What is the best way to Market Digital Products

Sep 14, 2023

It's been a long time since you've had the opportunity to create your first (or the most recent) digital product -- congrats! Next, of course, is to promote the product and get it in front of the audience you designed it for.

Promoting digital items and creating sales can be difficult however there are a few tactics you can employ to make contact with the most possible clients as possible and earn a decent earnings. In this article, you'll learn some promotional techniques you can use in order to kick off the process.

skip ahead:

First, let's define digital goods?

Considering how many people consume information online -- 5.18 billion people, in fact -- many entrepreneurs turn their expertise regardless of what it's in digital items they are able to sell to individuals. These digital products consist of:

  • eBooks
  • Video courses
  • Audio files and music
  • Graphic templates and website
  • Stock photos and videos
  • Software applications
  • Mobile apps
  • Coaching packages
  • Podcasts
  • Memberships

12 ways to promote digital goods and generate sales

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

    Create an online store or web site    

The first step for advertising your digital item is to create a digital storefront or website that will direct customers to where they can buy from you.

There are many ways to accomplish this. It is possible to use online store builders such as Shopify and Gumroad. These feature-rich platforms permit you to create eCommerce websites from scratch with little to no coding knowledge needed. With these store builders, you are able to sell all sorts of digital items, which include:

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

Gumroad caters to complete beginners and complete beginners, as evident by their tagline, "Go from zero to $1". Shopify, on the other hand, caters to people with varying levels of expertise.

They both offer a vast range of online store templates and a drag-and-drop website editor that allows you to customize templates according to the requirements of your brand. The tools also provide resources that can help you increase traffic to your store. Shopify is a good example. It allows you to download add-on applications to improve store functionality as well as integrate with third party apps to simplify workflows.

Other platforms that which can be used to construct an online storefront or website can be found here:

Contrary to Shopify, Gumroad, and  the like, these services are free to use. But they're self-hosted solutions and you'll be required to purchase:

  • A domain name ($10-20/year)
  • Web hosting ($3-30/month, based on the hosting platform and plan)
  • Premium Theme ($100-200 one-time payment)

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 just beginning your journey to creating and selling digital products You might wish to first join a marketplace before creating your own website or store. A few marketplaces online that you can be a part of include:

  • Amazon to store eBooks as well as audiobooks
  • eBay is a platform for any kind of digital product
  • iTunes - for music, podcasts, as well as videos
  • Envato is a resource for template designs for websites and graphics, stock photos and videos, and royalty-free music
  • Udemy to offer online courses generally
  • Creative Market : fonts, graphics, and templates to create creative ideas

The downsides, however, of marketplaces are:

  • The majority of them make a profit from each purchase you achieve
  • Your products are placed against similar offerings that are made by other companies. It reduces the chances of selling as many units as you want to.

    Create a compelling sales page for your product    

This is a factual aspect of selling digital products: At the start the customers will not know the name of your company, and they'll be less inclined to buy from you until you show them the reasons why they should. This is the case especially if you sell eBooks and online classes.

Contrary to what many people believe it is not necessary to be an expert copywriter to create a captivating selling page. All you need to do is ask this question for your target audience: Is this item right for me?

It is not necessary to provide every detail about your digital product. Instead, focus on:

  • What can your product do to aid them to solve their problems
  • The reason why they should select this product (instead of similar products that are available)

This is an example of a selling page that was created for an instructional design course. The copy that is on the top of the page clearly identifies who the course creator is trying to reach, i.e. teachers looking for opportunities to use their educator skills within high-quality establishments.

Providing prospects with proof that other users have tried your product and have benefitted from it is among the best ways for them to become buyers.

Why? because you're not the sole person who is proving your product's value and value; others are also confirming the same. Then they'll think: "If this can work with others, surely it will be effective for me too".

    Your website should be optimized to be search engine friendly    

If you're trying to execute a promotion strategy with enough force that you'll being making sales automatically months ( or even years) following the implementation, try search engine optimization (SEO)

There are three different types of SEO: on-page, off-page, and technological.

On-page SEO is the use of niche- or product-related keywords within web copy. To figure out the right terms to incorporate into your product and/or sales pages Ask yourself the following question: If someone was to find my product then what term(s) would they enter into Google?

Those terms are your keywords. It is possible to use keywords or SEO tools such as Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Ubersuggest to discover relevant keywords as well as their search volumes. When you've found the keywords you want to use, include them within your title and subheadings, body copy URLs, meta descriptions images alt text and so on. If Google's crawlers find that website, they will know exactly what the page is about and then rank it in the appropriate way.

In the end, it is about making a site or server more efficient in order to allow search engine spiders to browse and index your site effectively. This includes increasing speed, improving user experience, and structuring the data of your website.

    Create a content marketing funnel    

In the event that you're selling your digital item via a website (as instead of an online marketplace) You can make blogs, videos, and social media posts to educate the public about your industry as well as your product(s).

Just like the pages for your products it is possible to optimize blog posts to be search engine friendly with keywords, too. If your pages for products don't rank but your intended audience could still find you through your blog post that is ranked.

Alongside creating leads and driving traffic to your site, relevant content can also help you establish credibility and make yourself appear as an authority in your industry.

    Create an organic social media presence    

"You are able to record your message on TikTok without any hassle, and the recording doesn't need to be perfect." she says "It's authentic and real, and people know me to be a transparent and authentic person."

To grow your presence on social media Create and share material (images, carousels, short videos, longer videos, infographics, etc.) to educate your audience about your industry/niche, explain why you start creating products within that area and promote the benefits of these products. If you have customer reviews that you have shared, make sure to share them on the social media sites you use.

It may seem like your growth is slow at first, but if you publish content consistently users will eventually come to your website. While they are there, you can interact with them and develop friendships by liking and responding to their posts, sharing their posts, and giving shoutouts to people who purchased your item.

    Run pay-per-click ads    

Doing SEO and building an organic social media presence takes quite some time before you can reap the rewards. But if you're looking to have your business in front of many eyes in a short while consider using pay-per-click (PPC) ads. As you might've guessed, the pay-per-click (PPC) is a marketing system that requires you to only pay for ads that people click on.

There are two types of PPC ads such as paid social media ads and paid search ads.

Through paid social media advertising it is possible to run ad campaigns using the platforms the people you want to target use. Before you begin your campaign you'll determine the behaviors that, the demographics and preferences of your target audience. This will ensure that your ads appear on the feeds of people who may purchase from you.

Paid search ads however, allow your ads to show up on Google Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) in the event that your targeted customers conduct commercial searches- meaning they're looking for something they can purchase.

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

  • Utilize high-quality, visually appealing visuals in the advertisements.
  • Make sure you use compelling but brief copy to present the benefits of your product
  • Make clear a call-to-action that explains to viewers the next step to take after viewing the ad

    Create an email list    

SEO, Content Marketing, and paid advertisements are excellent ways to promote digital products, but what happens if Google as well as all other social media platforms go out of date (or fail to function)?

The idea may sound a little flimsy, but look at what happened to platforms like MySpace, Friendster, Tumblr and Vine. You probably haven't even been thinking about any of these platforms since some time. If this happens to any of the major networks you use to market your goods and services, then your company will be outdated, as well. Your audience will be lost and you'll have to start from scratch to build your base of customers.

It doesn't end when the person has given them their email addresses. You have to nurture this relationship and keep your business prominent by frequently sending relevant and useful emails to the recipients. For this to be easier it is possible to use email marketing tools such as MailerLite, ConvertKit, and ActiveCampaign to automate your emails. Additionally, you can divide your list of email subscribers by the subscribers' behavior or interests -- and create personalized email campaigns to each segment.

The automated emails will:

  • Provide your readers with information regarding the reason you have chosen to conduct the things you do.
  • Let them know the way your product could assist them in solving their issues
  • Let them know more about your business
  • Inform them of any special offers, discounts or other special deals they could take advantage of

    Work with an influencer    

Since influencers already have established audiences, working with them can be a great promotion strategy for your product. Depending on the kind of influencer you're working with, their size and the outcomes you're looking for You can either pay them in cash or provide freebies in exchange for their featuring your brand on their posts.

Another alternative is setting an affiliate program in which influencers can sign up for the purpose of promoting your product to their audiences with the promise of a revenue share for purchases they make through their special affiliate links.

Whatever method you opt to go with -- whether direct advertising or an affiliate program -- working with reputable influential people in your field could help you connect with the audiences that you may not have access to previously. It also reflects positively on your own brand and increases the likelihood of conversions and sales.

    Build and execute an early-launch marketing strategy    

You know what's more powerful than marketing your product's digital version after it has launched it?

Promoting your digital product before launching it!

Planning and conducting an initial campaign can help you create buzz about your product before it hits the market. This way, you can build an audience of people who'll be ready to buy your product as soon as it's launched. This not only helps in avoiding the negative feeling of no sales in the first few days and weeks, but it also helps teach the basics of promotion and the entire process will be simpler as you promote your product.

There are several ways to draw attention to the product prior to its launch. There are several ways to do this:

  • Provide clues via social media about the kind of product you'll be launching
  • Post posters and images of the upcoming item on your site to let people know that there's an upcoming product to be released
  • If the item is an eBook then you may provide your email subscribers with a link that will allow them to browse the first few pages
  • Organize an online challenge 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 the product but it also provides you with a rough idea of the amount of sales you can be expecting from customers who've stated their desire to purchase your item after the launch. Additionally, you'll build an existing customer base who you'll be able promote new products effortlessly.

    Discounts and other freebies    

Similar to physical products, offering discounts and freebies when you market your digital item can attract prospective customers and encourage them to buy.

In the case of digital goods, discounts may be as low as $X off your first purchase or discounts of X% for Black Friday, while freebies could include a no-cost email course, extra content or bonus chapters. You can also add smaller digital products for bulk purchases in order to increase the number of the units you sell of your digital item.

In addition to encouraging customers to take a look at your products discount coupons and other freebies can also aid in building credibility and trust with customers -- which increases the chance of word-of-mouth advertising and repeated purchases. You can also use discounts and freebies to boost sales on other digital items you make.

    Host a contest online    

Contests and hosting challenges online isn't just a great way to engage with existing customers, but they're excellent at preparing prospective customers to buy your digital product -- provided the challenge assists them in achieving a goal they're working towards.

An excellent example to illustrate this concept is the Avocadu's 21-day weight loss contest, which is posted front and center on their website.

Avocadu sells recipes eBooks as well as a weight-loss program dubbed The Yoga Fat Loss Bible. Even though Avocadu has lots of positive customer reviews on its website however, they know that consumers are more likely to purchase the paid products if they can try it for free. This is what the fat loss contest can be used to do.

Any person who takes on the challenge at no cost and sheds some weight through it is more likely to purchase the Fat Loss Bible program than those who read only reviews of it.

To make a winning challenge or competition, make sure three factors:

  • The participants are there for a certain duration of duration. For Avocadu it's 21 days. In your case, it could be five.
  • People play it by engaging in (or getting a push to utilize) your products and services online and lead magnets.
  • The challenge provides the opportunity to sell your paid digital product (or your complete version of your lead magnet) at the end.

Market your digital products to increase your sales

Digital products that are sold online can be an incredibly lucrative side business. Your product will not be sold by magic just because of existing. You have to make the effort to promote the product to your intended audience.

These strategies to promote your product in this post can assist you sell your product, however, you'll have to work hard. You don't have to try all the 12 strategies at once Pick a few at first and experiment. There may be a long time before you see results however, if you're persistent and consistent, you'll see the results as you figure out the advertising strategies that work best for your business.

Download our free strategy guide here for additional tips!