Most people don’t spend hours on any one website the first time they visit. In fact, if visitors stay even for a few minutes, that’s excellent. But a few minutes isn’t going to earn your company a permanent booking in their memory. Marketing is like show business, so get ready to be pushed off of the marquee by the next act that comes along…unless you participate in email marketing. If you market through email, you have an opportunity to own a permanent line on the marquee of your prospect’s memory. But before that can happen, they have to feel compelled to sign up to receive your email communications.

There’s no harm in giving something away. After all, owners of a theater often get free seats to see performances, and sometimes get exclusive performances. Why should information pertaining to your company and website be any different? Besides, the more information you provide your prospects, the more likely they are to remember you. In addition, they’ll remember you as the one who gave them that great (and useful) information. So what forms of information should you provide? You can give them an exclusive brochure, white paper or ebook, for example.

Be careful not to repeat the same information you’re already providing for free in your blog, on your website or in your newsletters, because chances are, they already have that information, or can access it very easily. As can everyone. You want to give them something that only new subscribers to your email address receive. How do you make certain that only new subscribers receive it? That’s actually pretty simple; remember our discussion a few days ago about landing pages? Design a landing page, the link to which should be automatically emailed to your new subscriber after they double-opt-in.

Let’s look in detail about the forms of information you might provide, and some suggestions of what sort of topics to include in each. We’re going to use the example of our fictional friend, the Caramel Apple Seller, who, in recent months, found his cart replaced with a website, blog and email marketing campaign.

Paper brochures are double sided and tri-folded, presenting six panels on which to house information. E-brochures needn’t be much different, except instead of being folded into thirds, these documents are usually presented as two pages in a pdf document. However, the six-panel format ought to still be used. If our apple seller were handing out paper brochures, the first and last panels might feature his company logo (a tasty looking caramel apple where the fresh caramel is dripping over the apple’s perfectly round structure), his contact information and a slogan, and perhaps the location of his cart, next to a recognizable statue in a park.

Another panel would give basic information about his company. A fourth panel would describe different sorts of apples and a fifth panel would feature caramel apples. Perhaps a sixth panel would include festive caramel apple presentations. All of the same information should be included in a pdf formatted brochure. Notice how the brochure features branding (name, logo and slogan), contact information (including shop location—to include web addresses in the pdf), a company overview, a product overview and then something fresh and unique, with a bit of flare and creativity (such as festivities).

A white paper is a document providing relevant information, usually about the industry and the company, and perhaps including a how-to. Our apple-selling friend’s white paper might be centered on the theme of growing and selecting ripe apples. Within that how-to, information about the industry of apples and caramel apples, as well as the company, would be referenced and inserted. By including this information within the how-to, the prospect remains interested in the writing itself. Imagine you’re reading a short story or novel.

The description of a character goes on for pages and pages, so that you have a crystal clear image of that character…if you can hold out through all that description. Compare that to a story where description is offered as it’s necessary. You don’t feel overloaded, yet you feel informed. You want a white paper to be the same. If you write for four pages about the apple industry, you’ll lose your prospects’ interest around page two. However, if that information is deftly included and referenced, your prospects will be captivated.

An e-book is a good choice if you have a lot of information to share. You can have an introductory chapter where you introduce the company’s role in its industry. Has your company been recognized for any achievements? Has your company had exceptional growth? Does your company participate in charitable endeavors? This is your opportunity to introduce your new prospect to your company…but avoid writing this chapter as though an excerpt from a text book. By sharing this information through an anecdote, you can interest your prospects.

After introducing your company, you can go into the meat of your ebook, where you discuss whatever theme you’ve decided upon…maybe your ebook is about growing an apple orchard ,or making caramel, or a combination of experiences. An ebook is a golden opportunity to share information while you let your prospect get to know you and your company as though you are neighbors.

Keep in mind the amount of information you have to share. If it’s quite short, a brochure is appropriate, allowing you to share information easily with bulleted lists or mini-paragraphs, or charts. Information that’s a bit more in-depth may best be presented in a white paper format, whereas if you have a lot to express to your prospects, an ebook may be the best course of action. As always, discuss these options, as well as your landing pages and your email marketing campaign in general, with your internet marketing agency. This way, you can be certain that the trusted and knowledgeable professionals you hired will enhance your online presence through any of these three outlets.