Marketing Strategy—Get Loads of Leads with Free E-books and White Papers

Do you suffer from the “Field of Dreams” marketing mindset?

That is the belief that if you build your website, your customers will come?

How’s that working for you?

If your goal is to drive traffic to your site and generate leads that convert to sales, then it might be time to consider offering a free e-book or white paper.

Eight out of ten consumers report they’d be willing to part with their contact info if what’s being offered for free has potential value.

​The operative word in that last sentence is value.

​Your first step, therefore, is to decide which you’d like to offer potential customers.

An e-book is optimized for reading online, contains embedded links and even videos, and covers a broad overview of a topic.

For example, if you’re a mortgage lender and you want to help your potential clients understand the mortgage approval process, an e-book would offer tremendous value to someone who is serious about buying a home.

Conversely, a white paper is not interactive, does a deep dive into a topic, and covers empirical data in detail.

For example, if you have an IT company, a downloadable white paper may prove appealing to potential customers who want a deeper understanding of a topic such as cloud computing.

Next, you’ll want to choose a topic that resonates with your target audience. For inspiration on what topic to cover in your digital publication, consider the following:

• Write down a list of your customers’ most frequently asked questions
• Check out your competitors’ websites to view topics they cover in detail
• See what’s trending on social media in your industry
• Peruse online communities like Quora or Reddit to see what people are asking about

Once you’ve decided on a topic, it’s time to start writing.

Make sure your content is concise, unique, and most importantly, offers your audience value.

Always proofread carefully and even consider enlisting the aid of test readers to ensure your content is clear and your document is error free.

Use one of many free online e-book or white paper templates to design your publication.

Create a landing page for your website that gathers the information you want from your reader in exchange for your e-book or white paper.

Make sure to promote your publication on social media, in blog posts, in paid ads, or in your newsletter.

Need assistance with your online publication? I’m happy to help. Contact me today and let’s get your business loads of leads!
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#ebook #whitepaper #marketingstrategy