If you plan to sell any kind of digital file direct from your website, blog or anywhere you can paste a link then you'll need to enlist the help of a digital file delivery provider. These providers should make a hard job very easy. They sort out payment processing, checkout, and secure delivery of your files, while you get on with the most important job – growing your business.
In this article we look at these six important areas:
Main reasons to use a digital file delivery provider
How a provider should help rather than hinder the running of your business
Extra security features to prevent fraud
Extra marketing features to boost revenue
How to choose a pricing structure
Comparison chart of 4 digital file delivery providers
Main reasons to use a digital file delivery provider
Their core activities include facilitating payment processing, providing a checkout, and ensuring secure delivery of your files.
Payment processing
Digital file delivery providers don't usually process payments. This is because, historically, payment processors and ecommerce companies have been separate. Payment processors have needed to be tightly regulated because they are dealing with your money, while ecommerce companies have preferred to sidestep that level of bureaucracy and concentrate on helping you sell more.
So, before you start out with a digital file delivery company you will need to sign up with a payment processor like PayPal or Stripe (which makes it super easy to process credit and debit cards). Digital file delivery companies then integrate with your favourite payment processors. A few providers will offer more payment options such as Bitcoin and ApplePay integration. This is because the more ways your customers can pay, the more likely they are to give you money. Although common in the UK and US, credit cards are not necessarily common in other countries, even in Europe. Some people also simply hate PayPal.
This type of digital file delivery provider therefore facilitates payment but does not get involved in the transaction itself. They do not own your products or claim any copyright or other legal rights over them. Be aware that some digital file providers are actually resellers of your product, which involves a different legal framework and a hefty cut of your profit.
Providing a checkout
If a customer wants to buy your digital product then you need to lead them through a series of actions where they give you their payment details and email address for delivery. This is called your checkout. Digital file delivery providers will all provide a checkout of sorts. However, what you want to look for is one that is specifically:
mobile-optimised so customers can buy on all devices
multi-language so customers can buy all over the world
streamlined so customers don't abandon carts when asked to provide extra useless information (if you sell digital files you shouldn't need a physical address. You don't even need a name.)
customisable so customers feel comfortable being sent to these pages because they look like the rest of your site
flexible so you can add trust icons, for example, if you think they will increase your conversion rate
Linking up your checkout to your website, blog or social media
Most providers should give you two options:
add a button to your website or blog (such as Buy Now)
paste a link anywhere you can (including social media) that sends people directly to your checkout
Buy now!
Most providers expect you to ask customers to add your product to a cart, which is great if you have an online shop and want to persuade them to buy more than one product. However, if you want to persuade customers to buy your fantastic ebook after you've just given them a free chapter, for example, then you'd be better off with Buy Now functionality. Preferably look for digital file delivery providers that give you the choice of Add to Cart or Buy Now functionality so you can choose the most suitable option for your business.
Securely deliver your digital file
Once your customer has paid for your product, then your digital file delivery provider should automatically and securely deliver your file to them. You shouldn't need to do anything. Most providers should give your customers the chance to download the file by email or by a download link that appears straight after their payment has been processed. Other features to look out for include:
quick download speeds for your customers – you don't want them to get fed up waiting!
time-limited download links which makes them harder to be shared
maximum download attempts (that you can specify), which reduces sharing
How a provider should help rather than hinder the running of your business
As well as providing these three core activities, digital file delivery providers should also help you run your business efficiently and productively. There's no point signing up with a provider that seems cheap but actually makes you want to pull your hair out every time you attempt to navigate their dashboard and extract meaningful sales data. So, look out for these features:
Easy set up
There's no excuse for a digital file delivery provider that takes you a day to get set up: because you need to download an app, use an external landing page that doesn't really fit with your website, or simply has a terrible UI. Look for a provider that gets you set up quickly, and can prove this in their marketing material or free trial. Beware of companies that just talk about how great and easy to use they are without showing you proof!
Elegant dashboard
Seeing as this provider is going to be an important part of your growing business, you'll be using their dashboard regularly to check your sales, customise your experience and add new products. Make sure that the dashboard is easy to use on all your devices (including mobile) and that you can find your way around it without needing to refer to their knowledge base every two seconds.
Effective reporting and analytics
Analytics isn't just inert data that you look at and forget about. It's super-exciting information that holds the key to how you can grow your business – and what you might be doing wrong. Make sure your digital file delivery provider has decent analytics and reporting functionality otherwise you'll get frustrated when your business begins to take off.
Great customer support
There will almost always be a point when you need customer support, because you have a query or question that is specific to your business. You want to be able to get a helpful response from customer support quickly, so check that your potential provider has a good reputation in this field. Also, browse their knowledge base articles. These should help you navigate sometimes quick complex topics quickly and easily. If they don't, then you'll end up wasting time getting something wrong or waiting on customer support to get back to you.
Extra security features to prevent fraud
Part of your reason for using a digital file delivery provider is that they offer a secure way of selling and distributing your product. After all, you didn't create a great video series or ebook only for people to rip it off in two seconds. Some digital file delivery providers will go one step further to help you keep your product secure. These include:
video streaming – often popular with customers and much more secure for you
PDF stamping – which discourages illegal sharing without penalising loyal customers
license keys – keep software and other digital files secure
fraud filtering – so you can filter out offenders by their country of residence, IP address or email
secure by design – if your provider is built by software experts rather than marketers, for example, it is more likely to be secure by design
two factor authentication (2FA) – so that if your email gets hacked your account is still secure
Extra marketing features to boost revenue
Most digital delivery providers recognise that everyone needs help with growing their business. Those that are serious about helping customers put a rocket under their revenue will offer marketing features such as these:
a built in affiliate scheme – so you get other people to sell your products
discounts – so you can encourage people to make a purchase NOW
Pay what you want pricing – an effective marketing tactic for many companies
cart abandonment – a great way to recover lost sales
one click upsells – get people to give you more money without spending an extra cent on marketing
How to choose a pricing structure
Digital delivery providers tend to fall into two categories: those that charge a flat fee per month and those that charge a % per transaction. The latter can seem enticing if you are hesitant about how much you will sell. And they are a good option for low volume sellers.
However, if you are serious about growing your business consider whether a monthly payment might actually be better value. With a monthly payment, you won't be penalised for selling more and you know exactly how much you will be spending on digital delivery every month.
If you make between $200-$300 a month it is usually better value to pay a monthly rather than a per transaction fee.
Comparison chart
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