Many businesses are beginning to recognize the value of creating an eBook as part of their content marketing strategy. This long-form document can work wonders in the development and implementation of a powerful content marketing campaign. If, like many businesses, you are new to online content marketing, consider using a well-crafted eBook to serve as the cornerstone of your content marketing strategy.
The eBook as Lead Generator
A daily challenge of any company is to figure out a way to bring in new customers in the form of leads. There are three ways eBooks can accomplish this. First and most obviously, eBooks provide both insight and information about your company and what you have to offer. This can quickly attract potential customers who are interested in the product or service described within an eBook. Moreover, because it is a digital medium, prospects can download a copy and peruse the information at their leisure.
Second, eBooks serve your target audience by resolving a need or want they may have. They establish you as a trusted thought leader - a place to turn for interesting data, sound information, and relevant content.
Finally, you don't actually have to sell your eBook, but can simply offer it for free. To download the document, prospects must enter their contact details such as name, company affiliation, and eMail address (which you determine). Providing this information automatically turns prospects into leads for your business.
Further, by setting eMail address as a required field, you're able to introduce prospects into an eMail lead nurturing campaign, where they will receive other free content offers related to the eBook's subject matter. By doing so you are adding additional value, free of charge. The presumption is that your new prospects will naturally want more free content similar to that which they originally had an interest in (i.e. your eBook). If they no longer wish to receive such emails, prospects can opt out at any time with one click.
The eBook As Marketing Content Cornerstone
The eBook is a much more valuable content tool than you may realize. Not only can you create leads by allowing customers to download your free eBook, you can utilize the eBook as your central hub for generating other marketing content.
Given its nature as a long-form piece of content, most eBooks will contain quite a bit of information. You may end up having 20-50 pages or more of useful business tips, tactics, product information, industry stats, charts and graphs, etc.
Once you've created an eBook that covers all facets of your intended subject, you can use specific sections to create a series of blogs articles, each focusing on one aspect of your overarching topic. Oftentimes an eBook will contain enough useful content to blog about for days or even weeks, depending on how much information is contained within. With a little ingenuity and hard work, you can create numerous other online content marketing media with your eBook, such as webinars, infographics, podcasts, and videos.
The Bottom Line
When developing a strong, effective content marketing strategy, there are several factors to consider. Start by assessing your business goals, paying particular attention to how you can use online content to help facilitate them. Consider your target audience. Whom are you trying to reach with each content piece, and what action(s) are you trying to get them to perform after downloading it?
Once you've clarified objectives and identified your target audience, you're ready to move to the implementation phase. This is where the eBook can act as the cornerstone of specific content marketing campaigns. eBooks allow you to provide vital information to your target audience and generate relevant leads; they also give your content marketing strategy a jumping-off point from which to create other content media.
The eBook can be a powerful tool indeed; it's time you stood up and took notice.