How I’m Launching My New Udemy Course: A Realistic Strategy That Works

My 30 Day Launch Strategy For My Latest Udemy Course

Photo by Lewis Keegan on Unsplash

I released my latest Udemy course last week

This is my 18th course on Udemy so far but this time I am doing things a bit differently

Similar to how I launch books .. this time I will be adopting a proper 30 day strategy for pushing my course

I have had multiple courses flop before due to adopting a launch and forget strategy

When people say Udemy is saturated … they are not wrong but it is saturated with mediocre content

The right course with the right strategy can still stand out on the popular course marketplace

So without further delay this is the strategy I am adopting to give my course the best chance to succeed.

1 — Udemy’s Promotional Announcements

Udemy does not provide you email addresses of yourstudents but it does give you the ability to send promotional announcements twice a month

If you’ve built up a student base on Udemy, this can be one of the most powerful tools at your disposal

This is essentially email marketing — without worrying about deliverability issues or building an email list from scratch.

For this launch, I’m sending two promotional emails through Udemy:

• The first announcement is a “soft launch”. This goes to my existing students offering them a significant discount for being early supporters. I also use this opportunity to share what’s new and how this course connects to previous ones.

• The second announcement goes out 5–7 days later and focuses on urgency. I use phrases like “Last chance to get the early bird discount” and include any updates from the first few days — such as early reviews, new bonus material, or feedback I’ve received.

These two messages, sent strategically, often bring in the first 7 days give the course a much-needed algorithmic boost on Udemy.

2 — Writing a Medium Article to Tap Into Organic Traffic

The days of directly earning a lot of income via Medium are long gone sadly

But it has been a surprising traffic driver for my courses — especially when I write articles tied to real problems my course solves.

The key here is not to sell the course, but to teach something valuable that naturally leads to your course as the next step.

For this launch, I wrote a Medium article on a topic that overlaps with a key module in my course.

I share insights, a few practical tips, and then softly introduce the course at the end with a discount:

“If you want to go deeper into these concepts with practical tools and frameworks, check out my new Udemy course.”

This way, the article stands on its own, provides value to the reader, and gently nudges them toward the course.

3 — Using YouTube Community Posts to Build Interest

YouTube like Medium is not a big income source for me

BUT it is an absolute beast when it comes to driving traffic

I’ve found that YouTube Community posts are incredibly effective for promoting my courses.

For this course, I posted:

• A launch day post with a discount code and a brief video clip or visual from the course.

• A post after a few days featuring a review or student feedback to show momentum and build trust.

These posts reach your subscribers directly in their YouTube feed, and if your content overlaps with your channel topics, it’s a great way to cross-promote without needing to create long videos.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW-tgNtHKnAdCNoOr1qtM_g/community?lb=UgkxIdms2eBx-QYuZFonj_Dotgd93eqETXYC

4 — Writing a Substack Article

I have over 3K subscribers to my Cloud Security and AI newsletter on Substack

It allows me to reach people who are already invested in my content and thinking.

Readers are typically professionals, decision-makers, or aspiring cybersecurity experts who value deeper insight.

For my course launch I wrote a Substack article similar to Medium and used two Udemy promo codes

• Paid subscribers get access to my course for free as a thank you for supporting the newsletter

• Free subscribers get access o my discounted price

This is a great way to showcase the value of my newsletter AND drive traffic

5 — Promoting Through Gumroad

Although Gumroad is often seen as a platform for digital downloads, it can be a clever tool for marketing Udemy courses too

I have several free lead magnets on my Gumroad page that people regularly download

I have used this to send email updates to people who are interested in topics around the course and drive traffic to it

Final Thoughts

The truth is, there’s no magic bullet when it comes to launching a Udemy course.

I am combining the internal tools that Udemy provides with external platforms like Medium, YouTube, Substack and Gumroad

This strategy doesn’t require a massive ad budget or a huge team.

It just takes a bit of consistency, creativity, and willingness to meet your audience where they already are.

I still need to work on it more and leverage analytics more to see what is working and what is not.

If you’re about to launch your own course, feel free to borrow, remix, or build on this strategy.

And if you want to see how I put it into action, check out my latest course here