Public interest in e-books shot through the roof in the past couple of years, with no signs of slowing down in the near future. Groves of leisure readers now choose to get their fix with e-book literature in lieu of traditional print books. E-book readers are a whole new segment – with a LOT of influence – in the publishing industry.
In fact, last year’s sales of e-books on Kindles, Nooks, iPads and smartphones beat out printed book sales in adult fiction. To be a new model of content delivery (in comparison to traditional print’s centuries-long existence), e-books are a big deal!
So why not use consumers’ preference to your advantage in marketing?
Building an email marketing list of qualified leads is a major component of successful campaigns. Often, growth of an email marketing list leans on some type of free, valuable and specifically targeted content offered to site visitors in exchange for the privilege of adding their names and email addresses to your list.
Complimentary content usually takes the form of a white paper or special report. In these forms, useful information is delivered in a straightforward manner, with a little product promotion at the end.
Make white papers and special reports into e-books instead.
In truth, there isn’t much of a difference if the content is the same. But a simple change of title and layout makes a difference. E-book readers are more inclined to subscribe to your email marketing list based on the delivery of interesting, quality content in e-book format.
It’s a minor change that stands to produce major results.
How to offer your free e-book to increase opt-ins
Here’s another suggestion:
The copy accompanying an email marketing list form usually asks for readers’ email address in order to receive free content.
By simply turning that sentence around, you can increase conversion.
Tell readers that you want to give them a free copy of (insert e-book headline), and all you need from them is an email address to send it to.
Give them something first – as opposed to asking for something from them before you’ll give them the e-book… even if it is “only” an email address.
After all, the purpose of content marketing is providing value, in the form of written/visual content, in exchange for customer loyalty.