And their impact can be multiplied by spinning them off into blog posts, email series, free reports, ads, social media entries, and magalogs – without writing another word!
How do eBooks provide such marketing power in the first place?
It’s about much more than merely providing information.
At the core, carefully written eBooks take customers to a higher level of brand loyalty.
They do so by making people feel appreciated, confident, delighted, respected, and valued.
The Forrester Customer Experience Index reveals why that’s so valuable. Their data show 91 percent of customers who feel valued stay with the brand.
Even better, 89 percent plan to increase their spending with the brand. And 90 percent will advocate for the brand.
This means a good eBook raises the bottom line by fueling powerful customer emotions.
The concept couldn’t be simpler.
The challenge is putting it into action the right way.
A MODEL EBOOK
Taking a look at an example might be the best way to show how an eBook sets the stage for marketing any product.
A few years ago a supplement company specializing in probiotics engaged me to write an eBook about their flagship product.
It was ostensibly an educational piece about probiotics in general.
It was also a little sneaky.
That’s because it wasn’t merely educational. It didn’t just provide well-known solutions for common gut disorders.
What it also did was explain the multiple roles of probiotic supplements for addressing many other health issues. They included everything from reducing yeast overgrowth to enhancing nutrient absorption and building resistance to modern superbugs like MRSA.
In so doing, the book provided solutions for issues not frequently associated with probiotics. In other words, it sneaked in some educational material people were mostly unaware of.
These “extras” were designed to have people consider probiotic supplements for more than just gut health.
Each bonus solution was couched in emotional appeals leading to customer engagement. And that engagement laid the foundation for communicating customer appreciation.
As a result, it helped customers feel valued and significant.
Highlighting how it was organized illustrates a blueprint for any eBook about supplements.
Overall the book had 12 chapters about many different aspects of probiotics for our health.
In addition, it had two final chapters, one about how to choose the right product and the other about probiotic research and development.
The chapter on choosing the right probiotic supplement explained what a good product should be and why.
It wasn’t salesy. Thus, it didn’t bring up the typical resistance people have against being sold something.
Instead, it mimicked the features of the company brand – without ever mentioning the brand name itself.
The chapter on research and development did the same thing. It focused on published studies of probiotic bacteria in the company’s product – again without mentioning the brand name itself.
The pattern here is most applicable to eBooks about supplements.
It starts by educating readers with information they want to know more about. Then it “sneaks” in other applications for the product.
In other words, it sets the stage for readers to want the product for new reasons.
It offers recommendations about what comprises a good product. It’s supported by scientific research.
This pattern transforms an eBook into a long-form, non-salesy sales letter.
Unlike most sales letters, a well-written eBook is irresistible reading. It compels the reader to read the whole thing.
This is how my probiotics eBook constituted one part of an effective marketing plan. As a result, the company increased in value from about $6 million to more than $20 million within a few years.
WHAT ABOUT OTHER KINDS OF SUPPLEMENTS?
Supplement marketing with eBooks is especially condusive to unique or improved formulas, ingredients, or preparation methods.
Examples include greater bioavailability, a new herb or substance from it, a different extraction process, improved ingredient stability, a newly created synergistic complex, and many more.
Regarding wild-crafted or wild-harvested products, this also means emphasizing a growing concern of supplement buyers – i.e., ecological sustainability.
All of these kinds of supplements lend themselves very well to eBooks describing why a product or ingredient is better than the competition.
This is why three of my other eBooks also became powerful marketing tools.
It didn’t matter how disparate the subject matter. They encompassed such wide-ranging topics as a botanical treatment for shingles, a hormone-based weight loss program, and microbiome health (for a different probiotics company than the one mentioned earlier).
MINING EBOOK GOLD
Supplement marketing with eBooks lies at the heart of generating brand loyalty.
It rests on how a business makes customers feel.
A well-written eBook is also a resource for carving out and multiplying content to other venues. This makes it a resource for creating ‘new’ content without having to write anything new.
Content multiplication is how an eBook becomes a cost-effective marketing tool. Once you have the eBook, you can use it as a resource for ‘new’ content at no or minimal extra cost.
In fact, the more you multiply it, the better an eBook’s ROI gets over time.
THE ACTION PLAN
Implementing supplement marketing with eBooks breaks down into three main arms, as follows.
1) The first arm is writing a high-quality eBook.
The book must be useful to the reader by providing health solutions.
It should be sufficiently exhaustive and detailed so the reader feels strongly about getting more out of the eBook than from a few blog posts or emails.
It must also be persuasive without being salesy.
2) Create attraction.
Once the eBook is written, it must get out to a ‘health thirsty’ audience.
The simplest strategy for creating attraction is to promote it on your website as a freebie. This is the most common approach for building an email subscription list.
Many supplement websites use this method via a simple request to fill out an opt-in form in exchange for a book or report. (Surprisingly, many others don’t offer anything – just a blank box and a submit button.)
What’s even more effective is referring online visitors to a landing page specifically set up for extolling the virtues of the eBook.
Referrals to a cleverly written and persuasive landing page are driven, for example, by social media, email marketing series, and videos.
3) Go forth and multiply.
Meaning, use the eBook for extracting content for blog posts and other media.
Spreading around bits and pieces of an eBook multiplies its impact.
This arm raises the value of an eBook way beyond any other type of content.
HOW TO GET STARTED
Writing an eBook and its associated promotional copy can be intimidating to the uninitiated.
An experienced staff copywriter can fit the bill.
Emphasize the term, ‘experienced’. It’s crucial.
If your company has no such person, your best option is hiring a copywriter who has already written eBooks about supplements.
Supplement marketing with eBooks also relies on presenting scientific research in terms any layperson can understand.
Meeting that need may mean consulting with a research scientist.
Or, better yet, it means hiring a ‘2-fer’ – i.e., an experienced copywriter who is also a research scientist.
That’s where I come in.
I am the rare combination of an experienced writer with an extensive scientific background.
I leverage my scientific expertise and my writing skills for nutraceutical marketing.
Would you like to explore what I can do for you? Then let’s talk.
Contact me today, either by email (drdennisclark@gmail.com) or through my website contact form at DrDennisClark.com.
I’d love to chat with you to see how we can work together to build your strategies for supplement marketing with eBooks. Or with any other needs you might have for science-backed persuasive marketing copy.
