You may have heard about affiliate marketing in the past and might have wondered how to create affiliate marketing for your online course. Well, I am here to help you with that.
Running an online course can be an incredibly lucrative endeavor, but it can also be challenging to generate sufficient income from your students.
If you’re looking for a less time-consuming and more effective way to generate income from your course, affiliate marketing could be a great option for you.
In this article, I’ll outline how to start affiliate marketing for your online course, who you can recruit as your affiliate, and reputable online course platforms with an affiliate program.
Steps To Creating Affiliate Links For Your Course
Below are some steps you need to take if you want to create affiliate marketing for your online courses.
1. Choose an affiliate marketing software
First and foremost, you need to get the right affiliate marketing software. An affiliate marketing software provides you with all the resources you need to get started.
This includes distributing referral links, measuring click-through rates, and distributing commissions. Affiliate software is essential for monitoring affiliate sales and making accurate decisions based on the information gathered.
With the software, you can quickly evaluate if your affiliates are meeting their targets, and then fine-tune your strategy as required.
2. Tailor your program
Your affiliate program should complement your online course. Here are a few steps on how to customize your affiliate program:
- Create a subdomain
- Developing a personalized sign-up page
- Personalizing affiliate mailings to match the language of your brand
- Integrating your logo on the dashboard of your affiliate program
3. Set up a commissioning system
When a referral enrolls in your online course, the affiliate responsible for the sale receives a commission. If you provide a free course or trial period, you can choose to only give affiliates a commission when their referral purchases the course.
Commissions might be paid at a fixed rate or a percentage of the course fee. For example, assume your course costs $49.99 per participant, and you can offer a 15% profit to affiliates.
Your affiliates would receive approximately $7 for each referral that enrolls in your course. The higher your commission, the more affiliates you will attract.
However, regardless of the commission, ensure that you can afford to make continuous reimbursements. Upgrading your commission structure helps keep your affiliates interested in selling your courses.
For example, you can increase your commission rates as the affiliates make more lifetime sales. Or you could offer additional incentives to the top-performing affiliates every month or year.
4. Recruit the best affiliates
The success of your affiliate program is dependent on your ability to recruit affiliates who are most suitable for your online course platform. Here is what you can do to discover the ideal affiliates:
- Take your time finding and evaluating content creators in your niche.
- Use advertising tools or manually search for unique keywords on social media networks.
- Search for affiliates on social media communities related to the niche of your courses.
- Reach out to content creators who fit your requirements.
- Create a form on your website for interested affiliates to apply.
- Evaluate those who apply until you find the right fit for your course.
Who Can Be Your Affiliate?
1. Students
Promotions from past students are quite beneficial. It is a personal endorsement and seal of approval from someone who has already completed the course.
And, given that 92% of customers trust recommendations from friends and family above random advertisements, this is very powerful.
Students can advertise by making evaluations, testimonials, or video material that summarizes what they learned from your course and why it was useful.
2. Industry experts
Experts in fields relevant to your course can provide excellent support. For instance, a photography course creator can approach well-known photographers and ask them to become affiliates.
Alternatively, a course on how to interview for tech jobs can collaborate with employees in top-tier organizations such as Google and Apple. Explain your course’s benefits to their audience, as well as your compensation offer.
You can also think about including something like advertising their company in your course. These industry experts can help you promote your course through their networks, on their website, or on social media handles.
3. Course instructors
Consider collaborating with other creators in your niche. A nutrition lesson, for example, might be promoted with a fitness course.
The affiliate link can be included in the course content or as a personalized recommendation from the other creator.
This will not only help you reach new audiences, but you will also be able to cooperate and generate fresh material for your site. This is a win for everyone.
4. Social Media Groups
Find online communities on social media that have members who are interested in your course. This might include groups that are specifically interested in your specialty.
For instance, if you offer a cooking masterclass, you can find groups focused on culinary lifestyles. You can also look for communities that are similar to your niche or field in general.
If you teach a language course, for example, look for ex-pat communities in places where that language is spoken.
Online Courses With Affiliate Programs
Now that you understand how to create affiliate marketing for your online course. Check out these amazing online platforms that offer great affiliate programs.
1. Udemy
Udemy has always been the “brand” name for online courses. When you think of a website where people can learn new skills, Udemy is the first name that comes up.
Udemy offers a wide range of courses. From practical skills like computer languages and network security to personal development topics like religion and photography.
This implies that you can advertise Udemy courses to almost ANY audience and make money through the Udemy affiliate network. After reviewing the Udemy affiliate program, I believe it is a great program to take advantage of.
2. Edx
Edx is a non-profit online learning platform used by over 17 million people. To build their high-quality programs, they have collaborated with some of the world’s finest institutions and colleges, including MIT, Harvard, and Microsoft.
Business and management, computer programming, language, science, and maths are among the online courses available. They also teamed up with Awin to manage their affiliate marketing program.
To help enhance click-through and conversion rates, edX provides professionally designed banners. In their monthly newsletters, their dedicated account manager keeps affiliates up to date on the newest bargains, special offers, and new courses.
3. Edureka
Edureka is a different kind of e-learning system for professionals who want to grow in their jobs. Their world-class team of industry leaders has developed high-quality courses in coding, analytics, software development, cloud computing, and other topics.
Their courses also feature live instructor-led sessions, project work, and 24-hour access to teaching assistants who can answer any queries. Edureka conducts its affiliate marketing programs through Commission Junction.
They also provide all the marketing resources and tools required for affiliates to start promoting right away. Extra commissions are offered for sales made from tech and education-related websites.
4. BestMyTest
BestMyTest is a TOEFL instruction firm owned by Zebra Education Inc. TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) assesses if a person’s English language abilities are sufficient to study in English-speaking nations.
Video lessons, 2,000+ practice problems, and simulated examinations are included in their new TOEFL Tutor online learning resources. They have a great conversion rate and an overall sale of $75.
Zebra Education Inc. runs its affiliate program through ShareASale. Their compensation rates are divided into tiers based on the type of website, with teachers getting the highest rates.
5. Teachable
Teachable allows you to quickly build your online courses. Their platform allows you to easily create interactive lectures and sell your courses.
An easy-to-use website builder, fully functional pages for web and mobile, and comprehensive customization capabilities are all available. Their affiliate program is run entirely in-house.
Teachable gives their affiliates a one-of-a-kind tracking code, making it simple to begin earning high commissions right immediately. Affiliates can also increase revenue by using conversion-optimized funnels.
Remember that the Teachable affiliate program is just for introducing course developers to their platform. For someone to become an affiliate for a certain course, they must first obtain permission from the course author.
6. Skillshare
Over 4 million students have joined Skillshare’s online community to master cutting-edge skills. They have over 25,000 courses available that allow students to interact while learning and remain ahead of the curve.
The Skillshare platform features courses in Entrepreneurship, technology, marketing, design, journalism, photography, etc.
Skillshare hired Impact Radius to manage its affiliate program. They also collaborate with their affiliates to assist them to advertise the courses the target audience would enjoy.
They provide continuously updated promotions and incentives to assist you in maximizing your commissions.
7. Coursera
This is another platform that allows you to create affiliate Marketing for your online course. Coursera pays its affiliates a basic payment of 10–45%, with extra available for exceptional success.
These forms of affiliate commissions attract many affiliates, resulting in widespread exposure for your business on the internet.
It is quick and simple to join their affiliate program. Once approved into the program, participants receive access to a plethora of advertising banners for their website. Affiliates also receive a weekly update to keep them up to date.
Coursera also offers a wide range of courses and allows affiliates to track the traffic they deliver to its website.
FAQs
How do you sell online courses through affiliate marketing?
Joining an affiliate marketplace is the easiest way to do this.
You also need to find the right marketplace, list your courses with descriptions, and decide on commissions. The best part is that you only have to pay affiliates who have made sales.
Does teachable have an affiliate program?
Yes, Teachable has an affiliate program that pays affiliates their commission through PayPal.
According to their Monthly Payment Gateway schedule, Teachable pays in USD on the first of every month. Or the next business day if the 1st is a weekend or US holiday.
How do you pay an affiliate on Thinkific?
Simply click on the user’s name on the Affiliate’s page. And then on the “Approved” payments in their profile to record a payment.
A pop-up will appear asking you to confirm that you want to record the payment. That’s all there is to it. Any commissions that were included in the payment will be paid instantly.
Conclusion
Creating affiliate marketing for your online course will cut down on needless marketing costs while increasing course revenue significantly.
Another beautiful thing about affiliate marketing for online courses is that you can advertise a wide range of courses. It is the most effective way for thought leaders, and content creators to sell their online courses.
This not only generates income for you but also helps to promote your course and build your reputation as an expert in your field. Therefore, it’s worth the investment.
I hope you found this article insightful. You should also check out the best sales funnel software for your online course marketing.
Thanks for reading.
