How do I make sure I'm reaching out to the right communities?

Regardless of the channels you chose, outreach and link building are undoubtedly crucial to an effective marketing campaign.

Targeting the right communities, associations and institutions can make a big difference. If your course is relevant for their audience then there is a chance they’d help spread the word and promote it to their own followers/users.

Questions to ask first

• What high-impact groups/influencers could be interested in your course?
• What is the benefit for that community?
• What is the best way to reach them? (e-mail, phone, social media,)
• How can I personalise the story to increase my chances of getting positive results?
• Do I have a great piece of content that could prove the quality and relevance of the course?

Think big

It’s important to think big! FutureLearn is more than a MOOC provider (massive open online courses) but we aim for the M in MOOC: tens, or even better, hundreds of thousands of learners.

Specialist communities

• Think about the communities that can offer you the greatest return.
• Think low resource / high impact: select a few, understand the benefit and reach out to them.

This example from EstudarFora, a Brazilian website for students wishing to study abroad, about British Council’s Exploring English: Language and Culture course drove over 1,600 enrolments on FutureLearn.

An article on this Ukranian website about The University of Southampton and British Council’s Understanding Language: Learning and Teaching course had over 16,000 likes and led to a high number of enrolments.

Other examples, such as courses in very specific areas of Health Care need the right approach to aspire any results from outreach. Here Newcastle University uses their Twitter account to target relevant institutions for their “Ageing Well: Falls” course.

And lastly, History, Archaeology and Literature courses tend to spark the interest of extremely dedicated communities which can easily become powerful advocates for your courses, whether you’re promoting a brand new course or a repeat run.

Examples

The Jane Austen page on Facebook with over 1M fans promoted the Literature of the English Country House course from The University of Sheffield.

The Shakespeare Group on Linkedin, with over 7000 members just needed a nudge.

Now they’re becoming great advocates.