Why Should I use E-Books for my Digital Marketing Campaign? Credibility
One of the reasons why Blogger and WordPress are so popular is that they’re free to use. Sadly, this means that there is competition in every niche and you need content that sets you apart from the competition to get ahead. An E-Book makes you a credible author, puts you on the same wavelength ass the competition and builds trust with your audience.
While your marketing strategy might include regular social media content, guest blogs and newsletters, these methods are not effective for reaching a wider, potential audience that might be interested in your product. Observe the types of E-books your competition is posting, pick a website to post your free content and entice visitors with your amazing work.
In today’s online market, authority and trust are everything. Recent studies show that 63% of online consumers look for an authentic brand to shop with. One of the smartest ways to build trust is to show your audience that you listen to the questions they ask and have a desire to help them find answers.
An E-book allows you to go into more detail and be more concise about your points. Your audience will see more examples and detailed explanations on how your product or solution should work.
-
Boost your Digital Marketing Campaign
If your niche covers a complex topic, longer posts between 1500-3000 words drive more engagement and conversion. Today’s reader prefers more content loaded with value. With an E-Book, you showcase your authority and generate a database of content for promotional emails, blog posts, videos, infographics and podcasts.
-
Grow your Email-Marketing List
Email marketing and E-books go hand-in-hand. Email campaigns are a great way to offer content and engage customers. Data from Monetate shows that digital campaigns with E-mail marketing at the forefront witnessed more conversion than other forms of marketing, including search and social media.
One of the major reasons why marketers rely on E-books is that they bring in more business. With E-books, you raise search rankings, increase your audience base, establish authority and build trust. All these steps generate more leads and improve conversion.
Offering content in exchange for your visitor’s contact information helps you create captivating content they’ll be hard-pressed to turn down.
What Mistakes should I avoid when Writing an E-Book?
-
Writing an E-Book Without a Purpose
If you want to write an E-book, but there is no goal for it, how does it solve a problem for your customers? Before you plan content for your E-book, figure out what it’s about. Try to answer the following questions as a guide.
- What are customers searching for on your site?
- What questions do clients ask your customer service team?
- What questions do your followers ask on social media?
If you can answer these questions, you have an idea for potential topics to centre your content. Hubspot is a perfect example of a brand that provides E-books based on content their customers want.
Leading from the previous point, the topic you pick should be something you’re passionate about and have a genuine interest in. If you write about a topic because it’s popular, but you have no knowledge of, your content will be generic and plain. Instead of raising your ranking, customers become sceptical of your product. Content requires a personal touch to connect with your audience. With so much general information available on the internet, people don’t want to merely absorb data, but actually want to hear the voice of the author.
-
Writing an E-Book Without a Plan
You need a structured plan for your E-Book or it might lose the reader in the introductory paragraph, which is something you don’t want. Create a map with chapter titles to prevent the error of repetition and the common mistake of quitting when it gets hard.
With a schedule, the book has direction and a schedule for each part, alongside an imposed deadline to help you push yourself past the midway point where most authors quit. The outline of your E-book should feature:
- The main questions you want to answer for your readers.
- The main points to be discussed
- The order of content
- Sub-points for each main point
- Note for supporting research
-
Failing to Effectively Promote the E-Book
Promotion is the lifeline of the entertainment industry. When great musicians like Drake, Rihanna and Miley Cyrus are about to release an album, they don’t just drop it on iTunes for download. They advertise it on social media and billboards to create hype for the album release. Their celebrity friends wear merchandise associated with the album, while journalists and entertainment blogs drop subtle hints about the release dates to whip-up excitement amongst fans and the general public.
Your E-book might not have the same publicity budget, but it won’t generate any buzz after a few months when readers have judged the popularity. A smart way to advertise your E-Book is to produce a brilliant email marketing campaign on your opt-in mailing list. Design some landing pages and post them on sidebars before the release of your E-Book or use social media marketing to reach a wider audience and create some buzz for your upcoming release.
-
Thinking you can do it by Yourself
Most web owners think it’s easy to write a top-notch engaging E-Book by themselves. The only part most can truly write is the first draft and even that requires extensive research. When you choose to do it yourself without the help of a publisher, E-Book expert or digital marketing team, you’ve given up on the goal of a perfect E-Book. A publishing team provides many benefits such as:
- Marketing
- Editing
- Cover design
These are all essential features of a good E-Book. If you want a professional job, free of amateurish editing and sub-par design, set aside some money to hire a team.
-
Choosing the Wrong E-Book Format
In the past, Adobe PDF was the preferred format, as the E-Book looked the same throughout when people read it. However, reading behaviour has changed and people prefer to read books on their phones. The most popular formats include MOBI (Kindle apps) EPUB reader (other kinds of E-books) and HTML5 (mobile screens and website readers).
Use analysed data to see the most popular devices amongst your audience and create content using those formats. Book Launch Blueprint offers software that allows readers to choose the format by which to view your content.
Bad images ruin your E-book. Avoid using images without sufficient rights, as well as low-resolution or irrelevant images. Quality images in the right position complement your work. There are many types of images, including infographics, animations, quizzes and vector images.
-
Failing to Edit the Product Description
A common mistake even some professional authors make is failure to edit the description, which is the first thing readers see with any E-Book. Avoid grammatical and spelling errors, as it indicates unprofessionalism. Think of your E-Book product description like a magazine ad. It must be comprehensive and catchy. Seasoned authors use a comprehensive summary alongside a purposeful hook that compels you to open the content.
-
Forgetting about Keywords
Even when publishing EBooks, you need some experience with SEO, as buyers search for specific keywords when looking for content. If you don’t optimise your content for search engines, your readers will land on your competition’s site.
What keywords are your readers likely to search for in relation to your content? Get into the readers psyche to find the right keywords and feature them sparingly throughout your content. The best place to find relatable keywords is to peek in your competitor’s site and see what keywords they’ve used in authoring their e-books.
Other mistakes to avoid include:
- Giving up when it seems too hard
- Failing to manage time efficiently
- Writing an E-book similar to other content in your industry
- Using an idea your audience hates
- Writing a lengthy E-book
- Editing your work by yourself
