9 reasons digital downloads should be part of your 2024 business strategy

What better time to reflect on your business and find ways to level up than the present? One of the easiest and most effective ways to do that is by introducing digital downloads to your business strategy.

Digital downloads are digital goods you create and sell online. They are fairly easy to create, and they can benefit every online course creator’s business for many reasons.

So, if you’re curious to learn how digital downloads can help improve your business this year, you’ve come to the right place.

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Why do people purchase digital downloads? 

Digital downloads are convenient for customers, as they often offer easy, often instant access to content that they can access anywhere. This might look like automated delivery of a downloadable item or library of content. It might also be online services, such as coaching, tutoring, or web design. Digital products can be anything that is intangible, and there are numerous digital product ideas to consider. 

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9 ways digital downloads can help you improve your business in 2024

1. Digital downloads are a way for students to try before they buy

You might notice that you have people in your audience who follow your social media accounts, engage with your posts, and are maybe even signed up for your email newsletter. Yet they never buy any of your courses. That’s because, for some, it takes time to warm up before they commit to actually purchasing an online course.

This is exactly where digital downloads can be a great way for those users to ease into your online products. Lower-cost digital products like workbooks, ebooks, or templates, can help hesitant customers test out what they can expect from you if they were to decide to enroll in your online course.

Because digital products often come at a lower price point and are quicker to digest, it’s the perfect type of product for those customers to test the waters. They might be hesitant to commit to larger purchases like an online course right off the bat, but something like an online workshop or an ebook might be just the right amount of content for them.

You might also choose to use your digital downloads as a lead magnet–the first tier in your digital sales funnel. This means offering a digital product for free to help get audience members into your email flow. Then you can market to them directly or offer them promotional prices. Plus, they’ll get to see all the value you offer for free, and know that the content they would pay for must also be high value too.

So, you, as a content creator, can use digital downloads as a way to showcase what potential students can expect from your brand. It’s a win-win scenario for you and your audience, as you both benefit from entry-level products.

2. Digital downloads are a great source of passive income

Passive income is the goal for many content creators. And there is a good reason for it – making money while you sleep or while you travel the world is the ultimate dream! Digital downloads are a great way to create a stable source of passive income for your business.

Many digital products are easy to create. There are plenty of different types of software out there to help you design, edit, and export your products. And once they are created, they are there forever. And if you create evergreen content, then it might not even need to be updated on a regular basis. This means you can create digital downloads, upload them to your online school, and only work on marketing them to your audience.

Digital downloads are extremely low maintenance which makes them the perfect product to build a strong passive income stream. And the best part is that they’re versatile enough to fit any industry. So, whether you are in the personal finance space or wellness industry, you have equal chances to generate a passive income stream.

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3. They complement your big-ticket offers

Digital downloads can complement your other products, like online courses and coaching, very well. To avoid overwhelming your students with the course curriculum, you can always offer the extra learning material as a bonus digital download.

For example: If you have an online course teaching people yoga for beginners, a great complimentary digital product would be a short ebook on meditation or a printable gratitude journal. Both of these digital products are supplemental material to your course that helps your students to further transform their lives. You could have a bundle for students to buy to level up their learning.

Using digital downloads as a way to complement your high-ticket offers courses can help you significantly increase your average order value. Most business revenue comes from existing and returning customers, so it’s wise to utilize tools like digital downloads to offer your customers more ways to invest in your brand.

Complementary digital downloads can also add to your reputation as an expert in the field. Having an online course and a sales page with supplemental material to your course adds credibility. And the better your reputation and knowledge on your subject, the more your audience will trust you, which will result in more sales.

4. They present a cost-effective way to level-up your business

If you’re looking for ways to level up your business, then digital products might be the way to go. Digital downloads are fairly easy and fast to create. And once you have them made, they only make money for you. Depending on the item, you might be able to create a spreadsheet or a template in less than a day. Then you can use that product to create a bundle on Teachable and make more, leveling up your business growth.

What’s even better about digital products is that not only are they cost-effective time-wise, but they also require zero or very minimal monetary investment as well. Depending on what kind of digital download you create, it might cost you as low as zero dollars.

Here are a few digital download examples that you can create for free:

• Notion templates
• Google Sheets/Excel spreadsheets
• Workbooks
• Digital planners/journals
• Ebooks

Tools like Canva can help you format an ebook for free, and it’s easy and straightforward to use, even for beginners.

5. Helps to diversify your income

Building multiple income sources is crucial for the long-term success of your business. Most entrepreneurs have at least three or four income streams. This gives them stability on the month to month basis. Even if one stream is lower one month, there won’t be a significant dip in your income when you have two, three, or more income streams to keep your business running.

Because of how cost-effective digital downloads are to create and how low-maintenance they are, they are the perfect way to diversify your income in the upcoming year. And you can create multiple streams of income from digital downloads alone.

You can write an ebook, which is a digital download. Create a landing page for it, and package it as a separate product. Then, you can create templates, spreadsheets, or workbooks which are all digital downloads as well, and sell them on your online store. It’s that simple and easy to create two more streams of income and therefore increase revenue for your business.

6. A way to test new ideas

As a content creator, your mind is always swarming with  ideas for new online courses. While having many ideas is a great thing, you only have a limited amount of time every day to fulfill all those ideas. And sometimes, you might want to test the idea before you commit all of your time and energy to it.

That’s where digital downloads come in handy. Because they’re a cost-effective time and money-wise, they can be a great way to test your online course ideas on a smaller, less risky scale. You can use digital products to test out any new online course ideas in a few very simple steps.

Create an ebook or a webinar on a topic you’re interested in creating an online course on. Include enough information to give your prospective students a good taste of the topic. When you launch the product at an affordable price, see what your audience thinks of it.

They might be ecstatic and want to learn more about the subject. If you notice an influx of questions and requests for further help, you know that your online course idea is valid and that there is a demand for it. And if it’s only crickets – well, that’s not too bad! You saved yourself time and money by not creating an online course that your audience is not interested in at the moment.

7. It provides supplemental resources

An example of a digital download might be bonus material that can provide students with extra support and opportunities to dive deeper. Similar to complementing big-ticket offers (mentioned above), digital downloads can enhance existing content and even be a holistic way to cross-promote other offerings.

For instance, if you are offering cooking lessons and recipes, supplemental material might be a grocery shopping list and/or meal-prep guide. Students don’t necessarily need either to enjoy the recipes, which you might consider the “meat and potatoes” of your offering. However, these bonus materials (or “appetizers”) can greatly enhance your customers’ experience while bumping your orders.

8. It builds online community

If your digital products involve a community space, digital downloads can be a tool for engaging existing community members and gauging interest from potential new community members. For instance, if you have a members-only platform, a digital download can build connection by guiding conversation through engaging content. Marketing the download to new audiences outside of the platform can raise awareness that the community exists, while the digestible format and low-risk commitment can give them a taste of the community experience. Furthermore, the engaging content can incentivize them to join to connect with others that share their same interests.

9. It offers instant gratification

Digital downloads offer value in real time. Rather than a big-ticket offering that you build anticipation and generate buzz for (link), you can engage with your existing audience, as well as make a good first impression with new potential customers, immediately. Meanwhile, digital downloads are low risk for you, since they’re simply a glimpse at other offerings, and low risk for them because they don’t require much commitment or investment.

Diving into digital downloads with Teachable

You can create digital downloads on all our plans. So, if you make your download using free software, you can invest in this new product with no commitment. Try it out, use it as a lead magnet, or use it to make a bundle for your online school. Then you can get your digital downloads strategy off the ground.