How to get started with digital products: Create, market and sell

There are many different types of digital products that you could sell, which makes deciding what to build the hardest part of getting started! We wrote this list of digital product ideas to help you get over that first hurdle and build your digital empire. Plus, you’ll find tips on how to start selling and marketing your products for maximum sales.

Digital goods are awesome! And consumption of them is catching up with the likes of clothing and electronics—Deloitte found that digital goods and services accounted for 2.7% of consumers’ spending, compared with 3.9% for clothing and 3.5% for electronics. But if you need a little persuasion, here are 6 reasons why you should sell digital products:

If that isn’t love at first sight, we don’t know what is! Digital goods give you an extra source of income while allowing you more time to focus on other things—like the next opportunity for your online business.

There are many types of digital products. When reading our list, you’ll notice that most of them fall into the following categories.

• Ebooks and PDF resources: This can include fiction and practical guides

• Software: Widgets, apps, themes, and plugins make great digital products

• Digital media: Consider selling podcasts, short videos, stock photography or other types of digital media

• Graphics and digital art: Put your design skills to use by creating and selling your art

• Online courses and communities: Creating an online course is easier than ever and a great way to share your expertise. Communities can also help build authority in your field.

• Templates: This could be as complex as a WordPress website template or as simple as a to-do list. If you can create a template that saves people time or fills a gap in technical ability, you can sell it

• Directories: Offering access to resources such as industry experts, tools, and offers can be extremely valuable

Not all of these options will be suitable for you and your business. But we’re confident that the variety of products available means you’ll find something that fits your skills and industry. Now, onto the list!

Now you are hyped up about how great digital products are, it’s time for us to show you the best digital product ideas!

Our list includes 46 ideas for 16 different industries. If your industry isn’t on the list, we hope you can get inspired and find ways to apply the ideas to your area of expertise.

Digital products are a great way to monetize the audience you have built up through blogging. Remember that the digital product must hold more value than what you’re already sharing for free—so make it good!

Here are some ideas for bloggers: 

1. Membership site: Set up a site with exclusive content that customers can access through a monthly or yearly subscription. 

2. Podcasts: Interview influential people in your field and share insider tips and ideas. Here are some of our favorite digital marketing podcasts for inspiration and a podcast email marketing guide to help promote your show. 

3. Paid newsletters: Set up a paid newsletter that goes deep into the topics your blog discusses. Use your blog to drive signups and traffic. For example, A Media Operator has a free newsletter and blog that it uses to promote a weekly paid newsletter.

Enter the world of gigs, freelancers and digital nomads. Every freelancer picks up plenty of knowledge on their journey that can be packaged up into a digital product to help others. Once the product is ready, freelancers can use email marketing to promote it.

4. Beginner’s guide to freelancing: Write an ebook on how you started freelancing.

5. E-learning course: Create a certified course about your profession. 

6. Online community: HerSuiteSpot has created a platform of mentors and resources for female entrepreneurs and freelancers.

If you’re a counselor, life coach or wellness expert, you can use digital products to help a wider audience. 

7. Meditation audio: Sell 10-15 minute audio recordings of meditations and mindfulness exercises. 

8. Video courses: Create a video series of coping strategies, grounding techniques and wellness tips. 

9. Printable journals and wellness trackers: We love this wellness planner being sold by IlluminateCommunications. 

Design skills are always in demand. And so are design-related digital products. Here's are 3 digital product ideas for designers. 

10. Presentation templates: Give your customers a presentation design that stands out.  

11. Icon sets: Give people unique icon sets for their website or landing page. 

12. Create a website design checklist: Alberta Designs is website design agency. It offers this checklist to reach an audience beyond its design clients. 

Developers are in high demand! In today’s digital economy, an increasing number of products require software development. Here’s a list of digital product ideas for developers.

13. Apps: Once you’ve designed your mobile app, you can either add a paid plan or in-app purchases. 

14. Website themes: Sell premade themes that customers can download and use on their website.  

15. Integrations: Build a product that integrates with another. For example, Collect.Chat is a chatbot integration you can easily add to your website. 

Business owners and entrepreneurs have plenty of useful knowledge and expertise! Share your business hacks and strategies using the digital product ideas below. 

16. Resume templates: Sell CV templates to help your customers get hired. 

17. Job newsletter: Create a weekly paid newsletter that sends out the best job opportunities in your industry. 

18. Online communities and resources: Create a community to help people in your industry connect. For example, Superpath is a community for content marketers. 

Calling all writers! You have two options for digital products: either sell your writing or create digital products for other writers. Here are some of our top ideas. 

19. Deleted chapters, spin-offs, short stories and extra scenes: Capitalize on the popularity of a book by publishing extra story snippets for your readers to buy. 

20. Self-publishing guides: Many writers are interested in self-publishing, but feel overwhelmed by all the steps needed for a successful launch. If you’ve already been through the process, share what you learned.  

21. Private proofreading community: Set up a private community where writers can share their projects and give each other constructive feedback. Critique Circle is a good example with both free and paid membership levels.

Thanks to the Internet, artists can sell both physical products like prints and canvases, and digital products and downloads. Here are some of our favorite digital ideas.  

22. Designs: Make these relevant to your expertise. If you can sew, share the patterns you use. Or, if you’re a sculpting expert, share your designs. 

23. 30-day email course: Teach your audience how to tap into their creativity and explore the creative process in a 30-day series of emails. 

24. Printable coloring sheets: Turn your artwork into a coloring sheet for customers to download and print. We love this Frida Kahlo coloring sheet, created by Fox + Hazel.

Take your expertise out of the salon and get it online! People love to know about top products, makeup techniques and the latest beauty advice. Here are some ideas: 

25. Home recipes for healthy skin: Create a downloadable ebook with home remedies for skincare. 

26. Hair and makeup tutorials: Video courses are crazy popular (YouTube registers over 700 million views of beauty-related content per month)! You could set up a subscription series, where customers receive a new tutorial every week. 

27. Certified courses: Let your customers become qualified beauty experts! You could run an online course like the Institute of Makeup Artistry.

If you’re a parent or work at a school or a kindergarten, you know the value of anything that will keep the (darling) little monsters entertained! Here are some ideas to try. 

28. Printable games and riddles: Create games such as crosswords, word searches, or mazes. 

29. Kids’ audiobooks: Write a short story and record yourself (or a voiceover artist) reading it, then sell it as an audiobook. Perfect for children to listen to in the car, or before bedtime. 

30. Virtual field trips and activities: In the example below, The Thinking Kid organized virtual sessions on Aesop’s fables, circus tricks, and Mars. 

Calling all chefs, cooks and food lovers! Share your culinary knowledge and experiences with the world using these hot digital product ideas.

31. Nutrition plans: As we grow more health-conscious, everyone is on the lookout for wholesome and nutritious meal plans. 

32. Recipe ebooks: Don’t keep your recipes a secret! Create an ebook and share the joy with your customers, like This Savory Vegan.

Musicians can access a huge market thanks to the Internet. 70% of internet users listen to music streaming services each month, so the demand for music digital products is high! 

33. Downloadable songs: Sell your songs online, with different pricing for personal or commercial use. 

34. Sound effects: Sell sound effects to video and music creators.  

35. Beats: Create beats and sell them online. Brad Kins Beats is an e-commerce platform that does just that. 

Get your customers’ heart rates pumping with these fun digital product ideas! You could also share teasers of your workout videos and meal plans on your social media account to attract new customers. 

36. Weekly workout video subscription: Release a new workout video every week to keep your customers on their toes! 

37. Meal-prep plans: Give your clients a little help in the kitchen with some healthy recipes and meal plans. Share them weekly in a PDF, or put everything together into an ebook. 

38. Workout plans: Fitness and nutrition coach Dorota Soto created this 8-week program aimed at busy moms who want to live a healthier lifestyle. It comes with a private Facebook group and workout videos.

A photographer’s skillset is highly sought after in pretty much every field! Whether you specialize in weddings, business events or cat food advertisements, you can create some awesome digital products. 

39. Photoshop presets and filters: Help your customers find the perfect look for their social media page or website, with premade presets and filters. 

40. Stock photos: Michelle Buchanan delivers stock images into her clients’ inboxes every month. This free digital product can result in sales of her paid services.

Video content is one of the most popular digital products. If you’re a videographer, think about selling some of these digital goods. 

41. Video animation intros: YouTubers will go crazy for premade introduction templates that they can add to their videos. 

42. Stock video: Maybe you filmed a battle reenactment or footage of a rare animal. Other videographers will be keen to get their mitts on them, so why not sell them as stock footage?

43. LUTs and presets: Check out the example below from Jeven Dovey, who sells preset video colors that other videographers can use.

Travel and tourism is a huge industry—worth approximately 7.7 trillion USD in 2022! If you’re a seasoned traveler, work in the industry, or have expert knowledge on a specific country or region, you can put that expertise to good use and make some extra cash with a digital product.

44. Trip plans and itineraries: Planning a trip can be stressful, so much so that some travelers would love a ready-to-go itinerary that saves them the hassle. 

45. Travel budget templates: Create a spreadsheet that travelers can customize and plan their trip budgets with. 

46. Travel guides and e-books: Share your insider knowledge, tips, experiences, and recommendations so that other travelers can make the most of their trips. Here’s an example from Hey Nadine, who sells a step-by-step guide on how to travel.

Before you can start creating digital products to sell online, you need to decide which products best fit your industry, expertise, and audience. 

You’ll also need to consider what your budget, resources and time will allow. Creating a single digital resource like a template won’t necessarily require ongoing work. But something like a podcast, which involves regularly creating new episodes, will require a significant amount of time to create. 

All of this is to say that as much as you might like the idea of a certain digital product, there are lots of factors to consider when it comes to whether it’s right for you and your audience. Here are some tips for deciding which product you should start selling.

1. Brainstorm digital products that fit your industry

You probably already have a few ideas for potential products—jot them down and think of as many as you can. To help you get started, think about:

• What gaps are there in the market that you could fill with a digital product?

• What pain points have you resolved with your own solutions that could be useful to someone else?

• What pain points does your target audience regularly face?

• What are you passionate about that you could channel into a highly valuable digital product that people want to buy?

• Which digital products could complement your brand, existing content, or other products?

Research your target audience

To support and develop your ideas, look to your followers, subscribers, existing customers and target audience for insights. 

This could involve reading or taking part in discussions on platforms such as Reddit or in other online communities, sending a survey to your newsletter subscribers, or engaging with your audience on social media. 

You can also use tools like Google Trends and Keyword Planner to check the search volume for terms related to your ideas to see how popular they are.

Analyze your competitors

Your target audience is similar to, if not the same as, your competitors’ target audiences. A good way to understand what types of digital products they are consuming and are interested in is by checking what your competitors are offering. 

This will also allow you to look for gaps in the market or find opportunities to create digital products that are more valuable. What’s more, it will help you to decide on how to price your products.

2. Develop your pricing strategy 

There is a lot to consider when defining the pricing of your digital products. Different types of products will require different payment models—some options to think about include:

• Straight sales of single products with one-off payments. For example, for an e-book or template

• Package or bundle options with multiple products for a one-off payment. For example, icon packages or a collection of courses or guides 

• Monthly or yearly subscriptions. For example, for paid newsletters, podcasts or communities

• Membership fees for access to a library of resources. For example, graphics or stock images. 

It should be fairly clear whether or not your product should be sold as a subscription or a one-off sale, but you might want to play around with various subscription tiers and packages to discover one that works.

Competitor research

Researching competitor pricing can give you a good starting point for your own pricing. You might think that you should go straight ahead and undercut them to attract more customers, but that’s not necessarily the best idea. 

Pricing your product higher can make customers perceive your products to be of higher quality or provide more value. Think about whether your digital products include anything that your competitors don’t. If you offer more value, you might be able to justify a higher cost. Find the right balance between value, customer satisfaction, competition, and profit margin.

Remember, don’t be afraid to price your products higher if that’s what you think they deserve.

Consider your running costs  

It’s easy to get carried away while imagining all the money you’re going to make with your digital product! After all, there’s no inventory to purchase or investments to make, meaning profits can be sky-high. 

While that may be true, and digital products are a great way to earn extra, passive income, there are still additional costs to consider before settling on your pricing. These include:

• Payment fees

• Marketing costs including software and tools

• Advertising

• Hosting

• Marketplace fees (If selling through a marketplace)

You’ve developed an awesome idea into a real product, done your research, and set a price—you’re ready to start selling! But how do you get your digital product in front of your target audience and start making sales? Let’s dive into how to create your digital product marketing strategy.

1. Create a brand

If your digital product is simply an addition to your existing brand you can obviously skip this! But if you’re just starting out or looking to create a distinct side hustle, you’ll want to create a brand to go with it.

While branding might immediately conjure up ideas for logos, brand names, and colors, there’s a lot more to it than that. Your brand is your business’s identity and personality—it’s what distinguishes you from your competitors. 

When creating your brand, you need to:

• Define your core values

• Align your brand personality with your target audience 

• Create communication guidelines and craft a brand voice

• Create a visual identity through colors, imagery and typography

Want to learn more about how to develop your brand personality? This guide is for you. 👇

2. Build a website

Even if you decide to use a third-party platform to sell your products, it’s still a good idea to have your own website you can use to build your brand and market your products.

With a website, you’ll be able to attract potential customers and advertise your products to them as well as create content that highlights and explains the benefits of your products. 

There are tons of platforms you can use to get started with building your own website, even if you have no coding skills.

Mailerlite includes a user-friendly website builder that also has features you can use to easily start selling your digital products. So you can get an awesome new website and email marketing all in one.

3. Boost your reach with supporting channels

Selling a digital product is just like selling a physical product. That means you need to market them to enhance the visibility, reach and engagement with your target audience so that you can make more sales.

With these channels, you can create a comprehensive strategy that maximizes the potential for customer acquisition and retention and drives business growth. 

Marketplaces

If you don’t want to create a website or want to maximize your visibility, you can sell digital products on third-party platforms. Some of the most popular ones are Gumroad, Amazon, Udemy, and Etsy. You can even sell digital products on eBay! 

These online marketplaces offer a centralized platform that attracts a large, diverse audience, making your digital products more accessible and reducing barriers to purchase. Since they also often promote discoverability through search and recommendation features, they can also significantly expand your potential customer base.

If you choose to list your digital product on an online marketplace, you can also take advantage of their built-in marketing tools and analytics. These can help you to find opportunities to optimize your listings and reach your target audience more effectively.

Email marketing

Email marketing is important for marketing digital products because it provides a direct line to your target audience that you own. Unlike social media, which could be taken away from you at any moment, your email list is yours to keep. 

You can personalize the communication, tailoring content based on your ideal customer as well as specific audience segments, always ensuring that your messages are relevant and engaging. It’s because of this personalized approach that email marketing is an excellent channel for nurturing leads, enhancing customer loyalty, and driving repeat sales. 

What’s more, email marketing can be used to streamline your digital product strategy. With email automation, you can make delivery of certain digital products quick and effortless. By triggering the automation when a customer makes a purchase, they’ll be entered into the email flow and automatically receive your product and any other supporting content you add to the automation.

Finally, email marketing is incredibly cost-effective—it offers a high return on investment (ROI) by allowing you to reach a highly-targeted audience (who have opted in for your emails!) at a relatively low cost. In fact, ROI for email marketing is $42 for every $1 spent. That’s 4,200%!

Social media

Social media allows businesses to build brand awareness and grow a community around their products. It facilitates direct communication with customers, making it a great channel to develop and showcase your brand personality and build long-lasting customer relationships. 

As well as promoting your digital products through social media, you can also gather immediate feedback and suggestions that will help you improve your offering, grow your business, and boost customer satisfaction. 

Customers love being connected with brands, so if you do it right—be authentic and truly care about engaging with your audience—the nature of social media can greatly amplify your brand visibility.

Landing pages & advertising

These 2 channels work together to attract, engage, and convert potential customers. 

Landing pages are designed to provide highly focused information about your digital product in an effort to convert visitors to customers. Well-crafted landing pages work because they address the specific needs of potential customers, and provide a clear path to conversion. 

Advertising is what drives traffic to your landing pages. Targeting ensures your offers are seen by the right people (your target audience) at the right time, increasing the likelihood of attracting an eventual customer. Effective advertising campaigns can generate leads, boost sales, and increase brand visibility.

Want more tips on how to create landing pages that convert? Check out this guide.

SEO and content marketing

If you’re looking to build authority and trust with your audience and improve online visibility, SEO and content marketing are your best friends. 

SEO involves optimizing your website, landing pages, marketplace pages, and social media accounts so they rank high in search engine result pages (SERPs). With an effective SEO strategy, you’ll get your digital products in front of people who are actually searching for related information or products. 

Even better, good SEO results in higher visibility, which leads to increased organic traffic. Know what’s great about organic traffic? It’s free! Which makes SEO a cost-effective and sustainable way to boost your business. 

Content marketing goes hand in hand with SEO as it plays a big part in effective SEO strategies. In addition to attracting and engaging your target audience, SEO-optimized content, such as blog posts and articles, helps you to rank better for your target keywords and increase visibility. 

But content marketing doesn’t end there. It can include all forms of digital content, including videos, infographics, whitepapers, and more. The goal is to establish yourself as an expert in your niche or industry and build trust by providing valuable, relevant information and insights. It also plays a large role in lead nurturing—you can use your content to educate potential and existing customers, address pain points, and guide them toward making a purchase.

If you're just getting started with SEO, learn how to grow your business with these beginner SEO tactics. 

Well, there you have it! We’ve been through the ideas for your next digital product and given you a game plan on how to get started. Today’s the day you create your digital product and generate passive income!

What are your favorite digital product ideas? Let us know in the comments below!