Your dream of writing a book is finally complete. Congratulations.
But now that 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 business marketing efforts, so this week, I wanted to start creating a specific landing page for a book launch.
To successfully launch your book, you’ll need an effective landing page that compels potential buyers to purchase during your book launch campaign.
Read on to discover the key elements required on your landing page to generate the desired sales.
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 it point to the page on your website where your book launch home page resides.
This makes it easy to tell others where to find the book during your launch campaign.
2. URL with book title: When you create your book’s landing page, it will automatically have your website’s URL in the address, but you want to go a step further by making sure the rest of the URL includes keywords from your book’s title. This really helps boost SEO.
3. 3d book cover: Hire a graphic designer who can fill in your book cover and create a stunning 3D image that will make your book cover really stand out 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. Testimonials: During the final stages of writing your book, give multiple preview copies to notable colleagues so they can provide quotes for the book 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 the 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 this for me?”
6. Headlines: Use attractive headlines to divide your book’s page sections into easy-to-read segments. Use larger font sizes and contrasting colors to make headlines stand out and can be easily scanned.
This way, if people only read the headlines, they will still receive the important messages from the page.
7. Author’s photoInclude a professional headshot along with a short bio so potential buyers can see who wrote the book and connect emotionally with you.
This makes it a key trust builder, making it an essential element on the page.
8. Call to actionCreate 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 force them to make a purchase decision now, rather than later. Often times, using a limited-time offer of a free gift with your 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 with free gifts from today’s leading experts.”
9. Buy now button: It is important to have both written and graphical 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 IT TO BUY NOW.
10. Next steps and submission form: A confused mind will say “no”, so your goal is to make sure that all the steps required to order the book and claim the bonus offers are well defined and crystal clear.
If your book is for sale on Amazon and you need the buyer to provide proof of purchase to receive their additional freebies, then in a step-by-step numbered format, tell them to purchase the book on Amazon first (and provide the link), retrieve your order number and then return to your website to enter your information in 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 to force people to buy, but it also serves as an opportunity to create lists. It helps you to know who has bought your book and to be able to continue developing a relationship with them through your emails and newsletters.
eleven. Sharing socially: You want to do everything you can to help spread the word about your book launch, so be sure to add social share buttons that encourage fans to share the book with their friends and followers.
Add social share buttons to the bottom of the page, both on the landing page and 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 the news about their campaign with others. JV partners and affiliates can be a part of this too.
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 on your 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 and can then reward them for their resulting sales efforts.
13. Labels: Don’t forget about the power of hashtags. Create a unique official hashtag for the book launch that people can use during the promotion on social media. This also helps you keep track of 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.
