In the early days of creating digital products—long before I started designing funnels – I was full of ideas that all made the greatest sense.
Over time, I also picked up simple methods for coming up with new ideas and figuring out which ones were worth pursuing, especially when I’m low on mojo.
So if it’s Ok with you I would like to share with you today some of these 9 effective ways to generate digital product ideas!
Let’s start with the most common aka traditional ways to generate some digital product ideas that can add some extra $$ into your pocket.
Table of Contents
5 traditional methods to find digital product ideas
1, Target Market Frenzy
The most obvious one of all… lol
While I believe defining the demographics is an important part of our target market analysis; it is not good to solely rely on that for crafting digital products. And while the ‘happy-marketing, the desire-marketing’ wave is here; ignoring the pain points of our audience is just foolish. These pain points are the core problems we aim to solve, but how we market the solution is a topic for another day.
Quick Exercise: Make a list of 3-5 potential customer segments you could serve. For each one, write down 2-3 problems they face that a digital product could solve. [this is just the tip of the iceberg, I have a Google sheet that goes deeper into this..it is actually brilliant…and planning to release it in the near future as a stand alone digital product – it was part of a workshop before]
2, Competition Stakeout
I’m not keen on using the word competitor, but it’s good to know what they are working on and if there is something you could do better or fill in the spot they might have missed?
Quick Exercise: Choose 2-3 competitors and make a list of their key product features. Brainstorm 1-2 ways you could improve upon or differentiate from each of their offerings. I want to emphasize here: DO NOT COPY THEIR WORK… use your own imagination, knowledge and genius, but also take note: you aren’t the only one offering similar things. The way you teach it, deliver it, design it etc… has to scream: YOU!
3, Trend Spotting
Ok…I’m not the craziest for this one, for this reason: as soon as I gather what I need; it seems like everyone else is jumping on the same wagon right at the same time…lol
But…if you can act fast on these: you are on the top!!!
So,
Quick exercise: Spend 10 minutes scanning industry news, social media, or trend reports. Jot down 3-5 emerging trends you think could inspire a digital product idea.
Keep an eye on emerging technologies, evolving consumer behaviours, and industry shifts. How can you create a product that rides the wave of these trends?
4, Your own personal experience
And I am adding a caution right here: certain things, topics do need legal licenses, papers, proofs, liabilities etc… You do not want to end up in any legal battle.
And another one: just because you went through it, that doesn’t mean you can help others go through it too. So, be realistic, be cautious but do explore how you can leverage your personal experiences into a digital product.
Quick Exercise: Think about a routine task or challenge you face regularly. Describe it in 2-3 sentences, then try to imagine a digital product that could streamline or automate that process.
5, Collaboration Seeking
Sometimes we don’t see it – even if it’s almost hitting our face – so teaming up with others might be the right solution to brainstorm a good digital product. Fresh perspectives often lead to innovative ideas. It is also a good solution to put 2 people’s strength together or fill in the missing gap from our knowledge.
Quick Exercise: Set up a 30-minute brainstorming session with 2-3 people. Use the prompt: “If we could create any digital product to solve a problem, what would it be?”
While the traditional methods above provide a solid starting point, the true gems often come from more unconventional – non cliche ways – idea generation techniques. These approaches can help you stand out from the crowd and maybe be a start of a truly unique digital product.
4 non-cliche ways to generate digital product ideas
1, Mashup your skills
I don’t know about you, but I have a couple different skills that compliment each other well and some that still seem out of place from the rest… I often think about how to take 1 of my skills and somehow merge it with another one… or even 2 different ideas or tools or niches or interests and how to make them work together to craft something super useful…
I love this part of the ‘magical mind’ we have been blessed with!
Quick Exercise: Make a list of your top 3-5 skills or interests. Then, write down 2-3 ways you could combine those elements into a unique digital product idea.
2, Frustration Journaling
Might sound aggressive at first thought but hear me out…
The idea is to document without FILTER: capturing everything in your mind about any frustrations, annoyances, or unmet needs that you or others encounter regularly. These could be minor annoyances or larger, recurring problems.
I am positive if a problem frustrates you, it’s likely that others share the same pain point, suggesting there’s a market for your solution and you’re more likely to be passionate about solving a problem you’ve personally experienced.
Quick Exercise: For the next 3 days, -or as long as you want, but don’t forget about taking action – keep a journal of minor or recurring frustrations you encounter in your personal life, work or hobby. At the end, review your list and choose 1-2 that could be solved with a digital product.
3, Cross-Industry Mix & Match
It is a little bit like mashing up your skills, but more specific to adapting the best practices, concepts from unrelated niches, industries.
Like, let’s say: you are creating online courses and you also like that e-commerce stores often recommend other products for you based on what you bought before or your interest. So instead of showing a bunch of unrelated courses to what someone bought you show very specific ones that work well, compliment and/or assure the successful usage of the bought course. [well this exists already in the form of segmented emails, tripwires, order bumps, upsells etc- but at some point in time someone thought : why not?? And now it’s a common, often used marketing, selling practice]
Quick Exercise: Choose an industry completely different from your own. Spend 15 minutes researching its top trends and best practices. Now, brainstorm 2-3 ways you could apply those concepts to your field in the form of a digital product. [can also use this exercise for unique concept or marketing]
4, Re-purposing from Physical to Digital
Now, this is an interesting one and I think when I give you an example you will understand exactly what I am talking about.
Re-purposing from physical to digital means taking inspiration from existing physical products to create new digital products. This could involve transforming the core idea, concept, or functionality of a physical item into a digital format.
For example, a physical workshop might inspire an online course, or a printed planner could lead to a digital productivity app. The goal is to use the value and features of physical products to develop innovative digital offerings that can be easily shared and sold online.
Brilliant right??
And if you want even more out of the box example: is the virtual fitting room… while it’s still not perfect and not widely used, – I believe with AI advancing so fast this could be a real thing on every e-commerce clothing store – the idea is awesome because how many times did you buy clothes online and had to send back half of it because it didn’t look so great on. In a real store you just go and try it on.
Quick Exercise: Pick a successful physical product and list 10 alternative uses for it. Then, select one of those alternative uses and imagine how you could turn it into a digital product.
In conclusion
There you have it! The 9 effective ways to generate digital product ideas list with some quick exercises you can use. It’s important to mention the key difference is that traditional methods tend to focus on research and analysis, while unconventional approaches encourage lateral out of the box thinking and identifying unexpected connections.
Both have their place and since we aren’t thinking, processing things the same way: we often settle for the method most comfortable and the one that makes sense to us…however… the next time you brainstorm new digital product ideas: why not step out of your digital creation process boundaries just a tiny bit and you might craft something that will carry on your legacy.
Your turn
Which one is your fave process and which is the one you wouldn’t mind trying?
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