One of the ways that lead generation is done over the internet is by giving away freebies, such as e-books. On the internet, leads usually mean email addresses of people who are interested in your business and promotion is done through email marketing. The approach is quite simple. Marketers write an eBook that is relevant to your business and then promote it on the Internet. To get the word out, they will advertise the ebook on their website and/or blog. Marketers can also place classified ads on other companies’ websites about their products and services, paying them affiliate income.
As an inbound marketing tool, the primary goal of an eBook is to increase site traffic and act as a source of lead generation and audience. Ebooks should be basic and interesting enough for non-experts to understand and learn from.
Internet visitors are generally very interested when they see advertised free offers, and eBooks are especially attractive because they always represent real value to consumers. Internet visitors will surely try to click on the link and download the free eBook. This is where the lead generation process comes in.
When the internet visitor clicks on the link, it will not take them directly to the eBook download page. They will first arrive at a web page that will ask for their email address. That page will tell the visitor that if they provide their contact information (including email ids), a lot of additional (and valuable) information will be available to them. Of course, Internet visitors won’t mind providing their contact information because the reward will be free stuff. This type of page is known as a landing page, lead capture page, or capture page.
Quality landing pages use success stories that the prospect would relate to when making a purchasing decision. As a general rule, internet marketers try to keep the content on their landing pages to a minimum. The purpose of the page is to obtain the visitor’s email address; the additional information could distract the user or cause them to click on another website. Navigation and hyperlinks are almost always absent from typical landing pages. The absence of links is used to focus visitors’ attention on one option: sign up for the email list or leave the site. Internet marketing experts have discovered that convincing a visitor to sign up for an email list provides the opportunity to present that visitor with multiple sales messages over time, develop a relationship, and even cross-sell other related products.
After the visitor enters his email address on the home page, he will be redirected to the page from where the free ebook can be downloaded. At this point, the marketer has the email addresses of Internet users who have taken advantage of the free eBook. In other words, the marketer now has a list of email subscription leads, which can be used for additional promotions, such as email marketing.
Here are some tips for writing effective lead generation eBooks:
- Know your goals. What is your goal when writing your eBook? Clearly, you want to generate leads and grow your database, but you also need to have an audience goal. What impression are you trying to convey about your company, brand or product and what response do you want from your audience? Are you looking to position yourself as tea expert in your industry? Are you offering advice on a niche topic in the hope that your prospects will contact you for even more information? Are you looking for a more interesting way to share your story or are you trying to establish your profile in the business community? Or maybe you’re looking to build awareness of your brand/product in a way that’s helpful to your audience rather than promotional. Knowing your goal will help you set the tone for your eBook.
- KISS. Keep it short and simple. No one wants to read your 300-page eBook, and keep this in mind when deciding on a topic. Identify specific topics that will limit the scope of your writing. Fifteen to thirty pages should be more than enough for most eBooks. Remember, you are not writing a sales manual or promotional material for the company; instead, you are writing to capture and engage readers. With that in mind, don’t write in overly complicated language when things can be explained simply.
- Give your eBook a name. Done in conjunction with identifying your goals and establishing a theme, choosing a title will give your eBook some structure. You won’t be inclined to stray too far from the concept of your eBook if you’ve already discovered a compelling title. And don’t be afraid of subheadings, especially if it’s a business eBook. Subheadings increase your SEO ranking and more accurately describe what the reader is interested in.
- Write quality content. Yes, eBooks are downloaded for free (or in exchange for your reader’s email address), but people visit your site for a reason. Give them good quality writing and show them that you are the expert they think you are.
- Hire an editor. Although an eBook may not look like an official document, you should make sure that it is thoroughly edited. A professional editor can check for consistency of tone, grammatical errors, and anything else that might make your reader dwell more on the writing than the content.
- Design. Ebook design is just as important as eBook copy. Sometimes it is even more important. A text-heavy, poorly designed e-book will turn off your online readers, who have grown accustomed to stimulating and interactive online content. If you want to get them involved, hire a professional designer to set up the look of your eBook. Use graphics and images in addition to text, and don’t try to fit too much text on any given page.
- Add an appropriate copyright license message to your finished eBook so your audience knows they can share your copyrighted material. You can use a tool like Creative Commons to accomplish this.
- Promote your eBook. You should promote your ebook anywhere and everywhere you can. Tweet about it, post it on Facebook, share it with your LinkedIn groups, write a blog, and send it out to your established network.