You are behind on your quarterly lead generation targets.  The sales team is screaming that they need more prospects!  You expected this would happen.  And that is why you started working on a killer piece of content that is sure to be rocket fuel for your pipeline.  But, this killer eBook, is behind schedule.  It is still 6-8 weeks away from being ready to publish.

• The primary author (who is also the busiest person in your company), hasn’t sent you the final 10 pages of the document.
• The text you have received needs work. Several key sections are missing.  And you have only received comments from two of six different reviewers.
• The outside agency you hired to perform the design and layout of the content is swamped.  And they won’t begin work until they have the final copy.

So what do you do?  Do you change course and invent a Plan B?  Or double your efforts on Plan A – trying to defy the laws of physics to get the eBook done faster?  If only there was a way to travel forward in time to get the leads from your new eBook and bring them back into your pipeline today.

Enable Pre-Ordering for Your Content

Good news – there is!  Allow prospects to “pre-order” your content. You can pre-order an electric car from Tesla, a new smartphone from AT&T or an upcoming book from Amazon.com.  So why can’t you pre-order marketing content?  You allow customers to pre-register for webinars without the final content being ready.  You allow prospects to pre-register for seminars without the final content being ready.  Why not do the same with eBooks, white papers and guides?

Historically, companies have only promoted content once it is available for download in its final format.  But there is no reason the content has to be finished for you to capture the lead.  Send an email out to your marketing database, advertising early access to an upcoming piece of killer content.  It should have a provocative title that people are willing to register in advance for – “The Ultimate Guide to <Insert Topic>,” “The Definitive <Insert Topic> Playbook,” or “The 50 Best <Insert Topic>.”  Interested prospects will submit a form requesting to be notified when the new content is available.

Congratulations – you have effectively pulled forward your Marketing Qualified Leads.  Instead of waiting six to eight weeks for the final PDF to be ready, you have captured the leads now.  And you can begin to work them immediately.  Have Lead Development Representatives reach out to prospects that have pre-ordered the content.  Offer the highest potential prospects a “sneak preview” of the content via a 30-minute call with the author.  Send emails to those who pre-ordered offering them a copy of last year’s report or an invitation to the accompanying webinar.

Real World Example

Here is a great real-world example of this practice being employed by Mondo for a Digital Marketing Salary Guide.