Easy creative tips

Which way to Market Digital Products

Sep 14, 2023

You've put in the effort to create your first (or latest) digital product, congrats! The next step, of course, is to market the product and put it in the hands of the people you created the product for.

Promoting digital products and making sales can be difficult However, there are tactics you can employ to get in touch with as many potential customers as you can and generate a substantial income. In this article will be taught some of the promotional techniques you can use to get the ball rolling.

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What are digital products?

Considering how many people consume information online -- 5.18 billion, to be exact -- Many entrepreneurs put their skills, whatever it may be, into digital products which they sell to interested individuals. The digital goods include:

  • eBooks
  • Video courses
  • Audio files and music
  • Website and graphic templates
  • Videos and photos from stock
  • Software applications
  • Mobile apps
  • Coaching tools
  • Podcasts
  • Memberships

12 methods to market digital goods and increase sales

For you to market your digital products and make sales, here are some ways to go about it:

    Make an online store or website    

The first step for marketing your digital products is to create a digital shopfront or website which you'll direct people to so they can purchase your product.

There are a myriad of methods to do this. There are online store builders such as Shopify and Gumroad. The platforms have many features that let you build eCommerce websites from scratch without any technical knowledge required. These store builders allow you can sell all kinds of digital goods, such as:

  • eBooks
  • Online video courses
  • Non-fungible tokens (NFTs)
  • Audio and music files
  • Memberships
  • Digital art
  • Videos and photos from stock
  • Templates for websites
  • Event tickets, etc.

Gumroad is a great option for complete beginners and complete beginners, as evident by their headline, "Go from zero to $1". Shopify on the other hand, caters to people who have a wide range of experiences.

Both tools offer a wide range of online store templates as well as a drag-and-drop editor for websites that allows you to customize templates to fit the requirements of your brand. They also offer resources that can help you increase traffic to your store. Shopify is a good example. It permits you to download extra apps to enhance the functionality of your store as well as integrate with third party apps to streamline workflows.

Other platforms that you can use to build an online storefront, website or even a web-based shop can be found here:

In contrast to Shopify Gumroad, Shopify, and  the like, these services are cost-free to use. However, they're self-hosted services and you'll be required to pay for:

  • Domain names ($10-20/year)
  • Hosting for Web ($3-30/month, based on the platform and plan)
  • Premium Theme ($100-200 One-time fee)

They allow you to create any kind of website you want, and you can add eCommerce functionality by downloading plugins like WooCommerce, EasyDigitalDownloads, and MemberPress.

    Connect to an online market    

If you're new to making and selling digital goods, you might want to first join a marketplace prior to establishing your own website or store. A few marketplaces online that you can join are:

  • Amazon to store eBooks and audiobooks
  • eBay - for any kind of digital product
  • iTunes to play music, podcasts, as well as videos
  • Envato - for template designs for websites and graphics, stock photos and videos, and royalty-free music
  • Udemy - for online courses, mostly
  • Creative Market  includes fonts, graphics, and templates for your creative endeavors

The downsides, however, of marketplaces are:

  • They typically take a commission from every sale that you create
  • They put your products between similar products that are made by other companies. It reduces the chances of making as much money as you want to.

    Create a compelling sales page for your product    

Here's a hard truth about selling digital products The first time you sell digital products, your customers won't know the name of your company, and they're unlikely to buy from you until you explain to them what they can expect from you. This is particularly true when you sell eBooks and online courses.

Contrary to what many people believe, you don't need to be a skilled copywriter to craft a compelling sales page. All you have to do is answer this question for your target audience: Is this product right for me?

You don't need to include every detail about the digital item. Instead, focus on:

  • How your product can aid them to solve their problems
  • Why they should choose it (instead of similar products that are available)

This is an example of a selling page that was created for an instructional design course. Notice how the copy over the fold is clear about who the course creator would like to target, i.e. educators looking to apply their skills as educators in high-level establishments.

Showing prospects that other real-life customers have used the product and gained from it is among the most powerful ways to turn them into buyers.

Why? Because you're not alone person who is proving your product's value; other people are confirming the same. They think: "If this can work for other people, then it could also work for me".

    Optimize your website for search engines    

If you're looking to create a strategy for promotion with enough force that you'll be making sales on autopilot weeks ( or even years) after you've implemented it Try search engine optimization (SEO)

There are three kinds of SEO: On-Page, off-page, and technical.

On-page SEO involves the use of niche- or product-related keywords within web copy. In order to determine the best terms to incorporate into your pages for sales or product Ask yourself the following question: If someone was to search for my products, what term(s) do they need to search for in Google?

Those terms are your keywords. It is possible to use keywords or SEO tools such as Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Ubersuggest to find relevant keywords as well as their numbers of searches. After you've identified your keywords, use them within your title as subheadings and body copy and URL, meta description, image alt texts as well as other. If Google's crawlers find that website, they will know exactly the content of the webpage and will rank it accordingly.

In the end, it is about improving the performance of a server or website so that search engines are able to crawl and index your website effectively. It involves increasing the speed of your website, improving user experience, and structuring web data.

    Design a content marketing funnel    

If you're selling your digital product on a site (as as opposed to a marketplace) it is possible to create informational blog posts or videos as well as social media posts to educate people about your area of expertise as well as your product(s).

Similar to the product pages you have it is possible to optimize blog posts to be search engine friendly with keywords, too. If your products pages aren't ranked but your intended audience could still find you through your blog posts that rank.

Alongside driving leads and traffic to your site, relevant information also aids in building credibility and establish yourself as an expert in your field.

    Build an organic social media presence    

"You could just record in TikTok without any hassle, and the recording doesn't need to be perfect," she says "It's honest and authentic, and people know me as a sincere and genuine person."

For the purpose of growing your presence on social media, create and post posts (images carsousels, images, short videos, long videos, infographics, etc.) which educate the public on your field or niche, explain your reasons for starting to create products in that niche and highlight the advantages of these products. If you have customer reviews you can share them with the social media sites you use.

The growth rate may be slow at first, but If you regularly post content, people will start to visit your site. While they are there, you can interact with them and develop relationships by liking and replying to their posts, sharing their posts, and letting people know who have purchased your products.

    Run pay-per-click ads    

Doing SEO and building an organic social media presence will take a while before you begin reaping the benefits. If you want to put your brand visible to a wide audience within a brief time, try pay-per-click (PPC) ads. You've probably guessed that the pay-per-click (PPC) is a marketing method that demands you to only pay to advertise on websites that people choose to click.

There are two kinds of PPC ads such as paid social media ads and search-related ads paid for.

Through paid social media advertising it is possible to run ad campaigns on social platforms that your intended audience is using. Prior to launching your ads you'll define the behaviour of your audience, their demographics, as well as the interests of your target audience. This will ensure that your advertisements will be displayed in the feeds of users who might purchase from you.

Paid search advertisements On the other hand permit your advertisements to be displayed on Google search engine results pages (SERPs) in the event that your targeted customers conduct commercial searches- meaning they're looking for something to purchase.

For a greater chance of having your ads hit, try the following:

  • Use high-quality and visually attractive images in your advertisements.
  • Use compelling, but brief copy to present the benefits from your service
  • Provide a clear call-to-action which explains the next action to take after viewing the advertisement

    Make an emailing list    

Content marketing, SEO, and paid advertisements are fantastic ways of promoting digital goods However, what happens if Google and other social media platforms are deemed obsolete (or fail to function)?

It may seem a bit far-fetched take a look to platforms like MySpace, Friendster, Tumblr and Vine. You probably haven't even considered any of these websites for the past few years. When this happens to the most popular networks that you utilize to promote your product the business you run will soon become outdated, as well. Your audience will be lost and you'll must start over to build your base of customers.

It doesn't end when the person has given you their email address. It's important to keep up with relationships with your customers and keep your company prominent by frequently emailing relevant, useful messages to your customers. To help make this process simpler it is possible to use email marketing software such as MailerLite, ConvertKit, and ActiveCampaign to streamline your email marketing. Additionally, you can create a segmentation of your email list based on subscribers' behaviors or interests -- and send personalized mailers to every segment.

These automated emails should:

  • Inform your customers regarding the reason you have chosen to conduct what you do
  • Show them what your product can do to help them solve their problems
  • Let them know more about your business
  • Inform them about coupons, specials or offers that they could benefit from.

    Work with an influencer    

As the influencers have already established their audiences using their influence, working with them may be a great promotion strategy to promote your brand. Based on the type of influencer you're working with and the size of their audience, and the results you want to get You can either pay them in cash or offer freebies in exchange to have your products featured within their articles.

Another alternative is setting an affiliate program that celebrities can join for the purpose of promoting your product to their audience as a way of earning a percentage on purchases made through their affiliate links.

Whatever route you choose to take -- be it directly marketer marketing via influencers or affiliate marketing -engaging with trusted influencers within your industry will help you reach out to audiences you mightn't have had access to previously. It also reflects positively on the image of your brand, and improves the likelihood of conversions and sales.

    Create and implement the pre-launch strategy for promotion    

You know what's more powerful than marketing the digital item after you have launched it?

Promote your digital item prior to you launch it!

Planning and conducting a pre-launch campaign helps you create buzz about your product before it hits the market. This way it is possible to create an online community of potential buyers who'll be ready to buy your product the minute it goes on sale. This not only helps to avoid the dreadful feeling of no sales for the first couple of days however, it will also teach the basics of promotion, so the whole process becomes easier as you continue promoting your item.

There are a variety of ways to draw attention to the product prior to its launch. Here are a few:

  • Share clues on platforms about the type of product you'll introduce.
  • Publish posters and cover images of the upcoming item on your site to let people know that there's a new product coming
  • If the item is an eBook, you can send your email subscribers a link to read the first couple of pages
  • Organise a contest online and the prize for the winner is the first access to your latest product after it launches

A pre-launch campaign aid in the promotion of your products, it can also give you an idea of how much sales to be expecting from customers who've stated their desire to purchase your item after the launch. It also helps you build an established customer base which you'll be able to promote your future products with ease.

    Give discounts as well as freebies    

Just like with physical products, offering discount coupons and other freebies to advertise your digital products could attract potential customers and motivate them to buy.

When it comes to digital products, discounts can come as $X off on the first purchase and discounts of X% during Black Friday, while freebies can be a free email course, extended content, or bonus chapters. Additionally, you can add smaller digital products for bulk purchases for you to sell more the units you sell of your digital product.

Apart from encouraging people to test your product Discounts, freebies, and discounts also help you build credibility and trust with customers -- which increases the chance of word-of-mouth advertising as well as repeated purchases. It is also possible to use discounts and freebies to upsell other digital products that you create.

    Host a contest online    

Hosting contests and challenges on the internet is not just a fantastic opportunity to interact with existing customers. They're effective in attracting potential buyers to purchase your digital item -- if the competition assists them in achieving a goal they have

An excellent example of this is Avocadu's 21-day weight loss contest, which is posted prominently on their website.

Avocadu sells recipe eBooks as well as a weight loss program dubbed The Yoga Fat Loss Bible. Even though Avocadu has lots of positive customers' reviews on its web pages for sales however, they know that consumers are more likely to purchase paying for products when they can get a taste of the product for free. That's what the fat loss challenge will be used for.

Any person who takes on the challenge for free and loses weight is more likely to buy the Fat Loss Bible program than those who read only reviews on it.

For a successful challenge or contest, ensure three things:

  • Participants are required to participate for a certain duration of time. For Avocadu it's 21 days. In your case, it could be five.
  • People play it by using (or getting a push to utilize) your products and services online and lead magnets.
  • The challenge gives you the opportunity to sell your paid digital product (or your complete version that you offer as lead magnets) eventually.

Promote your digital product and increase sales

Digital products that are sold online can be an incredibly lucrative side hustle. But, the product you sell won't simply sell itself by a new. You must make the effort to promote it to your target audience.

These strategies to promote your product in this article will help you sell your product, however you'll have to put in the effort. There's no need to implement all 12 tips at once Choose a couple at first and experiment. It can take some time to see if they're effective however, if you're persistent then you'll benefit and figure out the marketing strategies that work best for your particular product.

Download our free strategy guide below for more tips!