Digital Product Not Selling? 10 Reasons Why & How to Fix It

Last Updated on November 19, 2024 by Jan Barley

Digital product not selling? I get it. You got excited and spent hours creating the perfect digital product, and then…crickets.

Don’t worry. I made the same mistakes. So do many thousands of other marketers. Still, once you know what you’re doing wrong, you know how to fix the issue. Here are ten secrets to creating digital products you know you can sell.

Mistake #1: Failing to do Market Research

Digital marketing is great. Everyone wants your digital product, right? Er, maybe not. This mistake is the one most of us make. Creating a product nobody needs or wants is the #1 reason for pathetic sales results.

Never assume you know what the market wants. Your digital product not selling results from failing to communicate with your target audience before you begin creating.

How to Fix Mistake #1: Market Research First

Here are a few things I do for market research. I am a bit lazy, so I’m always looking for quicker ways to achieve results.

1. Google Console: Look at top-performing blog posts. Is there a theme? Are people clicking on similar posts?
2. IG Threads: Search for posts with your intended theme. Run polls and write threads on the subject and see how they perform. Threads is an excellent platform for market research because you can get feedback relatively quickly. If you don’t know how to master Threads, Check my review on “Threads Unleashed”
3. Surveys: Run surveys to get more feedback from your target audience.

Mistake #2: Not Having an Email List

Most of us overlook the importance of having an email list. It’s how the top people build their following and get floods of sales when they release a new product. An email list helps you validate creative ideas and build trust with your audience, which all helps to increase sales.

Trying to make sales from social media is like pulling teeth unless you’re an influencer with hundreds of thousands of followers. Conversely, a small, well-nurtured email list can generate an increase in sales.

How to Fix Mistake #2: Grow Your Email List

Plan for how to attract subscribers. Here are a few ideas:

• Create a lead magnet: Target content for your audience and your planned digital course. A lead magnet can be a checklist, email training, a mini-course, a challenge, an e-book or a cheat sheet.
• Promote the lead magnet: Share it on your blog, email list, and social media.
• Nurture your list: Don’t sell in every email. Share valuable content, give away stuff for free and don’t bombard your subscribers with a daily email sequence.

Mistake #3: Not Building a Product Ladder

A product ladder? What the heck is that? In a nutshell, when planning a digital product, spend time considering upsell and downsell options. Making a consistent passive income from one product is often challenging. It’s better to have a few eggs in your basket.

How to Fix Mistake #3: Build a Synergistic Product Ladder

Suppose your first digital product is “How to Get More Followers on Instagram”, and you sell for $7.

Your ladder products could be a mini-course at $27 and one-to-one coaching at $195 a session. Create products from low to high ticket offers. Once people buy your low ticket and love your content, it is easier to sell high-ticket items.

Mistake #4: Failure to Launch

Launching a new product starts way before you are ready to sell. Don’t wait until you have created a lovely, shiny Canva template. Here’s a better and more effective way to launch your new digital product:

How to Fix Mistake #4: Get Organised

• Create and sign off on an outline
• Set a deadline and initial discount offer
• Engage on social media on the topic of your digital product. Give advice, share tips, answer comments, etc.
• Create a high-converting sales page
• Write blogs on the subject
• Email your subscribers if you have a list (don’t be salesy, just share what’s coming)

Mistake #5: Ineffective Pricing Strategy

Is a digital product not selling because it’s cheap or expensive? How do you know how to price a digital product? Here’s a simple strategy:

How to Fix Mistake #5: More Research I’m Afraid

When doing your market research for the subject matter, research market prices, too. Consider the following:

• How much do people spend on similar products in your niche?
• Does your product offer more, such as 1-2-1 assistance or a membership group?
• Can your target demographic afford the product? For instance, one client of mine wanted to create a guide for teenage boys. To sell that product, he had the added problem of appealing to the boys and a parent who could purchase for them. That’s too many moving parts.
• Will you launch a beta price for a limited number of buyers?
• Can you demonstrate evidence of your expertise on the subject? For instance, an accountant would have an easier job selling a digital product with financial advice than someone who isn’t qualified and can’t back up evidence of success.

Mistake #6: Not Setting Deadlines

Humans suffer from FOMO (fear of missing out). Failing to set a deadline decreases urgency, which means people will put off buying because there’s no reason to rush. No matter how much someone wants your product, without a deadline, they will feel they can return later when they have more money, time, etc.

How to Fix Mistake #6: Set Deadlines From Day One

Setting a deadline can increase sales. It pushes people to decide because they don’t want to miss out.

Build a sense of urgency. You can add a deadline clock on a sales page, showing a countdown to when the price goes up or becomes unavailable (yes, that works).

Mistake #7: Having a Poorly Designed Sales Page

Poorly designed sales pages are off-putting. Start as you mean to go on and don’t cut corners

How to Fix Mistake #7: Become a Sales Page Wizard

It’s relatively easy to create a sales page (learn how to build sales funnels), but there are a few things to consider:

• It must look visually attractive
• Text should stand out (don’t use dark text on a dark coloured background or light text on a light background)
• The messaging should be on point and concise
• It must be easy to understand
• Use persuasive (not salesy) and compelling copy using psychological principles
• Use visuals (graphics and video)
• Add social proof (testimonials)

Mistake #8: Poor Customer Experience

I’ve bought a few digital products that were hugely disappointing. That ranged from typos, grammar and spelling mistakes, poor use of colour, text crammed together on a page, video quality lacking, speaker talking too fast, slow or babbling incoherently.

Fundamentally, your digital product should be of the best quality possible, even if it’s a low-ticket item.

The goal for your first product is to get glowing testimonials because social proof is vital to encourage more sales.

How to Fix Mistake #8: Prioritise The Customer Experience

Here are 4 golden rules for creating a digital product:

1. It must deliver what you promise 100%
2. It gives the client the anticipated result or transformation
3. You must provide support of some kind
4. The product is good quality content

If the product is a beta version, make it clear to purchasers that you want their feedback to improve the product and then make those changes.

Mistake #9: Forgetting You Need Traffic to Make Sales

This rookie mistake is the most overlooked aspect of selling anything. You must get eyes on your product, or you will not make sales, not even if it is the best product in the world and solves an epic problem.

How to Fix Mistake #9: Learn Traffic Generation

I adopt a multi-pronged approach to traffic generation and advise you to do the same. Here is what I do to get traffic to my website and products.

1. Learn SEO
2. Start a Blog and write SEO content
3. Create pillar posts and content clusters on the subject of your digital products
4. Start Pinterest Marketing: Learn pin design & Pinterest SEO to drive traffic to your blog and offers
5. Start a YouTube channel: Drive traffic to your blog and offers
6. Write guest posts

Mistake #10: Not Understanding Consumer Psychology

Consumer psychology is simply the understanding of why people buy. It’s about combining a problem with a solution. If the problem causes an individual enough *pain* they will search for a solution.

When someone searches for a solution, they are ready to buy. In the solution research stage, price rarely becomes a factor if your product shows sufficiently that it IS the answer. If your lead magnet helps them understand the solution, they will open their wallets because they trust you KNOW how to help them.

How to Fix Mistake #10: Understand Buying Behaviour

You don’t need to study consumer psychology to switch the narrative from digital product not selling to holy smokes, there’s another sale. I’m qualified in the subject, but there are some fantastic books. I’ll list a few at the end.

Starting with mistake #1, research the target audience problem, create a relevant lead magnet, opt-in or sales page, add testimonials and deadlines, and drive traffic to your offer.

Recommended Books

Alchemy: Rory Sutherland

Decoded: The Science Behind Why We Buy: Phil Barden & Rory Sutherland

The Choice Factory: 25 Behavioural Biases That Influence Why We Buy: Richard Shotton

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions: Dan Ariely

Search Rory Sutherland on YouTube. You can learn more about the psychology of buying from his amusing content.

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