It's time to brand your course: Course First. Branding second.
We all know that branding is important. The question is, how do you actually get started?
If you’re like many educators, when it comes to branding, you fall into one of two camps: Either you spend so much time absorbed in branding that your course never gets off the ground, or you never give it a thought and spend years carrying on without one. Of course, neither of these scenarios is ideal.
You don’t want to belong to either camp. On the one hand, branding should wait until you have something to brand. Why get hung up on the logo for your new online course if you haven’t even begun to develop those courses? But at the same time, once you do have those courses and are ready to build your business, a strong brand can make your job easier—and that’s where this guide comes in!
1. Differentiate yourself from the competition.
When it comes to selling your course, you might think competition makes your job harder. But in fact, the presence of competition means your target market already knows what they’re looking for. They just need to decide whether to choose your course or someone else’s.
Your brand is an expression of the values that drive your business. If you believe online education should be fun, adaptive, and contemporary, that’s the kind of course you’re going to make. If you think it should be academically rigorous, then you’ll design a very different course. You communicate that spirit through your brand, and in return, it attracts learners who share that mindset.
You should be super clear about what sets your course apart from others in its space and how it fits into your broader offering as a business. If you have several courses under one umbrella (such as a suite of courses), then each individual course should offer a unique perspective on the same topic so as not to strip interest from potential buyers of other courses in the suite. This will also eliminate confusing potential customers about what exactly they're purchasing when they sign up for a single course within a larger collection of content on a given topic area.
2. Build your audience.
When you designed your course, you likely did so with a specific kind of learner in mind. Maybe you envisioned a young entrepreneur preparing to start a design business, or perhaps creating a wellness course for female entrepreneurs. You might even be creating a training program for a start-up. No matter who your audience is, you have one. If you know who your audience is, you may not be communicating the value of your course well without an established brand. Visitors to your website might read about your course, but that may not be enough to convince them to sign up without an assurance that the course was designed with them in mind. A brand demonstrates how your course will satisfy their learning needs.
3. Create a lasting impression.
When you're trying to get people to sign up for a course, it's important that they remember who you are. You're in a crowded market, and it's not just your competitors you have to worry about. Your learners are bombarded with hundreds of brands every day. If they can't remember who YOU are, they might not come back when they decide to sign up for your online course.
This is where a strong brand comes in handy: it helps learners recall your name and details about your course when they want to find you later on. And it also helps them describe your course and distinguishing characteristics to other people. After all, not every visitor will want to take your course—but if they spread word of it to their friends, family members, and coworkers, you'll want them to be able to talk about what makes YOUR course special!
4.Make an emotional connection
Finally, brands are highly emotional. In this day and age, it is important for us to make a connection. When someone creates an inspiring brand, consumers want to identify with it. Many people don’t just want to sign up for a course—they want to feel like their decision was a good one.
Remember, branding is important, but it’s nothing without content. It’s easy to become Swept up in the joy of defining your brand identity that you use it to avoid the far more important—but challenging—work of creating a course. Don’t let yourself fall into that trap. Your brand will help you market your course, once you have a course to market. Don’t put it off indefinitely, but don’t let it keep you from setting forth.
