By Irfan Ak
Ebooks can do wonders for your brand! Ebooks help you garner qualified leads, build your email list, drive traffic to your website, help you engage with your audience, provide value to your customers, and even establish yourself as the ultimate voice of authority in your niche.
However, the problem isn’t crafting compelling content that solves the pain-points of your users; it is convincing people to download it. No matter how much you put your heart and soul into crafting an irresistible book, seasoned it with food for thought musings, deep research, and one-of-a-kind content, all your efforts may go down the drain unless your ebook is promoted to the right audience.
So, if your ebook has been sitting without enough downloads for too long, you need to up your ebook marketing game. This is where we help make your ebook an instant hit. Read on to discover the best promotional strategies for your ebook and turn your project into an instant success.
Reach out to Your Existing Subscribers with Email Marketing
Without a doubt, outreach is tiresome, but why do we overlook the network we already have before aggressively reaching out to new customers? Your email subscribers have willingly signed up for your content offers and if your new ebook solves some pain point or offers some value, this is a golden opportunity to re-engage with them and establish your brand as the voice of authority.
However, before promoting your ebook to your entire contact database, it makes more sense to segment your audience and only target your marketing efforts towards the relevant people. The key to winning with email marketing is to provide timely and personalized content to the right audience, who can relate to your ebook.
A great way to segment audience is to provide them with options on the opt-in page to better understand their needs. For instance, you can ask them something along the lines of “What does your business want to improve?” and provide options like “drive more traffic to your website”, “rank higher on SERPs”, or “achiever higher conversion rate optimization.” If your ebook relates to lead generation, you can market it to people who chose the first option at the time of signing up.
Craft A Winning Sales Page
Your sales page only has one objective: to convince people to download your ebook. A great way to tell people how amazing your ebook is to highlight its many benefits on an extraordinary, non-sleazy sales page!
Be sure to mention what real-world issues your ebook can solve or what makes it different from similar books. Take your time to research your prospects’ pain points, and show them that your solution is just what they need. Include the key takeaways from your ebook, almost like irresistible teasers, that will compel them to download it without giving away too many details.
Remember that people form an opinion of your site in a matter of seconds, and you need to reel them in with a professional and compelling sales page. People do not think twice before bouncing off a cluttered and aesthetically unpleasant sales page, so design matters as much as copy.
Use captivating and zappy headings and sub-headings and break complex sentences and intense paragraphs to make your copy easier to read. Throw the guesswork out the window by penning down clear and unambiguous content. Focus on the benefits, not the features, so as to help them envisage how your book can help them achieve desired goals. Finally, wrap your sales pitch with a visible and catchy clear call to action to incite them to take an action; try adding “Yes, I’m ready” or “yes, I want to grow my business!”, instead of run-of-the-mill CTAs like “download now”, or “Purchase now!”
Collaborate with Influencers
One great way to get your ebook in front of the right audience is to partner with influential people in your industry who offer relevant services and have already amassed an audience that matches yours. If you want to be seen as the voice of authority in your field, why not join forces with someone who’s already there?
The right way to win with influencer marketing is to craft a win-win strategy that suits both parties. For instance, you ask them to promote your ebook to their audience and in return, you do the same for them. You ask an industry influencer to contribute to your ebook with an expert recommendation and opinion or some nugget of wisdom and get featured. Because they’re featured in the content, they will also want to share it with their audience. Talk about killing two birds!
Create Hype on social media
If you are looking to create the right buzz around your ebook, social networking is the way to go. Build your brand and boost engagement by inundating your social media feed with actionable tips, quick how-tos, captivating tidbits from your ebook, Infographics that highlight key findings, images, product videos, podcasts, and other interesting pieces of information that create interest in your ebook.
While your audience doesn’t like being bombarded with salesy, overtly-promotional posts, such social media posts are the perfect way to create awareness while keeping your audience engaged.
For instance, you can use your ebook banner as your Facebook and Twitter cover image and post images, videos, and supporting content that pertains to your ebook. You can also engage your readers on Twitter by posting compelling mini-infographics and eye-catching images. You can share your ebook link in profile bio and post images with the link.
Additionally, you can also create a special group board on Pinterest or post on popular relevant boards that will accept your contributions. Try your hands at video marketing and post eye-catching promotional videos with captivating captions on YouTube. Be sure to add relevant CTAs in your videos.
Use Supporting Content Formats
Even though you are done writing your ebook, you are not done writing yet! The next step is to pen down some stellar blog posts, infographics, and even visual material that complement your ebook.
For instance, if your ebook is centered on a topic such as “Keto on a budget”, you can supplement it with blog posts such as cheapest Keto recipes or most affordable Keto friendly places to hang out. Such content will earn you the trust of your readers and make them crave more content from you. Not to mention, it will help people overcome the general fear of investing in something that doesn’t have value.
You should also incorporate well-researched keyword in your blog to drive more traffic to your website. You can even create eye-grabbing infographics based on key-takeaways from your book, for instance, a visual guide on keto-friendly foods. Content from your ebook can easily be turned into a slide, podcasts, quizzes, quotes, images, and so much more.
Irfan Ak is an experienced digital & content marketing strategist at Branex. He is a regular contributor on various websites. He has worked with several brands and created value for them.
