9 Proven strategies to increase online sales of your digital products

Have you ever wondered why some products sell like hotcakes and others don’t? While there is no magic formula for success, there are a few things that successful digital creators can focus on to boost their chances of getting it right. These include product quality, pricing, target audience, etc.

So, if you woke up thinking “I want to make money selling digital products” or you already run a business and want to increase online sales, then keep on reading. We will explain what impacts sales the most and share tips on how to sell more products.

How to make money selling digital products – factors that impact sales

Let’s begin by taking a look at the things that affect how well a digital product sells.

Product quality

Nowadays, the market offers us the luxury of choice – for every need or problem, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of solutions available. This abundance might raise the question, is product quality still important for customers? It surely is; 74% of customers mention product quality as the primary factor that keeps them loyal to a brand, while 70% say they would switch brands if they offered better performance.

It’s essential to remember that quality goes way beyond offering a product or service that exceeds the ‘market standard’. It’s about delivering an exceptional customer experience – consistently. To increase online sales of your digital products, you must treat product quality as your highest priority as it’s the key to long-term profitability.

Target audience

If you want to make money selling digital products, it’s important to ensure that they perfectly meet the needs of your target audience. To do this, you first need to understand who they are. According to CB Insights, 35% of startups fail as they lack product-market fit.

So, before you start creating digital products, you must do your homework. This includes identifying your target persona and figuring out:

• The problems they face
• What drives them to buy
• Their purchasing power is, i.e., how much they’re willing to spend
• Their preferred communication channels, etc.

Without a clear understanding of your target audience, the products you create are likely to be a hit or miss – and it’s often the latter. However, if you get it right, your products can sell well, even if they are more expensive, provided they offer real value.

Pricing

Pricing also plays a role in increasing online sales. You have to determine how much your prospects will pay for what you offer. If you provide value, then you can justify premium pricing. Naturally, not all products must be positioned as ‘premium’—it’s up to you to decide who you want to sell to.

Remember that brand familiarity and perception often impact people’s willingness to pay. We don’t have to search far for examples—just look at Apple. Whenever Apple releases a new iPhone, hundreds of people queue outside stores on the launch day. And they repeat the same ritual whenever a new phone comes out—that’s what we call a mastery in brand loyalty! Despite charging premium pricing, Apple is still a leader in the smartphone industry with over 20% market share.

Now, let’s look a little closer at the ‘familiarity’ factor.

Brand trust

As the Apple example showed, the more people know about a brand, the more likely they are to shop from it. You might be thinking, “but Apple is a huge company”. Yet, it’s really no different from how people buy from individual creators.

For example, say you’re looking for a dairy-free recipe ebook. Would you rather get one from a ‘random’ person or a chef whose food you’ve been drooling over on Instagram for months? Since you already have that positive connection, you’d probably go with the second choice.

Brand trust also adds a whole other layer—clients’ readiness to forget about occasional bad experiences. A survey on customer loyalty found that people who have a connection with the person they’re buying from are three times as likely to forgive a mistake. As many as 83% also say they are ‘very unlikely’ to buy from a competitor if they trust the person.

Ease of purchase

Finally, to increase online sales as a creator, you need to make it super easy to finalize a purchase. The more steps they must take from learning about your product to paying for it, the less likely they’ll be to convert, which can lead to abandoned cart issues. If you need extra convincing, then it’s worth mentioning that, on average, 7 out of 10 people don’t complete their online orders – let that sink in.

Ideally, they should be able to use a one-page checkout or even a one-click payment method. This is an experience digital creators can offer their clients with Easycart.

9 tips to increase online sales of your digital products

1. Make sure you target the right people

First things first, understand who you’re creating your products for. Start with market research – you can conduct interviews, surveys, or focus groups with people who you think fit the bill. Check what prospects say about competing products – you can visit their social media profiles or product review pages like G2 or Serchen.

Read the comments and opinions, there will be plenty of insights there. People often share what they liked and disliked about specific solutions and even offer suggestions for improvement. It’s a good idea to visit forums like Quora or Reddit, that’s where people share their concerns and seek answers.

Also, if you already have a few customers, talk to them – they are a fantastic source of knowledge. Ask them for feedback, and change your product accordingly. If you use analytics such as Google Analytics, you can easily take a deep dive into data, especially the acquisition and conversion reports. You’ll be able to find out who is most likely to buy your products and how to reach them.

Translate your findings into a buyer persona and revisit them regularly as your target audience might change with time.

2. Get your pricing right and make it transparent

You’ll have to figure out how to price your digital products. Aim to find a middle ground that satisfies your profit goals while also being attractive to customers.

A good starting point is conducting preliminary research to check how much competitors charge and how their offering compares to yours. Is it similar, or do you provide significantly more value? Is there online feedback about whether people find these prices too high or reasonable?

Alternatively, consider the time invested in creating a digital asset and add a desired profit margin. For example, if you’re selling a course on managing a social media account that took 20 hours to create, and your hourly rate is $50, you can calculate the price by adding a 30% profit margin to your base cost. The formula would be: base price, which is the number of hours spent on course creation multiplied by your hourly rate plus the profit margin, so:

Course price = (20 x $50) + (30% x $1000) = $1,300

While it might be your ideal price, whether your prospects will pay it, is another story. You’ll have to wait and see.

The good news is that you can change your price if it turns out that it’s too high or too low. Just make sure your customers know what they are paying for. The willingness to pay often comes down to rightly communicating the product’s value. A course costing over $1,000 can be a worthy investment if it allows customers to earn more from social media after completion – the investment will quickly pay off.

Once you’ve found your ‘ideal’ price, you should also make it easy for customers to understand what’s included. You can use Easyoffer to create pricing cards for every product you sell, or for your entire offering to show their value.

This brings us to the next piece of advice.

3. Ensure your product offers value

People buy products to reach their goals and solve problems. To make money selling digital products, ask yourself the following:

• Why do people search for products like mine?
• Does my product help them succeed?
• How can I make my offer stand out?

Once you know the answers, you can focus on making your product’s unique value shine through your copy and imagery. Think of things like testimonials from clients, or – if possible – sharing numbers that showcase results.

Also, if you discover that no one in your field offers a freebie like a complementary 20-minute consultation, and you can easily add it in, it might be the perfect way to win over competitors.

4. Come up with strategies for unexpected events

Earlier, we mentioned that you can’t control everything that could affect your sales. But you can think about how to adjust your price or product to your clients’ changing needs, or even create something completely new. In the last few years, creators adjusted their sales strategy in many ways. Some strategies included:

• Chefs and trainers selling ebooks for frugal buyers affected by high inflation rates. These ebooks often mention products from popular discount stores or even feature a modest budget in the title.
• Creators selling early access to digital products in the making, at a discounted price, instead of letting potential clients only “get notified when available”.
• Traditional services like workshops or classes moving online during COVID – violin lessons, online Arabic courses, or SEO training sessions are just a few examples from some of the digital creators we know.

5. Create urgency

Yes, we’re talking about using FOMO to increase online sales. The two main ‘urgency’ factors you can use include:

Limited-time offers – for example, a Valentine’s Day or Black Friday campaign where you offer a great discount, bundle deal, or freebie. This should be accompanied by a timer that counts time down to the end of the promo. You can use Easytimer for both your website and marketing emails to create urgency and boost your revenue by up to 270%.

Scarcity – your product or service could have limited stock or seats. For example, there might be only 20 early bird tickets to your online conference.

That said, you need to be honest when creating urgency in sales. If the promo is still active after the timer counts down to zero or you release another round of rare products/tickets, people will feel manipulated, which can cause reputational damage. Ouch!

6. Avoid the paradox of choice

There is a buyer psychology study called “Can One Desire Too Much of a Good Thing?” The answer to its titular question is “yes.” When people like too many products at the same time, it can be super harmful to your sales.

Of course, if you’re a prolific creator, you don’t have to curb your creativity just because of this. But make sure to offer an intuitive menu and filters so people can easily limit their options to the best-fitting products.

Bonus tip: If customers frequently ask questions like “How does X differ from Y?”, don’t ignore it. This ambiguity might be a silent conversion killer for your company.

7. Scan your buyer’s journey for distractions

Are any elements drawing your customers’ attention away from finalizing their purchase? Think of things like:

• Flashy sidebars
• Non-sales related pop-ups, like newsletter signups
• Auto-play videos
• Links to influencers’ content off-site, for example, TikTok or Instagram accounts.

You should cut these and any other unnecessary steps from the buyer’s experience once they’ve gone to their cart.

8. Collect testimonials to build brand trust

For most people, blind buying is not an option. Consumers look for validation in the form of recommendations and referrals, either from friends or past clients. Research shows that prospects prefer large numbers of reviews, high star ratings, and trustworthy platforms, even if they have to pay a higher price for a product.

To increase online sales, you have to build trust, and among other things, this means collecting testimonials from clients. If you’re not sure how to ask for testimonials, then we have a detailed article on it – be sure to give it a read.

9. Keep a close eye out on your competition

Unless you’re pioneering something, you need to be up to date with what your competitors are up to. And even if you offer something that nobody else does, it’ll change eventually, so you should make competition research part of your routine. This will help you understand what does and doesn’t work in your industry. Here are a few tips:

• Identify your direct and indirect competitors
• Analyze their marketing strategies and online activities. Visit their website and social media profiles – check how they position the brand, what messaging they use, and what content they produce. Tools like Ahrefs or Semrush can help.
• Understand their product or service offerings. Review the features and pricing.
• Check how competitors sell their products. Do they use marketplaces or sell it directly through their website?

Having as much information about competing products as possible will help you strengthen your offering and might prevent you from making costly mistakes.

Make money selling digital products – the ‘secret sauce’

The cliche “success doesn’t happen overnight” applies to digital creators as much as to anyone else on the market. Luckily, if you put some time and effort into understanding what clients in your sector crave, what price they’re willing to pay, and how you can stand out, you’ll be on the right path.

Plus, let’s not forget about using the right creator tools—those that make it easy for potential clients to learn about and fall in love with your products and finalize their purchase. Good luck!