Designing High Value Courses that Sell
How to create learning experiences that deliver value for both organisations and individual learners.
“Successful professional education must balance commercial viability with educational impact.”
When to Use This Guide
The Course Value Proposition Canvas is most valuable in the early stages of course planning and development, ideally before significant resources have been committed.
While it’s particularly valuable for team discussions and stakeholder workshops, it can also be used by individual course owners to think through all aspects of their course systematically.
The guide is especially useful when making the business case for new courses, as it helps surface assumptions and identifies areas needing further research or clarification. For existing courses, it provides a comprehensive framework for regular review and improvement.
Understanding the Market
Target Market.
Understanding your target market is fundamental to the success of any course. Even the highest-quality short courses can be unsuccessful if there isn’t a real need for them.
Begin by examining specific industries and organisations that would benefit from your course. Consider both immediate needs and emerging trends that will drive future demand.
Market size should be assessed through multiple lenses:
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The total number of professionals in relevant roles
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The percentage likely to seek professional development
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Those with both the means and motivation to participate
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Underserved segments where competition is less intense
To better understand your market, use a combination of quantitative and qualitative research. Look at sources such as industry reports, employment data, professional association statistics, and LinkedIn. Supplement this with direct conversations with potential buyers to validate your assumptions.
Defining Your Unique Value Proposition
Business Goals.
Business goals connect learning outcomes to organisational performance in ways that matter to
decision-makers. Consider what tangible improvements organisations will see after sending learners to
your course that they wouldn’t get from alternatives.
This might include better communication, improved customer satisfaction, reduced errors, or enhanced innovation capability.
Be specific about timeframes and measurable impacts that distinguish your approach from competitors.
Consider both hard and soft benefits. While improved productivity or cost savings are important, don’t overlook benefits like improved employee engagement, reduced turnover, or enhanced organisational culture. Identify which benefits matter most to your target organisations but are underdelivered by competing offerings.
Most importantly, connect these business goals to your unique approach. How does your specific course offering deliver these outcomes more effectively or reliably than alternatives?
Bringing Your Course to Market
Channels.
Your channel strategy determines how potential learners and their organisations will discover and engage with your course. Develop an approach that leverages your unique advantages and reaches your specific target audience.
Consider both traditional and digital channels, evaluating each for its reach and effectiveness with your target audience. Institutional networks, including alumni associations and industry partnerships, can be powerful channels. Remember to focus primarily on the buyer when selecting your target channels.
Digital channels might include LinkedIn, professional associations’ platforms, or industry-specific forums. Look for niche channels where your expertise gives you credibility. Consider how your unique positioning can create distinctive content and approaches for each channel.
Most importantly, identify channels where your competitive advantages are most visible and valued, and develop approaches that highlight your unique strengths.
Conclusion
The Course Value Proposition Canvas is designed to help you thoroughly evaluate all aspects of your proposed course. After working through each section, you should have a clear picture of your course’s potential for success and any significant challenges or risks that need addressing.
Before proceeding with course development, step back and critically evaluate your responses across all sections.
If you find significant gaps or uncertainties in multiple areas, pause and gather more information before proceeding. Sometimes, the most valuable outcome of this planning process is identifying that a course isn’t viable in its current form. Consider whether adjustments to scope, audience, or delivery model might address any challenges identified.
Remember that successful courses often evolve through several iterations of this planning process. Use this canvas as a living document - revisit and refine your plans as you gather more insights and market feedback. Whether you decide to proceed, modify, or pause your course development, the structured thinking this process encourages will help ensure you make an informed decision based on thorough analysis rather than assumptions.
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