Simply put, there’s a hard truth every digital creator needs to face: content alone isn’t enough anymore. If you want to thrive in 2025, you need to create digital experiences — because that’s what people are paying for.
Not because it isn’t valuable or because it isn’t expertly crafted. Instead, in 2025, content is everywhere. It’s abundant, often free, and just a search away.
Sound familiar?
Meanwhile, while creators scramble to produce more content, more frequently, on more platforms, the smartest ones have realized something meaningful: People aren’t paying for content anymore. They’re paying for experiences.
The content paradox: more content, less value
In other words, the internet has created a paradox.
We’re drowning in a sea of:
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Free YouTube tutorials on every imaginable topic
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Podcasts offering expert advice at no cost
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Social media feeds packed with bite-sized wisdom
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Blog posts (like this one) giving away valuable insights
Nevertheless, some digital creators are making more money than ever. How? They are learning to create digital experiences instead of just uploading more content.
Experience: The new premium currency
An experience goes beyond information transfer. It creates transformation through multiple touchpoints that engage different learning styles, create community, and provide accountability.
When done right, experiences create something content alone never can: belonging.
Let’s break down what makes an experience worth paying for in today’s crowded digital landscape:
The anatomy of a premium digital experience
Multiple modalities, not just modules
The old way: A course with 10 video modules and worksheets.
The experience way: A journey that includes:
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Core learning materials (videos, audio, text) that adapt to different learning styles
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Live events where concepts come alive through real-time interaction
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Hands-on workshops that transform passive learning into active skill-building
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Personalized feedback loops that address individual challenges
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Community spaces where shared learning multiplies insights
Consequently, each modality reinforces the others, creating a tapestry of learning that’s far greater than the sum of its parts.
Touchpoints that build trust
In an experience economy, every interaction is an opportunity to strengthen connection:
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For example, the welcome message that makes someone feel seen
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The check-in email that arrives just when motivation typically drops
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The celebration of small wins that might otherwise go unnoticed
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The personalized resource shared “just for you” based on a comment made in the community
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The unexpected bonus that delights rather than just delivers
In other words, these touchpoints aren’t content, they’re context.
Community as the multiplier
Above all, the most powerful experiences aren’t one-to-many; they’re many-to-many.
When you create spaces for your people to connect with each other, something magical happens:
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Value creation continues even when you’re sleeping
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Diverse perspectives enrich the learning environment
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Accountability becomes peer-driven, not just leader-enforced
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Success stories multiply as members inspire each other
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Belonging creates an emotional investment that content alone never could
Remember: Ultimately, people might come for your content, but they’ll stay for the community.
When you shift from selling content to crafting experiences, three powerful things happen to your retention rates:
The completion paradox disappears
Traditional courses have abysmal completion rates (often below 15%). Why? Because there’s no social cost to abandoning a course of videos.
In contrast, experiences create social connections that drive completion:
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People show up because others are expecting them
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Progress becomes visible and celebrated by peers
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Questions get answered in real-time, preventing roadblocks
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Ultimately, the journey becomes as valuable as the destination
In turn, retention becomes automatic, not effortful
With content alone, you’re constantly fighting churn. With experiences:
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Members stay 3-5x longer than they would with passive content
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Renewals happen automatically because leaving means losing community connections
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Each month increases the emotional investment members have in staying
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In fact, the value compounds over time rather than diminishing
Price sensitivity plummets
When people pay for content, they’re constantly evaluating whether the information is worth the price.
When people pay for experiences, they’re evaluating how it makes them feel, who they’re becoming, and who they’re becoming it with.
As a result, this fundamentally changes the value equation in your favor.
Creating your experience ecosystem
If you’re ready to evolve your business, start with the steps below to create digital experiences your audience will actually pay for.
Here’s your roadmap:
First, map your current content-to-experience ratio
Take inventory of everything you currently offer and categorize each element:
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Pure content (one-way information transfer)
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Interactive elements (require participation)
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Community components (facilitate member-to-member interaction)
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Personalized touchpoints (tailored to individual needs/progress)
Aim for less than 40% pure content. The rest should be experience.
Next, identify your experience gaps
Most content businesses are missing key experience elements:
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Synchronous components (live events, workshops, office hours)
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Celebration rituals (recognizing progress, achievements, contributions)
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Peer-to-peer support structures (buddy systems, accountability groups)
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Feedback loops (ways to gather and implement member insights)
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Physical touchpoints (tangible elements that complement digital delivery)
Finally, design your multiple touchpoint system
In practice, the magic happens when you connect multiple experiences in a journey:
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Not just a course – a course with weekly live implementation sessions and a private messaging channel for urgent questions.
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Not just a membership – a membership with quarterly virtual summits, monthly challenges, and facilitated partner projects.
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Not just a community – a community with rotating expert hot seats, progress tracking dashboards, and personalized pathways.
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Not just an event – an event followed by a 30-day implementation sprint, supported by small group coaching circles.
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As a result, each touchpoint reinforces the others, creating an experience cocoon that members don’t want to leave.
Become an experience architect
In a world where information is abundant but transformation is rare, the future belongs to those who can design experiences that change lives, not just inform minds.
Simply put, the creators who understand this shift are thriving.
Meanwhile, when everyone else is churning out more content, you’ll be creating something far more valuable: experiences that people can’t get anywhere else.
With that in mind, ask yourself:
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How could you transform your content into an experience?
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What touchpoints could you add to create more moments of connection?
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How might you facilitate member-to-member relationships that add value beyond your expertise?
Start there because the future belongs to those who know how to create digital experiences that drive results and connection.
