The Savvy Seller with Kristen Doyle

154. 3 Trends I'm Noticing in Online Business Right Now

• Kristen Doyle, TPT seller, SEO coach, and web designer

Share episode

Send us a text! (Your number stays private)

Something feels off in the online business world lately, doesn’t it? If your go-to strategies aren’t landing like they used to, there’s a reason why. In this episode, I’m sharing three major trends I’ve been noticing in my business, with my clients, and across the digital space. These shifts could explain why things feel harder right now, and I’ll walk you through how to respond in ways that feel aligned and effective.

We’ll talk about why perfectly polished content is falling flat and how being more human and relatable can actually drive better results. I also break down the growing need for more customer touch points before a sale happens, and why that’s not necessarily a bad thing. And finally, I share why simplicity is the new secret weapon in your offers and marketing—and how I’m applying that in my own work. If you’re ready to adapt and thrive, this episode will help you do just that!

01:28 - Trend 1: Authentic (and often messy), human-sounding content is converting better

04:29 - Trend 2: People need more touch points to convert

06:11 - Trend 3: People want simplicity over complex strategies

08:26 - 3 action steps to help you implement these trends this week

Links & Resources:


Show Notes: https://kristendoyle.co/episode154 

Tired of constantly hustling to sell your digital products? Check out my free 19-minute training where I show you how to turn all those products you already have into a profitable, automated business. 

 

Get more freedom and less stress ➡️ watch now at kristendoyle.co/training 

Check out my Everything Page at https://kristendoyle.co/everything

Kristen:

Hey friend, can we talk about something I've been noticing? Things that worked really well in online business just a year or two ago aren't working anymore. Maybe you've noticed it too. I keep hearing from people who are frustrated because the strategies that they've used for years and gotten great results from aren't getting the same results right now. So today I want to share three shifts that I'm seeing, not as some big marketing guru, but just as someone who's been watching this space and working with clients and working in this space myself. Maybe one of these trends might just explain why your audience isn't responding the way they normally do, and more importantly, how you can adapt and what you can do in your business so that you're actually benefiting from these trends instead of struggling. Are you a digital product or course creator, selling on platforms like Teachers Pay Teachers, Etsy, or your own website? Ready to grow your business, but not into the kind of constant hustle that leads straight to burnout? Then you're in the right place. Welcome to The Savvy Seller. I'm Kristen Doyle, and I'm here to give you no fluff tools and strategies that move the needle for your business without burning you out in the process—things like SEO, no stress marketing, email list building, automations and so much more. Let's get started, y'all. Alright. Trend number one, with AI everywhere, all of that overly perfect, polished content starting to feel a little fake. It's not just me, right? It's happening for everybody. People can tell when something sounds too perfect, too marketing-y. And the content that's actually converting now is the stuff that sounds human, a little bit messy, more personal, not so perfect. So let's talk about what this looks like in practice. When you're writing something, whether it's an email, a social media post, whatever else you might be writing, write like you talk, not like you're giving a presentation, and definitely don't try to sound like everyone else in your niche. When you're sharing things, share the stuff that doesn't go perfectly, too, not just the wins. That's the stuff that really makes you human and relatable, and people are really looking for that connection right now. It's even okay if you let a typo happen occasionally, within reason, of course, or maybe your grammar is not quite perfect. In fact, I guarantee you, if you ran the transcript of this podcast episode through a grammar checker, there's no way my grammar is perfect, not even close. Could I write that way if I wanted to? Sure, but nobody wants to listen to that. So write like you talk, not like you're trying to market. Think about the difference between an AI generated blog post or article or social media post on five ways to boost productivity, versus, I spilled coffee all over my laptop this morning, but somehow I still got everything on my to do list done. Here's how I did it. See, one of those feels a whole lot more real and personal and not like something that anyone out there could generate with AI in the next five minutes. Actually, perfect example of this, one of my best performing podcast episodes from the last couple months was when I was totally struggling to get anything done in my business, and instead of recording some perfectly polished podcast episode and pretending I had it all together, I shared how I literally went to chat GPT, dumped all my frustrations with a prompt that went something like, Help, I'm a mess. And then I worked through a plan. People loved it. It got way more engagement than some of the other episodes, because it turns out, apparently, you guys don't need me to be perfect. You just want to know that you're not the only one who sometimes has a rough week. And that's the kind of realness that people are responding to right now in all kinds of different niches. Which brings me to trend number two. The second thing I am noticing is that people are needing more touch points to convert. Remember when you could send out one sales email, or people would see one Facebook ad, and they would buy. Yeah, so unfortunately, that's pretty much over. Now it takes way more, more emails, more showing up, more building trust over time. And it's not because you're doing anything wrong, it's just that buyer behavior has shifted. And honestly, it's not a bad thing. I know it probably feels like more work for you, but it means that you are building real relationships with people, and that people are going to be that much more invested in you as a brand once they do start to buy things from you and get those results. So what this means for us, practically speaking, is that you need to nurture people for a while before you start selling to them. And when you do start selling, plan for longer sales funnels. You really need to plan for people to see your stuff multiple times before they're ever ready to buy. So think relationship building, not quick sales. For example, instead of a five email launch sequence, maybe you need seven to 10 emails with some extra touch points on social media or through ads. This is exactly why Liz Wilcox's approach to email marketing in Episode 120 works so well. It's all about building that consistent weekly connection and building those relationships with the people on your list. So if you haven't listened to that episode yet, I definitely recommend it with the way that this trend is playing out. But here's the thing, while yes, we are adding more touch points, people are also craving something else. Trend number three, they want simplicity. Quick wins right now are beating complex strategies hands down. See, everyone everywhere is overwhelmed and tired of everything being so complicated. So what that means is giant courses with 47 modules of everything you'll ever need to know about this topic are out. It feels too hard. It feels like too much work, and what people want instead is for you to just tell them the one thing they need to do right now. Make it easy for them, take decisions off their plate, instead of giving them more to think about and decide and plan for and do. So what this means for your products and your content is that you need to be thinking about how you can make offers that solve one specific problem really, really well, as opposed to trying to solve all the problems for all the people. Break those big ideas down into smaller, more doable pieces and always lead with what is that easiest first step that actually makes a difference for people. I'm actually seeing this play out in my business right now. See, I just started offering something new called homepage express in my web design business. So basically, instead of a full website redesign that takes weeks and requires lots of prep, it's just, let's fix your homepage in a few hours. People are so excited about it, and they are loving it because it feels doable, it feels easy. See, all they do is just voice record their answers to some questions. I run that through some AI that I've trained on my framework and my methods, and boom, we get homepage copy that I can then put into a page for them with fresh messaging that sounds like them, and it actually works. It's just that one focused thing that we can do quickly that makes a real difference on their websites. So those are the three trends I'm noticing right now in online business. Here's your action steps. First, take a look at your last couple of emails or posts on social. Do they sound like you talking or like you're trying to sound professional? Next time you sit down to write, do it in your actual voice, even if it feels too casual or it isn't perfect, just try it and see what happens. Second, count your customer touch points. How many times does somebody typically see your content before you start actively selling to them? If it's less than five, you probably need to build in more nurture. And then, last but not least, pick an offer to simplify. Take one thing that you're selling or you're teaching and ask yourself, what is the absolute simplest version of this that I can put out there that will get people a win. So don't jump in and try to do them all. Just pick whichever of these three feels most relevant to where you're stuck right now, and take that one action step this week. By the way, did you see what I did there? The simplifying? Just pick one and take one little action step this week, you can totally do it. The thing is, these trends are not going anywhere. If anything, they're actually growing. The good news, though, I think, is that these trends can all make things a little bit easier for us too. We get to show up authentically, even if it isn't perfect, and that makes it easier to put content out, because we don't have to make it all polished and perfect first. We get to build real relationships with the people in our audience. And when we're creating offers and funnels, we don't have to make them all complex. We don't have to do the big, hard thing. We can create simpler offers and funnels for our audience. Now I am curious, have you noticed any of these shifts in your business? Send me a DM on Instagram @kristendoyle.co and let me know which one of these hits closest to home for you. And if this was helpful, you know the drill by now, make sure you hit that follow button if you haven't already, so that you don't miss the episodes coming up, because we are going to be talking more about some of these topics in the near future. I'll talk to you soon.