So, you’ve decided to jump into the digital marketplace, huh?
That’s great, because given the way the unit economics of ecommerce work, selling digital products can now be much more lucrative than selling physical products.
The only missing link at this point is, you need to have some solid strategies in place to be able to sell your products effectively.
In this guide, we’re going to share with you just that — some proven strategies to help you sell more units of your digital products. Let’s hop right in.
1. Address Your Would-be Customers’ Pain Points
When online course creators start creating their breed of digital products, some make the mistake of focusing on the things that they know, versus the things their audience members need — or their pain points.
For example, if you manage a team of call center agents, you might be tempted to create an online course about “How to Start a Call Center Company (The Right Way).”
If your customers are business owners who are looking to hire call center agents, however, then your course wouldn’t resonate with them — because they don’t want to start a call center company — they’re looking to outsource. In this case, as the online course creator, a more fitting online course could be, “How to Improve Your Company’s Customer Support.”
The course creator could then highlight how their audience can hire a call center company to address their needs.
There are two things to take note of here:
- The first title merely focuses on what the course creator knows — without putting any regard to their audiences’ needs.
- The second title directly addresses prospective customers’ needs.
If you are unsure of what your audience is looking for, you can always use an online tool like Answer The Public and type in an industry-focused search query.
In our sample search query, we simply typed in “plumbing problems.” The platform came back with several questions that you can work with.
You can then start creating online courses that address them directly, making them irresistible to your audience.
Remember, if you want your digital products to sell like crazy, put a premium on what your customers’ needs are, and not just on the things that you know of.
2. Keep Up With the Trends
Next, you have to stay up-to-date with what’s popular and/or trendy. Doing this, you’ll be able to create digital products that you know are relevant to your niche.
Depending on your area of expertise, there are tons of avenues you can explore to find the most current trends. You can use Facebook, Pinterest, Reddit, Instagram and even search engines. Google Trends, however, is one of the best free tools you can use to determine what’s “hot” in your industry.
If you’re running an online course business and are thinking of selling a guide about affiliate marketing, then the trend results from Google Trends will give you an idea of whether the people are going to be interested about your affiliate marketing course.
The tool can even break down the data for you by showing you which region is showing the most interest.
Just remember, there is more to validating a products’ sellability than just looking at the trends. Be sure to give your product research a bit more due diligence than just using Google Trends.
3. Sell Multiple Products.
Finally, do not stop at selling one product only.
Too many digital entrepreneurs create one product and then… watch and wait. Maybe the product takes off, maybe it doesn’t.
Either way, you have a better chance of selling more if your customers have plenty of products to choose from. Don’t try to package everything into one big course either. Instead, break it down into different groups and/or sections.
If you’re thinking of creating a course about coding, for example, then you can use this format:
- Learn To Code HTML – Creating Your First Website
- Learn To Code HTML – Creating Your First eCommerce Website
- Learn To Code HTML – Creating Your First Online Chat Room
It makes a lot of sense to create multiple products. If you started with the first course, you might not make much. But, if you create a second course, you’ll have a better chance of capturing more audience. And again, maybe the first two will flop, but if the third one takes off, you’ll garner truckloads of sales.
The good news is, it’s dead easy to figure out what course topics would complement your existing course. You can use a keyword research tool like Ubersuggest, enter a relevant keyword about your topic, then browse through the keyword suggestions.
In our example screenshot, if your existing online course is about affiliate marketing, then it’d make sense for you to create courses on affiliate marketing videos and sales funnels.
Remember, you did not decide to become a digital entrepreneur just to make one product and then hope for the best. Even if you did create one product, and it absolutely took off, why would you stop?
Why not continue building from that success? Create a follow-up product and market it to the same people who bought your last course. Now you’ve managed to double your profits, and it is completely repeatable!
What’s Next?
If your digital store has been running for quite some time now, yet you’re barely getting any sales, then don’t be discouraged.
While there are bajillions of other strategies you can employ to get online sales, following the tips above should already point you in the right direction.
Just take the time to implement these tips — one at a time, if necessary — and you are bound to see positive results out of your online business.
