If you’re new to online marketing you may be wondering what backend sales are. If you’ve been studying marketing and sales for any period of time, particularly online marketing, you’ve probably already heard the term. But what exactly are backend sales?
A backend sale is an additional sale you make after a customer has bought the initial product that you were marketing. These sales can happen immediately after the initial purchase is made or over the coming weeks and months.
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We’ve talked already about how it’s easier to sell to existing customers than brand new ones, which is why it’s vital to pay attention to your backend! Backend sales are where most of your money will be made, especially if you’re selling digital products online. It doesn’t matter what niche or market you’re in. This is true if you’re teaching people how to make money online, how to potty train their kids, and even when you’re writing fiction books.
The hard part is finding those new customers and convincing them to make that first purchase. After that it becomes much easier to sell to them again and again. You will have passed that first hurdle of proving to people that you know what you’re talking about and that you create good stuff. Next, it’s simply a matter of sharing other products they may be interested in.
You can offer a few different types of products to your customers on the backend. They can be products on similar topics, they can be products that help them reach the next step towards their end goal, they can be products or services that help them do what you teach in your info products, or they can be coaching programs where you help them implement what they’ve learned.
That sounds like a lot of different products you need to create and have ready before you make that first sale, doesn’t it? The good news is that you don’t need to have all the pieces in place from the beginning. It’s something you build over time. Start with that first product and work on your first few customers.
Here’s some even better news. You don’t have to create all. or even any, of your backend products. You can recommend high-quality affiliate products from other markers, writers, coaches, and online educators, and make money through affiliate programs. If you don’t already have a good product to offer on the backend, go out and find a great product that you can promote as an affiliate, and start earning commissions without having to go through any product creation.
Some people who buy my Affiliate Marketer’s Success Kit go on to buy the Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing Course that I promote. Some who buy my guide on How to Start a Virtual Assistant Business go on to buy the in-depth Virtual Assistant Training I recommend. Some who buy my book on freelance writing or my Freelance Writer’s Success Kit may go on to buy the Write Your Way to 1K course. And those who buy my Free Tools For Bloggers ebook might go on to buy the Grow Your Blog course, or Blog Writer’s Bootcamp.
In each case the course is one that I partner with an affiliate to promote. Just make sure that the products you promote are super high quality. You don’t want to lose future backend sales by recommending something that doesn’t meet your customers’ needs and offer great value.
If you find that you’re selling a lot of a particular product as an affiliate, or if you’re finding that while the product works well, there is something missing, or you could do a better job, create that product. Once you do, you can replace the affiliate offer, with a promo for your own product. Obviously don’t ‘copy’ the affiliate product, make your own original product that’s even better.
With each new product or service you create, think about different ways you can cross promote with what you already have to offer. Send out a couple of emails to your list of customers, but also mention related products within your content, on your download pages and throughout the content you share on your blog and social media. Putting a little bit of effort into product planning and backend promotion, can have a huge impact on your overall business profitability.
If you want to know more about building a sales funnel that automatically promotes your relevant offers on the backend, one of my affiliate partners has the perfect (very affordable) online training on that topic, called Funnels That Click. It’s currently available for less than 10 bucks! More details here.
