It must have felt so great to have finished writing your eBook. Especially if you gave your everything to write it: blood, sweat, time, tears and probably a lot of coffee.
But you know what ruins this feeling of accomplishment?
When you put your eBook front and center on your website or on the Kindle Store — and no one downloads it.
You know it is full of helpful, actionable information your readers will benefit greatly from. But since no one is downloading it, it’s a lose-lose situation for both you and your audience. They lose out on a lot of useful advice. You lose out on new leads, money and valuable time.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
Marketing your eBook is difficult, because 9 times out of 10 you’re not doing it for free. You want something from your readers in return, whether it’s their business, their email address, or simply their attention.
People don’t offer their business and contact information so easily, especially if you come barging out of nowhere saying “Download my book!”
The trick to marketing your eBook nowadays is by building trust and establishing relationships. You need to give, give, give and then ask. And even when you do ask, you have to be careful not to make your audience feel like what you’re offering is more about getting leads or money than about useful content.
Here’s how you should start:
Clearly Mention The Benefits of Your eBook
Before you can market your eBook, you need to have a clear sense of what makes it marketable.
The most effective way to find this out is to list the benefits your audience will get from reading your book, instead of listing the features.
For example, if you have an eBook that teaches people how to write articles, there are two ways you can market it.
A) You can list its features. For example: learn how to form structured sentences, improve grammar, master punctuation, learn how to use diverse words, etc.
Or
B) You can list its benefits. For example: learn the secrets of top writers and authors, write better articles than your competition and peers, discover the power of good grammar to improve your flow, etc.
Option B increases the attractiveness of downloading your eBook dramatically because your audience can quickly determine the outcomes of doing so.
It explains the benefits of giving up your contact information, which is the primary concern for anyone downloading your eBook.
Build An Online Presence
People on the internet are natural skeptics, and for good reason. There are lots of people making grand promises about what they’re selling, and few people fulfilling them.
Buyers’ fear is real, and the perceived trustworthiness of your online presence — i.e., your blog, website, social media accounts, etc. — is one of the most effective ways to alleviate your potential readers’ concerns and generate more leads, whether through eBook downloads or otherwise.
Here are a few ways you can build and increase your online presence:
Create A Landing Page/Website
A high-quality landing page is one of the most effective ways to market your book. The whole purpose of a landing page is to present your readers with a single argument, which in this case is why they need your eBook.
List the benefits your book can provide; show them testimonials from people who have read your book; and if possible, make promises about the problems your content can solve.
Present a coherent and persuasive argument and your eBook signups will skyrocket.
This is a great example of an eBook landing page. First of all, it provides an excellent referral. Although your eBook may not make the New York Times bestseller list, showcasing stellar reviews or an impressive number of downloads alleviates readers’ concerns about being swindled.
Next, we see the benefit clearly stated: “how to build a great business — and a better future.” Below all that is a prominent button with the Call-To-Action: “Get The Book.” As you scroll further down, you see testimonials, chapter overviews and ratings.
All these contribute to a single purpose: convincing readers to buy the book!
Invest In Ads
Advertising is still the best way to find your potential audience.
There’s a lot of potential for finding new readers on platforms like Google, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Undoubtedly, you can find interest in at least one of those communities…if you’re advertising there.
Platforms such as Google Adwords and Facebook Ads allow you to create effective marketing campaigns for promoting your eBook — and ultimately your business.
If you don’t get much traffic to your website, consider investing in ads for your eBook. Even if the people who see them don’t ultimately download your eBook, the ads still improve the authority and reputation of your website
Guest Post, Participate in Forums and Answers Questions
Just because your audience isn’t coming to your website to download your eBook doesn’t mean it can’t succeed elsewhere. Instead of waiting for readers to come to you, go to them.
In your industry, there are bound to be bloggers who command a big audience and who are interested in your book. Approach bloggers and website owners and ask them whether they’d accept a guest post from you.
If they agree, write a helpful article that shows off your expertise and gives them valuable info; and at the very end, add a small CTA telling your audience to check out your book for more of the same.
Another way is to post on popular forums like Reddit and Q&A websites like Quora. Look for questions or problems from people in your niche and provide answers. As long as your responses focus more on helping them than on advertising your eBook, you’re bound to get some downloads.
These are a few of the most successful ways we have marketed eBooks and built email lists for our clients. Our Ready-to-Go eBook program for managed IT services providers provides the downloadable content, website widgets and off-site marketing to drive more traffic to your site and add emails to your lead list — all for $99 per month. Give us a call today for more information.
