Still planning to use low-quality guest blog posts and other “thin” online content to spice up your content marketing this year? You might want to think again. According to experts like Jesse Noyes, senior director of content marketing for Kapost, “fat” content is the focus for 2015 and beyond. In this category, he includes content like white papers, ebooks, infographics, and videos. He suggests focusing on content that can be used to fuel multi-channel campaigns.
Let’s face it: eBooks in general are hot. Sales are expected in the neighborhood of $8.69 billion in 2018, according to PricewaterhouseCooper, LLP. Entrepreneurs and individual brands can incorporate eBooks into their content marketing strategy as a way to grab the attention of their target audiences.
The eBook biomes out there are seeing more and more self-published titles – many of which are created by content marketers and made available for free. Fiction and non-fiction self-published eBooks make up a whopping 32% of Amazon’s daily unit sales of eBook bestsellers. This is significant because Amazon makes up 64% of the eBook marketplace.
But is an eBook worth its production costs? Is it worth the ROI? According to the experts, there are certain outcomes you can expect when you incorporate eBooks into your content marketing strategy. Why is this? The first reason is that eBooks generate business leads, second only to webinars, which can be more expensive and create multiple problems.
Margaret Walker, marketing specialist for CohesiveFT, says her company has put together a collection of over 300 blog posts and other exclusive content into an eBook. Using blogs and other information gathered since 2008 when her company began working in the cloud, they produced the eBook, Cloud Memoirs: Views from Below, Inside and Above.
Others are using eBook formats to help potential customers learn more about their businesses and the services they offer. Producing an eBook to describe a company’s software, for example, lets potential customers decide if the software product is right for them before committing to a purchase. Still others use eBooks as a way to build their personal brands through sharing their experiences in the business or outlining their goals and how they plan to achieve them.
Producing an eBook is a way to offer expertise to a targeted audience. It can be used as a way to teach potential customers how to become more business savvy themselves. Nik Parks, co-founder of Launching Creative and co-author of the eBook How to Price Yourself as a Creative Professional, says that his main goal in co-authoring the eBook was to show other creative people how to appreciate their talents and price their products accordingly.
How long does it take to produce and publish an eBook? That depends on a number of factors, including the topic and how long the book is. A book of 20,000 words or less can feasibly be written in a month’s time. Editing and promotion may tack on another month or two. Some authors, such as Dina Eisenberg, believe in using writing software such as Scrivener to speed up the process.
Some eBook authors go the ghostwriter route to create eBooks. To accomplish this, simply have someone conduct a thorough interview on yourself or your target subject, record the interview, then transcribe it. Pass it on to a professional writer (ghostwriter) or editor, and an eBook can be produced in a matter of hours.
The expense of creating, publishing, and promoting an eBook varies widely, as well. Price can range from a few hundred to several thousands. Facebook promoting, a popular venue, can cost upward of $400.
Naresh Vissa states he has landed may new clients and collaboration deals through his eBooks.
Vissa is founder of Copywriter Agency and author of Podcastnomics: The Book of Podcasting…To Make You Millions. Others attribute the formation of overseas relationships and incredibility for their companies to eBook releases. Still others claim it is not the eBook itself that gives the ROI but the ancillary income from speaking engagements and other related income that makes the eBook worth the investment.
The best tips and practices for getting started in eBooks are fairly straightforward. First, consider the category you want the eBook to fit into. Think keywords for people searching Amazon. Second, don’t edit the book or design the cover or format the layout yourself. This is what professionals are for and their services should be utilized. Talk up your eBook before it actually comes out. Generate some buzz about it if you can. Company blogs, Facebook and Twitter are good ways to get attention.
The goal of the pre-exposure is to get book reviews once the books hits the market. Book reviews can translate into book sales and higher rankings in the eBook’s category on Amazon. Offer the book “on sale” now and then. Utilize unconventional outlets like YouTube to reach target audiences and drive sales. Research your market before beginning to write to make certain you are targeting the audience you want. Don’t hesitate to give away a good deal now for the chance to rake in higher profits later. People will purchase from people they like and trust.