How do you conduct Market Research to prepare for your online class -

Sep 22, 2022

Prior to creating your very initial online class, you could be thinking: will anyone want to buy this?

Market research can also help you write content specifically tailored to your target audience. This is why it's important to perform market research as early as possible, and preferably at the beginning of the process. As you gain knowledge about your target market, the better you can speak to their specific pain points. Additionally, the more valuable and appealing your content will be.

Learn how to conduct market research in preparation for your online course.

Choose your plan of action

In the first place, you must ask yourself: "is my course worth developing?" The hard truth is that your initial idea may be wrong. Thankfully, you can use hard data to answer the question, instead of depending on your inner critic. There are some tools that can help:

  • Visit the marketplaces for courses. Exploringsites like Udemy can assist you in figuring how your course will be viewed by the wider market. Udemy allows you to browse the most the most popular subjects in business, design, marketing, and more. You can check how many times your course subject is already being offered, and also which subjects are the most sought-after and popular.
  • Perform the research for keywords. There are a bevy of software tools for conducting keyword study. Sites like Sparktoro will help you find for what people are discussing online. Look up the results to ensure that your topics are not just pertinent but essential.
  • Be up to date. Read industry news blog posts, articles, and blogs on your subject to ensure your course reflects the newest and most current information within your area. Also, by keeping up to date there is a chance that you will be able to reach an entirely new market segment in the market that needs your online class.

Make a learner persona

Learner personas are essentially a learner persona is similar to a buyer persona. It's a visual representation of someone that could enroll in your course. The purpose of having a student persona is the ability to penetrate the mind of your learner to discover what they would need from an online course. The persona is used to represent the target market and will help you define your instructions for designing an effective course.

These are the most important characteristics to fill out for the persona of your student:

  • Demographics (don't forget to name the person you're describing a name too)
  • Their level of comfort with the materials (beginner or intermediate, etc)
  • Their pain points and goals within your niche. In particular, are they trying to get better at themselves or want to improve the lessons learned from your program for their own business ventures?
  • The level of their technical proficiency. How easy should your course be for their sake?

The idea of thinking about your learners as a real person can ensure that you're speaking and writing like a human in your class as well as in your advertising materials.

Conduct a poll

Surveys are a great way to get immediate feedback on the likelihood of the audience will attend your online class. Before you distribute a survey think about your brand new learner character. Do you have the ability to divide your target market into a smaller group which matches the profile of your learning persona? Send those folks the survey first.

Here's a suggestion of questions you could ask your users to answer in a survey:

  • If they've ever taken an online class, they've taken it.
  • If they've attended a class or course, and it was useful
  • The amount they've paid or are willing to be willing to
  • If you offered a course in a specific subject, would they take it?

Integrates is integrated with SurveyMonkey for an automated process with a variety of trigger settings. In the case, for example, when an individual enrolls in an online course (even a free sample course) You can create an automated process to email your new learner with an invitation to take a survey.

However, you could design a general survey prior to attempting it the process by using SurveyMonkey or your favorite survey tool, like Google Forms. It is also possible to send customized buyer persona surveys with templates via tools like Survicate.

Look at the Contest

After you've conducted some study regarding the industry and target audience, it's time to narrow the scope of your research and focus on your competitors. Begin by creating a list of who your business competes against for the attention of. Then, write down how they would describe their course. In the end, evaluate your ideas and discover the things that make your course unique. In the event that you are able to stand out from the crowd, you more you may attract the attention of a student.

A different tool that can help is for a SWOT analysis of rivals. A SWOT analysis (Strengths strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and growth) is the most tried-and-true business strategy for planning and executing. Perhaps you've done it for your personal course or branding, but have you thought about the competition from a SWOT analysis standpoint? You may learn that an issue with your competitors is a potential chance for you.

Create an Action Plan

By utilizing the insights gained by studying the market, creating a learner persona and a survey, as well as analyzing the competition, you can form an strategy.

In your action plan, be sure to include:

  • The overall objective for your course
  • Next steps
  • Your priorities organized by the importance
  • Solutions to any problems that you've detected
  • Deadlines for deliverables (and the course being live!)

Keep in mind that no amount of market research will give you a perfect answer as to whether or not your online class will be successful. But, doing market research will help you determine if your course has the chance of succeeding. However, in the end however, it's important follow through in order to begin and expand your online course company.


    Ready to explore the possibilities of creating your very first course? Take a look at the Demo both from a learner as well as a creator's viewpoint. When you've started to build it, you'll be able to export the results when you purchase the course , so none of your amazing work gets lost.