Just wondering if the offering the free ebook marketing trick for newsletters works to generate online store sales? If it does work, what are common techniques to maximize sales? My goals are 3 fold: attract new customers to stimulate sales, increase newsletter subscriptions & my first attempt at linkbait. If i offer it to all new newsletter subscriptions, my current subscription base might get upset for not being able to get it. Let me know your thoughts. Thanks, Juls
I really don't have any expertise in this area, but one thing you could do is something like buy an ebook and get one of equal or lesser value for free.
It sounds good, especially if the ebook was related to the product(s) you were selling. It's generic advice, but I'd say it couldn't hurt to try it, and the only way to know what kind of results you will get will be to try it out and see for yourself. (sorry, I don't have any experience with such a method) As for techniques, I'd say make sure the ebook uses the same general principal that it would for other products or a sales letter: Capitalize on people's desperation for knowlege on a given subject, and leave them REALLY wanting your ($not-free$) product. So if you are selling plasma televisions, an ebook on buying the right plasma television would be perfect, but make sure it leaves them REALLY wanting a plasma television before the Super Bowl, and you know just the place to get one! (hmm.. that's a damn good idea actually, lots of misinformation and confusion about plasma tv's right now.. Why wouldn't you offer it to both? Or, if it is only as a "linkbait", offer it to current subscribers for a referrals.
ya exactly this ebook is a how to guide specifically about how to use my type of products. just not sure what is the best way to offer it: direct link download, newsletter sign up, with purchase, ect lol just trying to figure out the best way to offer it.
I would definitely go for something that gets the user to "opt-in" in some way. You need to know who's downloaded the ebook so you can follow up and try to make a sale. I'd go with a newsletter sign up or something of that sort. I downloaded an ebook today at www.55fun dot com about 55 "fun" things to do on google(I got to item number 5, wasn't having any fun, and stopped reading.. lol.. but hey, it was free, I can't complain). Even searching his site, trying to figure out his purpose for the book, I have no idea what he is hoping to accomplish. The only thing I think he is trying to do is promote his blog and forum, but even then, it seems you'd be better off getting a list going instead of allowing the user to download and run. Once I dug down and found his blog, it's actually a pretty good blog about google. Anyway, I digress.. What I would do is an "enter your email address" or "sign up for our newsletter" box, and redirect to a link to download, or better yet, an autoresponder that sends it out right away would be perfect, because then you filter out the people that enter just to get the free book. I would make sure that they get the ebook right away for the best results, because people want instant gratification. On the couple occasions I gave my email address and was told I'd get an ebook(or whatever) sometime in the future, I was pissed. I don't think I would consider giving it with purchase, at that point, who cares if you give them an ebook or not. It's not going to be a motivating factor for most people. I think it works the oposite most of the time, people LOVE free, if you get the opportunity to give them something free, you increase your chance of selling them something more. Oh, and by the way, I would put your brand in some very conspicuous places on the ebook, don't let people forget where they got it. Try to make it so when they make their purchasing decision, they come right back to you.