An eBook for marketing can be used to attract target buyers
and convert them into new email subscribers and customers
Spending time to create an eBook for marketing means that you’ll be investing in a powerful tool for generating new leads through an email list. Nobody ever thinks they need to add a new email newsletter to their inbox, but everyone likes free stuff. If you create free products that you can give away on your website in exchange for an email address, you have an opportunity to build an email list of potential customers that you can reach out to every now and again. Studies show that even millennials are reading eBooks, and by 2020 it’s projected that they’ll make up 40% of the workforce.
Just make sure you’re creating an eBook that is related to your product. Giving away an eBook about how to make a good lemon meringue pie might get a lot of email subscribers, but if you’re selling software for car dealerships, you’ll have a whole list of people hungry for pie and nobody employed at a dealership who will want to get your emails. Also, make sure that the eBook is delivered via email, because according to Mintigo, 88% of users leave the wrong information when filling out an online form.
It might sound hard to make an eBook, but it’s actually very easy, especially if you have a company blog and can recycle content. Here are some practical tips to streamline your process.
When you are ready to turn those potential leads into new customers, schedule a free demo of our lead management software to put it into practice.
Smart tips to create a compelling eBook for marketing
Pick a topic
The aim of this eBook should be providing extra value to your customers and potential leads, so the best way to come up with a topic or theme is to think about your current client base and what content has resonated with them. Think about their most common feedback, pain points that your sales team hears every day on the phone, and problems your business is aiming to solve for them. Use these as guiding principles to focus in on a learning objective for your eBook.
Gather content
Writing content may seem like a lot of work, but you don’t have to create an eBook for marketing from scratch. Think of the ways you get customers online and engage with them there. You’re probably sitting on a wealth of material you’ve created in the past and can recycle content from blog posts, email newsletters and even incorporate some of your best social media exchanges.
Make it a team effort
Do you have talented and creative people on your team that can collaborate to elevate your content and make your eBook stand out? Have a brainstorming session to come up with the best “sticky” title that will grab attention and search results. Dividing up the work between colleagues not only makes the process faster and easier but also allows different components of the eBook to shine. If you have someone who writes excellent copy, they can breathe new life into an older post.
Incorporate a winning design strategy
Picking the right color scheme and using images effectively can break up text and make your eBook more engaging for reading. A talented graphic designer can create a compelling cover image, design graphics or edit the very best photographs to complement your content.
Think of quality over quantity
An eBook needs to be long enough to provide the answer to the problem you’re trying to solve. It might be tempting to cram all kinds of helpful information in there, but this would be counterproductive. A short, but incredibly resourceful eBook is more valuable for learning new information and sets the stage for you to send even more content and promotions down the line. Send them a 200-page eBook and they may never read it (or get to know you as a helpful advisor in their pursuit of knowledge). Send them a 10-25 page eBook where you spent the most time on providing the best answer, and they may consume the whole thing and love you for it.
Promote, engage and empower
To build your lead generation base, offer your eBook as a free pdf download in exchange for an email address and some quick information. Promote the value of this free educational information on social media, in blog posts and even in a sales call.
Create added value for your email campaign
An eBook can be a fantastic freebie as part of a robust email drip campaign. It can be a way to demonstrate the value of engaging with your business by creating an incentive to open your regularly scheduled email blasts. You can also create a series of short eBooks and hint there will be more to come later on. According to Business2Community, 60% of executives say email delivers the highest ROI out of any marketing channel.
What to do once you’ve built your email list
You’re probably thinking, “OK, I have my eBook and my email list is growing — what now?”
The simple answer is to start emailing them. Research has shown that the more frequently you email, the less likely people are to unsubscribe. It’s when you pop them an email a month later that they unsubscribe, because they may not remember how you got their email. We suggest either sending out a regular newsletter with more helpful content from your blog, or like mentioned above, create an email drip campaign. The drip campaign could be seven days long, sending a helpful tip for a full week, or longer. How you use your list is up to you, but please do use it. That’s one of the biggest mistakes salespeople make—not following up on a pile of leads quickly enough.
When you are ready to turn those potential leads into new customers, schedule a free demo of our lead management software to put it into practice.
If you have experience creating eBooks for marketing, leave your best tips in the comments!