Choosing Your Digital Product Niche
Once you have a few different niches, it’s time to compare them.
These are the guidelines I use to compare different product ideas:
- Ease to make (feel free to type in ‘how to make xxx’ in Youtube and have a general idea of how to create that digital product)
- Complexity of top selling products (Sometimes sellers include some free extra with their digital products. For example, digital sticker pack with the purchase of digital planner, or job hunting guide with the purchase of a resume template.)
- Price of product (Digital products usually are lower priced, so don’t expect selling a $50 item. But you should also avoid selling products that are $1-3)
- Your skill/passion (if any of them fit your skill set or passion, that would be great)
Notice I didn’t focus too much on competition level. It’s because a lot of times you can find longer tail keywords with less competition. But if you have two niches that you can’t decide, then picking the one with lower competition (fewer competing listings) will be better.
Choosing Winning Products To Create
Once you have chosen your niche, it’s time to explore product ideas.
Check out the top selling shops in the niche and see their top selling products by using Alura. Choose your top 5 competitors to do this research. These are the products that are proven to work on Etsy. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel.
You priority should be a shop with a selection of potentially top selling products that are related. The products should look like they belong in the same shop. In general, to make a shop look consistent, the products should be either:
- For the same customer (e.g. for couples who are organising a wedding)
- In the same product category (e.g. a printable invitation shop that sells birthday invites, baby shower invites, gender reveal party invite, etc)
- In the same style/theme (e.g. a minimalist digital planner shop)
Analysis Of Successful Products
When you are analysing successful products, pay attention to these aspects:
- Main selling point/benefit (from product description, shop tagline, about, customer reviews)
- Target customers and how the product makes their lives easier (check review and product description)
- Product: 4 Things To Pay Attention To (Design, Style, Colours, Features)
- How is it different than competitors with fewer sales
- Technical details like sizes, file format, etc.
- Extras (extra things included with the purchase, e.g. digital sticker set for digital planners)
- Product photos
- Price
- Title
- Tags
Don’t copy your competitors as that is illegal. Use your creativity and put your own spin on the same idea.
One important thing to remember. Successful products always have this thing in common: they serve their target customers exceptionally well. People buy because the product promises to make their lives easier and/or more pleasant. Pay special attention to that.
Product Variety - How Many Products To Start With?
Variety is important for a new shop. A good variety of products allows you to cover more keywords so your shop can have better visibility on Etsy. Also, a complete shop is more attractive to shoppers, and they may even buy multiple designs at once.
For most cases, I would recommend starting with about 20 products.
Now that we know what your digital product shop is selling, it’s time to create a simple brand identity.