Last Updated on 2 years by Christopher Jan Benitez
Selling goods and services online sounds promising. The benefits include low overhead costs, low barriers to entry, high-profit margins, and more. Not to mention, the business is on a massive market, the internet.
Statista, a company specializing in consumer and market data, reports $4.9 trillion in eCommerce sales in 2021. By 2025, these sales will increase to $7.4 trillion.
Entertaining the idea of going into eCommerce with plans of selling digital products? Then, you’re looking at brighter days.
In this article, we’ll talk about how to sell digital products. Along the way, you’ll get tips and learn about the main threats for online sellers in 2022.
What Is a Digital Product?
A digital product is an item you can offer in exchange for cash or other currencies. Unlike traditional products, it doesn’t have physical features. It’s also intangible — you can’t touch it.
A typical example of a digital product is an online course. Platforms like Teachable, Udemy, and Skillshare can help you create and sell online courses.
Selling online courses is highly profitable — and so is the eLearning market. With a (CAGR) Compound Annual Growth Rate of 2.61% (2022-2027), the eLearning market is projected to have a market volume of $64.50 billion by 2027.
9 Tips for Selling Digital Products Online
Here are nine tips for selling digital products online:
1) Think about Different Digital Products
Selling a product under a niche that encompasses your existing knowledge allows you to use your passion as financial capital. It’s also faster and less expensive.
Examples of digital products are eBooks, mobile apps, and software programs. Other examples include membership sites, paid content, and exclusive webinars.
You can also adopt a digital strategy to accommodate your current product offerings.
For example, Dunkin’, a globally recognized coffee company, offered e-gift cards. The goal is to let people buy Dunkin’ products for their loved ones.
2) Feel the Market Pulse and Trends
Create a list containing the digital products you want to sell. Then narrow it down to one or two potential items. By then, see if there’s a market demand for your product.
Ways to feel the market pulse:
- Use Google Trends – Enter a keyphrase using the tool. Then see if it’s trending in your target region.
- Maximize social listening – Find out where your target audience is. Then learn what these people are saying about you.
- Perform competitive analysis – Know your competitors and find out what they’re selling. Then you can sell similar products for lower prices. Of course, you can also offer something different and better.
3) Identify the Right Audience
You’ll attract more leads if you create a buyer persona or a well-defined representation of the consumers you want for your business. It’s key to understanding consumer behavior, streamlining marketing strategies, and creating high-quality content.
Take it from Olivia Brabbs Photography, a business run by an artist who sells photographs. When she shifted her perspective to a business angle, she committed to capturing still shots of subjects relevant to lifestyle, tourism, and hospitality.
The result? Her photography business boomed. Now, she offers more services and caters to more clients. Her operations also became more organized.
4) Start Developing a Digital Product
Begin creating and delving into your digital product idea. Once your digital product is ready, your product is up for reuse and unlimited downloads.
- Set goals – Clarify what you want to achieve with your product. And think of definite ways of aiming for these goals.
- Create a product roadmap – Tell the story of how you want to develop your product over time and follow it. Include details on how you plan to address user experience and marketing.
- Decide on distribution channels – Do this strategically to get off to a good start with an audience. For example, if you decide to set up a blog, update it and load it with sufficient resources so it can provide regular value.
5) Launch a Lead Generation Campaign
Leverage authority marketing from day one. Create effective content and tell people about your product to show your excellence.
Tips:
- Guest star on podcasts – Endorse your brand and product casually. Just be sure to select a podcast from an authoritative content creator.
- Publish guest posts – Benefit from the existing traffic of high authority websites. And structure your post to highlight the benefits and strengths of your product.
- Host events – Engage with prospects. Invite thought leaders, industry experts, other digital product sellers, and big names in the eCommerce scene.
6) Set the Prices and Tiers
You can use pricing as a marketing strategy. It can determine can ramp up interest, increase sales, and attract leads and new customers.
Tips:
- Decide payment methods to accept – Include popular modes of payment like PayPal and debit and credit cards with the VISA and Mastercard logo. Also, consider the methods commonly used by your target audience.
- Offer tiers – Tiered pricing lets you provide different levels of service. Your customers can access information and product features depending on how much they’re willing to pay.
- Base prices on geographical backgrounds – Focus on your target audience. Set the price according to the market-clearing arrangement in their area or to reflect the shipping costs.
7) Launch an E-store
Launching an e-store on the best eCommerce platforms (fully hosted) like Shopify and BigCommerce is an excellent idea. Another excellent idea is to use an open-source eCommerce platform and run an e-store on a self-hosted website.
Benefits of using fully hosted eCommerce platforms:
- Lower costs – You wouldn’t need to pay for tools, the skills of a professional web developer, a web hosting package, and more. You can also benefit from the effortless and fast initial setup.
- Scalability – Fully hosted eCommerce platforms can guide you as your needs change. For example, they can absorb traffic spikes easily.
- High security – The IT professionals who provide services specialize in eCommerce. Their focus is on guaranteeing the servers are in top-notch condition.
Benefits of using an open-source platform on a self-hosted website:
- Challenging to set up – If you’re not tech-savvy, you need to hire someone who can navigate the installation process on your behalf.
- No centralized support – If you encounter difficulties, you’re on your own. You may need to hire a tech-savvy individual to help you fix issues.
- Costs can grow – The long-term costs can overwhelm you. As your revenue grows, so will keeping up with the monthly fees for maintaining your website.
8) Encourage Sales
Don’t expect ideal buyers to feel a connection with your product the moment you introduce it. Give them time to identify its strengths and familiarize themselves with it as a solution to their problem.
How to attract buyers:
- Incentivize – Offer rewards like discounts, special offers, and lower fees for the first buyers.
- Be omnipresent – Offer your digital product through different online channels like social media platforms and mobile apps. From the platforms, use a link to direct them to your e-store.
- Persuade –Pitch your product to your target customers after analyzing customer behavior. For example, if your targets have a penchant for visual appeal and feature-rich products, attract these people by emphasizing the aesthetics and features of your product.
9) Ask for Feedback and Testimonials
Invite customers to share their 10 cents worth of your product or brand. Designing a page solely for feedback and testimonials raises their chances of accepting your invitation.
Tips:
- Share your intent – Inform customers of why you’re asking for their input. Tell them what you plan on doing with it, too.
- Ask directly – Approach customers for feedback — plain and simple. That’s how Etsy, an online marketplace focused on selling unique items, encouraged 25% of customers to leave reviews.
- Create a Net Promoter Score (NPS) survey – Ask a simple question where all respondents have to do is give your a rating. An NPS survey is effective because it’s not easy to do and understand and not time-consuming.
Potential Threats when Selling Digital Products
Here are the common threats that sellers of digital products face:
Issues with the Digital Supply Chain
Regularly assess your supply chain and ensure everything is working seamlessly. Otherwise, it will negatively impact your credibility, trust ratings, and overall reputation as an online seller.
Tips on optimizing the supply chain:
- Use an inventory management system – It allows you to monitor your stock, back orders, and purchase variances.
- Centralize data – Unify data sources for everyone in your business to know the same information. This prevents misinformation and lessens redundancies.
- Shorten flow – Eliminate any area that can cause even the slightest delays. The goal is to reduce the processing time required for your operations.
No Organic Traffic
Fact: 90% of online stores fail.
One of the reasons is a dramatic decline in—or zero—organic traffic.
To rectify this, apply off-page and on-page SEO techniques. Load up on high-quality content, update website speed, manage public relations, build links, and more.
Data Security
There’s a swarm of alarming cybersecurity threats to online sellers. Two of them are identity and data thefts.
Tips to address threats with data security:
- Secure sensitive data – Putting an email authentication system in place is a way to identify fake accounts. Also, consider using Sender Policy Framework, DomainKeys Identified Mail, and other DNS-based mechanisms.
- Apply state-of-the-art data security methods – Update software and other tools, use AI for enhanced security, and more. Remember, you process payments and financial details.
- Work with a well-trained team – Before delegating tasks, train employees on cybersecurity. It helps heighten your e-store’s security.
Lack of Data Encryption
While the cases of cyber crimes are increasing these days, some online sellers still undermine the need for proper data encryption. Consequently, this exposes them to data breaches and unauthorized access.
Tips to resolve problems with a lack of data encryption:
- Manage access levels – Limit what type of data your employees can access. Ideally, they should have access to the data they use.
- Use encryption – Encrypt in layers, too. The idea is to make it too labor-intensive so a hacker will lose interest in getting in.
- Back-up data – Prepare for the possibility of data getting lost with a solid backup system. If such a situation happens, you should have no problem recovering your old files.
Conclusion
Now that you have read the article, start selling digital products. Remember, your success as an online seller is also related to your attitude. Don’t go into the eCommerce business half-heartedly.
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