Need a lead magnet that gives your customers and prospects something they really want? How about one prospects will happily hand their email address over for?
Your eyes just got a little wider, didn’t they.
A lead magnet like the one I described above does exist. That lead magnet is e-books.
E-books do more than just collect email addresses from prospects. They generate more sales conversions, more website traffic, and elevate your authority like few other content pieces can.
Give prospects quality content
Ads and information bombard us every day from every direction. I don’t know about you, but I’ve become extremely selective about the time I spend online. I search for exactly what I’m looking for and don’t waste my time with anything else.
Quality content on your website is essential to the success of your lead generation efforts. Prospects and current customers are coming to your site to get their questions answered or their problem solved. With a longer sales process than ever before, content helps move prospects through the funnel. But capturing their information can be tricky.
Offer them content that answers their most burning questions about your product or service. What would help them most? What would convince them to hand over their email address to you?
An e-book offered as a downloadable PDF feels like a real product. A prospect gives something up, clicks a button and downloads the PDF to their computer or phone. It’s theirs now. Unlike a blog post they just read and move on from afterward, your e-book stays in their system for future reference, reminding them of you and your business.
Build your email list with quality leads
Prospects coming to your website are interested in something you offer. How interested are they? It’s hard to tell unless they DO something on your website. Do you have a way for them to express interest on your website besides filling out a contact form? Few people want to fill those out, in case you haven’t noticed.
This is the great thing about e-books used to gather emails. A prospect willing to hand over their email for the information you’re offering is a quality lead. They are truly interested in your product or service.
They know you’re going to send them some emails if they give you their email, but they’re willing to do it anyway. That’s a great lead.
The perceived value of your e-book is huge. Don’t waste it by giving it away for free. Get that email address in return.
Move leads through the sales funnel
Congratulations! You’ve succeeded in attracting people with real interest in what you offer and collected their email addresses. Now you have permission to send them a series of emails to move them through the sales funnel.
You can also create a call to action at the end of the e-book itself, adding another opportunity to convert leads. Use every chance a prospect will give you, especially when they’ve shown interest first.
The more chances you have to show the value of your offering, the more likely you’ll be to convert that prospect into a customer.
Build your company’s authority
More and more, prospects are looking for companies to trust, companies who know their space inside and out, and companies who are there to help them get what they need. Have you built that authority in your own company?
E-books help build authority to a greater depth than almost any other content marketing efforts—with the possible exception of white papers. E-books give you the opportunity to pass on what you know to help your prospects make a better decision or deal with a situation or problem.
Give them some of your knowledge, and they just might give you their business.
Searchable content boosts SEO efforts
Readers like detailed, valuable content. So does Google. Adding e-books to your website provides searchable, long-form content Google finds and uses to move your website up the search results.
When Google does this, readers will be more likely to find your information as well. Create content with SEO keywords your prospects are looking for. Make it compelling. Make it helpful. They will find it.
Repurpose content
One of the best things about creating e-books is the ability to repurpose content. You can use content you’ve already created to develop an e-book. For example, you can use multiple blog posts about one topic to build an e-book on a topic your prospects have lots of questions about.
Does it matter if those blog posts already exist? Nope. You’re going to rewrite parts of those posts so they all fit together, but you won’t have to reinvent the wheel. And your prospect can get all the information in one place.
This works the opposite way as well. Once an e-book is created, you can break it up into multiple blog posts, use pieces for email blasts, find great phrases for ads, and much more. These hardworking lead generators are also content generators.
Now that you have all this content, you can cross promote. Put a link in a blog post to your e-book. Talk about the e-book in a press release. Don’t be shy! Promote, promote, promote!
Can I do it myself?
You might be able to. E-books take time to write and need graphic design work as well. If you have the time and ability to do those things, give it a go.
However, most marketing teams and business owners don’t have the time to create an e-book and make it high quality. Seek out a freelance writer who either specializes in writing e-books or has experience writing things like blog posts or articles. Then find a graphic designer whose work you like.
With some help, you can create lead-generating machines. Think about what your prospects need. Come up with a few topics and get going.
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