Your dream of writing a book has finally come true. Congratulations.
But now what? What’s the best way to get your book campaign off to a great start?
Last week I wrote about the importance of incorporating landing pages on your website to aid in your company’s marketing efforts, so this week I wanted to start creating a landing page specifically for a book launch.
To successfully launch your book, you’ll need an effective landing page that compels potential buyers to make a purchase during your book launch campaign.
Read on to discover the key elements needed on your landing page to drive the sales you want.
Here are 13 tips for creating a book launch page that sells:
1. Domain name: Buy a domain name that matches the title of your book. Then have them point to the page on your website where your book launch landing page is located.
This makes it easy to tell others where to find the book during your launch campaign.
two. URL with book title: When you create your book landing page, it will automatically have your website URL in the address, but you want to go one step further and make sure the rest of the URL includes keywords from your book title. This really helps boost SEO.
3. 3d book cover: Hire a graphic designer who can take your book cover and create a stunning 3D image that will make your book cover really pop on the page.
Pictures like this really help sell the book when people can see what it looks like, grab their attention, and ultimately help convince them to take action.
Four. TestimonialsNote: During the final stages of writing your book, give several rough copies to notable colleagues so they can provide citations for the book’s launch.
Add these testimonials, along with a photo of the colleague if possible for a more powerful social proof statement, to the book launch landing page.
5. book description: Before deciding to make a purchase, people must first be clear about what they will learn or experience after reading, be convinced that it will help (or entertain) them in some way, and what those benefits or results will be.
Always address the “why” when they ask, “What’s in it for me?”
6. Headlines– Use compelling titles to break sections of your book page into easy-to-read segments. Use larger font sizes and contrasting colors so headlines stand out and are easy to scan.
That way, if people only read the headlines, they’ll still get the important messages from the page.
7. Author photo: Include a professional photograph along with a short biography so potential buyers can see who wrote the book and emotionally connect with you.
This makes it a key trust builder, making it an essential element on the page.
8. call to action: Create a written call to action that leads the prospective buyer to their ultimate goal, which is to buy the book.
You want to make this clear and value based. It also helps add a sense of urgency that will compel them to make a purchase decision now, rather than later. Often times, using a limited-time offer of a free gift with purchase is a great way to create that urgency.
So your call to action would go something like this: “Order your copy of MY BOOK TITLE today and, for a limited time, receive immediate access to the Business Gift Pack featuring gifts from today’s leading experts.”
9. buy now button: It is important to have written and graphic calls to action to increase conversion. So, located just below your call to action written as described above, have a big red or orange button that literally tells people what to do next: CLICK TO BUY NOW.
10 Next steps and submission form: A confused mind will say “no”, so your goal is to make sure all the steps required to order the book and claim the bonus offers are laid out and crystal clear.
If your book is for sale on Amazon and you need the buyer to provide proof of purchase to receive their bonus gifts, then in a step-by-step numbered format, tell them to buy the book on Amazon first (and provide the link), retrieve your order number, and then return to their website to enter your information into a form you have provided.
This form should ask the buyer for their full name, email address, and a field to enter the Amazon order number.
By the way, offering a gift with purchase not only helps get people to buy, but also serves as an opportunity to build a list. It helps you to know who has bought your book and to be able to continue developing a relationship with them through your mailings and newsletters.
eleven sharing socially– You want to do everything you can to help spread the word about your book release, so be sure to add social sharing buttons that encourage fans to share the book with their friends and followers.
Add social sharing buttons to the bottom of the page, both on the landing page and on the resulting thank you page after they’ve submitted the form or made the purchase if you’re selling within your website.
12 social graphics. Some fans will want to take their social sharing to the next level and help share news about your campaign with others. JV partners and affiliates can also be a part of this.
The key is to make this as easy as possible for them, so create some graphics and banners that they can copy, paste and use on social media or even their blog to help spread the word.
If you want to recruit JV partners and affiliates, you’ll want to set up an affiliate tool that produces a unique tracking URL for them to use so you can reward them for their resulting sales efforts.
13 tags: Do not forget the power of hashtags. Create a unique and official hashtag for the book launch that people can use during social media promotion. This also helps you track how many people are helping you spread the word.
I hope this checklist helps you include all the important information you need to create a book launch page that sells.