It’s no secret that product creation takes a great deal of time. For many business owners and entrepreneurs, this can be a major drain on their resources. Low-content products are a way to provide high-value solutions for your target audience without spending countless hours and money developing complex products and services. If done correctly, you can multiply the results of your content efforts tenfold.

What Are Low-Content Products?

In contrast to most products, like an online course which contains a great deal of text and/or video, “low-content” products are light on text and images. Instead, they offer a simple solution to a targeted need. Some examples of common low-content products include checklists, templates, journals, recipes, worksheets, and resource lists.

It’s important to understand that low content does NOT mean low value. You still need to understand your audience’s needs and plan the content in such a way that it will make a difference in their lives. But the actual content creation takes less time and involves less work on your part.

Why Sell Low-Content Products?

The main advantage of low-content products is that they take less time to create. This means that you’re able to produce far more products than you would when writing longer text or creating multiple images or video. They can be stand-alone products, but also make a great add-on or option for a low-ticket offer in your sales funnel.

For your customers, the advantage is that this content is aimed at helping them achieve a particular goal, complete a task, or learn how to do something. Your low-content product is an aid to organize or simplify the process for your audience. That’s how a piece with so little content can still offer value.

If done right, your low-content products will delight your audience and build a stronger relationship with them. This increased customer satisfaction can translate into repeat purchases and referrals as they tell their friends about your wonderful offers.

What Kind of Low-Content Products Can You Create?

If you’re trying to come up with an idea for a low-content product, start by thinking about the problems or desires your target customer faces. What could you create that would help them address these? Here are some examples to get you started brainstorming:

Checklists. If a required task has stages or a list of things to do, create a checklist that clearly lays out each step in the process. Then, people just need to work their way through, checking off each item as it’s completed.

Planners. Take a large project or goal and break it up into steps or sections. Create a piece of content that guides the planning for the user so they can simply fill in different sections to complete their plan.

Trackers. You can offer a tracking system that helps the user stay on target. It can help them make sure they’re putting in the work each day and seeing progress.

Journals. Journals are especially good for educational content or creative projects. The user can write their own reflections and ideas or jot down what they’ve learned after each course section.

Worksheets. Like journals, worksheets are a helpful supplement to educational content such as an online course. Using a worksheet, the participant has a place to answer questions, follow instructions, and start doing the work on their own.

Toolkits. In this type of low-content product, you can provide a variety of simple tools the customer can use to aid them in their task.

Resource Guides. Provide users with a list of resources where they can find the content or information they need. Organize these resources so it’s easy for them to locate exactly what they need.

Calendars. Your customers might be able to make use of a ready-made calendar, such as an editorial calendar for content marketing or a calendar of holidays for planning promos.

Templates. Create templates for documents your audience will use or tasks they will undertake. Make these templates customizable to the user’s needs. Whenever they need the document, they can get started right away by simply plugging in the key information.

Your low-content products can be physical or digital products. Sometimes physical products may be more costly and difficult to produce and deliver, but there are also services that will product and ship them. All the above examples can be digital, which is quicker and easier to produce and distribute to your audience worldwide.

How to Create Excellent Low-Content Products

The key to success with low-content products is to know your audience well and understand what they need and when.

Conduct research and find out what issues your target market is facing. Learn about your audience’s tastes and try to think of an idea for a low-content product that is a good match for them and for your brand.

Your low-content product can be a standalone offer or a complementary one that goes along with another product or service you offer. These products tend to work best as complementary offers, but if you have something truly valuable, it can be successful on its own as well.

For example, you might create a resource guide of further information to offer at the end of an online course. If you teach languages online, you might offer worksheets to go along with your instructional videos. You can offer toolkits and planners to go along with a print book. For non-business examples, think about things like recipes for busy moms, guest books and planners for brides, or coloring pages for children.

How to Sell Your Low-Content Product

Usually, low-content products are sold at a low price. The strategy here is to sell as many products as possible rather than selling just a few at a high price tag. With this method, you earn by selling volume.

These types of offers can also be given away for free, and there are several advantages to doing this. By adding additional value to a purchase, you can increase customer satisfaction. For example, you might offer a free set of templates to go along with a video course.

Low-content products are especially useful as lead magnets to bring people into your sales funnel. For instance, you might offer a free list of resources in exchange for signing up to your email list, where you can then nurture the relationship and eventually pitch your other offers.

Low-content products also work well as order bumps. An order bump is a low-cost offer you make at the point of checkout. The customer is about to hit the “Buy Now” button, and an offer appears for a complementary product at just a few dollars more.

How to Benefit from Low Content Products

What kind of low-content product is best for your business? A good rule of thumb is that low-content products should be easy to create, easily affordable, and can be used over and over again. The product needs to be relevant to your audience and provide value while taking you little time and effort to create.

Once you learn how to create a great offer, you can use low-content products in every area of your business.