Solved: Marketing Videos for Ebook Sales on Social Media

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out!

Happy to give you some of my initial thoughts on this. It's a common problem – you've created a great product, in your case an Ebook, but now the real challenge begins: getting it in front of the right people. You've mentioned trying AI video makers for TikTok and Instagram and that they haven't really worked for you. Tbh, I'm not surprised. The tool you use to make the video is probably the least important part of the equation.

The real issue, and what will actually determine whether you make sales or not, is the strategy *behind* the video. It's about what you say, who you say it to, and the offer you're making. Getting that right is 90% of the battle. Below, I've laid out the entire process I'd go through, from figuring out your customer to calculating what you can afford to spend to get them. It's a bit of a deep dive, but it's the stuff that actually moves the needle, not the video editing software.

We'll need to look at your offer first...

Before you spend a single penny on ads or another minute trying to make a video, we have to talk about the offer. This is, without a doubt, the number one reason I see campaigns fail. People have a product, but they don't have a compelling *offer*. An offer that's not providing enough value, or one that's lacking an audience with a real, urgent need for that value, is dead on arrival. It's a simple lack of demand.

I see it all the time with founders. They chase what they think is a great idea, build loads of features, spend ages developing what they believe is the perfect product, only to find it incredibly difficult to get any traction. Why? Because nobody really feels they *need* it.

So, how do you fix this? You need to build a high-value offer that has clear demand. What does a successful offer look like? From my experience, they all share a few traits:

1. They focus on a specific audience. They aren't trying to sell to 'everyone'. Is your ebook for freelance graphic designers? Is it for first-time SaaS founders? Is it for new mums trying to start a side business? The more specific you are, the more your message will resonate. When you try to talk to everyone, you end up talking to no one. Being specific makes your ads feel incredibly relevant and powerful to that one person you're trying to reach.

2. They identify an urgent, painful problem this audience has. People don't buy information; they buy transformation. They buy a solution to a problem that's bothering them *right now*. I remember one talented firm we worked with. Initially, they just sold "brand films". It's a service, sure, but it's a commodity. Nobody wakes up in a cold sweat thinking, "I desperately need a brand film today!"

We helped them see that their ideal clients weren't just buying a film; they were buying a solution to a deep frustration: being a brilliant firm that struggled to build a customer base. Their *real* problem was being a hidden gem while less talented competitors got all the attention. The "brand film" was just a tool. The *solution* was getting the recognition and clients they deserved. That emotional connection is what drives action.

3. They have a clear, tangible solution. As I just talked about, the same firm turned their vague service into something concrete: a "1-Day Filming Process." It has a name, clear deliverables, and a defined timeline. This takes a complex, scary service and makes it feel simple, tangible, and much less risky for a buyer. It's not an open-ended project; it's a product.

You need to do the same for your ebook. What is the specific, urgent pain it solves? And for whom? Once you know that, you can build your entire marketing message around it. Which brings us to the actual content of your videos...

You should frame your message so they can't ignore it...

Once you know the pain, you can use a simple but powerful framework to structure your ads and videos. I'd recommend the Before-After-Bridge model. It’s perfect for a product like an ebook because it sells the transformation, not just the features.

Here's how it works:

• Before: You describe the customer's world as it is now. You articulate their pain point, their frustration, their 'nightmare'. You show them you understand their struggle.
• After: You paint a picture of their world after using your product. The problem is gone, replaced by a feeling of relief, success, or confidence. This is the desired outcome.
• Bridge: You introduce your ebook as the bridge that gets them from the 'Before' state to the 'After' state. It's the simple, clear path to their solution.

Let's make this practical. Imagine your ebook is about how to write effective sales copy. A bad ad would say: "Buy my new ebook on copywriting! It has 10 chapters, worksheets, and bonus templates." That's all features. It's boring.

A good ad using Before-After-Bridge would say:

"Staring at a blank page, knowing you need to write a sales email but the words just won't come? Another hour wasted, another sale missed. (Before) Now, imagine hitting 'send' with total confidence, knowing your words are going to connect and convert. Watching the sales notifications roll in without that feeling of dread. (After) My new ebook, 'Words That Sell', is the bridge. It gives you the exact plug-and-play formulas to get you there, even if you think you're a terrible writer. (Bridge)"

See the difference? The second one connects emotionally. It sells the outcome, the relief from the pain. This is the kind of message you need to be putting in your TikToks and Instagram videos. It's not about fancy editing; it's about a message that hits home.

I'd say you need to define your ICP by their nightmare...

So now you have a message framework. But who are you delivering this message to? This is where most marketing advice goes wrong. They tell you to create a demographic-based profile. "Our customer is Sarah, she's 35, lives in a city, and likes yoga." Tbh, that's completely useless. It tells you nothing of value and leads to generic ads that speak to no one.

To stop burning cash, you must define your customer by their pain. You need to become an expert in their specific, urgent, expensive, career-threatening nightmare. Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) isn't a person; it's a problem state.

Let's say your ebook is for project managers. The generic demographic profile is useless. The 'nightmare' profile is everything. Your ICP isn't just "a project manager". She's a leader who's terrified of her project going over budget again, getting a telling off from her boss, and her best team members quitting out of frustration with the chaotic workflow. Her nightmare isn't 'needing better project management'; it's 'the fear of professional failure and letting her team down'.

Once you've isolated that nightmare, you can find where these people hang out online. This is the key to effective targeting on platforms like Instagram and TikTok.

• What niche podcasts do they listen to on their commute?
• What industry newsletters do they actually open and read?
• What specific software tools do they already pay for (e.g., Asana, Jira, Trello)?
• What influencers or thought leaders do they follow on Instagram or LinkedIn?
• Are they members of specific Facebook Groups or Subreddits related to their profession?

This intelligence isn't just data; it's the blueprint for your entire targeting strategy on Meta (Facebook & Instagram). When you set up your ads, you won't be targeting a vague interest like "business". You'll be targeting people who have shown interest in Asana, follow a specific project management influencer, and are members of the "Agile Project Managers" group. Suddenly your ad, which speaks directly to their nightmare, appears in front of the exact people feeling that pain. This is how you get results. Do this work first, or you have no business spending a single pound on ads.

You'll need a proper campaign objective...

This next point is absolutely critical and it's a mistake that costs beginners a fortune. When you create an ad campaign on Meta, the very first thing it asks you to do is choose a campaign objective. It gives you options like 'Awareness', 'Traffic', 'Engagement', 'Leads', and 'Sales'.

Here is the uncomfortable truth: when you set your campaign objective to "Awareness" (or "Reach"), you are giving the algorithm a very specific command: "Find me the largest number of people for the lowest possible price."

The algorithm, being a very literal machine, does exactly what you asked. It scours the billions of users and finds the ones whose attention is cheapest. And who are these people? They are the users inside your targeting who are least likely to click, least likely to engage, and absolutely, positively least likely to ever pull out a credit card and buy something. Why? Because they're not in demand. No other advertiser wants them, so their ad space is cheap. You are actively paying the world's most powerful advertising machine to find you the worst possible audience for your product.

For a product like an ebook where the goal is to make sales, you should almost always choose the 'Sales' objective (sometimes called 'Conversions'). When you do this, you give the algorithm a completely different command: "I don't care how many people you show this to. Go through everyone in my target audience and find the specific individuals who have a history of clicking ads and actually buying products like mine."

This is a much harder job for the algorithm, so it will cost more per impression. But you are no longer paying for eyeballs; you are paying for outcomes. You are leveraging Meta's vast data to find actual buyers. People get scared of this because they see a higher CPM (cost per 1000 impressions), but they fail to see the much, much higher conversion rate on the back end. Awareness is a byproduct of having a great product that solves a real problem and running effective conversion campaigns. It's not a prerequisite for making a sale. For a small business or solo creator, you need sales, not just views.

You'll need to know your numbers...

Right, this might feel like we're getting into the weeds, but you absolutely have to understand this if you want to advertise profitably. The real question isn't "How low can I get my cost per click?" but "How high a cost per purchase can I afford to acquire a great customer?" To answer that, you need to understand two key metrics: Lifetime Value (LTV) and Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC).

For an ebook, the LTV might just be the price of the book itself if it's a one-off purchase. But if you have other products, an email list you can sell to later, or a subscription, the LTV is much higher. Let's imagine you have a community or a course you sell to ebook buyers later on.

Let's calculate a hypothetical LTV:

• Average Revenue Per Account (ARPA): What do you make per customer, per month? Let's say with upsells, it averages out to £20/month.
• Gross Margin %: What's your profit margin? For digital products, it's high, let's say 95%.
• Monthly Churn Rate: What percentage of customers do you lose each month? Let's say it's 10%.

The calculation is: LTV = (ARPA * Gross Margin %) / Monthly Churn Rate
LTV = (£20 * 0.95) / 0.10
LTV = £19 / 0.10 = £190

In this example, each customer is worth £190 in gross margin to your business over their lifetime. A healthy business model aims for at least a 3:1 LTV to CAC ratio. This means you can afford to spend up to £63 (£190 / 3) to acquire a single customer. Suddenly, you're not trying to get £1 sales. You know you can spend up to £63 and still be building a profitable business long-term. This math frees you from the tyranny of cheap clicks and allows you to advertise intelligently.

Here's a calculator to play with your own numbers.

Now, what about the cost? For an ebook sale in a developed country like the UK, a typical Cost Per Click (CPC) might be between £0.50 and £1.50. A good landing page might convert visitors at a rate of 2-5%. Let's do that math. Your Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) could be anywhere from £10 (£0.50 / 5%) to £75 (£1.50 / 2%). If your ebook costs £20, a £75 CPA is a disaster. But if your LTV is £190, a £60 CPA is a great investment. Knowing these numbers is the difference between gambling and investing in your business.

My main recommendations for you

There's a lot to take in here, I know. It's a far cry from just asking "what video maker should I use?". But this is the foundational work that leads to successful campaigns. For instance, in a campaign for a client selling courses, we generated $115k in revenue in just 1.5 months, and for another client with a subscription box, we achieved a 1000% return on ad spend. These results don't come from having the slickest videos; they come from nailing the strategy I've outlined above.

To make it clearer, here is a summary of the main advice I have for you to implement:

So, where to go from here?

As you can probably tell, effective paid advertising is a lot more involved than just boosting a post or using an AI video tool. It's a proper discipline that requires a deep understanding of strategy, psychology, and data analysis. Getting it wrong can be a very fast way to lose money. Getting it right, however, can be the engine that grows your entire business.

This is exactly where expert help can make a huge difference. An experienced paid ads consultant doesn't just 'run ads'; they help you build the entire strategic framework from the ground up, ensuring that every component – the offer, the audience, the message, the funnel – is optimised to work together. This is what we do day-in, day-out for our clients, from software startups to eCommerce brands.

If you've read through this and feel a bit overwhelmed but also see the potential, then it might be worth having a chat. We offer a completely free, no-obligation initial consultation where we can go through your specific situation, look at your ebook and your goals, and give you a clear, actionable plan. It's a great way to get a taste of the expertise you'd have on your side if we were to work together.

Regards,

Team @ Lukas Holschuh