Am I the only one that thinks offering a free e-book and some drip marketing emails feels like those spammy SEO software companies?

You get a landing page where you have to give your email to get a download. The "Guide" is usually just some distilled thinking that's rarely worth the email you traded for it. If you were smart, you probably used an email address you use for all of your spam, because you know once you get the guide, the next thing up is a bunch of drip marketing emails to get you to upgrade.

The email tips are often just as vapid as the guide and you know you're in for at least 4 to 6 of them over the next 60 days, so you ignore every one of them and route them straight to notifications/promotions/spam.

Drip marketing and free giveaways isn't anything new, and it _can_ be effective, but it's not a silver bullet to sales, by any means.