You\u2019ve created a digital product, put it up on your website and announced it to your audience. But despite the hard work you poured into bringing your online course, ebook, or other digital product to life, it\u2019s not selling.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When you\u2019re in this situation, it\u2019s tempting to give up. To throw your arms in the air and declare, “nobody wants my product \u2014 it was all a waste of time.” That\u2019s the easier option.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But you created your digital product for a reason. Perhaps you wanted to add a new income stream to your business so you could stop trading time for money. Or maybe you wanted to create a new way for people to work with you at a more affordable price point than your services.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As the host of Imperfect Action podcast<\/span><\/a>, which is part of the Hubspot Podcast Network<\/span><\/a>, I regularly have listeners write in, asking me why I think nobody is buying their digital product. And in my work as a digital product launch strategist<\/span><\/a>, I\u2019ve helped dozens of clients turn around products that weren\u2019t selling. Most of the time, they\u2019ve been just a few tweaks away from a highly profitable product.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve also been in this sticky situation a few times myself. I\u2019ve had some huge digital product wins \u2014 selling $20,000 worth of a $20 Canva template, over $1 million worth of a $197 guide, and $400,000 worth of a $2,000 course<\/strong>. But before each of these success stories came many mistakes and lessons. Using the same strategies I\u2019m sharing in this article, I\u2019ve rescued my own products that weren\u2019t selling and turned them around.<\/p>\n Whether you\u2019ve created a low-ticket digital product or one in the thousands of dollars, these are the most common reasons why it isn\u2019t selling \u2014 and how to fix that.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Five years ago, I built a digital product that flopped. My audience kept asking me questions about marketing their businesses on Instagram, so I created an online course about Instagram marketing. Desperate to make it the most valuable course possible, I stuffed it full of content and information. I knew it was valuable, but hardly anyone bought it.\u00a0<\/p>\n That\u2019s because I conflated value with the amount of content inside the course. I thought the more information I squeezed into my course, the more my audience would want it. I thought that a comprehensive course on everything someone could possibly know about Instagram marketing would be perceived as valuable. It wasn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n If you know your product is bursting with value, but you keep hearing \u201cI can\u2019t afford it,\u201d or \u201cI don\u2019t need it,\u201d chances are your audience doesn\u2019t see the same value you do. Usually, that\u2019s because your audience doesn\u2019t want to know<\/em> more things \u2014 there\u2019s already so much free content on the internet. They don\u2019t want to waste their time consuming even more content. Instead, the value to your customers lies in how quickly and easily you can help them solve a problem or achieve a transformation.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Identify the outcome of your digital product \u2014 that is, the problem your customers will solve, or the transformation they will achieve. If you\u2019re struggling to show the value in your digital product, the below podcast episodes will help:\u00a0<\/p>\n Episode 558: Ask Steph: How can I get my potential students to see the value in my online group coaching program?<\/span><\/a> As a podcaster, I kept getting asked, \u201cSteph, how do I launch a podcast?\u201d. After walking several friends through the process, I decided to turn it into a digital product. I thought a group program format would work best as I could help several students at the same time. But when I launched it to my email list, only two people signed up.\u00a0<\/p>\n Confused, I surveyed my audience to find out why they didn\u2019t buy. The answers were clear: They didn\u2019t want to launch a podcast in a group program format. They couldn\u2019t commit to attending live calls. They wanted to launch their show in fewer than eight weeks, or they wanted to work through it in their own time, over the next six months.\u00a0<\/p>\n If your product isn\u2019t selling, it could be that your assumptions about what your customers want were wrong. The good news is that once you find out where you went wrong, a few tweaks to your product can lead to loads of sales. I took my audience\u2019s feedback on board, turned the group program outline into a self-paced guide, and launched it again. A year later, that product has sold more than 3,800 copies.<\/p>\n Send your audience a non-buyer survey to find out why they aren\u2019t buying your digital product. You\u2019ll be amazed at what you learn from the question, \u201cWhy didn\u2019t you buy?\u201d When your audience is reading your sales page, they\u2019re subconsciously searching for reasons why your digital product won\u2019t work for them. They may believe that their situation is unique, and so they\u2019ll have objections as to why your solution won\u2019t work. Or they might not trust that you can deliver the outcome they want.\u00a0<\/p>\n Getting your audience to know you, like you, and trust you enough to buy from you can take a while. Content marketing is the key to this. I\u2019ve had strangers come up to me and tell me they feel like I\u2019m their friend, because they\u2019ve listened to my podcast so much. And sharing social proof<\/span><\/a> (like testimonials and case studies) helps to build trust and overcome objections about why it won\u2019t work for them.\u00a0<\/p>\n Collect and share social proof from your customers and clients. Ensure that it\u2019s not just about the outcome they achieved, but also tells the story of where they were before<\/em> they bought your digital product.\u00a0 One of my online courses was consistently getting fewer sales than any of my other products, and I couldn\u2019t figure out why. When I surveyed my email list, I was shocked. More than 75% of my subscribers didn\u2019t even know the course existed. No wonder they weren\u2019t buying it!\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBuild it and they will come,\u201d doesn\u2019t apply to digital products. You could have the most valuable course with perfect messaging and powerful social proof, and still not hit your sales goals because you\u2019re simply not getting it in front of enough people. It might be because you don\u2019t have enough people in your audience yet, or it might be that you\u2019re not promoting it enough online.\u00a0<\/p>\n Review your website analytics. How many people are visiting your digital product sales page?\u00a05 Reasons Your Digital Product Isn’t Selling [+ Solutions]<\/h2>\n
Reason #1: Your audience doesn\u2019t see the value in your product.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
How to fix it:\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\n Tweak your marketing and messaging so it positions your product as the vehicle to achieve this outcome, rather than being a \u201ccomprehensive\u201d guide. <\/p>\n
\n Episode 511: How to ensure your online course, program or membership delivers the most value<\/a> <\/p>\nReason #2: It\u2019s not the right offer for your audience.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n
How to fix it:<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\n If several people give you similar feedback, it\u2019s a sign that you need to either tweak your product, or change the way you\u2019ve positioned it.\u00a0 <\/p>\nReason #3: They don\u2019t trust that it\u2019ll work for them.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
How to fix it:\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\n Think of all the reasons a potential buyer would think that it won\u2019t work for them. Show them why it will<\/em> work for them with real-life examples on your sales page. Listen to episode 529 of Imperfect Action<\/span><\/a> to learn how to write a million dollar sales page.
\n Start regularly sharing content online. It doesn\u2019t matter whether you start a podcast or a TikTok account, as long as you\u2019re showing up consistently in one place. In episode 559 of Imperfect Action<\/span><\/a>, I coach a student through the process of identifying what content topics will be most effective for her digital product launch. <\/p>\nReason #4: They don\u2019t know about it.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
How to fix it:\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\n Commit to promoting your product more, and get creative with it. Could you interview past customers about their experience? Could you give your audience 24 hours to test drive the first module?\u00a0 <\/p>\nReason #5: There\u2019s no reason why they should buy it right now.<\/strong><\/h3>\n