How to Effectively Market Your eBook

You have finally finished and launched that ebook… now what? Giving it a push into the limelight is a huge job but it doesn’t stop there. You need to keep working on it.

You should be promoting your ebook at every opportunity months and years after it is published.

Here is how to market your ebook that will be sure to gain some traction.

eBook Marketing Ideas

Build a Solid Landing Page

Landing pages are not just popular, they are necessary.

Having one will build hype, give you a potential email list (have people sign up for the book when it is first released and you will have an automatic email list for future updates and marketing opportunities), and an effective way to give your ebook it’s own little corner without putting it on a forgotten tab on your website.

I am personally a fan of Unbounce, because I can A/B test right there in the dashboard, and get tips on improving prior to launch.

Invite Visitors and Readers to Subscribe for Updates

I’ve asked many book authors I know and they all say that their own email list is their best sale funnel. Most of them all say that inviting people to sign up through a well-branded popup opt-in forms is the most effecient way to build the list.

I am really torn on the whole blog popup thing. On one hand, I am aware that they may be annoying . On the other, they seem to supass any other types of forms in their conversion rates.

So while it may have its potential drawbacks, getting downloads to your ebook won’t be one of them. It is worth adding one in for yourself, and watching the results. You should be able to tell if your audience responds well, but sadly it is a trial or error method. Those who already have a loyal audience will see the biggest return.

Make sure you are safe from Google’s “Intrusive Interstitials” update though and set up your forms the way they don’t scare off your visitors.

Re-Package Your Ebook into Other Formats

This is one of the best and most useful tips on this list. I love repackaging and I always recommend planning your repackaging strategy when you are still writing the book. You don’t have to repackage all the content but you can surely use:

• Your book takeaways (Create a pretty Slideshare upload using some quotes)
• Some of your book visuals (Create a summary infographic)
• Highlighted stats (It’s great for both Slideshare and infographic creation)

Flipsnack is one perfect way to partially repackage your book into a flipbook which can be viewed on iPad or a desktop. Flipbooks can be embedded into your blog page to spur more interest and sign-ups. Here are a few cool examples of using Flipsnack for digital books.

Give Some Away For Free

If you don’t feel like repackaging, why not at least give some parts of your book for free? Everyone likes free stuff. And you know who is likely to talk about the free stuff they get? Influencers with tons of followers, who always want something new to recommend and talk about.

• Use a couple of free chapters as the incentive to subscribe your email list
• Use some content (the introductory chapter, for example) as the long-form content for Linkedin and Medium
• Use the free chapter as the book review for those who left your cart without buying (To lure them back).

Create Your Marketing Calendar

A good idea is to create a year-worth editorial calendar and time your free chapter or repackage edition release towards upcoming holidays and events. Here’s how M-Connect Media is announcing its ecommerce guide right in time for Black Friday, for example. Or here’s how SEJ launched their Pubcon guide making sure the conference visitors have enough time to get ready for the event (releasing too early or too late will diminish the purpose).

You could pick some major timely takeaways and publish a whitepaper, or create a separate case study or an inspirational collection of quotes timing all those releases to relevant holidays.

Take Advantage Of Social Ads

Social networks have great opportunities for advertising. But I would say the strongest for ebook promotion is going to be Facebook.

Their budgeting constraints as selected by you, the wide scope of visibility per dollar spent, and the visual nature of ads right on the feed make it a fantastic place to go to get the word out without spending a lot to do it. If you plan to continuously run Facebook ads (especially if you couple them with Google Ads), try using Cyfe to monitor the campaigns within one dashboard. It’s so convenient!

You can also make a tab on your Facebook page dedicated entirely to your ebook and a link launching to your site where it can be paid for with a like, as mentioned before. Thereby feeding the circle, and increasing the success on Facebook of your product.

Go With an Amazon Release

Not everyone takes advantage of Amazon these days, and it is understandable. Competition is fierce, and your profits will be cut into by steep fees.

But if you are publishing for exposure and ad revenue, you can publish on Amazon for free and end up on numerous free ebook mailing lists that you apply for, getting you to hundreds of thousand of potential readers.

Connect With Influencers Socially

Influencer marketing has many forms. Go to Twitter and begin conversations with influencers in your industry, and those related. Ask them if they would like a free copy a couple weeks before it is release, in return for an honest review or blurb about it. You would be surprised by how many take you up on the offer.

You want to establish long-lasting relationships that are mutually beneficial, offering them visibility in return.

If you are on good terms with a couple of them, they are often more than happy to throw you a tweet or Facebook post if they think your ebook will be something their followers could genuinely benefit from.

Have a tip to share? Let us know in the comments.

Reading Tablet Photo via Shutterstock

This article, "How to Effectively Market Your eBook" was first published on Small Business Trends