Wondering how to convert your YouTube subscribers into paying customers?
For YouTubers looking to monetize, this is a common question.
To do this well, you need a strategy. One that helps you set the expectation with your audience that you can offer even value than your free content through an online course.
We sat down with Kelly Noble Mirabella to hear her approach. Kelly runs a YouTube channel called Baby Got Bot, where she educates people on how to set up and use Messenger bots to grow their business. Kelly has built a profitable online course on Thinkific, using her YouTube channel as the primary marketing engine.
Watch the video below to hear Kelly’s process for identifying your course topic, building out your content, and the marketing strategies she uses to get sales.
Looking For Ways To Monetize On YouTube
Kelly began making videos on YouTube in 2008. She started out coaching clients on how to do social media marketing before transitioning into being an educator on a niche topic: leveraging messenger bots for business.
Realizing she could make a bigger impact by building community and authority in this particular realm, she began to build up her YouTube channel on the subject.
In an effort to build her following, Kelly uploaded new videos to her channel every Thursday. As her audience grew, she found herself wondering how she could make money from her free content.
Around the same time, many people were asking similar questions on how to use messenger bots, and wanted more in-depth training on the subject. That’s when online courses came into play. Kelly realized she could channel her YouTube subscribers to her online course, to make a bigger impact in their business while monetizing her own.
Kelly now runs a successful online course on Thinkific, and markets it primarily through her YouTube channel.
Marketing And Sales Using YouTube
Out of all the marketing strategies Kelly has implemented, her YouTube channel and Facebook group have been the biggest drivers of her online course sales. Here are some tips on succeeding in marketing your course:
Choose your marketing channels carefully
To be really effective in marketing your courses on YouTube, Kelly suggests that as a content creator, you need to decide where your efforts are best placed. If you’re aiming to build authority and an engaged audience, you must first choose your primary marketing vehicles to drive sales back to your course.
As a YouTuber, maybe you also want to leverage Facebook Live? Or maybe Instagram is where your audience spends a lot of their time, in addition to YouTube? Be mindful not to oversaturate yourself, because you’ll be spread too thin and make less of an impact if you do.
Pay attention to building your brand
As a YouTuber, if you want to succeed in selling online courses, you must be intentional about cultivating your brand, and having that touch everything you create. Between the style of your videos and editing, having a cohesive brand story across your marketing will help establish credibility and increase the likelihood of your course sales.
Build a community
Kelly’s YouTube channel drives online course sales because she’s been intentional about building an engaged, focused community. Between her YouTube and Facebook group, she is constantly responding to her audience’s questions and offering helpful insights. About 90% of her online course students come straight from YouTube.
Money is the echo of value.Kelly Mirabella
Focus on providing value
Kelly shared a key quote from mentor and friend,Kevin Kenneble, that ‘money is the echo of value.’ By focusing on providing consistent value through free content on her YouTube channel, Kelly has been able to successfully sell her online course without running any paid ads. Instead, Kelly focuses on building her brand authority and applying her expertise to solve real business challenges for her audience.
You also need to build up permission with your audience to sell to them. Or as Gary Vaynerchuk says, jab, jab, right hook. You need to give to your audience, before you can ask. “I’ve built up my audience’s respect through all my free content, so I’ve built up the ability to sell online courses to them,” shares Kelly.
To hear Kelly’s strategies for turning your YouTube subscribers into paying online course students, watch the video above!
Connect with Kelly on her YouTube channel, Baby Got Bot.
Want to get started in creating your first online course? Download this step-by-step guide that will walk you through your first steps to creating an online course to launch from your YouTube channel!
