How To Stand Out In A Saturated Market: Tips For Digital Download Sellers
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How to stand out in a saturated marketMy students often ask me how to stand out in a saturated market.

In the SVG industry where I’m at, it is commonly said that the market is “oversaturated” because there are a lot more designers than there were a few years ago.

But I’ll tell you a secret – I don’t actually believe in oversaturated markets.

Yes – I just said that!

You know what? There are WAY more designers selling SVG files these days than there were when I started in 2017, and even THEN people were telling me the market was saturated.

But that didn’t stop me from growing my SVG business to a “this is what I do for a living” level.

You see – the phrase “saturated market” is just code for “there are too many people selling literally exactly the same thing.”

Think: supply and demand. If there’s a lot of sellers and they are selling the same thing, the key is to stop assuming we have to duplicate what they are doing.

Instead, pivot & shake things up a bit, and find those pockets of demand where there is less supply.

What we need to do, my friend, is rethink our thinking.

Saturated markets are actually a GOOD thing because it means there’s a lot of buyers out there, which means if you can hone in a bit, you can easily reach a lot of potential customers.

So – here’s how you can be successful and stand out in an “oversaturated market.”

(Note: this article is pretty long, just giving you a heads up 😎)

 

How To Stand Out In A Saturated Market

#1 – Choose An Uncommon Niche

We often have a tendency to think of the bigger picture, more general.

We might think of selling SVG files, or printables, or whatever – but that’s actually way too big.

You actually need to think of the LITTLE picture here, and zoom in a little.

Because – when we just niche down a bit, suddenly there’s less competition.

digital artist creating art

Let’s start with your SKILL.

We don’t have to pigeonhole ourselves here.

Don’t be “married” to a specific type of product, but consider how you can use your skill to create a product where there is not more supply than demand.

We often tend to see someone successfully selling something we ourselves could create, and think that in order to be successful we have to do exactly what they are doing.

But that’s not true – just the opposite!

It’s best to look for ways you can set yourself apart, and appeal to a different and maybe specific market.

In my SVG business, one of the first things I noticed when I was getting started that most designers were either hand lettering (not my skill) or they were using free commercial fonts.

I also noticed that most of the designs were VERY similar in look & feel and most of them weren’t appealing to my sense of style.

So, I invested in a couple unique premium fonts and started creating designs that I would have wanted in my own home, which was a very different style than most of what was on the market at the time.

My business growth blew my expectations out of the water & allowed me to end the rat race that year.

Think about…

Grocery stores don’t just sell “bread” – they sell about a thousand different kinds of bread for different types of people & uses.

There isn’t just one kind of t-shirt, there are zillions of t-shirt companies out there doing quite well selling a zillion different types of t-shirts with designs for different types of people.

There isn’t just one kind of restaurant – in any given city, there are many restaurants that all cater to people in different ways, with different price points, cuisines, experiences, etc.

You can do the same.

Don’t think of it on the big level – think of it on a specific, micro niche level.

Don’t try to be everything to everyone. Instead, create for a specific type of person.

Doing this will reduce the competition you have to worry about and will create a LOT of customer loyalty.

How can you use your skill (or develop one!) to create your chosen product for a smaller niche? 

 

How To Stand Out In A Saturated Market

#2 – Create Relationships With Your Customers

Now – it’s no secret that I am huge on email marketing.

Growing an email list and then utilizing that list has been the biggest factor in transforming my small SVG side gig into a 6-figure business, and most of it is because I focus on building relationships with my email list.

I have people on my list who have been there since the very beginning of my business – and they stay because I care about them, and make it a priority to be a real person, authentic, and help them know how I am and what I’m all about.

In short, I don’t treat them like a number, and I send out a lot of helpful & encouraging info that has solidified that relationship.

The end result of relationship building is this:

My customers buy from me over and over, help spread the word about my products, and they even look out for me by notifying me if they happen to see someone illegally reselling my designs.

Now – you don’t HAVE to do email marketing – you can definitely build relationships via social media as well.

Social media is a crucial bit and is a fantastic way to create relationships.

I tend to place it a little lower than email marketing, though, simply because it is reliant on another website’s algorithm. The sad part is, once you get your business to a certain point, you often reach FEWER people than you did before because of algorithms.

There’s so much that isn’t “up to you” that I find it to be a little less reliable – but social media is a FABULOUS way to get people onto your list, so it definitely needs to be mentioned.

The key, either way, is to be authentic, to be honest, and to be open. Be helpful. Use storytelling in your marketing and communication.

Be YOU, build those relationships, and you’ll be astonished at what you can do.

 


Side note – if you’d like to start learning how to do email marketing the way I do it – the easy painless way without feeling like a spammer …

👇👇👇 grab my free beginner’s guide for digital designers called “How To Start An Email List” – sign up below and download it instantly.

 

How To Stand Out In A Saturated Market

#3: Keep Your Quality & Customer Experience On Point

A while back, I polled my customers to ask them what some of their biggest frustrations were with buying SVG files.

One of the biggest problems people had were designs that didn’t load right, or needed to be edited/fixed before cutting.

It seems like SUCH a simple thing, but in the SVG market there are a lot of designers who create a design and put it out there without really having a clear understanding of how it is used because they have never actually used an SVG file for crafting.

This, unfortunately, often makes for a very negative customer experience.

Understand this – the customer experience is generally the biggest indicator of whether that person will return to buy from you again.

If your customer had a great experience with your product – it was easy to use, worked as intended, and if they had any issues the customer service was amazing and helpful – they are likely to tell others about your product, give you positive reviews (social proof!), and come back to buy from you again.

But if their experience was bad, if they had to monkey with your product, it didn’t work properly, etc – they are unlikely to ever buy from you again, and you’re unlikely to get a positive review out of it as well.

 

How To Stand Out In A Saturated Market

Bonus Tip: Don’t Forget to Innovate

All industries change over time.

Today, with technology growing as rapidly as it is, it is more important than ever to continue to innovate.

Back in the 90s, Blockbuster Video was undoubtedly the leader of the video rental market.

But – ultimately, their refusal to innovate with the times & new technology ultimately led them to their demise, shouldered out by Netflix (it’s actually a pretty interesting story – click here to read how it all happened).

Part of making sure you’re standing out in an increasingly saturated market involves continuing to innovate and keep up with changes in the industry.

Are there a TON of SVG sellers out there now? Yes, absolutely.

It certainly keeps me on my toes and as a result, I actively look for opportunities to innovate based on new technology or even just finding fun project ideas for my customers to make that are unique and not being sold by everyone else.

So – let’s recap on what we’ve learned on how to stand out in a saturated market.

  1. First, we learned that it is important to niche down and create something a little different than what’s common.
  2. Secondly, we learned that creating relationships with our customers is a surefire way to really set ourselves apart.
  3. Then, we learned how crucial it is to keep our customer experience & product quality at a high level to encourage word of mouth referrals, repeat customers, and more positive reviews.
  4. And lastly, we learned that it is essential to innovate & keep up with the times if we want to keep up in a saturated market.

That’s a lot!!

I’m proud of you for making it this far! If you have any further questions, please let me know in the comments.

😘  Bethany

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