Selling courses on TikTok is an absolute game-changer for digital content creators in 2024. With a whopping 1.58 billion active users, TikTok has skyrocketed to become the fifth most popular social media platform. On average, users spend 95 minutes per day on the app. That’s more than any other social platform.
But TikTok isn’t the only one on a meteoric rise. The e-learning industry is booming too. In 2022, the market was worth around nearly $200 billion. That’s predicted to reach over $500 billion by 2030!
With both TikTok and e-learning on the rise, combining them is a no-brainer. Harnessing TikTok’s power can be a goldmine for selling courses online.
Need help getting started? You’re in the right place. In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about how to sell courses on TikTok.
Can You Sell a Course on TikTok?
You can’t sell online courses directly on the TikTok platform. However, TikTok is a powerful tool for marketing online courses.
Your best strategy is to use TikTok to promote your courses, and then create and host them on another platform. While this can sound daunting, it’s actually very simple to do, and it's as easy as putting your course link in your bio.
So when it comes to selling courses with TikTok, you must pay close attention to the platform you use to host your course. Some course platforms are purely for courses only, while others allow you can bundle your course with other digital products, including paid memberships, ebooks, and coaching sessions. This means that you can use one link to sell multiple digital products and increase your income.
Setting up TikTok for Business
To start marketing your online course on TikTok, you’ll first need to have a TikTok business account. It’s free to set up, and will give you access to additional creative tools, analytics, and more.
First, if you don't already have it, you’ll need to download the TikTok app. When you open up the app, you can either log in or set up a personal account. Once you’re logged in, click the “Profile” icon on the menu at the bottom of the page.
From your Profile, tap the menu button on the top right of the page. This looks like three horizontal lines. Select “Settings and privacy”
From here, tap “Account” and then “Switch to Business Account”. Choose a category that best represents your business and select “Next”.
You can add your business email address to your profile, so customers can get in touch. You can also skip this step, if you wish.
And voila! You’ve now set up your free TikTok business account and can start promoting your courses.
How to Sell Courses on TikTok: 5 Proven Strategies
As mentioned, whilst it’s not possible to directly sell courses on TikTok, the platform offers plenty of unique promotional opportunities. So, let’s take a look at how to sell online courses on TikTok through marketing and paid ads.
1. Engage followers with meaningful content
Although it might sound obvious, ensure you share engaging content consistently on TikTok. Don’t just share direct promotional content. It’s better for the bulk of your content to be authentic, original content that followers can engage with.
According to a study from Adobe, TikTok users like tutorial content best (62%). This was followed by product/service reviews (39%) and personal stories (38%).
Below are some content types for course creators to use on TikTok:
Tutorials:
The most popular content type on the platform, tutorials can inspire potential students with snippets relevant to your courses. Use these short videos to demystify industry FAQs, and shed light on topics related to your course.
For example, on her TikTok, ToriTrades shares her insights as a 9-year veteran of trendline trading with her 78.2k followers.
Student testimonials:
Showcasing student testimonials on your TikTok covers both the product review and personal stories content types. Ask your former students if they’d be happy to provide a video testimonial sharing their authentic experience with your course.
Behind the scenes content:
Potential students will want to connect with their future teachers. So, sharing behind the scenes content of your course creation process can motivate them to buy. 36% of social media content from businesses falls into this category. It’s ranked as the third most effective content type (68%), and it’s especially popular on TikTok.
Memes and relatable content:
Social media marketers rank funny content as the best-performing content type (66%), with relatable content not far behind (63%). Create relatable content about student life, or share insider memes from your industry.
2. Leverage trends, hashtags, and filters
As with any social media app, it’s important to stay up-to-date with the latest trends.
Trending music:
Music is the backbone of TikTok’s content. Choosing the right song to accompany your video involves listening out for trending tunes in your TikTok feed.
If you need a nudge in the right direction, TikTok’s Creative Center features a whole section of tools to help you discover what’s trending on the platform. You can filter by songs that have been popular in the past week, month, or 120 days. You can also choose just to view songs that are approved for business use.
Hashtags:
Incorporate popular hashtags from your niche in your TikTok video descriptions. This can make it easier for potential students to find your content.
As with music, you can use the Creative Center to find trending hashtags on TikTok.
Filters and effects:
TikTok filters change the color and tone of your videos, whilst effects transform your video in unique ways.
The time warp scan effect, for example, features a blue line that moves vertically or horizontally across the screen. As the line moves, subsequent parts of the video are frozen, leading to some funny and entertaining content.
3. Create a thriving community around your brand
76% of internet users participate in an online community. Content can motivate and inspire followers, but building a strong community keeps them coming back for more.
Respond to followers:
At the most basic level, ensure you’re responding regularly to comments from followers. This builds their connection with you, for one thing. It can also boost your standing with TikTok’s algorithm, which values engagement.
Host live streams:
Potential students may have questions about your course that they’d like answered in real-time. Live streams give you the opportunity to do just that. They’re also a great way to connect with your community. A whopping 77% of TikTok users were interested in branded live content (when hosted by creators).
Offer giveaways:
If you’d like to draw in new followers, giveaways and contests can encourage TikTok users to follow your account. For example, you could ask users to like your post, share it with a friend, and follow your page for the chance to receive a free ebook.
Set up a private community:
Take your community to the next level by setting up an online community on Whop. There, your students (and TikTok followers) can chat, study together, and discuss your course modules in video chats. You can even create paid membership tiers to suit your students’ needs.
For example, several successful TikTok creators joined together to form the Social Club Academy. They sell their online course, along with VIP access to their Discord community on Whop.
4. Promote with TikTok influencers
Influencer marketing is embedded within TikTok, with 61% of marketers using it to connect with influencers. Out of all social media platforms, TikTok ranks third for this type of marketing.
Find a micro-influencer in your niche:
Have a limited budget? Influencer marketing doesn’t have to be expensive. Smaller “nano” and “micro” influencers (1k to 10k and 10k to 50k followers respectively) have the best engagement rates.
Nano influencers with 5k to 10k followers have an engagement rate of 76.23%, with micro influencers reaching 37.77%.
Collaborate with an influencer:
There are plenty of different ways to promote your course with a TikTok influencer. Collab together on a trending challenge, or let an influencer take over your TikTok for a week.
It’s also possible to do more traditional posts, where an influencer talks about your courses.
Offer a unique deal:
Give influencers a unique promo code for their followers. That way, their followers will have an extra incentive to sign up to your course.
5. Set up a TikTok ad campaign
Outside of “bootstrap marketing” on TikTok, you can also leverage paid advertising. TikTok offers a wide range of ad formats, including video ads, spark ads (adapted from your organic posts), shopping ads, and more.
Keep updating your ads:
Don’t just leave your ads. TikTok recommends updating them regularly to avoid TikTok users getting “creative fatigue”. Keep a catalog of assets to use in your adverts, so when results are low, you can make a change. You can also use TikTok’s automated “Smart Creative” tool to “optimize ad creative combinations”.
Create an instant hook:
You’ll need to get right to the point with your TikTok ads. 90% of ad recall impact occurs within the first 6 seconds of your ad. So, you’ll need to hook viewers early. Focus on creating an emotional response in your viewers. Surprise them. Make them want to learn more. Let viewers know what your course can offer them within the first 3 seconds.
TikTok hooks don’t necessarily need to be in what you say. They’re also embedded within visual and auditory cues.
Consider the rise of the “mini microphone” in video content, for example. This small change suggests authenticity and draws the audience’s attention.
This suggests authenticity on multiple levels - showcasing behind-the-scenes footage of real staff members, reading out comments from real customers, and using the trending microphone.
Adapting this to the course creator niche is simple. Why not answer customer questions or read out testimonials with a mini mic? Or talk about the top 3 reasons people need your course in their lives?
View top ads in the Creative Center:
In the TikTok Creative Center, click on “Inspiration” at the top of the page. From the drop-down menu, select “Top Ads”. Here you can see the highest performing auction ads on TikTok.
You can search by brand or keywords. You can then narrow down by country, industry, objective, ad format, likes, and more. Viewing these ads can help you find inspiration for your own ads.
Create and Sell Your Online Courses With Whop
TikTok is the ideal platform to promote online courses. But unfortunately, you can’t sell courses directly on the platform.
While there are many online course platforms that you can explore, Whop is the best choice - and here's why.
Whop stands out as an all-inclusive platform. On Whop, you can create more than just courses. Want to branch out and sell ebooks, audio files, and more? You can do that easily when you sell with Whop.
Whop makes it simple to bundle your courses with other digital products. For example, if you're a TikTok fashion influencer with an online course about dressing for success in 2024, why not bundle this with an exclusive community, an ebook on color theory, and even sell one-on-one personal styling video calls?
You can do all of this, and more, with your own whop hub. Plus, we believe in supporting everyone to make money online. That’s why our transaction fees are just 3%. No recurring monthly subscription required.
Take your first step to selling your dream course today. Create your course with Whop, market it on TikTok, and start earning passive income.
