I recently had several conversations with fellow internet marketers about how digital download products should be delivered.
One person I dealt with was a newbie marketer who asked me for help. She was trying to enter a gift in a giveaway and the host of the giveaway didn’t like how she was delivering her free report.
Later, I heard another side of the story from the giveaway host himself. A group of people in a private forum were complaining about his stringent requirements, and he was justifying them.
Last weekend I almost canceled a mailing I had agreed to with another marketer because the product delivery was not something I would recommend to my list although the product itself is very good. I suggested a couple of possible changes to her product delivery and she chose the easier option, but I would have preferred the option that required a lot more effort.
Although there are a lot of people talking about different methods to market your products, it is often left up to your imagination how to deliver
them and in what format.
I will tell you in detail how and why I prefer to deliver my digital download products.
First of all, although you tell people to right-click and “Save as…” you can assume that a fair percentage of people are just going to left-click your link instead. That’s what people are used to doing when they see a link and they don’t always read every word on the page before clicking.
A PDF document will automatically open if you left-click on the link. An MP3 will start playing if your browser is equipped with the right plugins.
You may want people to read (or hear) your product right at the moment they click, but people have lives that may interfere with that. If they are downloading products from a giveaway they may have several to download at the same time so they might not have time for your product at the moment.
If you create a compressed archive, it will automatically download even if you left click on it.
If you are wondering what this compressed archive is that I’m talking about, it’s more commonly known as a zip file. There are other types of compressed archives: rar, tar, tgz, msi… to name a few. But I recommend you use zip only. Zip files are seen as compressed folders on computers with Windows XP and higher with no additional software required to open them.
One marketer I mentioned earlier had all her files available as both PDF, to be read online, and a downloadable .rar compressed archive. I know that many of my subscribers would download the RAR file and not be able to open it without downloading some other software. While there is free software available that opens RAR files, I don’t want my subscribers to have to search for it, and especially not if they aren’t aware that anything else is required to open the files they downloaded.
I told her I would not recommend her products unless she either converted all the files to .zip format or included a prominent notice that they required additional software to open the file along with a link to the free software they could use to open the files.
There are other reasons to use zip files as well. You can include multiple files in a single download with a zip file. They are less susceptible to the spread of viruses since altering the file will make it impossible to open.
Even if you don’t have the license to edit the product you are selling, you can still add some bonus material into the archive with your own marketing materials and links embedded.
It also compresses the file so that it takes less time to download and takes less disk space.
If you need software to open .rar, .gzip, .tar, .tgz files, I recommend 7-zip. You can get it at 7-zip.org and it’s 100% free.
2. Right-Click then Copy
3. Paste the HTML code into your webpage
11 responses so far ↓
1 Earl Netwal // Jul 20, 2010 at 1:12 pm
Great discussion on a topic I haven’t heard anyone else talk about. If you could talk about plug ins for firefox to make opening some files easier, I for one would be interested. They seem to want to protect me from them. Finally, I like the fact that you dare tell people you swap with what you like or don’t about their offers. Much more of that is needed from me included.
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2 Luca Di Nicola // Jul 21, 2010 at 4:03 pm
All very good points. When I purchase a product I personally prefer zip files as they’re quicker to download and I keep them as a back up even after unzipping them. If I loose the report I can always go back to the zip file and retrieve it again.
I also use the opportunity to add some bonuses or even links to my blogs in the zip files. That’s a great way to get some extra free traffic.
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3 Louis Di Bianco // Jul 26, 2010 at 3:06 pm
Thank you, Allen. This is valuable information. It will help marketers to create strong relationships with their customers.
Can you direct me to an article that explains how to convert my PDF products into a format that is salable and protected?
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4 pete // Aug 1, 2010 at 8:25 pm
Good advice which is something I must say I have never thought about before.
To me as long as instructions are clear there shouldn’t be a problem. But as you say zipped up products are the best way to go in this environment
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Allen Reply:
August 5th, 2010 at 4:05 am
I like to provide my customers with a smooth and effortless experience. Anything I can do to make things easier on them is worth a little extra effort on my part.
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5 Andy Beveridge // Aug 5, 2010 at 8:20 am
Hi Allen,
Just found you through your comment left on the Alex Jeffreys blog. I had no idea that Youtube video was banned in China. That would cause a major problem for me, Youtube being a big part of my marketing plan.
Guess I will not be living in China anytime soon.
Your quite right about zip files. Always use the most popular method to reach people. Make it easy for as many subscribers as possible.
Andy
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Allen Reply:
August 5th, 2010 at 8:25 am
Thanks for stopping by Andy. Actually, I think I would be less productive if I had easy access to Youtube, Twitter, and Facebook.
I know I am missing out on some marketing opportunities, but it helps me avoid the time killing distractions of those sites.
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6 Elvira Sisic // Oct 11, 2010 at 5:36 am
Thank you, for this information. I also prefer the zip format, because it’s easy to use and a freeware.
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7 Bill Flint // Nov 12, 2010 at 8:23 pm
Q=Can someone help with a download page code? No I know how to do the page. I need HowTo on the code for a link ,to download like a pdf ? Code So you just click it ?
Bill Flint recently posted..New Launch S Today !!
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8 Don Hill // Feb 6, 2011 at 1:36 am
ZIP files are definitely the best choice, although Windows has a built-in tendency to open even ZIP files when you left-click on them, unless you have a download manager plugin installed in your browser.
Earl, I have the DownloadHelper plugin installed in FireFox, which enables you to set up a default folder for ALL downloads, and in the case of non-zipped files, it also gives you the option of saving or opening the file “on the fly.”
And of course you should have the downloads you intend to deliver to YOUR subscribers and customers in a folder on your server that isn’t visible to search engines, and can’t be easily guessed by your site’s visitors.
(DON’T just name the folder “download” and leave it at that, or your server logs will start showing increased bandwith usage due to unauthorized downloads of your products.)
There are a number of ways to protect your downloadable products, including many free scripts designed just for that purpose. Perhaps Allen has some suggestions along those lines…
And you’re right about all of the sites you mentioned in your reply to Andy – FB, Twitter, and YouTube can be “time-suckers” if you don’t exercise some real self-discipline when using them. They CAN provide some really great targeted traffic, but as it is with any “social” environment, if you don’t approach them (and the others using them) intelligently, they can become more of a drain on your time than it’s worth (especially if you’re easily distracted).
“Social” sites like those require a great deal of “personal” interaction with other members in order to produce results, and it usually takes a LOT more time and effort than most beginners are willing to invest, and those who try to “wing it” usually end up being thrown out for TOS violations.
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9 Belinda // Feb 11, 2011 at 7:24 am
What I want to know is why I should care? I mean, not to say that what youve got to say isnt important, but I mean, its so generic. Everyones talking about this man. Give us something more, something that we can get behind so we can feel as passionately about it as you do.
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