Many participants in our Digital Product Workshop ask, now that I have a product, how do I get the word out about it? Excellent question. Having a digital product sitting on your virtual store shelf is only part of creating a momstyle business. You also need to market it or, ideally, create a marketing automation system that sells it for you.
I’ve built a marketing automation system that generates an average of over 1,000 new leads and 100 product sales each month. This system is what makes sure my digital product offerings are actually out in the world, helping the people I want to help. It’s also the piece that gives me immense freedom of work, because I can trust that a base of revenue will continue to come in while I’m creating products and experimenting with new business ideas, and even if I’m not running a big online product launch.
There are 5 key parts to an online marketing automation system that can sell your digital products on your behalf.
Marketing Automation Part #1 – Searchable Content
Over at Bridging the Gap, I’ve published over 500 articles on various topics within business analysis. Some of these articles have made it to the #1 spot in Google. My most trafficked article is on business analyst job interview questions and it averages over 500 page views / day.
This is awesome because I also offer a self-study course providing even more help in this area. Some people who find the article via Google decide to pick up the class.
Building a repository of content that helps people solve their problems using the keywords they put into the search engines is the first part of building a solid foundation. You don’t have to write blog posts. Videos and podcasts are other excellent options for sharing your knowledge and demonstrating your expertise.
Marketing Automation Part #2 – Add Product Mentions to Your Free Content
When people are searching for a solution to their problem, they may not take time to explore your entire catalog. They might read your article, watch your video, or listen to your podcast and then move onto the next search result on Google or the next post on Facebook.
Casually mentioning that you can offer more help and support by naming and linking to the page selling your digital product is a simple, non-sleazy way to generate a few additional sales. (You can see an example of this in the first line of this article.)
I regularly review my most trafficked blog posts to make sure they have appropriate product mentions or email newsletter mentions. This makes sure my content is working for me, even when I’m not working.
Marketing Automation Part #3 – Exchange More Information for an Email Address
But even if someone visits my website and decides not to buy a course or a toolkit, that doesn’t mean that they won’t buy something from me someday. The second most valuable thing someone can do on my website is join my email list. This allows me to continue to send them new content as well as let them know when I have something new to offer.
In fact, if you are visiting here to learn more about creating a marketing automation system, you might be interested in learning 10 Ways to Build Your Business the Momstyle Way (it’s a free download).
Marketing Automation Part #4 – Series of Welcome Emails
Once someone joins your email list, it’s important that they here from you regularly with new information. An easy way to make this happen is to set-up a series of automated emails that go out during the first few weeks after they join. You can mention your products and link to more of your free content.
If you’ve been emailing your list for awhile, this content does not have to be created from scratch. Look for the emails that have the highest open and click-through rates and automate those to go out to new subscribers.
I’ve found it to be incredibly profitable to include a special offer in this automated welcome email series. At Bridging the Gap, I offer $25 discount off of any of our products to new email subscribers. This offer consistently brings in over a thousand dollars each month. It’s not pushy. It’s simply available. Some people take me up on it, which is a win-win for everyone.
Marketing Automation Part #5 – Keep Linking To Your Content
Once the above foundation is in place, you’ll be finding new people interested in your work, and pulling them gently along the know-like-trust-buy cycle. One strategy that has helped me rise up in the search engines and help new readers is to link to older content.
When I write a new article, I simply add a few links to articles in my archive. Also, I make it a habit of going through my older articles and updating them with links to my newer content as well.
- This practice helps in the search engines. After adding multiple links to an article using the phrase that I’m targeting in the search engines, I’ve noticed it to start ranking more strongly than before. (This process can take a few months or more, but it does happen.)
- This practice helps your readers, because they have a place to click to get more information and more reasons to stay on your website.
- This practice helps you, because the article you link to could have a product mention or get someone to join your list.
And you get to benefit from all of your hard content work again and again and again, generating passive income for you….while you invest in growing other areas of your business.
How could you make this 5-part online marketing automation system work for you? And, what questions do you have about marketing and selling digital products?
Learn More About Marketing Automation
I’ll be hosting one more 3-hour, in-person Online Marketing System Workshop in Evergreen, Colorado. Learn how to build a system that will increase your digital product sales to the right people, without feeling like a slimy marketer.
Click here to learn more about the Online Marketing Systems Workshop