There are two things people love more than anything else in this world; stuff that’s useful and stuff that’s free. On second thought, they might love their friends and family more, but I’m certain things that are free and useful are still in the top ten.
Knowing this, it’s a little bit strange to think some businesses out there don’t have free eBook offers on their websites when they’re such effective marketing tools.
It goes without saying that the property and legal worlds are fairly complex, and it can be hard for potential clients and customers to fully get their heads around dense subject matters. If they don’t understand your industry, they’ll struggle to put their faith in you. This is where eBooks step in to help everybody out.
In this blog, I’ll talk you through the main reasons why you need an eBook on your website and how it’ll help your business and your customers. Before getting into that, though, I want to run through what an eBook is in relation to marketing.
What are Marketing eBooks?
Marketing eBooks are comprehensive guides that explain difficult concepts clearly, so they can be understood by the most amount of people. The easier you can talk through tough topics, the more trust you’ll build with your readers.
Essentially, eBooks should be seen as an extension of your blog page, as the aim of both is to provide valuable information that will convert a lead into a sale further down the line.
The big difference is, an eBook can be downloaded by website visitors, and they can take the useful information you’ve given them wherever they go. This means they can access this source as and when they need to in a format that allows them to digest the information at a more leisurely pace.
Like I mentioned in the introduction, we all love a freebie. It’s expected these days for businesses to provide an eBook without putting up a paywall, but when used properly as part of your inbound marketing strategy, the increase you’ll eventually see in sales far outstrips the need of putting a £10 price tag on your content.
Now we’re all on the same ePage as to what eBooks are (I know ePage is a bad pun, you don’t have to tell me), it’s time we look at what they can actually do for your business.
Establish Yourself as a Thought Leader
We’ve all come across brands and companies that brag about how they’re the best and no one even compares to them, but that bravado is complete and utter bollocks.
Ask them a question, and you won’t get a straight answer. Have a look at their social media pages, and all you’ll find is a few memes that vaguely relates to their line of business. Check their website, and there won’t be any content for you to read.
An eBook shows site visitors that you have something worthwhile to offer them and that you’re confident speaking about your industry. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel when writing an eBook, as long as you can explain the knowledge you have so it’s easy to understand, which will ultimately build trust between you and potential leads.
That said, an unconventional approach to success always piques interest, so don’t be afraid of telling people what works for you, especially if you can help them replicate that success for themselves.
Build your Contacts List
The people looking to download your eBook might not have to pay money to view your content, but they still have to give you something of value first, and that’s their contact details.
With a name, email address and phone number being put up in exchange for your eBook, you’ll have a warm lead who you can now tailor content towards. The topic of the downloaded eBook tells you what the lead is interested in, so you can send that person regular updates via an automation service to continue showing you thoroughly understand the subject matter.
This is a much better approach then cold-pitching, as you are only looking to build a business relationship with those who have expressed an interest in your services.
In time, the warm lead will turn into a sale because you’ve carried on nurturing them with valuable information.
Increase Web Traffic
Yeah, the download page to your eBook will appear on a SERP (Search Engine Results Page), too, if Google’s algorithms can tell there’s enough value in it for searchers.
When looking for sites to rank, Google puts websites that can answer search queries near the top of SERPs, so using your download page is a great way to promote your knowledge.
And if a link to your site is the first that people see on Google, they’re more likely to click on your link before any other. If they stay, it will increase your authority and domain score even further, meaning you stand a better chance of maintaining your lofty position.
What’s more, an eBook is easy to promote these days thanks to social media.
Every tweet, Facebook post and LinkedIn update you put up about your eBook has the potential to bring in a new lead, and they can rank on Google’s SERPs, too.
eBooks give you the chance to get more eyes on your services. All that’s left is to make sure the content is worth their while so they’ll eventually turn into sales.
What’s the Best Way to Write an eBook?
As your eBook will be an extension of your knowledge, website and service, it needs to be well written, easy to digest and should only have the important, valuable information included in it.
Creating such a key piece of content isn’t something that should be taken lightly, as it requires excellent writing skills to complement expert knowledge.
At Strawberry Forge, we have experience in writing comprehensive eBooks for our range of clients, so get in touch if you’d like to learn more about how we can help you, too.
