Groupon Merchant’s tips for offering E-Learning courses

While people are staying safe at home, they are looking to find new ways to entertain themselves or learn something new. From mixing cocktails and IT programming to learning a new language and more, the drive to learn a new skill or strengthen their field of expertise has led to a dramatic increase in demand for online courses. 

According to a recent survey* of Groupon users, over 50% said they are currently interested in taking an online course for personal or professional development. Now is the perfect time for businesses to enter the E-learning market. We’ve compiled a list of tips to help businesses in virtually any industry start offering online courses to meet the growing demand. 

Think outside the box

42% of our survey respondents said that they want to take an online course to “try something new”. What can your business offer in terms of a “new experience”? Due to the current social distancing measures, activities that would normally take place at a yoga studio, restaurant, music shop etc. have all been cancelled. Why not take them online?

Food and Drinks: Create online courses that offer participants the opportunity to learn how to make delicious dishes or cocktails. Tutorials on how to pick the best fresh ingredients and prepare them in different ways are sure to be popular with so many more people cooking for themselves at the moment.

Health, Beauty, Wellness: Hair and make-up tutorials are great options. You can detail the benefits of the products that you’re using and give the participant the option to order them directly from your business. Or give a how-to video on doing a proper skincare routine while explaining the benefits of the treatments your business offers to generate customers for the future.

Things to do:  Yoga, art and music classes are just a few examples of things that can fairly easily be transferred to an online course. People are going to be looking for ways to improve their outdoor skills for when things return to normal. Offering courses on how to set up a campsite, pack for a long hiking trip or repair a bicycle are great options that are sure to be in demand. Be creative! 

Professional development: 50% of our respondents said they are looking for online courses to develop professionally, with language (35%) and business (27%) being the most popular course categories.Language courses are always in high demand and can be tailored based on the interest for example business or conversational language courses. Courses in website programming, accounting, IT are definitely valuable now as people look to pad their CVs for the competitive job market. 

Finding new and engaging ways to share your skills with course participants is the key. There are people looking for E-learning courses for everything from wedding planning or dog grooming to creative writing or gardening and everything in between. Almost any business can create an online course around what they do and find an audience willing to pay to take it. Stepping outside of your comfort zone can increase your visibility and create a connection with people that could become regular customers once you’re open to the public again.

Get set-up

To say that all you need to start an online course is a video camera, a computer and some basic editing software is a bit of a stretch. While it is true that you will need these things, you’re also going to need a bit of help, like finding the right platform to host your course. 

Once you’ve got the equipment that you’ll need to film and edit your video, you should consider which e-commerce platform will bring you the most participants. This can vary greatly depending on the subject matter of your course. This guide can be a great source when you’re getting started. You should also do some research on your particular industry to find what the most popular platforms are for the types of courses you’ll be making. 

Once you’ve found your platform, and have your first course(s) online, let Groupon help get the word out to all of our subscribers. As a Groupon Merchant, creating a campaign is an easy and effective way to attract new customers with no upfront costs. 

Hit social media hard

In addition to looking for online courses, people are spending a lot of time on social media right now. Make sure all of your fans and followers are aware of what your business is doing. Posting pictures, behind the scenes videos and links to the actual courses are a great way to spread the word about your online course(s) and engage with your loyal patrons. 

Use polls to ask followers what they’d be interested in and update your course selection based on the results. Keep your followers in the know by updating your social pages with new posts every time a new course becomes available. Your business should encourage your followers to share their results on your page and tag your business when they post about their experience. Creating a unique hashtag for each course is also an easy way to see how much attention your courses are getting online.  

Plan for the long term

The effects of COVID-19 are going to be felt for a long time, but eventually business will return to normal. This doesn’t mean that your business should think of online courses as simply a short term investment. Quality online courses can bring your business additional revenue each month after it is online. Develop courses that can continue when your business is open to the public again. 

If you see that the demand for your courses is growing, carefully invest in any additional equipment you might need. Don’t feel the need to buy the best and most expensive equipment right away. It is better to start small and grow than pay a lot upfront and have to wait for your return on investment. 

Online courses can be a cost-effective way for your business to generate revenue during this difficult time and with a little investment they can continue to turn a profit long after you return to business as normal. Demand for E-Learning is not likely to decline anytime soon, which makes now the perfect time for your business to enter the market.

________________________________________________________________

* Groupon e-learning customer survey March 2020