Sorry, this took a while to get this entry posted. But while at David Meerman Scott’s keynote address at TS2 in Philly, he brought up something that I hadn’t noticed happening in the marketing arena.

guess I was too close to it, as a writer of white papers, I was trudging along doing the “industry standard” technical papers for clients describing why their whatchmacallit is the greatest and most dynamic in the industry. Meanwhile a sub-culture of marketing was developing the “marketing ebook.” I’m a convert!

The ebook differs from the white paper in 3 ways:

1: it’s formatted in the landscape ratio, making it easier to view online.

2: it’s colorful and makes use of eye-catching graphics.

3: it’s FREE!

No longer are you putting out a white paper trying to get sales or customers to read about your latest and greatest. You’re entertaining and educating them in a style that’s easier for them to digest. And you’re not collecting an email or making them register to get it. It’s free and if they like what you are saying they will contact you.

It’s a softer marketing – it’s much like television shopping. In the mid-80s a lot of TV shopping channels popped up in the USA. By the late 90s, only two really survived and thrived, QVC and HSN. What made them do better than the competition? It’s the perfection of the soft sell. QVC hardly ever talks about “hurrying up” or “buy now before it’s too late.” They don’t have to, they gently tell their shoppers when the price “changes” and “what a good value it is,” and let the shopper decide when to call or click.

The same can be said about ebooks.

Looking for some good examples: David Meerman Scott has some I’d recommend, as does Cameron Chapman in a Mashable entry.

Until next time, Tim

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