Top Digital Marketing Trends in 2023 to Promote an Online Course

By 2030, the E-Learning Market is expected to reach $645 Billion in market size.

As the online education industry continues to grow, online course creators like you must stay up to date on the latest digital marketing trends to ensure their courses stand out from the competition.

So what are the digital marketing trends to look out for in 2023? And how can you implement them in your business and online course?

In today’s article, we’ll take a look at some 2023 key marketing trends in the online course creation and digital marketing landscape, so you can stay up-to-date and deliver the best online course for your students.

#1: Personalization and Targeting

On the top of our list of digital marketing trends for online course creators in 2023, there is personalization.

A one-size-fits-all digital marketing approach is not going to be enough to attract students in 2023: today’s consumers expect a highly personalized experience, and this is especially true for online courses, where personalization and one-on-one support can make all the difference in the students’ learning experience.

A good way to personalize your students’ experience before they become your customers is to segment your audience and use different messaging for different customers (at different stages in the buyer’s journey).

One of the easiest ways to do this is through email marketing. Most email tools allow you to segment your audience into different groups and send them different campaigns depending on their level of engagement or any other factor that might impact the messaging.

If you have the time, you can also reach potential customers manually and send them highly personalized emails or messages.

Personalization doesn’t stop with email marketing. You can use this to segment your audiences in your marketing campaigns while running paid ads or creating content for different social media platforms.

How can you do this on Heights Platform?

Heights Platform is an online course software that lets you build a complete online knowledge business. With Heights, you have full control over your content and who enrolls in your course.

Powerful analytics let you assess the level and progression of your students as they take your course, and you can contact them anytime to offer guidance or build a rapport. You can also send announcements and email campaigns and segment them into different groups.

#2: Social Proof

Social proof is not a new concept. The term “social proof” was first adopted in 1984 by author Robert Cialdini in his book Influence, and it refers to the psychological phenomenon of copying other people’s actions and imitating their behaviors in certain situations.

In other words, people are more likely to take action if others have done the same thing and had a positive experience. This is why positive reviews and testimonials are so important when it comes to selling online courses.

For online course creators and digital marketers in 2023, this means that they should focus on building credibility and trust through social proof.

One way to do this is by collecting (positive) testimonials and reviews from past students. By showcasing these on your website, sales pages or ads, you can show potential students that others have had positive experiences with your course.

Another trend we are seeing in the digital marketing space is to leverage social media to showcase the success of your students. For example, you could feature student case studies or share testimonials on your social media channels.

Even better, try to collect user-generated content. User-generated content is a very powerful digital marketing practice because you are not promoting your business: instead, your customers are.

This content is a great way to grow your audience and improve trust and social proof. You can incentivize your current or past students to share their thoughts about your online courses by creating videos or writing reviews about your program and sharing them on their social media platforms.

How can you do this on Heights Platform?

Collecting reviews is up to you. However, Heights maximizes your chances of gaining positive testimonials by providing a great learning experience for your students. We have studied how we learn and designed our platform to help students progress and learn while having fun. Tools like gamification, community, certificates and rewards help you offer a fantastic learning experience in your Heights courses.

On top of this, you can embed forms to collect reviews in strategic places throughout your program. Our Web Page Builder allows you to easily create a website and landing pages for your business, and showcase your social proof for potential customers to see.

#3: Video Marketing

Video is a powerful tool for online course marketing, as it allows you to showcase your program in an engaging way. In 2023, we expect to see an increase in the use of video marketing in the online course space, thanks to the interactive nature of this format.

One way to use video in your digital marketing efforts is through sharing free informational content or creating previews of your next course launch, which offer potential students a sneak peek at what your course has to offer.

You can also use video to share student success stories, user-generated content, case studies and more. YouTube has been the preferred platform for sharing informational video content, and in the past years, we have also seen the rise of the social media platform TikTok.

Check out these articles from our blog to learn how to use these platforms to grow your online course business:

How can you do this on Heights Platform?

You can easily add a preview video to all of your courses’ landing pages to show what your program is about to potential customers. Our Web Page Builder allows you to easily create a website and landing pages for your business, where you can add multimedia content such as videos, images, and much more.

#4: Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is when individuals with a large following on social media or other platforms promote a product or service and – in most cases – get paid to do so.

For online course creators, this can be an effective way to reach a broader audience with their social media marketing and leverage the credibility and trust that influencers have built with their followers.

To succeed with influencer marketing, it’s essential to choose the right influencers for your digital marketing goals. Look for individuals who have an engaged (and relatively large) following in your target market and who align with the values and message of your course.

Once you’ve identified potential influencers, reach out to them with a clear and compelling pitch outlining the benefits of your course and how it aligns with their audience. Most influencer partnerships are paid and offer an incentive to the influencer: this can be an affiliate commission or a flat fee.

If you haven’t already, try out influencer marketing to broaden your social media marketing strategy.

How can you do this on Heights Platform?

It is up to you to find the best influencers in your niche. Once you have found them, you can add them to your affiliate program, which is already built for you in Heights Platform!

#5: Interactive Content

Another digital marketing trend for 2023 is creating interactive content. Interactive content refers to any content that allows the audience to engage with it in some way. In the online course space, this can include assignments, projects, polls, surveys, and other types of interactive elements that can help to engage and retain your online course students.

In 2023, we expect to see an increase in the use of interactive content both in how courses are built and how they are promoted to the world.

One way to use interactive content in your digital marketing efforts is through social media polls or questions that help potential students learn more about your course and determine if it’s a good fit for them. For example, Instagram polls and questions in the stories are becoming more and more popular as a way to interact with your followers and gain feedback from them.

You can also use interactive elements on your website or in your emails to engage potential students and keep them interested in your course.

How can you do this on Heights Platform?

Heights Platform has features such as assignments and projects to add interactive elements to your online courses and incentivize students to put their knowledge into practice.

#6: Gamification

Gamification can help you to increase participation and engagement among your online course students.

As with many other trends, gamification is nothing new, but for 2023, we expect to see more course creators using gamification techniques to make their courses engaging and interactive.

This includes using points, badges, or other rewards to motivate students, as well as incorporating interactive challenges or games into the course materials.

Gamification can also be a powerful tool when it comes to marketing an online course, as it can help to stand out from the competition and make it more attractive to potential students.

When promoting your course, be sure to highlight the gamification elements in your digital marketing materials and how they can help to make the learning experience more enjoyable and engaging.

How can you do this on Heights Platform?

Heights Platform is renowned for its gamification tools that help students learn. For each lesson, you can assign a certain number of points that students will get once the lesson is complete. You can also assign and create your own badges to reward students for their achievements.

#7: Interactive Landing Pages

We have seen the importance of personalization and making your course interactive in 2023. Here is another example of how you can apply this trend to your digital marketing strategy: by creating interactive landing pages.

A landing page is a standalone web page created specifically for the purpose of a digital marketing campaign. In 2023, we expect to see more course creators adding interactive elements to their landing pages or sales pages to create an engaging experience with their prospects.

To create an interactive landing page, you can include elements such as surveys that help potential students learn more about your course and determine if it’s a good fit for them. You can also use video, images, and other types of multimedia content to make the page more engaging and interactive.

How can you do this on Heights Platform?

Our Web Page Builder allows creators to build their entire website and stand-alone landing pages right inside the platform. There are various templates you can choose from to build a beautiful web page quickly, and our drag-and-drop editor makes web design fun and easy without using any custom code.

There are many interactive elements you can add to your pages (videos, countdowns, a map, and animations). For more interactions, you can add custom code to the page to create any design you can imagine.

#8: Artificial Intelligence and Chatbots

The newest digital marketing trend that everyone is talking about is Artificial intelligence and machine learning. AI and chatbots can be used in online course marketing to improve the customer experience and automate specific tasks. In 2023, we expect to see more course creators and digital marketers using these technologies to enhance their marketing and production efforts.

For example, you could add a chatbot to your site to answer common questions from potential students or provide personalized content recommendations based on their interests. Chatbots are an example of a tool that a brand can use to add conversational marketing (a type of marketing where consumers directly interact with the company) to their strategy.

Regarding artificial intelligence, it can also be used to analyze student data and provide insights that can help you improve your digital marketing strategy and better target potential students.

How can you do this on Heights Platform?

Heights lets you embed or integrate a third-party tool to add a chatbot to your site.

#9: Interactive Emails

Emails are already a key part of any online course digital marketing strategy, but in 2023, we expect to see a shift toward more interactive emails. This can include using interactive elements such as polls, questions, and surveys or incorporating video content and other types of multimedia content into the emails.

Interactive emails can be a powerful way to keep engagement high in your digital marketing campaign. When promoting your course, consider how you can use interactive elements to make your emails more engaging and effective.

How can you do this on Heights Platform?

With our email campaign feature, you can divide your students into segments and send personalized emails to them. To add more interaction to your emails, you can now integrate Heights Platform with popular email marketing tools such as ActiveCampaign.

As the online learning market continues to evolve, course creators and entrepreneurs must stay updated on the latest digital marketing trends to stand out from the competition and increase brand awareness.

The top digital marketing trends of 2023 seem to follow a general theme: adding personalization and increasing interactive elements in your promotional content (landing pages, emails, videos and more).

For online course creators, this is especially important as it allows you to build a deeper connection with your audience and keep potential and current students engaged in your brand ecosystem.

This article covered the key trends in 2023 for online course marketing, and we have seen trends like personalization, social proof, video marketing, influencer marketing, interactive content, gamification, interactive landing pages, AI and chatbots, and interactive emails.

These content marketing trends can help you plan powerful digital marketing strategies that help you reach and engage your audience in 2023 and beyond.