Use case
Course promo video: teach one idea instead of listing modules
A course promo video works best when it teaches one useful idea, so a stranger can see that you can teach. Cutroom turns one phone video of you teaching into a finished 9:16 promo.
In short
- A good course promo video teaches one short, useful idea, so viewers see for themselves that you can teach.
- A list of modules mostly works on people who already know you, like your email list.
- Say what the course covers, what it does not and how long results take, instead of promising a new life.
- Meta bans ads that offer unrealistic financial reward for minimal effort, so keep income promises out of your promos.
- Cutroom turns one phone video of you teaching, up to 3 minutes, into a captioned 9:16 promo for 110 credits.
- Longest video you can upload
- 3 min
- The shape of every Cutroom promo
- 9:16
- Basic, about 22 thirty-second promos a month
- $39.99
What to put in a course promo video
A stranger does not know yet whether you can teach. Teaching one idea well shows them, and a list of modules does not.
- A good choice is the part of a lesson where you correct the mistake students make most often.
- Teach that idea properly, then say that the course goes further.
- Keep the module list for your sales page and your emails, where people already know you.
A module-list promo and a teaching promo
What it shows
- Module-list promo
- Eight modules, a workbook, a community
- Teaching promo
- One idea, taught properly in 30 seconds
Who it works on
- Module-list promo
- People who already know you
- Teaching promo
- Strangers as well
What it proves
- Module-list promo
- What is in the course
- Teaching promo
- That you can teach
Who it attracts
- Module-list promo
- People buying a promised result
- Teaching promo
- People who want to learn the subject
| Module-list promo | Teaching promo | |
|---|---|---|
| What it shows | Eight modules, a workbook, a community | One idea, taught properly in 30 seconds |
| Who it works on | People who already know you | Strangers as well |
| What it proves | What is in the course | That you can teach |
| Who it attracts | People buying a promised result | People who want to learn the subject |
How to sound trustworthy
Many course ads promise a whole new life. Promising one skill, and saying how long it takes to learn, sounds more honest.
- Promise a skill people can learn, not a change to their whole life.
- Say how long results take.
- Say what the course does not cover, and who should not enrol.
- Teach before you ask anyone to buy.
- Say each sentence the way you would say it to a student in a live class.
This is the whole editor
Highlight a phrase and a clip lands on those exact words. No timeline, no keyframes, no layers.
Ad rules for course promos
Ad platforms have rules against big money promises. These are Meta's, read on 21 September 2026, and they are not legal advice.
- Meta's rules on prohibited commercial practices, which ads must follow, ban offers of 'unrealistic financial reward for unclear or minimal effort'.
- A promo that says students will earn a certain amount quickly, with little work, can break that rule.
- If you teach a money skill, say what students learn, not what they will earn.
- Other platforms and countries have their own rules, so check each one where the promo will run.
Where course promos can run
A 9:16 promo fits the vertical ad placements on the big platforms. You upload the same MP4 to each one.
Where a 9:16 course promo fits
| Platform | Placement | Where you set it up |
|---|---|---|
| Instagram and Facebook | Reels and Stories ads | Meta Ads Manager |
| TikTok | In-Feed ads | TikTok Ads Manager |
| YouTube | Shorts ads | Google Ads |
| Your own accounts | Posts on TikTok, Reels and Shorts | The app itself, no ad budget |
Platform: Instagram and Facebook
- Placement
- Reels and Stories ads
- Where you set it up
- Meta Ads Manager
Platform: TikTok
- Placement
- In-Feed ads
- Where you set it up
- TikTok Ads Manager
Platform: YouTube
- Placement
- Shorts ads
- Where you set it up
- Google Ads
Platform: Your own accounts
- Placement
- Posts on TikTok, Reels and Shorts
- Where you set it up
- The app itself, no ad budget
How to make a course promo with Cutroom
Cutroom takes up to 3 minutes of video. So you re-record the passage you want as a short video, instead of uploading a whole lesson.
- Cutroom adds captions timed to your voice and drafts a headline for the opening seconds. On Punch and Native it also shortens the pauses.
- Slides, worksheet pages and screen recordings go in your library, and play over the words that name them.
- Cutroom keeps the lines you say, so leave the curriculum list out when you film.
- You stay on screen for most of the video. The style you pick before you upload sets the pace, and even on the fastest styles the clips Cutroom adds cover at most 52 percent of it.
- Each edit comes back in about a minute, so you can make a whole set of promos in one day before the launch.
One taught idea into a promo
Teach one idea
One video, up to 3 minutes
Upload
Cutroom writes out every word and makes the first edit
Place your slides
Highlight the words that name them
Export
A 9:16 MP4 with captions
What a finished promo looks like
You get a 9:16 MP4 with the captions in the picture, ready to upload in your ad account.
One frame of a finished promo
You teaching, a headline over the opening, a slide on a card, and captions on every word.
How many promos a launch needs
If you sell the course for about a week at a time, the same people see your promos many times that week. So make a set of different promos, for example twelve.
- Twelve 30-second promos cost 1,320 credits, which fits in one month of Basic at $39.99.
- Make each promo teach a different idea, so people who see several still learn something new.
- Most ads do not win. Motion's analysis of 550,000+ Meta ads found that only 5 to 8% become winners.
What it costs
A 30-second promo costs 110 credits: 100 for the edit and 10 for the export. Exporting costs 20 credits per minute of video.
Cutroom plans and 30-second promos per month
| Plan | Price | Credits | 30-second promos |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0, no card | Your first video, made within 7 days | 1, with a Cutroom mark |
| Lite | $19.99 a month | 1,250 | About 11, no mark |
| Basic | $39.99 a month | 2,500 | About 22, plus avatars and generated music |
| Premium | $79.99 a month | 5,000 | About 45 |
| Top-up | $39.99 once | 2,500 | About 22 more |
Plan: Free
- Price
- $0, no card
- Credits
- Your first video, made within 7 days
- 30-second promos
- 1, with a Cutroom mark
Plan: Lite
- Price
- $19.99 a month
- Credits
- 1,250
- 30-second promos
- About 11, no mark
Plan: Basic
- Price
- $39.99 a month
- Credits
- 2,500
- 30-second promos
- About 22, plus avatars and generated music
Plan: Premium
- Price
- $79.99 a month
- Credits
- 5,000
- 30-second promos
- About 45
Plan: Top-up
- Price
- $39.99 once
- Credits
- 2,500
- 30-second promos
- About 22 more
What Cutroom does not do
Cutroom makes short vertical promos where you teach on camera.
- Cutroom does not cut promos out of long lessons. Each video you upload is 3 minutes at most.
- Cutroom only exports 9:16, so a sales page video or a webinar replay needs another editor.
- Cutroom does not check your claims. It will edit a money promise without comment, so review your wording first.
- Each video you upload makes one finished promo.
Questions people ask
- What should a course promo video include?
- One useful idea from the course, taught properly, and a short line saying the course goes further. Add what it covers, what it does not and how long results take.
- How long should a course promo video be?
- Short. For vertical ads, keep it under 60 seconds; Google recommends that for YouTube Shorts ads. Cutroom takes up to 3 minutes of video and keeps the lines you say, so film it at the length you want.
- Can I cut promos out of my existing lessons?
- Not directly. Cutroom takes up to 3 minutes of video at a time, so re-record the passage you want as a short video.
- Can my slides or course screens appear?
- Yes. Upload them to your library as clips or images, then highlight the words they belong to, and they play over those words.
- Can I promise students they will earn money?
- Not an unrealistic one. Meta bans offers of unrealistic financial reward for unclear or minimal effort. Say what students will learn and how long it takes, not what they will earn.
- Can I reuse launch promos?
- Yes. The promos that did well in one launch can run again in the next one, or between launches.
- How many promos does a launch need?
- A set of different ones, for example twelve, because the same people see them many times in launch week. Twelve 30-second promos cost 1,320 credits in Cutroom, which fits in Basic.
Re-record the idea your students ask about most, and turn it into a finished promo. Your first video is free.