Have you ever given away your name and address (and sometimes phone number) in exchange for being able to download an ebook for free? The answer is probably yes. The exchange of contact information for information we deem valuable is almost a no-brainer (at least until we wonder why we’re suddenly getting more spam email). eBooks, when done properly, can be a great incentive for lead generation.
Choose Your Target Audience
To help you figure out what topic to write about, it’s important to first choose your target audience. Who do you want to have as a potential customer (that’s the reason for generating a lead, right?)? The more specific you can get, the better.
Pick a Topic
In order to hand you their contact information, your target audience is going to want some information they deem valuable. What would your target audience want to know about that you can provide some level of expertise? It doesn’t have to be something that no one else has done, but if you can add your own level of expertise, that’s helpful.
Write, Edit & Design
Don’t get hung up on trying to be perfect the first time. Just write. If you like to outline first, do that — it can be helpful to write bullet points before you try to write flowing sentences. Once you have your ebook in fairly good shape, go back and edit it for content, grammar and voice. When you’re happy with the content, lay everything out in a way that’s easy to read and understand — it can be helpful to enlist the help of a designer knowledgeable in print design (they tend to understand fonts, flow and layout that translates well to ebooks).
Promote & Market
No one is going to know about your ebook if you don’t tell them. While free methods, like leveraging your community, blog and email lists are helpful, also consider using paid advertising to drive traffic.
Follow Up
Once you generate leads, make sure you do something with them. Leads don’t turn into sales without some effort. Even if you just get people to signup for your newsletter (which you regularly send out), at least you’re doing something with the lead.
Measure & Improve
Take a look at what has been working and what hasn’t to try to improve the traffic flow to your ebook. Ask colleagues, friends and clients for feedback both on your marketing and also on your ebook. Use what you learn to make your process better.
eBooks for Lead Generation
When done well, ebooks can be a valuable incentive for generating leads for your business. Provide valuable content for valuable leads.
What types of ebooks have you found valuable?
