What is a Digital Product?

In today's digital age, the world of products has undergone a revolution. Traditional physical goods are being replaced by digital products that can be created, distributed, and monetized entirely online. This shift has opened up new opportunities for entrepreneurs, creatives, and businesses to reach a global audience and generate income in innovative ways.

But what exactly is a digital product? In simple terms, it refers to any intangible item that can be downloaded, accessed, or consumed digitally. From software applications and ebooks to online courses and digital music, the possibilities are vast.

People from the creative industries, such as artists, illustrators, designers, are increasingly deciding to create their own products using their experience and skills and selling them directly to an audience. The demand for digital products has skyrocketed in recent years, creating a thriving market that shows no signs of slowing down.

In this blog post, we will delve into the world of digital products, exploring different types and the challenges and future trends in the industry. Whether you're a digital product creator, a consumer, or simply curious about this digital revolution, this post will provide valuable insights and knowledge.

Let's begin with the most obvious question of all:

What is a digital product?

A digital product refers to any item that exists in a digital format and can be delivered, accessed, or consumed through electronic means.

Unlike traditional physical products, digital products require no physical hand-over or post and packaging. They are often bought and downloaded online without much interaction at all. They do require initial upfront time and resources to develop or create them, but once created each additional copy sold doesn't cost the seller anything extra (with some exceptions).

The range of digital products available today is vast and diverse. Let's explore some of the most common types of digital products:

Artistic Products and Assets

This category is a great way for creatives to get started creating and selling digital products online. There are many marketplaces for creative assets that you can list and sell your first products. As you gain experience you can use them as audience builder to showcase some of your products but then lead users to your own website to sell digital products directly to them.

Templates and Themes: Templates and themes are pre-designed layouts and styles for websites, presentations, and documents. They provide a ready-made framework for people to fill with their own content and help them create an appealing end result.
Fonts: Fonts are sold to cater to diverse needs such as branding, design, readability, and sometimes just in order to license them exclusively. They're essential for creative expression and visually captivating designs.
Digital Music and Sound Effects: This encompasses downloadable music files, streaming services, and online music stores, allowing other creators to find specific sounds for their own projects like ads, social media content, but also TV and movies.
Stock Photography and Illustrations: This refers to professionally captured photographs or handcrafted illustrations that are available for licensing and use in various creative projects. These images are usually generic and cover a wide range of subjects. Especially sets of illustrations that communicate specific ideas or concepts for certain industries (for dentists websites, dog groomers or laundromats) are searched for a lot.

Information Products

Often the starter category for non creative people wanting to get into products and share their knowledge, this encompasses a wide variety of educational products. The product sellers will create the content as best they can but then utilize the services of a designer to make the end result appealing to buyers. If you are creatively skilled on the other hand and also have know-how to share, you've got a headstart and can usually produce an even better product than others.

e-Books and Digital Publications: Ebooks and digital publications have transformed the way we consume written content. Instead of traditional printed books, they allow readers to access and read books, magazines, journals, and other publications on their electronic devices. Ebooks are often available in formats like PDF, EPUB, or Kindle, making them compatible with different e-reader devices and apps.
Online Courses and Education: The rise of the internet has made education more accessible and convenient through online courses and educational platforms. Digital products in the form of online courses allow individuals to learn new skills, acquire knowledge, and earn certifications or degrees remotely. These courses are delivered through various mediums such as video lectures, interactive quizzes, and discussion forums, providing a flexible and self-paced learning experience.
Text templates: An often overlooked product type are templates that just deliver a body of text. For example think about the different email texts an AirBnB hosts needs to operate their business, a welcome email, a check-in/check-out email and instruction texts for the garabage disposal. If they're not that good at copywriting but you are, you can provide a set of templates they can choose from and save them a lot of time, which they will repay you buy buying your template pack. These can be products on their own or part of a larger set of templates including designs.

Technical Products

We wouldn't recommend starting your journey into digital entrepreneurship with this category, because they require a much larger skillset to get off the ground thatn the previous ones, but if you team up with others that complement you and have a great idea and passion then there's a lot of value you can provide here.

Software: The biggest keyword here is SaaS - software as a service, that's software people pay monthly for to use. Common examples are the Adobe suite of products. There is a large marketplace for niche software products. Solving someone's specific task usually means there are other like them and you just need to find where they can be reached online.
Mobile Applications: Mobile applications, commonly referred to as apps, have become an integral part of our daily lives. These software products are specifically designed for use on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Whether it's social media apps, gaming apps, productivity tools, or utilities, mobile applications cater to a wide range of needs and preferences, enhancing our digital experiences on the go.

These examples represent just a fraction of the digital products available in today's market. The digital product landscape is constantly evolving, with new and innovative products emerging regularly. The rise of technology and the internet has opened up endless possibilities for creators and entrepreneurs to develop and distribute digital products.

Challenges and Future Trends in the Digital Product Industry

While the digital product industry offers immense opportunities for creators and entrepreneurs, it also presents its fair share of challenges. Staying ahead of the curve and adapting to evolving trends is crucial to remain competitive in this fast-paced industry. Let's explore some of the challenges faced by digital product creators and the future trends that are shaping the industry:

Intellectual Property and Piracy Issues: Protecting intellectual property rights is a significant challenge in the digital product industry. With the ease of digital distribution, unauthorized copying, sharing, and piracy pose a threat to creators' revenue and recognition. Implementing robust DRM (Digital Rights Management) solutions and copyright protection measures can help mitigate these risks. Additionally, educating users about the importance of supporting creators and respecting their intellectual property rights is essential to combat piracy.
Keeping up with Evolving Technology: Technology is constantly evolving, and digital product creators must stay abreast of the latest developments to remain competitive. New platforms, devices, programming languages, and frameworks emerge regularly, requiring creators to adapt and update their products accordingly. Additionally, advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and virtual reality (VR) present exciting opportunities for innovation, but also require creators to invest in research and development to leverage these technologies effectively.
Abundance: With the proliferation of digital products, creative assets have become readily available to all. However, this abundance poses a challenge to creative individuals seeking to stand out. The sheer volume makes it difficult to differentiate oneself, making creativity increasingly vital. To thrive in this saturated landscape, creators must push boundaries, find unique perspectives, and deliver exceptional content that captures attention in this sea of digital noise.

It requires relentless innovation and adaptability to cut through the clutter and leave a lasting impression on the audience and one way to do so is to observe and be one of the first to provide products for an emerging trend.

Emerging Trends in Digital Products

Subscription-based models: Instead of purchasing individual items, creators can subscribe to platforms that offer a vast library of digital assets. This model provides cost-effective and convenient access to a wide range of templates, stock photography, fonts, sound effects, and music. As a creator you can benefit from this trend by creating sets of items or bundles on these platforms that will be more attractive than single items.
NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens): NFTs have gained attention in the art world, but they also hold potential for digital product creators. NFTs enable the creation and sale of unique digital assets, such as collectibles, virtual items, or even entire digital products. This technology allows creators to establish ownership and sell their digital creations directly to consumers, providing new revenue streams.
Extended Reality (XR): While virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are more widely known, extended reality (XR) encompasses both VR and AR, as well as mixed reality (MR). XR technology continues to evolve, allowing creators to develop immersive experiences that blend the digital and physical worlds in unique and interactive ways. This opens up possibilities for creators of digital products to explore new forms of storytelling, entertainment, and engagement.
Software Supported Personalization: Providing templates still requires the buyer to have the skills to use common photo editing and illustration software in order to personalize the text for example. If instead you provide your template as part of your own or a third-party software that lets them just replace the text element to get their final document this can give you an advantage for non-technical users. Similarly you can sell the personalized end product instead of a template the buyer can re-use any time they want. Personalization improves user engagement and satisfaction, ultimately benefiting both creators and consumers.
Microtransactions: Creating very small assets like custom emojis or messenger stickers and giving buyers are seamless way to pay a very small amount to purchase them (e.g. through the store of one of the messenger platforms) can result in a large quantity of purchases and still be profitable for you. Buyers are more willing to buy something from an unknown or even anonymous seller if the cost is very low.

As the digital product industry continues to grow, it's vital for creators to adapt, innovate, and provide exceptional value to users. By staying ahead of the curve and embracing emerging technologies, creators can shape the future of digital products and unlock endless possibilities. So, let's embrace the digital revolution, create impactful digital products, and embark on a journey of innovation and creativity.

Next we will explore the creation and development process of digital products So, let's dive deeper into the world of digital products and uncover the intricacies of this rapidly growing industry.