the content

Based on those two factors… you can easily see how to fix your pages using data. Sometimes you will see hundreds of people click on an area that doesn’t make sense…. So you put a button there. Other times you will notice that one paragraph goes to blue and this is where everyone leaves… so you fix that headline, edit paragraph or remove it. CRO is not magic. This is what pros do.

2. Funnel Analytics

We like to use Funnelytics for this. Google Analytics is to limiting as you cannot track through different platforms.

So if you have a part of your sales funnel on your blog (blog posts & sales page) and then you use Samcart or Thrive cart (as checkout) and then Zap people to Thinkific or Teachable (to enroll them)… it won’t let you do that. Also you want to track all of your links (Fb Ads, Linkedin, Blog posts, Auto Responder etc…) so that you clearly see where each buyer came from.

Here’s what Funnelytics looks like in action.

In this example a client had zero clue what’s working or not so we setup the tracking and could see exactly what is happening in his sales process.

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Successful Course Marketing

Now let’s take a look at what the industry data is for the best selling courses.

Everyone recommends FB ads.

The typical ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) is 1.25-1.5.

For every $ that you put in… you should be getting around that much back.
Google Adwords will be at the same levels when working.

This is for cold traffic.

If you are remarketing… typical Return on Remarketing Spend is 1.8 -3.7

That’s for every $1 that you put into your remarketing campaign.

Other data Points to match against

  • Opt-in Page Sign ups: 30-50%
  • Webinar show up rate: 25-35%
  • Webinar Sales: 5-8%
  • Auto-Responder Sequence Sales Conversion: 8-12%
  • Cost Per Click on Ads: 30-40 cents
  • Abandoned Cart: 15-20%

All of these can be fixed and improved BUT only if you can pinpoint the problem.

Bonus: Udemy sucks but can one make money on it?

Here are my thoughts on Udemy. Yes… you have zero control and they devalue your courses but it’s a decent lead generation tool and can make you money. You can also use it to drive traffic to your premium course. Roughly 10% of your students will buy it.

Take a look at the data from one of my clients. This is for 2018 (one full year).

How does your course measure up?

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Whenever you’re ready, there are 2 ways I can help you:
  1. If you’re still looking for traction in your online course, I’d recommend starting with an affordable guide:

The Course Engine: Transform your course into a money-making machine with The Course Engine. This quick and actionable guide will teach you the system I use to transform average courses into ones that can grow past 7 figures in revenue with my in-person clients.  Join 279+ students here.

  1. Want an expert to take over or help you with your marketing?

Check out what we do, our case studies and book a free consultationwemarketonlinecourses.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Join others just like you. Learn more about Tom Libelt and Smart Brand Marketing