Digital products have the potential to generate a valuable income stream for your business. You might wonder how to get started or be sure your product will generate the sales you desire. These tips from RDs with successful digital products will help you set sail with a clear vision and chart a profitable course.
Pro Tip #1: Create something your audience wants and needs.
While this may sound obvious, it is very common to think we know what our customers want and create our product in a vacuum. Is it essential to validate your product and confirm your audience is willing to pay for. Do this before you spend valuable time developing it.
Jill Castle, MS, RDN, author and childhood nutrition expert has numerous successful digital products. Her best advice is “to create a product that your audience actually wants and needs.” She often asks her audience for their input. This is exactly how she developed “Try New Food: How to Help New Eaters, Picky Eaters and Extreme Picky Eaters Taste, Eat and Like New Food!”
What exactly does it look like to ask your audience? This could be a formal survey you send out to your email list or a quick “can you help” post on social media. You may also consider doing focused interviews with your ideal customers. Offer a gift card can encourage participation.
There are added benefit of speaking directly with target customers of your product. You will be able to hone in on the words they use to describe the problem your product solves. Using these words and phrases in your product description is a best practice for attracting customers and driving sales. Notice the title of Jill’s book strategically uses words that resonate with her audience. She utilizes language her customers use, like “eat and try new food” and doesn’t utilize complex or scientific terms.
What if you don’t have an audience? Listening and asking a similar audience in an online community can reveal valuable information. Perhaps you are a member of a Facebook group or electronic mailing list. These are excellent places to both identify common questions and pain points as well as ask direct questions about a product you are developing. Be an active member of communities and online forums where your target customers “hang-out.”
Take it from a pro and listen to your audience, ask them directly and create a product they want to buy!
Pro Tip #2: Survey your customers for updates and additions they would be interested in.
While finding new customers for your product is often a core focus, did you know that it takes 6-7 more times the effort to get a new customer than keep a current one? Focusing on existing customers can be a valuable approach to drive repeat sales and word-of-mouth marketing. Amy Gorin, MS, RDN, co-creator of the Master the Media e-course uses this approach to determine what updates and additions her audience is interested in. This approach keeps current customers happy and leverages new sales as well.
One of the approaches used by Amy to market the Master the Media e-course is a webinar that teaches 5 tips to break into the media. This free webinar attracts a great deal of potential purchasers and helps to drive sales of the course. While not all attendees will purchase the e-course, these attendees are a valuable source of feedback. By keeping a line of communication open with quality content with email marketing, you can continue to nurture the relationship for future sales.
Using a promotional (free) webinar to build your email list and market your paid product is excellent approach to drive sales. However, putting the pieces together to create a successful webinar can be overwhelming. For a comprehensive look at how Amy has developed a successful webinar for the Master the Media e-course, watch this video.
Your existing customers and current followers are an excellent source of feedback on how to improve your product or what new features would add value. Taking the time to continue to serve your audience can reap great rewards with repeat purchases and word-of-mouth marketing.
Pro Tip #3 Be sure your audience is willing to pay for the products you know they need.
Offering a free download or promotional product can a great deal of interest and activity, but it may not translate into sales if you launch a paid product. People are often willing to grab free products, but won’t opt for a paid version.
Monica Bashaw, MScA, RD offers insight that “what our clients need is not necessarily the same as what they are willing to pay for.” Developing your product from an RD perspective and clinical expertise may result in a very high-quality product, but not appeal to your audience. Consider taking time to validate your product idea.
Monica is an expert in bariatric surgery nutrition and the author of “The Complete Guide to Weight Loss Surgery: Your Questions Finally Answered.” She has found that current clients provide much more insight than polling her Facebook audience. Routinely seeking input from your existing clients or using a post-visit survey can provide valuable input. This feedback can be translated into products that are desired and that your customers would be willing to pay for.
The key nugget of advice is to not create products wearing our “RD hat” and focusing on what we know our clients need. Instead, you will be more successful by gathering insight from your clients and developing products they are asking for.
Tip #4 Always upsell or provide the next step to working with you.
Digital products are a great opportunity to offer a low-cost entry point for clients to explore your services. However, they also offer a valuable opportunity to upsell more expensive products and services. Jennifer Skoog, RDN, LD, CDE offers the advice “always upsell or suggesting the next step to working with you.”
Think about a time you’ve been shopping online and have been presented with a higher priced version of a product you are considering, perhaps the “upsell” includes additional valuable services or is a more comprehensive product.
Upsells are incredibly powerful with digital products are a unique aspect of the online environment. Most comprehensive online shopping cart tools offer functionality to set-up an upsell. You will need to spend time thinking about how you can structure your products and services so you can consistently offer customers that are shopping your entry level products an upsell or encourage them to take the next step to work with you. For more on choosing a shopping cart to sell your digital products, check out this article featuring popular options.
Jennifer offers a “Healthy Meals Masterclass” for moms. Included in her product is a built-in upsell that includes a more comprehensive meal planning guide. This upsell process allows you to offer an entry level product to attract potential customers, but also maximize your earnings by offering higher priced items during the purchase process.
Take the Next Step
Selling digital products is a great opportunity for your business, both to generate passive income, but also to attract new customers. To learn more about how to create digital products, download my FREE ebook, a guide for RDNs getting started selling digital products.
Be sure to grab a copy of my FREE e-book, “Leveraging Digital Goods: More Money, More Business” with a BONUS getting started checklist.
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