Surely you have already noticed that the eBook to give away is becoming more and more widespread. Indeed, many blogs or corporate sites encourage us to download a free white paper in exchange for our email. Giving such a gift may seem, at first glance, completely crazy! Why offer a free product? Aren’t you risking bankruptcy by passing on your knowledge without financial compensation? On the contrary, it is actually a very effective marketing strategy to increase sales. Let’s explore it in more detail.
What is an eBook?
eBook or e-book means Electronic Book, in other words digital book. In this article, we are not going to talk about the latest novel published in pub format which can be read on a tablet or e-reader. We will rather focus on what is called a white paper. It is a marketing tool widely used by bloggers and companies as part of their content strategy. Often presented in pdf format, it can be downloaded online or received by email.
eBook to offer: an effective strategy?
Offering a free white paper can bring several benefits:
- Build an email list;
- Advance the prospect in the purchase funnel;
- Build customer loyalty (the more you care about their concerns the more likely they are to continue to follow you).
Let’s discover the different steps to follow to implement this marketing strategy.
Choose a topic for your white paper
Don’t jump into writing this white paper without giving it some serious thought. To choose the subject of your eBook, do not think only of the subject that interests you. Define your goals to ghostwriting agency. Do you want more sales, more traffic to your site, and more subscribers to your newsletter? If you are primarily looking to market your products, ask yourself the following question: what do my future customers need at this stage of the sales funnel?
Here are some ideas for your white paper:
- a practical guide: prepare your luggage efficiently (if you sell suitcases for example);
- a list of ideas or inspirations: 15 capitals to visit;
- a compilation of tips and tricks: 15 travel tips.
This digital book is an opportunity to give a detailed overview of your expertise, improve your e-reputation and generate new leads. If the Internet user is at the very beginning of the sales tunnel, make him aware of a problem he is unaware of thanks to this eBook. If he is at a more advanced stage, tell him about the difficulties that your product will solve. If he is already aware of your paid service or product, inspire him to buy it.
Add Call to Action
Rest assured; the free white paper does not compete with your paid products. On the contrary, its objective is to lead the reader towards them. For this, you must add calls to action (Call to Action) that point to your paid content or to the service you want your prospects to discover. But be careful not to overemphasize what you’re selling. To pique the interest of your current customers as well as potential customers, simply talk about the industry or a topic related to your products. And don’t forget that your eBook to offer must above all be qualitative. Creating an e-book still takes some effort. Of course, you will have to devote some of your time to writing it, but the benefits you will derive from it will not make you regret this sacrifice.
Distribute the free eBook
The procedure to set up to distribute the eBook is simple. First, host your white paper on your website. To obtain it, potential customers will have to fill out a form where they will indicate their email address and name. Giving your contact information and consent to receive a newsletter is called opt-in. With this strategy, you are both winners. After all, even if readers don’t like your e-book, they won’t have lost anything! As for you, you will have managed to collect a list of emails that will be useful to you later.
Promote your eBook
It’s not enough to create an eBook to offer, it is still necessary that Internet users know of its existence! Plan to communicate about your book on the social networks of your choice: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. Address your target audience. Due to the power of these platforms, your giveaway can quickly go viral! Also create a landing page on your website to promote your free white paper. Write a catchy and convincing text. And if you’re not inspired, why not go looking for a web editor?
Are you now convinced of the value of offering a free e-book? So, get started! Don’t have time to devote to writing it? Don’t hesitate to entrust your project to an author from Web. He will not only be able to write your digital book or proofread it, but also boost its promotion. Trained in SEO writing, the editors of Redact Du Web strategically choose the keywords in order to boost the natural referencing of your sales pages.
