Deadlines are a part of our daily lives, whether at home or at work. When people know there is little time until a project has to be submitted, or a task to be completed, they tend to quickly assess their chances of success and do the best they can in a short amount of time to meet the requirements.
The same attitude can be seen in sales as well when people consider different time-limited offers. Assessing their needs and the offer at hand, they make on-the-spot decisions to purchase a product, even when they don’t need or want it, out of a fear of missing out.
Why does this work? When you offer your product as a one-time-only opportunity, you create a feeling of urgency for your prospects. Knowing that they can miss an opportunity makes potential customers take action. Moreover, offering a limited number of products creates scarcity, which makes people feel it’s now or never, so they act immediately.
Many learners tend to procrastinate. For them, limited offers make the difference between taking the path of personal development or staying at the same level of knowledge and skills.
Read more: What you need to know about the basics of selling online courses
Deadlines create alterations in people’s behavior and choices, that otherwise wouldn’t occur. Taking this into account, you can use deadlines in your marketing strategy to your advantage.
Having a one-time offer, a time-limited campaign or free bonuses for a specific purchase increases your chances of selling your online course, since your prospects feel compelled to act instantly, rather than take the time to overthink their decisions.
There are at least two ways in which setting deadlines can help your sales and marketing strategies:
This is all about marketing. Your job is to convince your prospects to buy your course. Depending on your target customers, whether they are your former students or newcomers, you can create different campaigns to entice them to make a purchase.
Here are some types of campaigns you can create:
Read more: How to get feedback for your online course
Once your learners enroll in your course, you have to make sure they finish it. They need motivation. While motivating your students in their learning journey, you also create a win-win situation for both you and your learners. Because if they don’t finish your course, they’re less likely to recommend it to others, either verbally, or in writing — like leaving a nice customer review for your course landing page.
Read more: 6 Awesome tips to get more customer reviews for your online course [INFOGRAPHIC]
One thing you can do is to set deadlines for each module/assignment. They are useful in creating a schedule for learning, helping students stay on track and avoid procrastination.
Offer limited-time extra resources that they can get if they follow the learning schedule or reach a specific progress level. By doing this, you motivate your students and support them throughout their learning process. In the end, they will feel proud of their accomplishments and happy with your course, and also willing to leave a positive review, or a testimonial, which, in time, can also affect your sales numbers.
Read more: 4 Things to consider if you want to passively sell your online courses
Deadlines usually have a negative connotation because they impose limitations. But they aren’t necessarily bad when you want to structure your course outline and help students schedule their learning process.
Deadlines, in online business, will entice people to take action faster for fear they’ll miss out on a great offer. People love free things and offering something relevant will help you keep your sales numbers up.
Remember to use deadlines to your advantage and leverage their potential. Create an appropriate strategy for you and your customers for optimal results.