5 Simple Steps to Sell Your First Digital Product on Beacons

TL;DR: Selling a digital product in your creator store is the next best move

Selling digital products in your creator store on Beacons is a smart way to diversify your income as a creator. You invest time and resources at the start, and then you keep making money with minimal upkeep. Your product will help your followers achieve their goals, while also putting you in control of the relationship, not an algorithm. Get started today by setting up a digital product on Beacons here!

As a digital content creator, you can sell a wide range of digital products in your online store, from e-books to fitness guides, and more. Once the are setup set these up, these products can be sold over and over without ever running out of inventory. 🔁

This guide explores why and how to sell digital products, highlighting benefits like stable income, high-profit margins, and global reach. Discover how you can thrive by adding this new revenue stream and diversifying your creator income!

What kind of digital products can you sell in your creator store?

You can sell any item that can be purchased and delivered online in your creator store. With some upfront investment time in making your product, you can sell infinitely many items, without ever worrying about running out. Every creator, no matter the niche, has a product they can offer to their audience.  Below are some great examples of creators selling on Beacons: couple of examples.

• E-books
• Test/Prep Guides
• Photo Presets
• Resume Templates
• Recipes
• Fitness Guides
• Budgeting Templates
• Organization layouts
• Journal Prompts

Why should you sell digital products?

• Diversify your income streams. Social media algorithms and brands’ marketing budgets change faster than anyone can keep up. Creating a product on a platform you control gives you enhanced stability with income and reaching your audience.
• Earn High-profit margins. Digital products only need a small upfront investment of your time and design resources. There is no manufacturing process involved, and you can expect to keep 91% or more of your profit!
• Establish authority in your niche. Establish yourself as a prominent and highly respected figure in your niche, paving the way for organic follower growth and opening doors to speaking engagements and exciting collaborations.
• Scale infinitely to a global audience. You are not limited to just buyers in your town or country. You can reach anyone across the globe and NEVER run out of inventory. You also never have to worry about running out of space.
• Provide value to your audience. Whether you make a workout guide, photo preset, or content planning calendar, you are helping your audience achieve their own goals.

How do you set up your first digital product?

1. Research

Before you begin crafting your digital product, it's important to confirm how valuable it will be to your followers. You wouldn't want to spend time and energy on something that might not find many buyers.

Below are some great ways to get started with research, that are free!

• ✅ Check your DMs. You probably get people sending you messages on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter etc. Look through these messages to see if there are common questions, themes or advice your followers ask for.
• 👀 Look at comments on videos/posts. Your audience follows you because your message and personality resonates with them. Their questions will provide insight into what they want to know more about, or areas they are looking to grow in.
• 🧑‍🔬 Research what creators similar to you sell/offer. Every niche of creators has someone selling a digital product already. Look around to creators in your niche or that you follow to gain inspiration from.
• 📞 Setup 1-on-1 calls (appointments). To start learning what some common problems your followers encounter.

💡Pro Tip: If you already have an email list built up, send them a survey asking, what problems they are facing and information they might find helpful.

2. Create the product

Now that the research is done, you are ready to start building the product. You DON’T need to have version 5.0 out on day one. Start small with a single template, design layout, picture preset etc. The Mona Lisa wasn’t created in one day.

Here are some some free tools we suggest you try first when building your product.

• 🎨 Canva
• 🤖 Chat GPT
• 📝 Notion/Google Docs

💡Pro Tip: Get your first product out quickly. Think of this as a learning experience, and keep improving - the most important thing is to get the product out there! You can always updated and change it later! Plus, offering the 1st product at a discount helps build goodwill with future buyers.

3. Set up your Beacons Store and launch 🚀

Take a look at the video below featuring Lindsay, our Store Product Manager, as she walks you through the process of setting up your store and crafting your product pages on Beacons.

Now you’re ready to set up your product today. You can start building it here!

4. Promote your product

Creators have an advantage over traditional businesses because they already have a loyal following that could become customers. It might sound simple, but it's important to show your product to your audience so they know about it and potentially purchase.

Here are some of the easiest and most common ways creators get their product in front of their audiences today:

• Instagram/Tiktok Stories. This method offers the simplest way to boost views for your store item, and you can streamline the process further by leveraging Beacon’s social asset generation feature within the store app. Once you've created the digital product, upload the content to your story and include a link sticker.
• Creating content using the product. This type of advertising is super easy and not overly pushy when you're showing the product to your followers. It feels like a normal video you would post, and it lets you talk about all the benefits it can bring your followers.
• TikTok/Instagram Live. Our seller data consistently shows that creators achieve the highest sales and engagement rates during their live streams. The one-on-one connection you establish with your viewers during these sessions, coupled with the sense of urgency created by limited-time sales or offers, has a remarkable impact on boosting your sales.

💡Pro Tip: Use the store discount pricing feature to offer a limited time sale on products to your audience that expires at the end of livestreams.

5. Leverage contact information to build a deeper relationship

Building an email list is the ultimate long term way to own the relationship with your audience. Rather than relying on the whims of social media algorithms to push your content out to your followers, you can ensure the message reaches your followers directly in their inbox. An easy way to do that is with a lead magnet. Check out our guide on how to create one here.

• Enhance product sales by building social proof through reviews. Products boasting higher ratings are more likely to sell compared to those lacking reviews. When you're just starting out, encourage reviews by offering discounted products and personalized advice to your followers in exchange or more reviews.
• Utilize this opportunity for upselling. People who've bought from you before are more likely to buy again. Always let them know first about new products or more expensive options.
• Drive more engagement on content. Using Beacons email marketing tool to drive followers to new content, and continue driving engagement to your previous viral posts.