Summary
You can create custom coupon codes in Stripe.
Consider using course discounts at strategic points in your course marketing.
Revenue sharing with Maven happens at the discounted course price.
What's the best discount strategy?
It depends on what you're trying to accomplish. We'll list a few strategies below but you should always use discounts sparingly. While a discount is a great way to lower the price barrier and increase conversion, there may be unintended consequences.
Constant discounts and promotions lower your brand value and make your original price feel arbitrary.
They also condition students to wait for the next sale and never pay your original price.
And lastly, you need to think about what your discounts look like to students who have already paid. If you go to your most engaged audience and offer them first access, but a week later you promote your course with a 25% discount, how might your loyal audience feel?
Use discounts sparingly and strategically. Here are a few we recommend:
Early bird - If you have a small audience or none at all, consider an "early bird" offer where they might receive 10-20% off the list price. You can also offer an expiring discount to your waitlist (if you have one) as a special promotion.
Abandoned Cart - Add a discount code to your Abandoned Payment email sent from your Maven course. Keep this one between 5-15% off. Remember, the student was already starting to pay, but something pulled them away. A small discount might nudge them back over the edge.
Affiliate Discounts - Create discount codes for others to distribute to their network. If you're running a course on graphic design, you might go to a few graphic design blogs and social accounts, give them a custom discount code and ask them to announce your course to their audiences. The discount code not only gives the student 5-25% off but also acts as a tracking mechanism so you know where your students came from. Sometimes, affiliates will look for revenue share from the course sales they drive.
Scholarships - Related to discounts but different. A scholarship is often a discount between 50-100% off the list price and can be used for many different reasons. Because CBCs often have a higher price point, especially when they're just getting started, they may be inaccessible to some audience members. Scholarships are a great way to create a more inclusive environment so that the most driven, promising students don't face the price point as a barrier to entry. You can mentioned that you have scholarships available in your landing page FAQ. Or, you might integrate it into your application form where students have to explain why they may qualify. You want to eliminate the price point as a barrier to entry, but you do need to create some friction so that the students who truly need the financial support get it.
If I provide a discount, how does that affect my revenue share with Maven?
Maven's 10% share comes from the price a student pays, not your original price.
Here's an example:
Original price: $1,000; Maven earns: $100; Stripe fee: $26.40 = You earn: $873.60.
You offer a 25% discount.
New price: $750; Maven earns $75; Stripe fee: $19.88 = You earn: $655.12.
The Maven fee is processed immediately (10%) on the amount the student paid. Then Stripe takes its fee (2.9% + 30¢).
How do I create a promo code (coupon)?
You'll create your own custom coupons in your Stripe dashboard. Here's a video tutorial to show you how to do so.
Discount Code FAQs
If my student's discount code didn't work, can I retroactively apply it?
ˆYes! You can issue a partial refund for the amount that would have been taken off your course price if the discount code had been redeemed. You'll do this through Stripe.
My students are reporting that the discount code I created doesn't work. What might be happening?
First, confirm that your code is not for 100% off. Stripe will let you create a code for 100% off, but students won't be able to use this code to enroll for free. Instead, you should manually enroll the student for free.
Second, check that your discount code was created under the correct Stripe business account. If you have other products you collect payment for via Stripe, you might have created your codes under that product. In your Stripe dashboard, look near the top left of the screen and toggle to the account that says "Maven Learning, Inc."
Can I set up discount codes to only work with specific cohorts?
Codes aren't created on a cohort level. They're created for your course. However, you can put expiration dates on your codes to ensure they're only used for a specific time period (ex. for your cohort dates). You can also give your codes unique names and share the codes with specific groups.
Can I tell how many times my discount code has been redeemed?
Yes! Find the coupon in your Stripe account. Click on it from your list of coupons, and then click into the coupon name again under "Promotion Codes." There you'll be able to see under "Metadata" the number of times the code has been redeemed.
If you have any additional questions about creating and using coupons, reach out to [email protected].