Nobody can deny that eBooks are rising and rising in popularity – for both consumers and writers/marketers. Consumers are being won over by the ease of using Kindles and the like, and even those who tried to stand by their love of ‘real’ books can’t argue that eBooks and associated devices are simply more convenient to use.
Writers, industry leaders and marketers have long been using eBooks as a quick and easy way to publish content. So long, in fact, that there are many published eBooks on offer that are badly written, designed, and under-marketed.
In a growing market, it’s not enough to throw something together, put it up on Amazon, and expect people to find and enjoy it.
A successful eBook can be a huge asset to a company’s marketing campaign – and effective marketing is needed to ensure the success of the eBook! Content needs to be well written and thoroughly edited, books need properly designed formats and images – and proper marketing needs to happen to ensure the books are found in the first place.
Training in internet marketing will teach you the techniques you need to help people find your content, whether this is a website, blog or eBook download. Here we give you some insights into the benefits of breaking into the cycle – and how to find your way in.
Benefits of eBooks for Businesses
eBooks can be very powerful marketing tools. As with other types of content marketing, they establish your company as industry leaders and showcase your expertise by giving the reader takeaway knowledge and understanding. You can also use them for some promotion of your own products and services – although this should not be the main focus.
Producing an eBook
eBook concept
When planning what will go in your eBook, think about how you will market it. You will need a niche in order to draw the proper attention. As mentioned above, there are a lot of eBooks out there, and you need yours to stand out – it won’t be enough to throw together a summary of everything you know and publish it as an eBook. You need to know that it will be something people will want – or need – to read. This will make marketing much easier.
Do research into which part of your expertise is under-represented in the eBook market. Be an early adopter – read blogs; see what people need to understand better, what they’re threatening to do or say they want to do – and have your book ready for when they do it.
Choose your platform early on – do you want this to be viewable/downloadable from your website on a computer, or through a mobile device such as a Kindle?
eBook design
One thing that is lacking from self-published work is design, design design. Most people who publish eBooks are authors or content marketers who are skilled at writing words but not at design.
Hiring a designer to help you with your eBook can cost hundreds or thousands of pounds – and that’s just for one project! Training in InDesign and/or an Illustrator course will give you the skills you need to for your eBook design – skills that you can use for future projects
We’ve written a detailed post on how to make an eBook for mobile devices with more of these excellent technical tips.
eBook content
Gamification is massive right now – websites, social networks and blogs are finding that the best content is interactive content. Include some kind of gamification in your content, e.g. questionnaires, crosswords, quizzes. These not only make the content rich and fun, but they can give the reader a self-empowered sense of having learned something – which makes them appreciate your worth.
Don’t publish bad content. This goes for websites, and eBooks as well. If you are publishing a book to market yourselves then make sure you are presented in the best possible light.
eBook price
If you’re publishing an eBook for the main purpose of marketing, then publish it for free. You’ll get your return through better reputation and industry status.
Marketing an eBook
Social Media
A well-written and designed eBook that targets an identified niche will be straightforward to market. Do your research whilst the book is still in production – find out who the biggest influencers are in the field and engage with them on social media.
Don’t forget the importance of real engagement when marketing on social media. It’s not just about tweeting all the time about how great your book is and how to download it. It’s about finding out what people are talking about, responding to them, becoming part of a community – and downloads will follow.
Reviews / Testimonials
Reviews are important for any publication, especially in a busy marketplace. Create a buzz by offering advance copies to relevant bloggers in return for a write up – this will bring links to your book’s landing page, as well as those all-important reviews.
As well as identifying and contacting bloggers for reviews, you can use your existing fans and followers – offer them advance copies in return for a review. Making them feel appreciated will mean they are more likely to favour your content than if they had to access it at the same time as everyone else.
SEO
The selling page for the eBook must rank well in Google and Bing results pages for relevant searches. The good news is that both engines say they will find you (and ensure your potential customers find you) if you publish the good content those customers are looking for. The bad news is that no-one quite knows how these search engines define ‘good content’ – which is why people undergo our SEO training courses to help their websites (and products) get noticed.
Your eBook will need its own well-designed landing page for SEO. This is imperative for conversions (downloads). Don’t just tack it onto the end of another page on your website – think it through.
Marketing for eBooks + eBooks for Marketing = Income
A well-written, professional-looking eBook should be straightforward to market – and generate income for your business. By making your marketing plan part of the writing process, and remembering the importance of quality design, you will be about to ensure the success of your eBook – and of your overall marketing campaign.
CONTENTS FROM:http://www.siliconbeachtraining.co.uk/blog/top-tips-for-ebook-marketing/
Hope you make good use of this information like I just did.
